My New Dog!

 

Today I traveled the three hours to Columbia Station to meet Jim Karlovec and his dogs at Flushing Star Gundogs http://www.flushingstar.com/.  After spending some time with them, I put a deposit on a two week old black English Field Bred Cocker Spaniel.  If he lives up to his bloodline, and after seeing his parents and the other dogs Jim has there is no reason to think he will not, I should have a great hunting partner for the next nine or ten years.  That should just about see me through my days in the field.  I will bring the pup home sometime between St. Patrick's Day and Easter, and he will go back to Flushing Star at the end of July for basic gun dog training.  If he looks anything like his parents, he should look a lot like the dogs pictured here. 

 

English Cockers and Springers are from the same stock, and until the mid twentieth century, they were often born in the same litters, with dogs and bitches under 25 pounds designated as cockers and larger dogs called springers.  Today's Cockers generally weigh in at between 26 and 35 pounds.

They are very biddable and are versatile, retrieving on land and in water and able to flush and retrieve rabbits and waterfowl in addition to upland birds.

We are looking forward to the arrival of this newest member of our family.  I daresay even the terriers will learn to like him!