 Hello!
Our names are Jerry and Cheryl Sligar. We field
trial and hunt with English Springer Spaniels. This is not a forum to
express the pros and cons of hunting vs. non-hunting or field trial vs.
show. This is a website about how we live with our dogs and for people who
are interested in learning about and/or participating in our sport. If
you are one of those people, welcome!
We started out looking for a springer in
1980 as a house pet/hunting companion.
My Father had hunted all his life in the woods of Pennsylvania, usually with a
beagle or beagle mix. One day he brought home a puppy that was half beagle, half
springer. His
name was Skippy, and he was one of the smartest dogs that I ever knew. My
husband Jerry had never hunted over a dog, but he had owned a Lab once, and he
decided that Labs would be too big for our condo and small children, so when we decided to
look, we chose the English Springer Spaniel because of its size, intelligence, and
versatility. The new puppy was a field bred liver and white male, and we named
him CJ after us, of course!
We trained CJ from a book called "GUN DOG BY RICHARD WOLTERS"
and during the course of his first year, met with ESS people called "field trialers". Having a competitive spirit, we decided to try out these field
trials. Since then we have placed in many field trials
with a few wonderful springers, have completed five field championship titles,
placed in the 2000 National Open Championship with April, our
black and white female, pictured above on the far right. We
occasionally breed, and our pups live all over the country. Contrary to some
beliefs, the field bred ESS will make a wonderful family companion, and can be
trained as an obedience, utility or agility dog. Of course, it's up to you to
give your ESS the proper foundation and socialization needed for success in any
of these endeavors. Many field bred ESS are used as drug finding dogs, mostly in
the UK and Canada, but most of all, the field bred ESS has been bred for
generations to be an expert hunting companion, and known as one of the most
versatile hunting dogs bred anywhere in the world. |
 Jerry and I
were both officers of the Southern Nevada English Springer Spaniel Club in
Las Vegas, Nevada. Unfortunately, this club is currently inactive. Click here for all Field
Trial Clubs and Dates. We are also members of the ESS Field Trial Association (ESSFTA), the
Parent Club of our breed.
Visit their website for information on their Breeder Referral Program. The
ESSFTA will send, upon request, a list of participating field or show breeders
for the ESS. The address for this program is
ESSFTA Breeder Referral Are you looking for a springer club in your area? Go to
Regional Clubs
Make sure you visit our "other links" page. There is a
world of information at your fingertips. Thanks for visiting and enjoy!
Cheryl & Jerry Sligar |
|
Information & Disclaimer for Outside Links:
This web page contains hypertext links and directions to information created,
owned, and maintained by other organizations and individuals. These links and
directions are provided for your convenience. West Wings does not control or
guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness or completeness of this outside
information. Further, the inclusion of this information is not intended to
recommend or endorse any specific resource or the views expressed or products
or service offered via these venues.
Thanks for visiting us!
|
