Clumber Spaniel (working strain) Anyone else got one?

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rachie29
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Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2011 5:53 am

Clumber Spaniel (working strain) Anyone else got one?

Post by rachie29 »

Hello,

We have just got our first Clumber spaniel from a litter my Dad had bred from his Clumber, Nelly. She is 12 weeks old tomorrow and she is absolutely brilliant, we love her to bits!
There aren't many around and I was just wondering if anyone on here has one? It's nice that people don't know what she is sometimes, they think she is a big springer spaniel!

Rach
Fundog
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Re: Clumber Spaniel (working strain) Anyone else got one?

Post by Fundog »

Congratulations! Clumbers are lovely dogs, and not very common anymore. I don't have one-- I actually have a Springer/Retriever mix-- but I have done quite a bit of research on all the spaniels. So does your family hunt, then? :D
If an opportunity comes to you in life, say yes first, even if you don't know how to do it.
rachie29
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Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2011 5:53 am

Re: Clumber Spaniel (working strain) Anyone else got one?

Post by rachie29 »

Nice to hear from someone who knows about them! Yep my family hunt, my Dad is a gamekeeper and so is my brother so its in the family! Isla will get to help out on the little pheasant shoots my boyfriend and I take part in so she can get to use some of her doggy instinct! What sort of retriever is your dog mixed with? Sounds a good mix! Do you hunt?
Fundog
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Re: Clumber Spaniel (working strain) Anyone else got one?

Post by Fundog »

Annie I believe is mixed with Golden. She has a great nose, and a very special temperament. And truth be told, I never was interested in hunting until I got her, and saw what she could do at just three months old-- then I tried to find ways to help her use her gifts, through scenting games, puzzles, and just plain chasing rabbits and birds out in the hills!

Then a couple of years ago we adopted a Llewellin Setter rescue. Oh my! I have yet to actually take a gun out and shoot anything, but I have taken the girls out hunting without a gun, the primitive way. They have killed a rabbit together, and my setter caught a gopher out in the backyard earlier this year! :lol: We have forest-park nearby with lots of birds, and my setter just LOVES to go and stalk the birds! :lol: In the years I have owned hunting dogs, I have become obsessed with learning and researching everything I can about their art, so I can help them be everything they were born to be, and satisfy their natural drive. 8)
If an opportunity comes to you in life, say yes first, even if you don't know how to do it.
rachie29
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Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2011 5:53 am

Re: Clumber Spaniel (working strain) Anyone else got one?

Post by rachie29 »

Oh wow it sounds like your dogs have fun! It's great to just let them be their natural selves in :D that way! We are slowly but surely teaching Isla to retrieve, in a fun puppy way at the moment! I would love to set up scent games for Isla, what games do you play with them?
Fundog
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Re: Clumber Spaniel (working strain) Anyone else got one?

Post by Fundog »

Well, to start with, I discovered very quickly how clever Annie's nose is, when she was just a three month old puppy! :D The little community park I took her to play fetch with her was littered with pine cones. I would throw some of those for her to retrieve, and the remarkable thing was, she could pick out the one I had just thrown from all the others laying there! Even more remarkable, was, she would wait several seconds after I threw it, so it could become "lost" in the overly long grass.... then she would use her nose to find it, rather than relying on her memory of watching where it landed! Even now, if I throw something for her, and she happens to not be looking where it landed, I can send her to "find it" and she will search with her nose. 8)

This of course led me to start coming up with more scent tracking games for her: the "find it" game, where I put her in a sit-stay in one room, so she can't peek, then I go hide her treats or favorite toy or even a puzzle, then send her to "find it" and watch her get to work. :D

Playing hide and seek, hiding and having her come and find me.

Laying scent trails outside for her to follow.

Annie still enjoys those games, but she far prefers the "real world" experiences these days, of tracking real live creatures, based on following a natural scent trail of scat, urine, and foot prints. A couple of years ago, when I was working a nocturnal schedule, I would take them out to the wilderness area at night. Dottie was a wild hooligan and would take off running, but then get herself stuck or lost. Annie would track Dottie for me, in the dark, over rough terrain, even through a barbed wire fence that I had to climb over! Annie would lead me straight to Dottie, every time. I couldn't help but be amazed. :D

When we go rabbit hunting, I find a pile of rabbit pills, and I just call Annie over: "Psst! Annie! Come here!" And I point to the poo, which she takes a whiff of, and then takes off, obviously on a hot trail. She pauses every now and then, and looks back at me as if to say, "Well hurry up, will ya?" But lo and behold, eventually a rabbit jumps right out of the brush, as she follows his trail right to where he is hiding! And the chase is on! It's quite the rush. :D
If an opportunity comes to you in life, say yes first, even if you don't know how to do it.
Erica
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Re: Clumber Spaniel (working strain) Anyone else got one?

Post by Erica »

Fundog wrote:Well, to start with, I discovered very quickly how clever Annie's nose is, when she was just a three month old puppy! :D The little community park I took her to play fetch with her was littered with pine cones. I would throw some of those for her to retrieve, and the remarkable thing was, she could pick out the one I had just thrown from all the others laying there! Even more remarkable, was, she would wait several seconds after I threw it, so it could become "lost" in the overly long grass.... then she would use her nose to find it, rather than relying on her memory of watching where it landed! Even now, if I throw something for her, and she happens to not be looking where it landed, I can send her to "find it" and she will search with her nose. 8)
Our backdoor neighbors have a little mutt, and his favorite game is when someone takes a rock from their gravel driveway and throws it for him down the driveway. He'll bring back the same rock - I tested it several times by noticing the shape of the rock. Of course, he looks like a miniature Staffordshire/Feist mix, so the hunting dog in him might help there. ;)
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
rachie29
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2011 5:53 am

Re: Clumber Spaniel (working strain) Anyone else got one?

Post by rachie29 »

Fundog wrote:Well, to start with, I discovered very quickly how clever Annie's nose is, when she was just a three month old puppy! :D The little community park I took her to play fetch with her was littered with pine cones. I would throw some of those for her to retrieve, and the remarkable thing was, she could pick out the one I had just thrown from all the others laying there! Even more remarkable, was, she would wait several seconds after I threw it, so it could become "lost" in the overly long grass.... then she would use her nose to find it, rather than relying on her memory of watching where it landed! Even now, if I throw something for her, and she happens to not be looking where it landed, I can send her to "find it" and she will search with her nose. 8)

This of course led me to start coming up with more scent tracking games for her: the "find it" game, where I put her in a sit-stay in one room, so she can't peek, then I go hide her treats or favorite toy or even a puzzle, then send her to "find it" and watch her get to work. :D

Playing hide and seek, hiding and having her come and find me.

Laying scent trails outside for her to follow.

Annie still enjoys those games, but she far prefers the "real world" experiences these days, of tracking real live creatures, based on following a natural scent trail of scat, urine, and foot prints. A couple of years ago, when I was working a nocturnal schedule, I would take them out to the wilderness area at night. Dottie was a wild hooligan and would take off running, but then get herself stuck or lost. Annie would track Dottie for me, in the dark, over rough terrain, even through a barbed wire fence that I had to climb over! Annie would lead me straight to Dottie, every time. I couldn't help but be amazed. :D

When we go rabbit hunting, I find a pile of rabbit pills, and I just call Annie over: "Psst! Annie! Come here!" And I point to the poo, which she takes a whiff of, and then takes off, obviously on a hot trail. She pauses every now and then, and looks back at me as if to say, "Well hurry up, will ya?" But lo and behold, eventually a rabbit jumps right out of the brush, as she follows his trail right to where he is hiding! And the chase is on! It's quite the rush. :D
Wow your games sound like fun!! You have given me some great ideas there, thank you! Islahas definitely started tracking things with her nose now, she doesn't lose attention from it so easy anymore!
rachie29
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2011 5:53 am

Re: Clumber Spaniel (working strain) Anyone else got one?

Post by rachie29 »

Oh he is beautiful!! How old is he? I am trying to upload a picture but its not working at the moment. I'll keep trying!
Fundog
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Re: Clumber Spaniel (working strain) Anyone else got one?

Post by Fundog »

Oh, he is scrumptious! I want to rub my cheek on his puppy fluff. :D
If an opportunity comes to you in life, say yes first, even if you don't know how to do it.
emmabeth
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Re: Clumber Spaniel (working strain) Anyone else got one?

Post by emmabeth »

Sorry folks, the missing post and pic of a puppy... was a spammer (pups real name is apparently 'Chester' and his pic was stolen from another site. The post content was directly copied from the wikipedia entry on Clumber Spaniels!)!! These spammers get cleverer and cleverer!
West Midlands based 1-2-1 Training & Behaviour Canine Consultant
rachie29
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2011 5:53 am

Re: Clumber Spaniel (working strain) Anyone else got one?

Post by rachie29 »

Oo that is clever, how dare they!
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