General Appearance and Type: The English Springer Spaniel is a medium size sporting dog with a neat, compact body. His coat is moderately long, glossy, usually liver and white or black and white, with feathering on his legs, ears, chest and brisket. His pendulous ears, soft gentle expression, sturdy build and friendly wagging tail proclaim him unmistakably a member of the ancient family of spaniels.

Size and Proportion: The Springer is built to cover rough ground with agility and reasonable speed. He should be kept to medium size, neither too small nor too large and heavy to do the work for which he is intended. The ideal shoulder height for dogs is 20 inches and for bitches, 19 inches. Length of topline (the distance from top of the shoulders to the root of the tail) should be approximately equal to the dog's shoulder height, never longer than his height and not appreciably less.

Colour and Coat: Colour may be liver or black with white markings, liver and white, (or black and white) with tan markings, blue or liver roan; or predominantly white with tan, black or liver markings. On ears, chest, legs and belly the Springer is nicely furnished with a fringe of feathering (of moderate heaviness). On his head, front of foreles, and below hocks on front of hind legs, the hair is short and fine. The body coat is flat or wavy, of medium length, sufficiently dense to be waterproof, weatherproof and thornproof. The texture fine and the hair should have the clean, glossy, live appearance indicative of good health.

Head: The head is impressive without being heavy. Its beauty lies in a combination of strength and refinement. It is important that the size and proportion be in balance with the rest of the dog. Viewed in profile the head should appear approximately the same length as the neck and should blend with the body in substance. The skull (upper head) to be of medium length, fairly broad, flat on top, slightly rounded at the sides and back. Viewed in profile, the topline of the skull and the muzzle lie in two approximately parallel planes. The nasal bone should be straight, with no inclination downward toward the tip of the nose which gives a downfaced look which is so undesirable in this breed. Neither should the nasal bone be concave resulting in a "dish-faced" profile, nor convex, giving the dog a Roman nose.

Teeth: The teeth should be strong, clean, not too small; and when the mouth is closed the teeth should meet in an even bite or a close scissors bite.

Ears:, The correct ear set is on a level with the line of the eye, on the side of the skull and not too far back. The flaps to be long and fairly wide, hanging close to the cheeks, with no tendency to stand up or out. The leather, thin, approximately long enough to reach the tip of the nose.

Body: The body to be well coupled, strong, compact, the chest deep but not so wide or round as to interfere with the action of the front legs, the brisket sufficiently developed to reach to the level of the elbows. The ribs fairly long, springing gradually to the middle of the body then tapering as they approach the end of the ribbed section. The back should be straight and strong, with no tendency to dip or roach. The loins to be strong, short, a slight arch over loins and hip bones. The resulting topline slopes very gently from withers to tail - the line from withers to back descending without a sharp drop; the back practically level, arch over hips somewhat lower than the withers, croup sloping gently to base of tail, tail carried to follow the natural line of the body. The bottom line, starting on a level with the elbows, to continue backward with almost no up-curve to the flank, but not enough to make the dog appear small waisted or "tucked up."

Tail: The Springer's tail is an index both to his temperament and his conformation. Merry tail action is characteristic. The proper set is somewhat low following lthe lnatural line of the croup. The carriage should be nearly horizontal, slightly elevated when dog is excited. Carried straight up is untypical of the breed. The tail should not be docked too short and should be well fringed with wavy feather.

Forequarters: Efficient movement in front calls for proper shoulders. The blades sloping back to form an angle with the forearm of approximaltely 90 degrees which permits the dog to swing his forelegs forward in an easy manner. The forelegs to be straight with the same degree of size to the foot. The bone, strong, slightly flattened and not too heavy or round. The knee, straight, almost flat; the pasterns short, strong; elbows close to the body with free action from the shoulders.

Hindquarters: The Springer should be in hard muscular condition, well developed in hips and thighs and the whole rear assembly should suggest strength and driving power. Hip joints to be set rather wide apart and hips nicely rounded. Thighs broad and muscular, stifle joint strong and moderately bent.

Feet: The feet to be round, or slightly oval, compact, well arched, medium size with thick pads, well feathered between the toes.