Hunting Dogs - Hound, Spaniel, Working Terrier, Dogo Argentino, Jagdterrier, Retriever, Hunting Dog, Treeing Walker Coonhound, Gun Dog (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 30. Chapters: Hound, Spaniel, Working terrier, Dogo Argentino, Jagdterrier, Retriever, Hunting dog, Treeing Walker Coonhound, Gun dog, Gun-dog training, Drentse Patrijshond, Feist, Cur, Pointing breed, Catahoula Bulldog, Grand Anglo-Francais Blanc et Noir, Anglo-Francais and Francais, Grand Anglo-Francais Tricolore, Grand Anglo-Francais Blanc et Orange, East Siberian Laika, Foxhound, Cursinu, Hunt terrier, Setter, Water dog, Stichelhaar, Xiasi Dog, Bird dog, Flushing dog. Excerpt: A spaniel is a type of gun dog. It is assumed spaniels originated from Spain as the word spaniel may be derived from Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula) or possibly from the French phrase "Chiens de l'Espagnol" (Dogs of the Spaniard). Spaniels were especially bred to flush game out of dense brush. By the late 17th century spaniels had become specialized into water and land breeds. The extinct English Water Spaniel was used to retrieve water fowl shot down with arrows. Land spaniels were setting spaniels-those that crept forward and pointed their game, allowing hunters to ensnare them with nets, and springing spaniels-those that sprang pheasants and partridges for hunting with falcons, and rabbits for hunting with greyhounds. During the 17th century, the role of the spaniel dramatically changed as Englishmen began hunting with flintlocks for wing shooting. Charles Goodall and Julia Gasow (1984) write the spaniels were "transformed from untrained, wild beaters, to smooth, polished gun dogs." A drawing of a typical skull of a Spaniel. The Oxford English Dictionary defines Spaniel as "a breed of dog with a long silky coat and drooping ears." Not much has changed about spaniels in general over the years, as can be seen in this 1921 entry in Collier's New Encyclopedia: Their distinguishing characteristics are a rather broad muzzle, remarkably long and full ears, ...