Sprollie

The idea of a hybrid or designer dog breed is not new, although many of the dog breeds who fall under this category are. For the past few decades, people have been breeding two separate purebred dogs together in order to achieve a dog with a certain appearance, temperament or ability. The Sprollie is a cross between an English Springer Spaniel and a Collie. These two breeds are wonderful on their own and when put together they create a beautiful and unique dog with characteristics from both parents. The complete history of these dogs is undocumented, which means that it can be difficult to determine. The Collie parent, first noted in the Scottish Highlands, were thought to have been brought to the area by the Romans. Excellent herders of all types of livestock, they were once called "Scotch Sheepdogs". The English Springer Spaniel shares lineage with the large Spaniel family, with early divisions being called various names such as the Norfolk Spaniel and the Shropshire Spaniel and further clarification being made between land and water Spaniels. Collies have been bred with English Springer Spaniels to create the Sprollie. They are thought to originate from the United Kingdom and are quite popular over there, where they are used on the farms. Although this hybrid breed makes a great working dog, they have recently been bred for the purpose of being a companion pet as well. The end goal is to establish the Sprollie as a pure breed on their own. This can be accomplished by breeding first generation Sprollies. These dogs would then be bred amongst each other to create purebred Sprollies. At the moment, since Sprollies are created by crossing a Collie to an English Springer Spaniel, there are no specific breed characteristics. This means that the temperament and appearance can vary greatly among individual dogs since they can develop different traits from each parent.