Retrievers vs Spaniels!

[ShrekDawg]

I get that. Since he has no history of being reactive in any negative way towards another dog (and I presume he's met many small dogs) then I don't see how that could make you getting denied a puppy. I guess some breeders would like to see them interacting before bringing the new puppy home, but I don't think they'd be much more to it. I don't know, I really don't see it as any kind of deal breaker, but that's just me

That’s good to know! Thanks! He actually hasn’t met a ton of small dogs tbh just cause there aren’t as many on our hikes but he’s met at least a few and loved all of them. So I think he’d be fine. One of his best friends was a Boston Terrier we met twice on the trail hahah

 

[chrissynemetz]

The more I look into spaniels, the more I fall in love with them hahah but then again retrievers are awesome too. We’ve always had retrievers or retriever mixes and they’ve been great. And my friend has two Goldens and I LOVE them. They’re amazing. But Labs and Goldens can be so big. I like that the spaniels are smaller.

And those sweet little faces are hard to resist

 

[fluffycrow]

That’s good to know! Thanks! He actually hasn’t met a ton of small dogs tbh just cause there aren’t as many on our hikes but he’s met at least a few and loved all of them. So I think he’d be fine. One of his best friends was a Boston Terrier we met twice on the trail hahah

Boston terriers are around the same hight, and relatively the same heft, so that's good! Cavaliers do have that fluffy prey animal look though, so I guess that's a slight concern. But IMO if he's besties with a Boston, the hair isn't going to be the game changer

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

I absolutely love both! Spaniels are amazing! I especially love Cocker Spaniels and Springer Spaniels! But i wouldnt be able to have atm. Especially with 2 Golden Retrievers.

 

[Lovely Lettie]

I don't really like either breed but if I had to have one it would definitely be retrievers.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I don't really like either breed but if I had to have one it would definitely be retrievers.

Do you have another breed you prefer? Just curious.

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

I absolutely love both! Spaniels are amazing! I especially love Cocker Spaniels and Springer Spaniels! But i wouldnt be able to have atm. Especially with 2 Golden Retrievers.

To add i love almost all Spaniels. Even the small ones. I may never own a small one but still love them.
If i could have one it would be a Cocker Spaniel, Springer, Spaniels, Brittany Spaniel, or any type of English Spaniel.

 

[ShrekDawg]

And those sweet little faces are hard to resist

Exactly!

 

[ShrekDawg]

Boston terriers are around the same hight, and relatively the same heft, so that's good! Cavaliers do have that fluffy prey animal look though, so I guess that's a slight concern. But IMO if he's besties with a Boston, the hair isn't going to be the game changer

That’s good to know! Thanks! For some reason I thought Cavs were shorter hahah

 

[MGG]

Spaniels are sweet but they are just not as smart as a lab. They're decently smart dogs but my neighbor is a good breeder of English Springer Spaniels and has very good quality dogs and they're just dumb put up next to a lab.
That makes them more difficult to train and they are pretty hyper. They don't have an "off" switch like a lab does. You could work a lab until they passed out or died and they would just keep going but if you made them lay around the house for two months they would just be ok with it. I'm not saying you'd ever want to but the ability to tell them to be calm and have them listen is invaluable. I've started spaniels for the neighbor before and I vowed I'd never have a spaniel after that, lol. They just are not as easy to train, they don't catch on as quickly and it gets frustrating especially when all I had previously trained were labs.

I've also hunted with cocker spaniels, field spaniels, and water spaniels. They're all the same.

I've been around pretty much all of the breeds of dogs more commonly kept in the US, and even some very rare ones too, and if I were to ever have a dog besides a lab it would be either a well bred Border Collie or a German Shepherd.

I've not ever found any other dogs that measure up to those three in terms of intelligence and trainability.