THE PRESENT

A radical change in opportunity for the working Clumber spaniel in competition was achieved in late 2016.

Midori Diamond Huddlestone (Rigg) was handled by Roy Ellershaw to the first AV Novice win by a minority breed spaniel in over 120 years. The Kennel Club was obliged to admit minority breeds to AV Open competition as a result.

Rigg went on to gain an award at AV Open level making him currently the highest achieving Clumber in modern times.

However, the story is not going to end there.

When Parkforth Kennels picked up the baton we all saw the possibilities for the two most impressive dogs seen in a long time.

Parkforth Rock n Roll (Elvis) and Parkforth Woodland Warrior (Gino) dominated the Minority Breed Field Trials in the 2021/22 season and look set for further advances in this 2022/23 season.

Its fair to say that they, handled by Andrew Parker have set new standards for Clumbers, truly exciting prospects- dogs to watch at AV Trials.

Clumbers of today show a huge step forward. Even, compared with a decade ago those bred and trained for working ability have raised the game to exciting new levels.

Just one example is the promise now evident in Meg Savage’s Summer- best dog in the WCSS 2022 Working Test series and a fine example of young dog likely to be in Field Trial contention this season.