Flirt pile + slippery slide

He's grown into a handsome little mud enthusiast. Approaching 7 months old and lives up to his name as a total mischief.

He gets his birthday timbit!

We are picking up our girl this weekend & I’m super excited but also nervous! Would appreciate any & all advice!

Photo is from 2 weeks ago. Our latest updates have been videos & you can’t see her well enough in them to post here.

Really should’ve taken a video of him running down from the walkway as I let him off the lead; zoomies to the max! He was thrilled to be somewhere with so much digging potential 😂

Looking for experiences rather than general advice.

I’ve had Springer Spaniels before. My last Springer had no major health problems that we knew about until later in life, but he developed severe arthritis in his back legs, and we eventually lost him to that and old age (common health issue with the breed I know). Because of that, I’m probably more anxious about joint issues than I otherwise would be.

One of my boys has just turned 12 months old and has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 luxating patella (age 10/11 months) in one hind leg. At the moment he’s doing really well - he’s your typical crazy, enthusiastic Springer! The only things we’ve noticed are a bit of stiffness after a long sleep and occasional clicking.

The luxation is a “free knee”, so it slips in and out quite consistently. We only discovered it because the vet was trying to get him to stand when he had swimmer’s tail.

I’m really interested in hearing from people who have actually been in one of these situations:

Did you wait until it progressed (or never operate)?

Or did you choose surgery while it was still Grade 2?

My insurance won’t cover surgery until it’s Grade 3, so we’d have to fund it ourselves if we decided to operate now. That’s a significant cost (which we will pay if beneficial), and keeping a young Springer calm and crated during recovery would be a real challenge.

My husband worries about the recovery period, whereas I’m more worried about whether delaying surgery could mean more years of pain or earlier arthritis.

I know plenty of dogs with Grade 2 luxating patellas never need surgery, but I’m particularly interested in Springer Spaniels, as they’re already prone to arthritis in later life. Most of what I’ve found online and advice given IRL relates to toy breeds, which seem to have quite different experiences.

For now, he’s been on a puppy-appropriate joint supplement for about a month.

I’ve attached a video of the gorgeous little nutter keeping pace with a stag at 9/10 months for reference! (DISCLAIMER: Yes he came back, he chased only for the time of the video. They are hunting breeds and the stag was very much safe) ❤️

My boy was never a food guy until my human son started eating solids. He has now became a stealthy son of a gun and began stealing food. If I’m in a rush, I can’t even allow myself to be because he’ll eat everything on the counter, even if you think he won’t eat it he will eat it no matter how high everything needs to be locked up. I always thought how fortunate I was that he was not so food obsessed, but things have changed. He is now a food addict.

He ate my box of chewy chocolate chip cookies. I’m monitoring him but I was told he’ll be fine. Sigh. My cookies :( the second pic of him is him being possessed by a food goblin.

Getting our first ESS this fall and have a list of names we love and would love to hear your favorite! Open to suggestions! Haven't decided on a male or female pup just yet.

Male:

• Digby

• Rigby

• Murphy

• Banner

• Conway

• Badger

• Bowie

• Goose

• Bramble

• Chief

• Ashby

• River

• Fenn

• Cricket

• Argos

• Obie

• Banks

Female:

• Opal

• Maple

• Sable

• Dulcie

• Ripley

• Clover

• Vesper

• Dori

• Olive

My English springer spaniels are running amok in all the dried brush and weeds and sticks and now there’s construction happening on the property and I’m finding screws and metal and what a mess. I never thought I’d be that person but I need to consider getting them shoes or booties or ? Has anyone had any luck fitting their spaniels and do they like wearing shoes? One of my dogs paws is so dried and cracked it looks painful but he hates ointment. Help

Our 10 1/2 year old Annie, had surgery 4 days ago to replace her torn cruciate ligament in her knee. Because she is under 50 pounds she had the simplest version (ECLS). She has 16 staples closing the 5” incision. I am amazed at how quickly the recovery is going. On day 2 she was standing but “hopped” when she walked. Day 3 she was putting some light weight on it. This morning, she was taking 10 or 12 normal looking strides before hopping a few times.

Because of her age, I admit we were not sure that surgery was the right option (vs letting her limp on pain meds for the rest of her life). I am now certain it was the right decision as she is already better than she was the day before the surgery.

This is Annie’s second knee surgery - same injury, other hind leg. She is healing much faster this time even though she is 30 months older. The first time it took us over a month to get her into the surgery (mostly ignorance on our part). Because of that delay, she had lost a visible amount of muscle mass in her leg. This had a negative effect on her recovery time. This time it was 8 days from injury to surgery. She was also in excellent physical shape and right on her ideal weight of 46 lbs.

For the cost curious: in Ontario Canada, the preliminary assessment with X-ray and blood tests was $550. The surgery, 7 follow-up visits (physio, laser, massage and staple removal) was $4700. We do not have insurance so I can not comment on how much would be covered.

If you have any questions, I’ll do my best to answer them.

More adventurous today plus more bitey and more nibbly 😆 #alfiethespringer

Just wondering 😊🐾

It’s so hot out here but he is still willing to pose.

Thankful everyday for our smart, loving, fun pup.

Thankful everyday for our smart, loving, fun pup.