Origin And History
The Sussex Spaniel, named after the historic county of Sussex in southeastern England where it was developed in the late 18th century as a specialized hunting companion for estate hunters who pursued game on foot through the county’s characteristically dense hedgerows, heavy clay soil, and thickly wooded terrain, is a long, low-slung, rectangularly built, golden-liver-coated flushing and retrieving spaniel that is one of the first ten breeds to be recognized by the AKC when that organization was founded in 1884 as a Sporting Group breed, one of the founding breeds recognized by the UK Kennel Club in 1872, and designated since 2004 as a Vulnerable Native Breed by the Kennel Club of Great Britain — a conservation designation for English dog breeds with fewer than 300 annual registrations — making it among the most historically distinguished and the most currently endangered of any spaniel breed recognized by a major international registry, a breed that in 2009 achieved its most publicly celebrated individual honor when a Sussex Spaniel named Clussexx Three D Grinchy Glee, known by his call name Stump, won Best in Show at the 133rd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, becoming at 10 years old the oldest dog ever to win the Westminster Best in Show title, and a breed with two individual working qualities that distinguish it from every other recognized spaniel in the world: a unique characteristic rolling gait produced by the long body and short legs that no other spaniel shares, and the specific and specifically unusual habit of giving tongue — barking and howling while actively following a scent trail — that is the only behavior of this kind among all recognized spaniel breeds and that developed as a direct functional response to the breed’s working context.
The breed’s most specifically documented founding history traces to Augustus Elliot Fuller, the owner of Rosehill Park Estate in Sussex, England, who is credited with developing the Sussex Spaniel beginning around 1795. Fuller spent more than 50 years developing the breed from a small group of land spaniels, selectively breeding for the specific physical characteristics that the dense Sussex terrain demanded: short, strong legs to navigate the heavy clay soil and push through thick undergrowth, a long, powerfully muscled body to provide the leverage for fighting through dense cover, large feet to cope with the heavy Sussex clay, and the extraordinary nose that could trail game through any conditions the English countryside produced.
The specific working context that shaped every one of the Sussex Spaniel’s most defining individual characteristics was the dense, overgrown hedgerow and woodland terrain of Sussex. In the 18th century, hunters in Sussex pursued game on foot rather than on horseback, which required a spaniel that could keep pace with walking hunters — not a fast, wide-ranging breed but a methodical, steady, thorough worker that moved slowly enough for the hunter on foot to follow through heavy cover. The vegetation was so dense and so tall that these low-riding spaniels were frequently invisible to the hunters following them through the undergrowth. From this invisibility developed the giving tongue — the specific barking and howling behavior that allowed the hunter to track the dog’s position through dense cover by sound when visual contact was impossible. This vocality was so specifically functional that it was deliberately bred for and maintained as an essential working characteristic. Today the Sussex Spaniel remains the only spaniel that gives tongue while hunting.
The first specific mention of the Sussex Spaniel in print appeared in a magazine called Sportsman’s Cabinet in 1803, describing the breed in terms that are recognizable in the modern dog. In 1862, the breed was exhibited at the Crystal Palace dog show in London. When Fuller died in 1847, his kennel was dispersed and the breed entered a period of serious decline. Moses Woolland subsequently took up Sussex Spaniel breeding in the second half of the 19th century and worked to restore the population from near-collapse, stabilizing it enough for formal recognition. The UK Kennel Club recognized the breed in 1872 among the first breeds accepted. The AKC placed the breed among the first nine recognized when the organization was established in 1884.
The most devastating individual crisis in the breed’s history was World War II, which reduced the Sussex Spaniel population to a handful of individuals. In 1947, only ten Sussex Spaniels were registered in the English Kennel Club. The breed’s survival to the present day is attributed almost entirely to a single English breeder named Joy Freer, who maintained eight Sussex Spaniels through the war years, feeding them through wartime scarcity and continuing careful breeding when all official breeding programs were suspended. All modern Sussex Spaniels are descended from the dogs she saved. This single-person preservation achievement is among the most personally significant individual acts of breed conservation in any spaniel breed’s history.
The first Sussex Spaniel import to be officially registered with the AKC in the United States was Oak Mermaid in 1924. The Sussex Spaniel Club of America was founded in 1981 as the AKC recognized parent club for the breed. Despite the long recognition history, the breed has never achieved mainstream popularity — in 2018, only 34 puppies were born in the entire United States and the UK registered just 37 dogs.
Breed Overview
| Trait | Details |
|---|---|
| Origin | Sussex County, southeastern England (developed from ~1795 at Rosehill Park Estate) |
| Named After | County of Sussex, England |
| Founder | Augustus Elliot Fuller (Rosehill Park Estate, Sussex; bred from ~1795; over 50 years of development) |
| First Print Mention | Sportsman’s Cabinet magazine (1803) |
| Crystal Palace Show | Exhibited 1862 |
| UK Kennel Club | Recognized 1872 (founding breed) |
| AKC Recognition | 1884 (one of first nine original breeds; Sporting Group) |
| Sussex Spaniel Club of America | Founded 1981 (AKC recognized parent club) |
| Vulnerable Native Breed | Designated by UK Kennel Club of Great Britain (2004; breeds with fewer than 300 annual registrations) |
| WWII Near-Extinction | Population reduced to approximately 5–10 dogs |
| Breed Savior | Joy Freer — maintained eight dogs through WWII; all modern Sussex descend from her dogs |
| Westminster Best in Show | 2009 — Stump (Clussexx Three D Grinchy Glee); oldest dog at age 10 to win Westminster BIS |
| 2018 Population | 34 puppies born in USA; 37 registered in UK |
| FCI Classification | Group 8, Section 2 (Flushing Dogs; Standard No. 127) |
| UKC | Gun Dog Group |
| AKC Ranking | Consistently near bottom of popularity rankings; 155th of 167 breeds (2010) |
| Height | 33–38 cm (13–15 inches) |
| Weight | 16–20 kg (35–45 pounds) |
| Lifespan | 13–15 years |
| Coat | Flat or slightly wavy; feathering on legs and tail; soft wavy hair on ears |
| Color | Golden liver (ONLY breed required to have this specific color) |
| Puce Liver | Darker variant; discouraged under breed standard |
| Expression | Somber; frowning; serious; sad-looking (does not reflect temperament) |
| Eyes | Large; hazel; heavy brows |
| Unique Gait | Rolling; characteristic swinging movement specific to breed |
| Unique Voice | Gives tongue while hunting — only spaniel to do so |
| Breeding Difficulty | Females may skip seasons, reabsorb puppies, require caesarean sections |
Joy Freer: The Woman Who Saved the Sussex Spaniel
Before discussing care, the Sussex Spaniel’s most specifically moving individual survival story deserves its own dedicated acknowledgment, because Joy Freer’s wartime dedication to this breed is among the most personally significant individual acts of animal conservation in the history of British dog breeds.
During World War II, with food rationed, breeding officially discouraged, and the practical difficulties of maintaining dogs through the Blitz and wartime austerity bearing down on everyone in England, Joy Freer maintained eight Sussex Spaniels through the war years with the specific commitment of a person who understood that allowing the breed’s population to collapse further would mean permanent extinction. She fed her dogs through scarcity, continued careful breeding when the official kennel club infrastructure was suspended, and delivered the breed to the post-war world with enough individuals to rebuild. Every Sussex Spaniel alive today — in the United States, in the United Kingdom, and anywhere else in the world — descends from the dogs Joy Freer kept through those years. The breed exists entirely because of her individual dedication, making the Sussex Spaniel’s history one of the clearest examples in any breed’s story of exactly what a single committed person can mean to the survival of an entire genetic lineage.
Stump and Westminster: The Most Celebrated Individual Sussex Spaniel
In 2009, at the 133rd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, a 10-year-old Sussex Spaniel named Clussexx Three D Grinchy Glee — known to his owners and to history as Stump — won Best in Show, becoming at that age the oldest dog in Westminster’s history to win the title. The victory was not merely a show ring triumph but a moment of sustained public attention for a breed that had consistently ranked near the bottom of AKC popularity tallies. Stump’s win introduced generations of television viewers and newspaper readers to a breed they had never encountered, producing a temporary but significant surge in breed interest that the Sussex Spaniel Club of America and breeders worked to channel into genuine breed awareness.
Appearance And Size
The Sussex Spaniel is a long, low, heavy-boned, rectangularly proportioned spaniel that presents with the most immediately distinctive combination of its golden liver coat — the only dog breed in the world required to have this specific color — the frowning, heavy-browed, somber expression that does not reflect the breed’s genuinely cheerful temperament, and the uniquely rolling gait that no other spaniel produces.
Adults stand 33 to 38 centimeters and weigh 16 to 20 kilograms — substantially heavier than the height suggests, reflecting the dense muscling and heavy bone that the thick Sussex undergrowth specifically demanded. The coat is flat or slightly wavy, with feathering on the legs and tail and soft wavy hair on the ears. The golden liver color — which can range from a rich deep golden to a warmer liver shade — is not merely a breed preference but a breed standard requirement. The puce liver (darker, duskier) variant exists but is discouraged. The large, hazel eyes with heavy brows produce the characteristic somber expression that makes the breed instantly recognizable and that observers consistently describe as a sad puppy gaze despite the dog’s genuinely cheerful and good-natured personality.
Housing And Living Requirements
The Sussex Spaniel is more adaptable in terms of living environment than its working spaniel heritage might suggest, provided its daily exercise requirements are consistently met. The breed will do acceptably in an apartment if sufficiently exercised, though a home with yard access is more naturally appropriate for a sporting breed.
The breed is not suited to vigorous exercise in puppyhood — strenuous exercise before at least one year of age may damage the growing joints of this heavy-boned, chondrodystrophic breed, making age-appropriate exercise management from the earliest weeks among the most practically important individual welfare investments. The breed can live outdoors in temperate climates with warm shelter but generally does better as a house dog with yard access. The hunting nose that the breed’s most celebrated working quality requires specific management in unsecured outdoor areas — a Sussex following an interesting scent will pursue it without heed for traffic or distance.
An orthopedic dog bed is specifically and urgently important given the intervertebral disc disease (IVDD) documented through chondrodystrophy in the breed. A comfortable dog bed in a social area of the home suits the breed’s warmly people-integrated character.
Exercise Requirements
The Sussex Spaniel has a medium activity level — lower energy than most sporting spaniels, specifically and intentionally bred for the slow, methodical working pace that foot-hunting in dense Sussex cover required. Daily walks and moderate play sessions satisfy the breed’s genuine exercise needs without the two-hour daily commitments that higher-energy sporting breeds require.
The breed enjoys retrieving and swimming and being outdoors in woods and fields, which makes outdoor walking, field exercise, and water activities the most naturally appropriate and personally fulfilling individual exercise outlets. The breed may howl if not properly exercised and left alone — the giving tongue instinct that made the breed so useful in the Sussex hunting field will also express itself in domestic settings when frustration from insufficient exercise or companion absence creates the same vocal impulse.
Scent work and tracking activities engage the exceptional hunting nose in purposeful organized sport. Field trials provide the most authentically heritage-appropriate competitive outlet. Agility adapted for lower-energy spaniels suits the breed’s intelligence in structured competitive format. Puzzle toys and enrichment activities are genuinely important between outdoor sessions for a breed this intelligent. A GPS tracker is a practical safety investment for outdoor exercise given the scent drive that will lead this breed confidently away from any unsecured area when an interesting trail is detected.
Grooming Requirements
The Sussex Spaniel’s flat or slightly wavy coat requires regular maintenance to keep the feathering and ear hair in good condition and prevent the tangles that develop most readily in the leg and tail feathering and the soft wavy ear hair.
Brushing two to three times weekly with a pin brush and metal comb maintains the coat in healthy condition and removes the loose hair that the breed sheds moderately throughout the year. After field exercise, thorough brushing removes any burrs, seeds, or debris accumulated in the feathering. The coat should not be excessively trimmed — the natural golden liver color and the coat’s natural lay are breed characteristics that grooming should maintain rather than alter.
The ears are the most specifically important ongoing health maintenance feature. The long, floppy pendant ears trap moisture and reduce airflow to the ear canal, creating the warm, moist environment where bacterial and yeast infections develop readily. Weekly inspection and cleaning, with specific attention after water exercise and field activity, is the most consistently important preventive practice. Dental care should be established as a consistent routine from puppyhood. Nails should be trimmed regularly. The breed’s heavy body and short legs make nail length management specifically important for maintaining the correct posture and gait.
Diet And Nutrition
The Sussex Spaniel requires specific dietary management given the breed’s documented tendency to gain weight easily and the specific health significance of weight management for a breed with chondrodystrophy and the intervertebral disc disease it produces. Maintaining lean body condition is among the most practically important individual long-term health management practices for any Sussex Spaniel, directly protecting the spine from the added loading that excess weight creates.
A high-quality medium breed formula with a named protein source as the first ingredient provides the nutritional foundation. Most adults do well on two measured meals per day. The breed’s nose can lead to nose-led behavior in the kitchen — countertop food security is specifically warranted. Training treats are highly effective motivators and must be counted carefully into the daily caloric total given the breed’s weight management requirement. Discussing joint supplements with your veterinarian from the dog’s early adult years is specifically warranted.
Compatibility
The Sussex Spaniel is one of the most genuinely and the most broadly family-compatible of any spaniel breed — charm, loyalty, warmth, and a calm disposition that is specifically less excitable than most other spaniels make it an excellent family companion that adapts to a wide range of household contexts.
The breed loves everyone and is charming, gentle, and loyal. These are very sociable dogs that usually get along well with cats and are excellent with children. A well-socialized Sussex with a confident owner will get along with other dogs in a generally cooperative manner. With children, the breed is specifically celebrated — if raised with children, the Sussex does very well with them. The genuinely calm, non-reactive temperament is among the most personally appropriate individual qualities of any sporting breed for families with young children.
With strangers, the breed is initially somewhat reserved — the Sussex does make an effective watchdog due to its determination to protect its family and may be hesitant towards other people when first introduced, but does warm up to them. With small animals, the hunting instinct requires specific management. A dog crate is a useful management tool during puppyhood.
Behavior And Temperament
The somber, frowning expression of the Sussex Spaniel is perhaps the single most misleading individual visual characteristic of any spaniel breed — the heavy brows, large hazel eyes, and serious facial set consistently suggest a brooding or melancholy temperament that is completely opposite to the breed’s actual sunny, sociable, cheerful, clownish character. Do not let their characteristic frowns fool you. These long, low pups are happy hunters and good-natured family pets.
The Sussex Spaniel is slow-paced, calm, and maintains a somewhat clownish behavior that normally keeps its energy and enthusiasm in check. The specific combination of genuine working capability in the field and calm, settled domesticity at home is among the most specifically balanced individual behavioral profiles of any sporting spaniel. They make excellent candidates for therapy dog work, reflecting the settled, patient, non-reactive temperament that therapy applications specifically require.
The stubbornness is the most honestly practical individual behavioral note for any prospective owner. They can be quite stubborn to train, and they may carry a grudge if treated harshly. This specific stubbornness is the most practically important individual training reality for any Sussex Spaniel owner and requires the patient, reward-based approach that respects the breed’s intelligence and sensitivity simultaneously.
Training And Handling
The Sussex Spaniel is a quick learner but requires the patient, consistent, positive approach that any intelligent breed with a stubborn streak specifically needs. The breed is relatively easy to train and will often go along with the training as long as positive reinforcement is used.
Positive reinforcement methods are the most effective and the most specifically required approach. Training treats and toys are highly effective motivators in short, genuinely engaging sessions. The stubbornness that owners consistently note responds to patient consistency rather than repetitive drilling or escalating pressure — a Sussex that is treated harshly will disengage with a specific and specifically lasting disengagement that experienced owners describe as carrying a grudge.
Socialization from the earliest possible puppyhood is important for managing the breed’s initial reserve with strangers and for building the broadly calibrated social confidence that the breed’s naturally warm character supports when properly developed.
Health And Lifespan
The Sussex Spaniel has a lifespan of 13 to 15 years, remarkably long for a sporting breed of its size and reflecting the constitutional soundness of a breed maintained through the particularly rigorous post-war genetic bottleneck that Joy Freer’s eight dogs created. However, several specific hereditary conditions require awareness and testing, with the most urgently important being the specific hereditary conditions unique to chondrodystrophic breeds.
Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD) / Chondrodystrophy (CDDY) The Sussex Spaniel’s characteristic short legs and long body result from chondrodystrophy (CDDY), a genetic skeletal condition that also causes abnormal early degeneration of the intervertebral discs predisposing the breed to disc herniation. This is among the most specifically breed-relevant individual health conditions, making weight management, avoidance of jumping from heights, and prompt veterinary assessment of any back pain or hindlimb weakness the most critically important individual ongoing health management practices.
Hip Dysplasia Hip dysplasia affects 41.5% of Sussex Spaniels according to OFA surveys, ranking the breed ninth worst affected of 157 breeds surveyed. OFA hip evaluation of breeding animals is the most important orthopedic screening. Maintaining lean body condition is the most practically meaningful protective measure given the breed’s compact, heavy-boned body.
Pulmonary Valve Stenosis and Cardiac Conditions Pulmonary valve stenosis — improper formation of the pulmonary valve — is the most common congenital heart defect documented in the breed. Annual cardiac evaluation by a veterinary cardiologist from the dog’s first year provides monitoring. OFA cardiac certification is recommended for breeding animals.
PDP1 Deficiency (Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Phosphatase 1 Deficiency) This metabolic disorder characterized by exercise intolerance is specifically documented in the Sussex Spaniel. DNA testing is available and recommended for all breeding animals.
Ear Infections Otitis externa is common given the pendant ear conformation. Weekly inspection and cleaning is the most consistently important preventive practice.
Breeding Difficulties The Sussex Spaniel is considered difficult to breed. Females may skip seasons, reabsorb puppies, and require caesarean sections. Puppies are fragile for the first two weeks. This breeding difficulty is among the most practically important individual factors explaining the breed’s continued rarity despite the interest that Stump’s 2009 Westminster win generated.
Routine preventive care including regular vet checks, OFA hip and cardiac evaluation, PDP1 DNA testing, CAER ophthalmological examination, consistent dental hygiene, up-to-date vaccinations, and regular ear inspection and cleaning provides the foundation for a healthy Sussex Spaniel.
Price And Availability
The Sussex Spaniel is genuinely rare — one of the rarest AKC-recognized breeds by annual registration numbers in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Finding a well-bred Sussex Spaniel requires direct engagement with the Sussex Spaniel Club of America and its breeder network, acceptance of wait lists that inevitably accompany such rare breed breeding programs, and honest self-assessment about whether the breed’s specific requirements — the exercise management for the chondrodystrophic spine, the weight management for the hip dysplasia risk, the ear maintenance, and the patience for the stubborn streak — are genuinely manageable for the prospective owner’s lifestyle.
Conclusion
The Sussex Spaniel was developed from approximately 1795 by Augustus Elliot Fuller at Rosehill Park Estate in Sussex, England, from a small group of land spaniels selected for the short-legged, long-bodied, heavy-boned conformation suited to pushing through the dense hedgerows and heavy clay soil of Sussex hunting terrain, was first mentioned in Sportsman’s Cabinet magazine in 1803, was exhibited at the Crystal Palace show in 1862, was among the founding breeds recognized by the UK Kennel Club in 1872, was one of the first nine original breeds recognized by the AKC in 1884, developed the unique giving tongue working behavior as a functional adaptation to the dense Sussex cover where the low-riding dog was invisible to the hunter following on foot, was reduced to approximately five to ten individuals by World War II before Joy Freer saved the breed with her eight dogs from whose descendants every living Sussex Spaniel comes, had only ten individuals registered in the English Kennel Club in 1947, was designated a Vulnerable Native Breed by the Kennel Club of Great Britain in 2004, had Stump win Best in Show at the 133rd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in 2009 as the oldest dog at 10 years to ever win the title, is the only breed in the world required to have a golden liver coat, is the only spaniel breed that gives tongue while hunting, and stands today as the most specifically Augustus-Elliot-Fuller-Rosehill-Park-1795-documented-founding, the most specifically dense-Sussex-hedge-row-heavy-clay-short-legs-long-body-shaped, the most specifically giving-tongue-only-spaniel-to-do-so, the most specifically Joy-Freer-eight-dogs-all-modern-Sussex-descend-from-her, the most specifically only-breed-required-to-have-golden-liver-coat, the most specifically Stump-10-years-oldest-Westminster-Best-in-Show-2009, the most specifically carries-a-grudge-if-treated-harshly, and the most specifically 34-US-puppies-37-UK-registrations-2018-genuinely-rare of all the Sporting Group spaniel breed partnerships available. Get properly set up before bringing one home. Our Best Dog Products page has everything you need for golden-liver-only-breed-with-this-coat, flat-wavy-feathered, rolling-gait, frowning-expression-belying-cheerful-temperament, whole-heartedly devoted Sussex hunting spaniels that carry the full heritage of Fuller’s Rosehill Park Estate 1795 development, the 1803 Sportsman’s Cabinet first mention, the 1862 Crystal Palace show, the 1872 UK Kennel Club founding recognition, the 1884 AKC original breed status, the giving-tongue dense-cover functional adaptation, the World War II near-extinction and Joy Freer’s eight-dog salvation, the 2004 Vulnerable Native Breed designation, Stump’s 2009 Westminster oldest-winner triumph, and the specific slow-paced, clownish, calm, golden-liver-coated, somber-expressioned-but-genuinely-cheerful, carries-a-grudge-if-treated-harshly, only-spaniel-that-gives-tongue intelligence of the breed that Sussex clay soil and dense hedgerows shaped and that Joy Freer kept alive through the war when everything else was falling apart.
