German Spaniel

The German Spaniel is thought to have originated from the Stober Dog. The Stober Dog is documented back to the 1600s before the start of the German Revolution. The Stober Dog was created by aristocrats to be used as a pointer. He was also found to be excellent at flushing game. Once the German Revolution was over, commoners were able to own Stober Dogs. But they soon found that they needed a more versatile hunting dog because they could not afford to have multiple hunting dogs. The German Spaniel was developed. The German Spaniel is an interesting breed that was developed as a versatile gundog and used to flush game out of the underbrush. He is an ideal bird dog as well, since he can easily be trained to kill small game without mutilating it. In 1900, the German Kennel Club asked specialized breed clubs to establish performance tests and standards for the German Spaniel. These breed clubs were also given the task of setting up and maintaining breed specific pedigrees and performance results for the German Spaniel. The official breed club, Verein fur Deutscher Wachtelhund, was established in 1903. In 1908, performance tests were approved and implemented and the official breed standard was accepted by the official breed club in 1910. There were initially eleven officially recognized and registered German Spaniels and all German Spaniels that are registered can trace their lineage to these dogs. There were seven females and four males first registered. Almost all German Spaniels in Germany are owned by professional hunters and foresters and the general population knows almost nothing about the breed. He is not typically kept as just a family companion in Germany. It is a long process for owners to get their German Spaniel officially registered into the German Spaniel Association’s breeding book. Only dogs that have achieved this registration status can be bred and their offspring potentially registered. Owners of the German Spaniel must have them performance tested to ensure they are capable of performing the job in which they were bred. All German Spaniels in Germany must have successfully concluded their juvenile hunt tests before they are 18 months old. After he passes the juvenile hunt tests, he must then pass three more levels of performance tests before he is subjected to the final German versatile hunt test. Once the dog passes all performance tests to the specifications of the breed club, he can be officially registered into the German Spaniel Association’s breeding book.