Welsh Springer Spaniel health: what owners should know

Eyes deserve particular attention in this breed. Welsh Springers are known to be predisposed to glaucoma linked with goniodysgenesis, an abnormality in the eye's drainage angle, and eye screening is standard among careful breeders. Hip dysplasia, epilepsy, an underactive thyroid and ear infections are also seen.

Choose a breeder who hip scores, has eyes examined including gonioscopy (the test for the drainage angle), and speaks openly about any epilepsy in their lines. Keep ears clean and dry. Go to a vet urgently for a painful, red or cloudy eye, and promptly for seizures, lethargy with weight gain, or head shaking with a smell from the ears.