Russian Spaniel
Rosyjski Spaniel
The Russian Spaniel is a spaniel, a gundog which is used for flushing prey. They search for game birds, which in turn panic when found and appear for the waiting hunter. Once the prey has been shot they will retrieve the birds on command. They are commonly used to hunt quail, corncrake and sandpiper. This breed can also been trained to track wounded game.
Russian Spaniel Standards
- None
- 15-17"
- 28-35 lbs
- small spaniel
- long, hanging ears covered in hair
- tail is traditionally docked where legal
- fur on head is short, medium on body with feathering
- white with black markings
- white with brown markings
- white with red markings
History of the Russian Spaniel
The Russian Spaniel was developed mostly by crossing English Springer and Cocker Spaniels, along with various Russian dogs. The first spaniel to be brought into Russia was a black English Cocker Spaniel at the end of the 19th century. Later, more spaniels were imported into St. Petersburg and Moscow and by the beginning of the 20th century a somewhat mixed spaniel breed existed. The breed itself started to emerge after WWII, and the first standard for the breed was written in 1951