Selecting a dog breed is really quite hard; there is such a wide variety of breeds and of course every breeder will tell you that their breed is the very best for all sorts of reasons.

This is entirely understandable - all the good ones are so devoted to their breed and in particularly to their puppies - but it does not make it easy for newcomers to make a cool and collected decision.

In this article I will tell you a little about the English Springer Spaniel (springer spaniels), and our experience of them from puppies brought up with children.

But, first here is a little bit of background information for you.

The English Springer Spaniel for many years ranked second to the Cocker in the order of popularity of the six spaniel breeds. An ancient breed whose job it was, before sporting guns came into general use, to "spring" the game. "A lively animal' ', wrote an admirer in the 1820's, "and very expert in raising woodcocks and snipes from their haunts".

It surprises me that it was not until 1902 that the English Springer was recognised by the Kennel Club as a separate breed.

I am sure that the number of this breed's "fans" grows steadily year by year, and here is the reason I say this.

When I grew up, my uncle kept springer spaniels around the barn. Not only were they great farm dogs - smart, obedient, and hard-working - but they were also a lot of fun to play with. When my kids asked for springer spaniel puppies, however, I was a little bit hesitant at first. I have always believed that work dogs should be given work. This is not a matter of morality, but simply a matter of understanding their temperament. There are some breeds that are happy to play all day, And other ones that are happy to just lie around. Spaniel dog breeds, however, need to be put to work. Springer spaniel puppies get bored if they are not given something to do, you see, and become depressed and bad tempered.

When I saw a sign for puppies for sale, however, I immediately took my kids to see them. I didn't even think about it. I knew that they each wanted a springer spaniel puppy, but I did not know that these were among the puppies that were being sold. After all, we weren't going to a springer spaniel breeder, and purebred puppies are hard to find. Nonetheless, I was surprised when several of them turned out to be English springer spaniel puppies. One of them looked almost exactly like the dog that I had grown up with! When I saw them and I saw the looks on my kid's faces, my heart instantly melted. I could not say no anymore. Each of them came home with their own springer spaniel puppy.

Raising the springer spaniel puppies was hard work. I told them that they could have them on the one condition that they raised them as I told them to. They agreed with me, not quite realizing how much work raising puppies was. This is one of the reasons that pets are so popular. Not only do kids like them, but adults value the responsibility that they teach the children. Raising springer spaniel puppies meant that they had to take them for walks every single day after school. Sometimes, this was a lot of fun, but other times it was a big inconvenience. No matter what kind of mood they were in, however, each of my kids had to take a Springer spaniel puppy for a walk. We got to watch them grow up into well-trained, well behaved dogs. This was a joy for all of us.

The Dog and Puppy News. Steve Evans is a regular dog article contributor and also has a web site at www.dog-breeds.me.uk .