Norfolk Spaniel

		Norfolk Spaniel
		He is not recognized by the F.C.I.


Origin			Great Britain
Translation			Francis Vandersteen

The Norfolk Spaniel or Shropshire Spaniel is a dog breed that has been extinct since the early 20th century. It was originally thought to have originated from the work of one of the Dukes of Norfolk, but this theory was disproved after being questioned in the latter part of the 19th century. The term was used to designate Springer Spaniel that were neither Sussex Spaniel nor Clumber Spaniel, and attempts were made to use it to specify a breed that would later become known as the English Springer Spaniel.

With a liver and white or black and white coat, the Norfolk Spaniel has been described as a large Cocker Spaniel. The Spaniel Club established a breed standard for Norfolk Spaniels, but specimens of the breed varied widely across England. Members of the breed were difficult to train, but formed a strong bond with their owners and were useful for hunting both on land and in the water. The breed ceased to exist after 1903, when it was incorporated into the new English Springer Spaniel breed created by the Kennel Club to contain all Spaniels of this type.

The Norfolk Spaniel is thought to have originated from a cross of Spaniels with the Black and Tan Terrier, which was created by an unspecified Duke of Norfolk. However, later historians disagree with this theory, claiming that the Duke of Norfolk's Spaniels were of the King Charles type and that the Terrier stock had nothing to do with the origins of the Norfolk Spaniel. The Duke of Norfolk's theory of the Norfolk Spaniel's origins was disproved by the investigation of James Farrow, a 19th-century Spaniel breeder, who wrote to Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk to discover the truth about the breed's origins. The Duke replied, denying any connection with the breed, although he did state that his grandfather, Henry Howard, 13th Duke of Norfolk, owned Sussex Spaniels. The Duke's letter was published in The Kennel Gazette in 1899. An alternative origin was proposed by Rawdon Briggs Lee in volume two of his 1897 work “A History and Description of the Modern Dogs of Great Britain and Ireland”. Lee argued that the Norfolk Spaniel was the result of a cross between a curly-haired Water Spaniel and a Sussex Spaniel or another strain of Land Spaniel.

In the 18th century, Spaniels were divided into three categories: Terrestrial Spaniels, Water Spaniels and Miniature Spaniels. Land Spaniels were further divided into two types, the Cocker Spaniel and the Springer Spaniel. It was in the Springer Spaniel type that the Norfolk Spaniel was placed, along with the Sussex Spaniel and the Clumber Spaniel. In the 1860s, the breed was described as “the most common breed in England”, but with a description that varied so much that the only standard point was that it averaged 41 centimeters in height at the withers.

The Spaniel Club was formed in 1885 and published a breed standard for the Norfolk Spaniel, recognizing it as a variety of Spaniel. However, the general public saw it only as a generic Land Spaniel. By the 1890s, the breed had become commonplace in every county of England, leading dog writers such as Rawdon Briggs Lee to question the authenticity of its origins, or that the various liver and white Spaniels throughout England constituted a single breed: “Personally, I do not regard the liver and white Spaniel as a particular variety at all, nor do I believe that it was ever indigenous to Norfolk.” He states that similar dogs exist in Devonshire that do not trace Norfolk ancestry, and that liver and white Spaniels predate the breeding of the Black and Tan Terrier with an ordinary Spaniel. F.H.F. Mercer described the breed in 1890 as “practically extinct in its purity”, with its liver and white colors crossing a large number of various Spaniels, and he too discredits origins involving the Duke of Norfolk. The UK Kennel Club designated all medium-legged Spaniels that were neither Clumber nor Sussex Spaniels as English Springer Spaniels in 1902. The Norfolk Spaniel was included under this designation, with the term “Norfolk Spaniel” considered to cover these types of Spaniels, but ultimately rejected as the Club believed the breed was still liver and white in color. The change in terminology was not fluid or immediate, with James Watson in his 1905 book, The Dog Book, still referring to the Norfolk Spaniel as the breed name. In modern times, Norfolk Spaniel is thought to be the former name of the English Springer Spaniel, prior to its recognition by the UK Kennel Club.

The Norfolk Spaniel would generally be unhappy when separated from its owners, as it formed a strong attachment. Compared with the Springer Spaniels of the 19th century, they were more hot-tempered and could be stubborn and willful if not successfully broken. Some individuals of the breed could be noisy and were described as “babbling” and making noise while hunting in the same way as dogs, while others were much quieter. Its use for hunting was varied, and the breed was useful both on land and in the water. In particular, it became a success in America and by the early 20th century was popular in the Boston area. They were described by the Spaniel Club of America as being as good in the water as the Chesapeake Bay Retriever.

The breed was a freckled white dog with liver or black markings, the breed standard in 1859 set their measurements at 43 to 46 centimeters tall at the withers. It had long legs, feathered ears and a white area on the forehead, which was supposed to add greatly to its beauty, but there were differences with the English Springer, notably a broader skull and shorter neck. It was also compared to the English Setter in its build, shape and proportions, although it was much smaller in size. While other Field Spaniels of this era displayed colors other than liver and white or liver and black, the Norfolk did not. Breed-specific qualities varied considerably, as in some places the breeding lines were not particularly pure, these lines having had Sussex and Clumber Spaniels bred into them.

By the end of the 19th century, the description of a Norfolk Spaniel had changed slightly; the Spaniel Club's breed standard for a Norfolk Spaniel in 1897 was that the animal should have a black and white or liver and white coat that was not curly, a reasonably heavy body and legs that are longer than other Field Spaniels but shorter than the Irish Water Spaniel, a deep chest with long sloping shoulders and strength in back and loins, as well as typical Spaniel characteristics such as lobular ears. The standard also included the requirement that the tail be docked. In short, the standard described the Norfolk as simply resembling a large Cocker Spaniel.