We’re doing a little something different here at Shenanigans today and taking part in author Dianne Ascroft’s blog tour for her book Hitler and Mars Bars. I’ve got another great post from Dianne over at Hell Or High Water, so click through if you’re interested!
What Kind Of Spaniel Do You See?
Excerpt from ‘Hitler and Mars Bars’ by Dianne Ascroft
Chapter 4: Christmas In Cavan
“Two dogs came to meet them. Patch, a wizened black and white sheepdog, approached, head lowered and alert. Gipsy, a boisterous brown spaniel, bounded over sniffing around them. Erich eyed the dogs warily; dogs he had met in Germany were half starved and vicious. Patch returned his stare as Gipsy leapt at Erich. He stepped back startled and the dog craned forward, licking his hand vigorously. Tentatively Erich patted the dog’s head. The dog licked harder.
“He’ll not hurt ye. Yon’s too daft to do ye any harm,” said a tall man, seeing the fear in Erich’s eyes. His broad chest strained against his jumper and tweed jacket, as he leaned over to pat and reassure the wary sheepdog. His eyes crinkled good humouredly as he regarded the boy gradually relaxing with the spaniel.”
How could any boy resist the friendly charm of a spaniel? When I wrote ‘Hitler and Mars Bars’ I wanted Erich, my main character, to have a dog to love. A war-scarred child needs the absolute devotion of a canine friend. It didn’t take much deliberation to decide it would be a spaniel. Such an exuberant, loyal, people-loving dog was a natural choice.
Take a look at the cover of ‘Hitler and Mars Bars’ above. What kind of dog do you see? When I created Gipsy I imagined a Field Spaniel. How many other solid brown spaniel breeds are there? Thinking about that question, I decided to do a bit of research.
I discovered that solid brown is the only or one of the colour possibilities for more spaniel breeds’ coats than I imagined. Doing a quick check for ‘brown spaniels’ on the internet I found Field Spaniels, English Cocker Spaniels, American Cocker Spaniels, Boykin Spaniels, Irish Water Spaniels and American Water Spaniels.
Spaniels are thought to have originated in Europe – most likely Spain or France. The name is probably derived from ‘epagneul’, the French word for Spain, or ‘espagnol’, the Spanish word for Spain. They were originally bred as hunting dogs to run in front of the hunter flushing out wildfowl.
Spaniels have been around for a long time. Alexander the Great had coins minted depicting hunting scenes that included greyhounds and long haired spaniels. Geoffrey Chaucer, in the late 1300s, mentioned the ‘spaynell’ in his writings. Shakespeare included spaniels in nine of his plays. A spaniel is said to have been one of the two dogs that sailed aboard the Mayflower on its voyage to the New World.
Originally the breed was only divided into land and water spaniels. Other breed differentiations didn’t begin until the mid-1800s. In England Field and Cocker Spaniels began to be separated into two different breeds around 1870. Until 1901 this was decided by the dog’s adult weight – a dog weighing more than 25 lbs was classed as a Field Spaniel; one under this weight was a Cocker Spaniel. So it was quite common for puppies born into the same litter to be classed as different breeds as adults. Eventually other physical characteristics were taken into consideration to determine breeds.
By the end of the First World War Cocker Spaniels in America and England had become very different. Generally the English dogs were bigger; their owners wanted hunting rather than show dogs. As a result, the American and English Cocker Spaniels became two separate breeds.
Field Spaniels almost became extinct during the 19th century. Owner preference dictated that they be bred to have increasingly short legs and long bodies. Eventually they became too short and awkward to be any use for hunting. They became known as the “drainpipe spaniel”. Careful breeding gradually restored the breed to its original proportions.
Meanwhile other spaniels were developing separately from Field and Cocker Spaniels. The Irish Water Spaniel developed in Ireland in the early 1830s. Across the water, in America, new breeds were also developing. The American Water Spaniel originated in the mid-1800s, probably in Wisconsin. The Boykin Spaniel originated in South Carolina in the early 1900s.
Here’s a few facts that you may not know:
Field Spaniels:
Ÿ originated in England
Ÿ are usually solid colours – brown or black
Ÿ disappeared from America in the late 1920s and weren’t re-introduced until 1968
Ÿ are one of the rarer breeds in America – approximately only 1500 currently in American households
English Cocker Spaniels:
Ÿ are named for their adeptness at hunting woodcock
Ÿ became a separate breed in England in 1936 but not until 1946 in America
Ÿ live approximately one year longer than their American counterparts
Ÿ are trained in Cuba as sniffer dogs to detect drugs and illegal foodstuffs at airports
American Cocker Spaniels:
Ÿ are the smallest dog in the spaniel breed category
Ÿ were the most popular breed in America during two periods – 1936-52 and 1983-90
Ÿ were popular with famous owners including Robert Kennedy, President Richard Nixon and Oprah Winfrey
Irish Water Spaniels:
Ÿ are one of the largest and rarest spaniels
Ÿ have densely curled coats that do not shed
Ÿ have smooth, rat-like tails, contrasting with their curly coated bodies
Ÿ have slightly webbed feet that aid swimming
Ÿ were bred to hunt wildfowl in the marshes, bogs and estuaries of Ireland which sometimes led to them being referred to as “bog dogs”
American Water Spaniels:
Ÿ are little known outside North America
Ÿ hunt ‘feather and fur’ – wildfowl and game
Ÿ were at the peak of their popularity in the 1920s and 1930s
Boykin Spaniels:
Ÿ have the most variety in coat texture of any spaniel – flat, curly, tight kinky, wavy
Ÿ are an instinctive, agile swimmer and natural retriever
Ÿ have their tails docked because hunters believe their wagging tail startles birds
Ÿ were originally used to hunt turkeys
Ÿ were bred to easily fit into a small boat with hunters and are therefore known as “the dog who won’t rock the boat”.
Ÿ became the state dog of South Carolina in 1985
No matter what the differences between breeds, spaniels share a positive temperament. They are even-tempered, loyal, affectionate, intelligent and energetic. What better dog to choose for a boy? The more I learn about spaniels, the more convinced I am that I created the right dog for Erich.
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‘Hitler and Mars Bars’ is the story of a German boy, Erich, growing up in war-torn Germany and post-war rural Ireland. Set against the backdrop of Operation Shamrock, a little known Irish Red Cross project which aided German children after World War II, the novel explores a previously hidden slice of Irish and German history.
If you would like to learn more about the novel, please drop by my website at www.geocities.com/dianne_ascroft . My Virtual Book Tour continues until December 24. You can get the full schedule at www.dianneascroft.wordpress.com.
‘Hitler and Mars Bars’ is available to order from www.trafford.com, many other online book shops, including www.amazon.co.uk, and my website. It can also be ordered from any book shop.
