Hello,

I am searching for the right breed for my family and have been interested in this breed for a while. In the breed description it says, "fairly active indoors". Please tell me about your experiences with your dogs. Are they always on the go? Do they settle down? How long and how often do they need to be walked.

Also, my husband is allergic to cats, but tolerates dogs better. Has anyone had any experiences with russian spaniels in this regard?

  In response to your questions, I have two Russian Spaniels, a mother and her almost 4 month old daughter.  The mother Nika spends the day free to roam our home.  She lays on the couch back and watches what goes on outside through the windows, barks at birds occasionally and mostly sleeps.  She goes everywhere I go.  She loves to be outside, to run, to smell, to be chased (big thrill).  We walk for about an hour each morning.  Our puppy Sofiya has more energy and is definitely more active in the house, but that's a puppy for you.  Left to her own devices, she can get into things and make a mess, but I think one can expect that with any puppy.  She also loves to be outside.  Even at her age she can enjoy just laying in the sun.  When they say active indoors, I am not sure what they are comparing this breed to.  We also have a wheaten terrier and had a brittany spaniel, neither of which was overly active inside.  Granted if they don't get exercise, any animal will (including the human animal) get a bit stir crazy.

  My daughter is allergic to cats, dogs, dust and whatever else.  The addition of our first russian spaniel did not have any additional adverse effect on her.  She was not home when we whelped the puppies and she will be coming home from college this week.  We will see if the additional dog causes any more problems. 

  As far as exercise, walking is good, but I think play time is important also.  That is one reason why we kept a puppy.  We wanted Nika to have a playmate.  I am in my mid-50's and don't chase very well.  I haven't done the best job teaching her to retrieve; it usually ends up as "chase me".  So now I have a built in chaser, and will develop a retriever.  The dogs love it when our neighbor's grandchildren come over.  Boundless energy likes boundless energy.  The other form of exercise at our home is soccer.  Our Nika is a deranged soccer dog.  She can't get enough and she dribbles pretty well.  Sofiya is a chip off the old block.

  Not sure if I have answered your questions fully, but email me if you'd like more info.  My family and friends have been very impressed with the breed; of course we love ours unconditionally.  It was a battle to get our first, as my husband was very reluctant.  Then breeding Nika was another battle.  Now we kept Sofiya and have three dogs (our Murphy is 15 this month).  Things have worked out very well and we were able to spread some happiness to other families; it feels good. 

Elaine, Nikalena and Sofiya

I appreciate your input it helps me understand the dog's needs better. Thanks for your comments.