Springer Spaniel grooming in Gloucester, MA

The AKC describes the springer as a double-coated sporting spaniel of 40 to 50 pounds, with long, lush ears and a coat in several colors and patterns. What the breed page does not show is how far the two lines have drifted apart. Field-bred springers tend to carry shorter, coarser coats, show-bred dogs grow theirs longer, and Wikipedia's account of the breed notes that the two gene pools have been almost completely separate for at least 70 years, even though both are registered as one breed.

For grooming, that split decides the appointment. A show-type springer has long feathering on the ears, chest, belly and legs that tangles and holds burrs. A field-type springer has less of it but still sheds a double coat and still grows hair on the ears and between the toes. The AKC's advice covers both: brush weekly with a slicker or a metal comb, and have the feet, the head and neck and the area under the tail neatened.

Springers were bred to find birds in high grass and bramble and flush them out, and they still head for the thickest cover on any walk. On Cape Ann that means Dogtown Common's 3,600 acres of woods and boulders, Ravenswood Park in West Gloucester, where the Trustees welcome dogs, and the edges of every marsh. From late summer the seed heads arrive, and a burr left in ear feathering soon has hair wrapped tight around it.

Ticks follow the same paths. Tick season here runs from April to November, so a tick check belongs in every after-walk routine, and in a feathered springer that means parting the hair on the ears, the armpits, the groin and between the toes. Book the groom by what the comb tells you rather than by the date: when burrs no longer come out at home, the coat is due. Left too long they turn into mats, and dematting is $15 per 20 minutes on top of the groom.

The AKC's home routine is a weekly brush with a slicker or a metal comb to lift dirt and loose hair and keep mats from forming, with tangles worked out rather than torn. Add an ear check: the AKC says a springer's ears should be looked at regularly for signs of infection. Keep the nails short too, since the AKC notes overly long nails can be painful and cause problems walking and running. Our how-to on doing a tick check walks through the places to look on a feathered dog.

Springers love to swim, and the AKC lists it among their favorite pastimes. At the time of writing Gloucester's beaches take dogs from October 1, Good Harbor on even-numbered days to March 31 and Wingaersheek on odd-numbered days to April 30. After a swim, rinse the salt out with fresh water and dry the ears and feathering through before the dog settles on a bed. On a spaniel, the damp ear is the one to watch.