How We Got Involved with Springers and How to Contact Us

Looking for a hunting dog and pet

Experiencing our first field trial

Success in field trials

The more the merrier

Joining ESS clubs

We are Tony and Diane Zablit and we live in North San Diego county. We have been involved with English Springer Spaniels since 1993 when we acquired our first Springer, Winston, as a hunting companion for Tony and a house companion for Diane. The size of the Springer fit our home--at that time a condo--and their beauty and enthusiasm fit us, too. After puppy obedience class, Tony trained Winston from books and videos: Kenneth Roebuck's "Gun-Dog Training Spaniels and Retrievers," and the accompanying video.

Although this dog's abundant natural ability were apparent from the beginning, we did not consider any competitive events until invited to our first field trial in the fall of 1994. Tony just wanted a hunting dog. While Tony did not know what was expected handling-wise, and did not place in that first puppy stake, we did see that our dog had what it took to be competitive...and the saga of field trialing began.

Tony promised the breeder of Winston that he would win that club's trial the following year, and sure enough, after a long summer of training with lots of helpers, he did, garnering his first All-Age win in the Amateur stake at age 2 1/2. Since then Winston earned his field championship, then finished his amateur field championship.

Along the way, we acquired another male, Spencer, out of top field lines from Sunrise Kennels in New York, and Diane began competing in field trials, winning several puppy stakes. Next we added two females out of Winston to round out the team. Each of our dogs have won puppy and/or all-age stakes so we feel fortunate to have had moderate success. All our dogs were trained by us (amateurs) and live in the house, sleeping inside at night. As long as they have proper mental and physical exercise, they are great house dogs.

We have met many interesting people from around the country through field trialing and become active in several dog clubs, too, including ESSFTA (parent club for the breed), Antelope Valley Springer Spaniel Club, Arrowhead English Springer Spaniel Club, English Springer Spaniel Club of Southern California, and the all-breed San Diego Sporting Dog Club.

Even though they are field trial competitors, we still actively hunt the dogs, and Diane participates in Women's Pheasant Hunts sponsored by the California Department of Fish and Game.

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Puppy Love
Winston was our first ESS

Traveling to Field Trials
We have competed in field trials and run in hunt tests in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington.

Dogs Get Their Own Vehicle
This custom dog trailer was built for us by Dave Anderson