Editing Spaniel (section)

==Hunting==
[[File:Hawking party and water spaniels.jpg|thumb|A 16th-century drawing of a hawking party with spaniels]]
In assisting hunters, it is desirable that spaniels work within gun range, are steady to shot, and are able to mark the fall and retrieve shot game to hand with a soft mouth. A good nose is highly valued, as it is in most gun dog breeds. They are versatile hunters traditionally being used for upland game birds, but are equally adept at hunting rabbits, waterfowl, rats, and mice. Whether hunting in open fields, woodlands, farm lands—in briars, along [[fencerow]]s or marshlands, a spaniel can get the job done.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spanieljournal.com|title=Spaniel Journal|work=spanieljournal.com|access-date=2013-12-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102132034/http://spanieljournal.com/|archive-date=2014-01-02|url-status=live}}</ref>

On the basis of function and hunting style, the [[Fédération Cynologique Internationale]] (FCI) draws a distinction between Continental and Anglo-American spaniels. The FCI places Continental dogs of the spaniel type in the pointing group (Group 7, sect. 1.2) because they function more like setters which "freeze" and point to game. Breeds in this group include the [[Blue Picardy Spaniel]], the [[French Spaniel]], the [[Brittany (dog)|Brittany]], the [[Pont-Audemer Spaniel]], and the [[Small Münsterländer]]. The FCI classifies most other dogs of the spaniel [[Dog type|type]] as flushing or water dogs (Group 8, sections 2 and 3).<ref>[http://www.fci.be/nomenclatures_detail.asp?lang=en&file=group7 FCI – Breeds nomenclature<!-- Bot generated title -->]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080314004543/http://www.fci.be/nomenclatures_detail.asp?lang=en&file=group7 |date=2008-03-14 }}; [http://www.fci.be/nomenclatures_detail.asp?lang=en&file=group8 FCI – Breeds nomenclature<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080304060412/http://www.fci.be/nomenclatures_detail.asp?lang=en&file=group8 |date=2008-03-04 }}</ref>