ClumberSpaniel

1 Clumber Spaniel Breed Introduction

The Clumber Spaniel (ClumberSpaniel), also known as the Clumber Hound, originated in France in the 19th century. This breed has deep amber eyes, large in size, with a gentle expression, set deeply within diamond-shaped or ‘V’-bottomed, curved-top eye rims.

2 Clumber Spaniel Physical Characteristics

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The ideal adult male Clumber Spaniel should stand 45.7-50.8 cm at the shoulder, and the ideal female 43.1-48.2 cm. The ideal adult male should weigh 35.8-38.6 kg and the female 24.9-31.6 kg. Dogs outside these ranges are considered faulty.

Head: The head is heavy, with a pronounced stop and heavy brows. The top of the skull is flat, with the occiput prominent. There is a slight indentation between the eyes that extends upward to the middle of the skull.

Ears: The ears are broad at the top, with thick leather. They are triangular, rounded at the bottom, set low on the head, near the horizontal line of the eyes.

Eyes: Lake-colored (deep), large, with a soft gaze. The eyes are set deep; the eye rims may be diamond-shaped, or ‘V’-shaped at the bottom and curved at the top.

Nose: The nose is large, square, and brown in color, also including beige, rose, and cherry shades.

Body

Neck: The Clumber Spaniel has a fairly long neck; loose or pendulous throat skin is not a fault. The neck is strong and muscular, joining well with the sloping shoulders.

Topline: Straight, firm, long, and level.

Chest: Deep, with well-sprung ribs. The chest is deep and broad.

Tail: Usually carried level with or slightly above the topline, never tucked between the legs. The tail may be docked or natural; both are acceptable. If docked, its length should be in proportion to the body. If natural, the tail bone should extend to the hock but not touch the ground.

Coat

Coat: The body coat is dense, straight, and flat. It protects well against harsh weather.

The touch is soft, not coarse. The ear hair is straight, with slight feathering. The legs and belly have moderate feathering. The Clumber Spaniel has a good neck frill that must never be clipped away at the throat.

Color: The main color is white, with lemon or orange markings. Markings usually appear on one or both ears and on the face. Facial markings include patches around one or both eyes, on the muzzle, and on the top of the head.

3 Clumber Spaniel Temperament

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Starting from the Clumber Spaniel’s face, one can roughly tell its character: its appearance gives a gentle, confident feeling. This dog sometimes seems to avoid people, yet at other times shows a playful, affectionate nature.

The Clumber Hound is a gentle, loyal, and devoted dog, sincerely wishing to please its owner. An intelligent and independent thinker, it shows decisiveness and originality at work. The Spanish spaniel should not appear hostile or aggressive; neither is desirable nor forgivable. This breed has extremely important character traits: its love and devotion to owner and family, and its alertness and courage, are defining features.

4 Clumber Spaniel Care Tips

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In daily life, we often find Clumber Spaniels eating strange things, such as non-food items like dirt, newspaper, feces, and wall soil. This phenomenon is called pica, caused by a deficiency of trace elements or vitamins. But some Clumber Spaniels lack no nutrients yet still show pica. How should we deal with these problems?

For dogs with pica, the following methods can be used to correct it:

1. Balance the dog’s diet reasonably to ensure the large dog’s nutritional needs, including minerals, vitamins, and trace elements.

2. Carefully observe which non-food items the dog is interested in and swallows (the pica items); then coat those items with irritants such as pepper or chili powder, and place them where the dog can easily find them. Once the dog swallows the item, it will feel the spicy discomfort; after repeating several times, the pica can be stopped.

3. Mousetrap correction method: place mousetraps upside down near the pica items. When the dog approaches and tries to take the item, it triggers the trap, which snaps up with a clap under the spring’s force. This sudden noise and bounce scares the dog away; after several repetitions the pica stops. To strengthen the effect, set several traps at once.

4. Water-gun punishment method: when the dog swallows a pica item, spray it sharply with a water gun. After several repetitions, this also corrects the behavior. Note: do not spray the dog’s eyes.

5 Clumber Spaniel Feeding Guidelines

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In fact, most owners like their dogs to look chubby, and the Clumber Spaniel is no exception. So when the dog begs for food, owners give it freely. Thus many dogs develop greedy habits, and over time become overweight from excess nutrition.

Human food should not be given to Clumber Spaniels

Many people think dogs and cats have no special nutritional requirements, that whatever they eat is fine, and pay no attention. So pets often eat human food; some owners especially dote on their pets and even put them at the table to eat with people.

Actually, although pets and humans need the same nutrients, over a long time pets have developed their own digestive systems and eating habits. Cats and dogs are carnivores; their intestines are relatively short and can digest and absorb 90%-95% of the protein in meat and organs, but only 60%-80% of plant protein. Human food is omnivorous; the gastrointestinal tract more easily absorbs meat, grains, and vegetables, and can absorb 95% of the protein in soy flour or soy milk.

Besides, pets need high-protein food. Cats also need taurine, cannot make enough arachidonic acid, cannot synthesize vitamin PP from tryptophan, and cannot convert beta-carotene into vitamin A. Humans have no such needs, so some foods good for humans are not good for pets.

Feed nutritionally balanced food

As mentioned above, do not feed pets human food, so owners should gradually change their pets’ diet. First, apart from regular meals, avoid snacks and treats; choosing a high-quality weight-control feed is also important, meeting the needs of low calories, high fiber, and high digestibility, while maintaining vitamins, minerals, and unsaturated fatty acids during weight loss.

Commercial pet food is rich in nutrients and easy to digest and absorb. Note that nutritional content cannot be measured merely by food weight or volume; this feeding method fully meets the pet’s nutritional needs without increasing portions or adding other food.

Combining dry pet food with canned pet food gives a balanced, tasty mix that does not affect the dry food’s nutrition. Using this combination to reward or stimulate your beloved pet works very well.

Correct food transition method: start mainly with the original food, add a small amount of new food, then gradually increase the new food and decrease the old, so the dog slowly eats the new food.

Never mix cat and dog food

Some people think cat and dog food are similar and, for convenience or profit, swap them; this harms your pet.

Comparing adult cat and adult dog commercial food, the former is richer in crude protein, crude fat, and metabolic energy, and cat food contains taurine while dog food does not. Taurine is one of the cat’s most important nutrients; deficiency causes various damages, so dog food must not be fed to cats long term.

Conversely, because cat food is relatively high in nutrients and energy, feeding cat food to dogs easily causes obesity, which leads to nutritional imbalance and failure of the weight-loss plan.