German Spaniel

The German Spaniel, known at home as the Deutscher Wachtelhund or German quail dog, is a hunting dog developed in Germany around 1890. It is little known outside its own country, where it is kept mostly by foresters and professional hunters and seldom as a pet.

History

The German breeder Frederick Roberth is credited with creating the modern breed. Its main ancestor was the Stöberer, an old German hunting dog mentioned in writing as far back as 1719 and said to have a nose to match a Bloodhound’s. After the revolutions of 1848, ordinary people in the German states were allowed to hunt and needed an all-round dog, and the Stöberer filled that role. Roberth found surviving Stöberers in Bavaria and crossed them with water dogs and sporting spaniels.

The Wachtelhund was recognized as a breed in 1903, and a breed club was organized afterwards. In 1910 the club chose four males and seven females from across Germany as the basis for the standard, and every registered German Spaniel today descends from those eleven dogs. Stöberer is now the name of a category of hunting dog in Germany, and the Wachtelhund is its only member.

The breed is related to the Small Münsterländer and the Drentse Patrijshond.

Several German Spaniels were imported to the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, and their descendants are used in Canada to track and flush black bear. Another pair arrived in 1994, and the United Kennel Club recognized the breed in its Gun Dog group in 1996.

Appearance

This is a strong-boned, muscular, medium-sized gundog. Males stand about 48 to 54 cm at the withers and females 45 to 52 cm, and both weigh 18 to 25 kg. The ears are fairly long, reaching somewhere between halfway down the muzzle and the tip of the nose.

The hair is short and fine on the head and long on the body, where it is thick and wavy or curly, with good feathering and enough undercoat for protection. Most dogs are brown or brown roan, sometimes with white on the chest or legs or white ticking. Red and red and white also occur. Plain black does not.

Temperament

The German Spaniel is a versatile working dog that can be trained to retrieve game and to track.

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