Retrievers vs Spaniels!

[ShrekDawg]

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.

Cocker and Springer are my favorites too. And Brittany.

 

[ShrekDawg]

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.

This is extremely helpful! Thank you! Spaniels, especially the springers, do seem to have that “hyperness” to them now that I think about it. They just don’t seem to chill lol I feel like that could get annoying fast

But then again they’re so sweet

And I absolutely loveeeee Border Collies and German Shepherds I really want both of those eventually too lol I want pretty much every breed I think

But I do love a good Lab

 

[MGG]

I'm sorry to say but I do not like Cavalier king Charles spaniels at all either, lol. The guy who owns the gas station in our town has a male and he's got amazing bloodlines but I do not like the look at all, and he is not smart either. They put him out on a cable every day and he's "trained" in basic commands but he still runs to the end of the cable every single day and chokes himself without fail. You'd think him doing that once and he'd learn. The guy who owns him said he'll never have one ever again, lol.

I just feel like if you're going to have a dog it should be something smart and enjoyable. There's so many really smart dogs out there and people just keep getting the dumb ones, lol. I know labs are bigger but I can't think of anything one can't do. Border Collies are smaller and they're amazing too. Every one I've met I've been impressed by. I've gone to a number of dog trials and watched dogs work so I've seen a lot of different breeds and their abilities and temperaments.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I'm sorry to say but I do not like Cavalier king Charles spaniels at all either, lol. The guy who owns the gas station in our town has a male and he's got amazing bloodlines but I do not like the look at all, and he is not smart either. They put him out on a cable every day and he's "trained" in basic commands but he still runs to the end of the cable every single day and chokes himself without fail. You'd think him doing that once and he'd learn. The guy who owns him said he'll never have one ever again, lol.

I just feel like if you're going to have a dog it should be something smart and enjoyable. There's so many really smart dogs out there and people just keep getting the dumb ones, lol. I know labs are bigger but I can't think of anything one can't do. Border Collies are smaller and they're amazing too. Every one I've met I've been impressed by. I've gone to a number of dog trials and watched dogs work so I've seen a lot of different breeds and their abilities and temperaments.

That’s totally understandable! Everybody has their breed I feel like. Although that said, I’ve met some Labs who were dumb as a box of rocks LOL so it depends. I feel like the field lines are way smarter but most people don’t have those around here.

 

[fluffycrow]

I'm sorry to say but I do not like Cavalier king Charles spaniels at all either, lol. The guy who owns the gas station in our town has a male and he's got amazing bloodlines but I do not like the look at all, and he is not smart either. They put him out on a cable every day and he's "trained" in basic commands but he still runs to the end of the cable every single day and chokes himself without fail. You'd think him doing that once and he'd learn. The guy who owns him said he'll never have one ever again, lol.

I just feel like if you're going to have a dog it should be something smart and enjoyable. There's so many really smart dogs out there and people just keep getting the dumb ones, lol. I know labs are bigger but I can't think of anything one can't do. Border Collies are smaller and they're amazing too. Every one I've met I've been impressed by. I've gone to a number of dog trials and watched dogs work so I've seen a lot of different breeds and their abilities and temperaments.

Totally understandable. Not everyone's cup of tea is more independent, less trainable dogs

 

[MGG]

This is extremely helpful! Thank you! Spaniels, especially the springers, do seem to have that “hyperness” to them now that I think about it. They just don’t seem to chill lol I feel like that could get annoying fast

But then again they’re so sweet

And I absolutely loveeeee Border Collies and German Shepherds I really want both of those eventually too lol I want pretty much every breed I think

But I do love a good Lab

They are cute and very sweet. I just personally would never want one.

The neighbor's male English Springer is super adorable but he is unbearable for the first hour after anyone new comes. They've tried lots of things to train it out of him but he just can't help it.

 

[MGG]

That’s totally understandable! Everybody has their breed I feel like. Although that said, I’ve met some Labs who were dumb as a box of rocks LOL so it depends. I feel like the field lines are way smarter but most people don’t have those around here.

The "dumb" labs are almost always ones that are either very poorly bred or were taken from the litter to late.

Seven weeks is the magic age to pull a pup.

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

Most ethical breeders wont let a puppy go at 7 weeks. We wouldnt have gotten Denver at 8 weeks unless she was the one jumping out of the gates...

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

I know about chickens and other avians. Dogs aren't a thing for me, other than some breeds do interest me, and I like dogs a lot more than cats! So . . . I really don't have an opinion here, but if I did, I would probably pick Retrievers.

 

[ShrekDawg]

They are cute and very sweet. I just personally would never want one.

The neighbor's male English Springer is super adorable but he is unbearable for the first hour after anyone new comes. They've tried lots of things to train it out of him but he just can't help it.

Totally understandable! And oh wow that’s annoying hahah he just gets too excited and jumpy or something? Brew still jumps but only like once or twice now and he calms down after a few minutes. We’ve worked hard on it but he keeps doing it. There’s one thing I haven’t tried yet that I’m going to.