While Cavaliers will always be my first love, English Springer Spaniels run them a close second. Our springers have always been of the working type, they are not show dogs and I do not breed them. Their temperaments are second to none, intelligent, biddable and gentle, allbeit extremely boisterous ! They make wonderful companions but only if you have the time to train them and the energy to provide the exhausting excercise that they need.
It saddens me to see so many being advertised for rehoming because people buy them with no idea of what they are taking on and then cannot cope with them. Dizzy (top right) came to us at 9 months old for that very reason. She and her sister had been allowed to run wild and were totally out of control. The owners couldn't be bothered anymore and gave them to the local dog warden. Sadly we lost Dizzy last year to an auto-immune disease that caused her body to destroy its' own red blood cells , it was not luekaemia as the cells were not cancerous. She was just 6 years old and we were distraught at losing her. Bryn (top left) was a truly wonderful dog. Cavalier puppies were allowed untold liberties, he just loved them. He and Cher (my first cavalier ) were devoted to one another. They were the same age and when Bryn died of an inoperable liver tumour at 14 years of age, Cher fretted herself away and followed him three weeks later.
Now we have Alfie and oh how I had forgotten what hard work springer pups can be !! He and Beano are great buddies and they get up to all kinds of mischief. Watching their antics is better than the T.V. !
