I am a dog person, and my favorite breed of all is the Sussex spaniel. They’re simply great dogs. They make you laugh like bassets, they have beautiful coats like Irish setters, they’re long and low like dachshunds, they have the expression of Newfoundlands, and they amble like bears. They’re very rare in the U.S. Several years ago I launched a search for a Sussex pup, only to be told that there wasn’t a single one in this country.
In search of Sussex companionship, a half dozen or so years ago we attended a dog show in the DC area where, we had been advised, an unusually large number of Sussex entries would be competing. We had a great time meeting and greeting a dozen or so Sussexes. And then there appeared a Sussex who was so astonishing that I couldn’t take my eyes or my hands off of him. He had it all. He was the Ubersussex, so superb an embodiment of his breed that even I, a relative novice Sussexistically, was instantly able to recognize his wonderfulness.
Last night that very dog, the one I had marveled at and petted and gotten all mushy about—Stump—was judged Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club show in New York City, establishing him as a superstar. I already knew that and am delighted that now others will know it, too.
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Is it the sussex or the clumber that was bred especially to be a gun dog that would not outpace the older, slower gentleman?
AC: If I remember my spaniel history (and I think I do), not only the Clumber and the Sussex, but the field spaniel and probably one or two other closely related breeds were bred for exactly the purpose you mention. I don’t recall the breeding lines, but think the field spaniel preceded the Sussex and was used as breeding stock to produce it. Both are rarely seen in this country; Clumbers a little more often.
Have you checked in Canada for breeders too? We have a rare breed (vallhunds), and ended up getting one* from Ontario (it helps that my wife is from TO).
Anyway, the point was only that rare breeds can vary pretty strongly in concentration b/w the US and Canada. I’d guess that there are about as many vallhund breeders in ca as in us.
*And then later another one.
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