The Russian Spaniel is the youngest of the Russian gun dogs, and the first spaniel to be standardized in the Soviet Union after World War. At first glance, it resembles the English Cocker Spaniel, but the Russian Spaniel has a longer body and a shorter, tight coat with some feathering on ears and legs.  There’s a reason for this.

Russian aristocracy (including Prince Nikolai, a relative of Nicholas II whose spaniel was named “Dasha”)  brought the first European spaniels to Russia at the end of 19th century, but the communist revolution in 1917 reduced their numbers dramatically, and it’s possible that no purebred spaniels were left in the country. After WWII,  hunters developed a new versatile hunting breed using the remaining dogs, many of which might have been mixes of English Cocker Spaniels, English Springer Spaniels, and other European spaniels.

The new breed had to be small, strong and suited for Russian climate, and the result was the Russian Spaniel. It was which standardized in the Soviet Union in 1951, followed by revisions in 1966, and later in 2000.  Much credit, it’s said, belongs to Miklashevskii S. who actively developed the breed and became the founder of the field test which tests the quality of working dogs. His efforts succeeded in bringing the breed to its current state.  For all that, the Russian Spaniel remains virtually unknown outside of Russia. Inside the country, the breed has quickly became popular in part because of its small size which allows owners to keep them in town, but also because this reliable hunting dog is easily transported to a hunt site. Some feel these dogs do best in game-rich areas (quail, hare, sandpiper and corncrake) because they lack stamina, but the Emergency Situations Ministry finds the breed to be good search and rescue dogs where its keen sense of smell is of great help.

There is a Russian Spaniel Club which seems to be inactive at the time of this post, but the breed has been added to the NAHRA approved breed list (that’s the North American Hunting Retriever Association)

Photo found on Pinterest and happily credited upon receipt of information