Springer spaniel lines.

[shootingmike]

I've asked this elsewhere also, and I realise it's maybe been discussed before but....

 

With regards to springer spaniels, I've read that there is a bit of an ongoing debate between followers of the Badgercourt liaane and followers of the Rytex line. From what I have gathered (and please feel free to correct me) I gather that it is the belief of some that generally speaking Badgercourt spaniels are bigger, steadier and have better markings and can be seen advertised as "Rytex Free", whereas Rytex lines generally are small, crazy, mainly white and praised for agility / speed for trialling purposes.

 

From my own personal experience I own a springer from very good Badgercourt lineage and he has proven over the years to be very intelligent, (albeit somewhat headstrong!!), and very quick to learn but at the same time remarkably steady, loyal and a cracking companion. He really has been a fantastic dog which I have trained to a reasonably high standard (fully whistle and hand signal trained). He is now 7 so although I hope to get a few more seasons out of him yet, I will soon be looking for a replacement pup (springer) to bring on very steadily over the next 2 years and could do with gauging peoples opinions on this subject. When I do get one I'll be looking for a larger rather than smaller dog as I do quite a bit of wildfowling.

 

I understand that there will probably be no definitive answer and probably a lot of personal opinion, but please give me any thoughts / knowledge / experiences.

[rickyspringer]

alot of it is generally opinion, i prefer the badgercourt dogs to be honest with you. its preference, i have a bitch who is 5generation rytex free, and nearly all of her lines come from badgercourt druid. she is a dream dog, can tun her hand to anything she was wasted on me as a first springer, but i'm glad that she has been so trainable aswell as an amazing companion, i couldn't ask for more.

 

I now have a pup, who is not registered with the kc, but his sire was bursting with rytex, he is very white and he seems to look very racy at the min, hard to tell yet as he is only 14 weeks old, but he has all the makings of a lil' dynamo. I have heard alot of rytex dogs being nervy and also manic, but this isn't the case with him, he is bold as brass, and very trainable.

 

hope you get some more responses but its generally opinion.

 

regards RS

[darren m]

hhmmm

 

i think you could be right my bitch as both rytex and badgercourt in her pedigree , but her looks are more in line with the openshaw trialing spaniels , very lean and lot of white.

Racey , sometimes have to pull her in and calm her down , trainable i hope so or i,m wasteing my time

 

one thing i have noticed about her is that the more she learns , the more she think she knows

[MC]

My own Springer is heavy with Badgercourt lines, I much prefer the build compared to the trialling dogs that are around at the moment. I will look for badgercourt lines in my next one.

[cocker boy]

If the spaniel has got rytex blood in its pedigree i would assume the rytex dogs,contained in the pedigree, were ftch?.Doesn`t that mean they are trainable?.Why do people assume that a trialling dog is un trainable?.Surely they are very trainable?

[WGD]

Breed for the best, train for the rest.

 

Rytex, Badgercourt, Edgegrove, Buccleuch, Laganmill, Newflame etc etc etc etc; they all have different traits, more pronounced in some dogs than others depending on the density of any particular line in a pedigree.

 

If you want a dog to look or act in a particular way the best bet IMO is to see the sire and the dam and see them working, if you like what you see you will most likely get a pup you can get on with.

[mayfly36]

Same here, my springer has both the lines in him, but he has more off the badgercourt as he is off good build, marked well and very steady.

[shootingmike]

Thanks for all the replies chaps.

 

As I said, I do realise it's a bit of a grey area and there are no hard and fast rules, but to add to a couple of points raised...

 

I have no doubt whatsoever that you'll get out of a dog what you put into it and that breeding is only part of the equation. But, to add to something cockerboy raised - I'm sure that any dogs in a rytex pedigree may well be FTCH's which as you have pointed out means they can be trained. BUT - my original post was also about appearance and as somebody has said, the modern "trialling" springer seems to be evloving into small, lean white dogs that can run like a whippet, jump like a Kangaroo and stand out easily for judging purposes.

 

I think the best bet is to stick with what I know - My existing dog is heavily Badgercourt and has been rock steady, dead easy to train, loyal and hard working.

[fallarben]

on his front if your going for colour and stamp i personaly like my dave lisset stuff also very trainable easy going dogs and dave would take you out give you a good show