It's all about the Breed Standard
The basic description of the Welsh springer spaniel is best found in the very first paragraph of our breed standard. I always refer to this paragraph as the jumping off point for any discussions about the Welsh springer spaniel - it so nicely sets the stage:
FROM THE BREED STANDARD: He is ‘an attractive dog of handy size’, with ‘substance without coarseness’. The dog is ‘compact not leggy’, ‘built for hard work and endurance’, and should be ‘shown in hard muscled working condition’. He has ‘obliquely angled forequarters and well developed hindquarters’ and should have coat ‘not … so excessive as to hinder his work as an active flushing spaniel’.
However, in addition to this paragraph, I believe the Welsh springer spaniel is a lower stationed, softly rounded and ‘spaniel-ey’ dog, rather than an angular and leggy appearing breed. He is a dog ideally suited to sticking his head and body, if necessary, into a bank of briars looking for the chukar partridge without getting himself tangled in the thicket. He can willingly jump into the pond to retrieve the bird that was unlucky enough to fall there, and he won't sink under the weight of his coat. He has significant drive to aid in hunting chores, especially in happily flushing birds and chasing small game whether in the yard or the field.
The Welsh springer spaniel is not a red and white version of either an American cocker spaniel, English cocker spaniel, or an English springer spaniel. These other breeds have become almost ‘caricatures’ of their breed standards, with more coat, more angle to the topline, more length to the stifle, and more emphasis on appearance rather than function. The Welsh springer spaniel has, so far, successfully avoided these pitfalls of ‘MORE IS BETTER’. But we are on a 'slippery slope' these days, especially regarding coat. There is a lot more hair on display in the Best of Breed ring, and some of it is so profuse that it requires grooming of the underline of the dog, like a setter or an English springer spaniel would be groomed. This is far in excess of what the breed standard calls for, which is 'chest and underside of the body are moderately feathered'. Moderately feathered means it should look natural and not trimmed, not blown dry and not sculpted into a work of art. This is something we must be vigilant about, or we will lose the focus on form following function that has served this breed so well for so long.
I believe this breed excels at holding onto a degree of individuality-Welshies have not acquired a ‘cookie cutter’ appearance and there are several styles of dog that possess the salient breed characteristics. Looking around the ring at a large specialty show entry always strikes me as pleasing. While there are dogs I prefer as better examples of breed type, the fact that they are not all solid-saddled with large white shawls and perfectly marked eye patches and blazes and all 17-19 inches tall is something that we should relish. If the breed loses this diversity, it will lose some of the better examples of breed type for the sake of ‘conformity’.
Overall, the three things I'd like to see improve in the Welsh are a) better front assemblies b) better balance between front and rear angles and
c) better heads. Straight forequarters and lack of front-to-rear balance impact how the breed functions in the field, in the obedience ring, and in the agility arena. It is not unusual to see an entire class entry made up of dogs lacking upper arm/shoulder angle. This same class may also have several examples of dogs that can only gait by side-winding, due to lack of front reach in comparison to rear drive. Heads are another consideration-I would classify work needed here as part of the ‘attractive dog’ component of the breed standard. Large round eyes, a pronounced stop and long ears make the dog appear ‘hound-like’ not spaniel-like. In addition, wide back skulls and lack of depth of muzzle both change the balance of the head into a less pleasing aesthetic. This narrowness of the muzzle also can affect the bird-carrying ability of the dog - is it really going to be able to carry a full-sized pheasant back to the hunter in that teeny little mouth?
The ‘drag’ on the breed in my mind is poor fronts-there are very few good stud dogs/brood bitches who possess acceptable, let alone superior forequarters. Fronts are recessive, not dominant in inheritance, meaning judges, exhibitors and breeders have to learn to acknowledge the better examples to help in promoting this characteristic for future generations of Welsh springer spaniels. I think it is worthwhile to note that our breed standard specifies 'obliquely angled forequarters' for a reason. Obliquely angled means NOT STRAIGHT. So, every time a dog with an incorrect front assembly is rewarded with a win in the breed ring, the movement and function that we value in the breed is compromised and the breed standard is ignored, yet again. Some may say it is a vicious cycle-judges reward what they are presented with, so breeders stop worrying about the breed standard and present what wins. Breeders must present the correct front to the judge so the judge can actually see it AND reward it. Breeding for winning and breeding for what the breed standard calls for are two entirely different matters-it's up to breeders to make the effort to withhold showy dogs with straight fronts and present dogs with correct fronts to the judge. And it's up to the judge to acknowledge what the breed standard specifically calls for and find it in the ring.
A breed is not characterized by only one aspect of the standard, though. For that reason, I stress fronts, balance and heads to judges, breeders and exhibitors as they learn about the breed. These characteristics are what ‘make’ the breed uniquely different from other spaniel breeds and we must continue to emphasize and reward these differences.
FROM THE BREED STANDARD: He is ‘an attractive dog of handy size’, with ‘substance without coarseness’. The dog is ‘compact not leggy’, ‘built for hard work and endurance’, and should be ‘shown in hard muscled working condition’. He has ‘obliquely angled forequarters and well developed hindquarters’ and should have coat ‘not … so excessive as to hinder his work as an active flushing spaniel’.
However, in addition to this paragraph, I believe the Welsh springer spaniel is a lower stationed, softly rounded and ‘spaniel-ey’ dog, rather than an angular and leggy appearing breed. He is a dog ideally suited to sticking his head and body, if necessary, into a bank of briars looking for the chukar partridge without getting himself tangled in the thicket. He can willingly jump into the pond to retrieve the bird that was unlucky enough to fall there, and he won't sink under the weight of his coat. He has significant drive to aid in hunting chores, especially in happily flushing birds and chasing small game whether in the yard or the field.
The Welsh springer spaniel is not a red and white version of either an American cocker spaniel, English cocker spaniel, or an English springer spaniel. These other breeds have become almost ‘caricatures’ of their breed standards, with more coat, more angle to the topline, more length to the stifle, and more emphasis on appearance rather than function. The Welsh springer spaniel has, so far, successfully avoided these pitfalls of ‘MORE IS BETTER’. But we are on a 'slippery slope' these days, especially regarding coat. There is a lot more hair on display in the Best of Breed ring, and some of it is so profuse that it requires grooming of the underline of the dog, like a setter or an English springer spaniel would be groomed. This is far in excess of what the breed standard calls for, which is 'chest and underside of the body are moderately feathered'. Moderately feathered means it should look natural and not trimmed, not blown dry and not sculpted into a work of art. This is something we must be vigilant about, or we will lose the focus on form following function that has served this breed so well for so long.
I believe this breed excels at holding onto a degree of individuality-Welshies have not acquired a ‘cookie cutter’ appearance and there are several styles of dog that possess the salient breed characteristics. Looking around the ring at a large specialty show entry always strikes me as pleasing. While there are dogs I prefer as better examples of breed type, the fact that they are not all solid-saddled with large white shawls and perfectly marked eye patches and blazes and all 17-19 inches tall is something that we should relish. If the breed loses this diversity, it will lose some of the better examples of breed type for the sake of ‘conformity’.
Overall, the three things I'd like to see improve in the Welsh are a) better front assemblies b) better balance between front and rear angles and
c) better heads. Straight forequarters and lack of front-to-rear balance impact how the breed functions in the field, in the obedience ring, and in the agility arena. It is not unusual to see an entire class entry made up of dogs lacking upper arm/shoulder angle. This same class may also have several examples of dogs that can only gait by side-winding, due to lack of front reach in comparison to rear drive. Heads are another consideration-I would classify work needed here as part of the ‘attractive dog’ component of the breed standard. Large round eyes, a pronounced stop and long ears make the dog appear ‘hound-like’ not spaniel-like. In addition, wide back skulls and lack of depth of muzzle both change the balance of the head into a less pleasing aesthetic. This narrowness of the muzzle also can affect the bird-carrying ability of the dog - is it really going to be able to carry a full-sized pheasant back to the hunter in that teeny little mouth?
The ‘drag’ on the breed in my mind is poor fronts-there are very few good stud dogs/brood bitches who possess acceptable, let alone superior forequarters. Fronts are recessive, not dominant in inheritance, meaning judges, exhibitors and breeders have to learn to acknowledge the better examples to help in promoting this characteristic for future generations of Welsh springer spaniels. I think it is worthwhile to note that our breed standard specifies 'obliquely angled forequarters' for a reason. Obliquely angled means NOT STRAIGHT. So, every time a dog with an incorrect front assembly is rewarded with a win in the breed ring, the movement and function that we value in the breed is compromised and the breed standard is ignored, yet again. Some may say it is a vicious cycle-judges reward what they are presented with, so breeders stop worrying about the breed standard and present what wins. Breeders must present the correct front to the judge so the judge can actually see it AND reward it. Breeding for winning and breeding for what the breed standard calls for are two entirely different matters-it's up to breeders to make the effort to withhold showy dogs with straight fronts and present dogs with correct fronts to the judge. And it's up to the judge to acknowledge what the breed standard specifically calls for and find it in the ring.
A breed is not characterized by only one aspect of the standard, though. For that reason, I stress fronts, balance and heads to judges, breeders and exhibitors as they learn about the breed. These characteristics are what ‘make’ the breed uniquely different from other spaniel breeds and we must continue to emphasize and reward these differences.