Home / Questions / Sussex Spaniel
Survival, twice over, came down to very few animals. The breed almost disappeared on separate occasions, and after the Second World War only a small group from a single kennel remained to rebuild it. Numbers have stayed low ever since, maintained by a small circle of committed breeders around the world.
Puppies are sturdy, glossy charmers; adults are dignified, affectionate companions that regard their people with unusual seriousness. Puppies are sturdy, glossy charmers; adults are dignified, affectionate companions that regard their people with unusual seriousness. Puppies are sturdy, glossy charmers; adults are dignified, affectionate companions that regard their people with unusual seriousness.
If this question is part of choosing the breed, run it against your worst week rather than your best: the exercise in the rain, the grooming in a busy month, the dog care during a family illness.
The temperament record reads: Merry, affectionate, busy and people loving. The energy rating of 4 out of 5 explains most Sussex Spaniel behaviour questions: a dog built for work, given 60 to 90 minutes to spend it in.
By the numbers: a medium dog standing 13 to 15 inches, weighing 35 to 45 lb, living 13 to 15 years, with insurance typically $34 to $60 a month. The detail on this page hangs off those figures.
Size context from the growth table: 4 months at about 11 to 14 lb, 9 months at about 26 to 33 lb, 18 months at about 35 to 45 lb mark the Sussex Spaniel's first year, against an adult standard of 35 to 45 lb. Standard colors: golden Liver. The Sporting group is where the record files the Sussex Spaniel; its home ground is England.
Grooming of 3/5 and shedding of 3/5 set the housework terms for any Sussex Spaniel household. Households should choose with that dog, not an imagined one, in mind, and the Sussex Spaniel profile shows the real animal in full. More questions about the breed are answered from the same record on the Sussex Spaniel profile and its sibling question pages.
Every answer on this page traces back to the breed's record: the same size, temperament, exercise and health facts set out in full on the Sussex Spaniel profile, linked below.
Run the honest checklist: 60 to 90 minutes of exercise daily, grooming effort 3/5, keeping costs led by food at about $28 a month, and a 13 to 15 year commitment. The breed quiz compares your answers against every breed on the site, the Sussex Spaniel included. The record's numbers, 4/5 energy and 4/5 trainability among them, are averages from real dogs, and meeting several adults shows the spread around them.
The record's verdict is With enough exercise. Suitability turns on the daily routine more than the floor plan: an exercised Sussex Spaniel, given its 60 to 90 minutes, settles in small spaces, while the same dog left idle in a large house becomes the problem. Meeting adult dogs of the breed remains the best final check on any written answer, this one included.
Food alone runs about $28 a month for a typical adult of 40 lb, with insurance at $34 to $60 on top before routine vet care and grooming. The Sussex Spaniel has its own full cost question page, linked from the profile, with year one worked out separately.
A Sussex Spaniel question answered from the breed's own record: temperament, workload, costs and daily life.
How long a Sussex Spaniel really lives, stage by stage, with the screening and habits that move the odds.
Intense is the fairer word.
Last updated: November 4, 2026