Boykin Spaniel History

Every purebred animal has evolved in the specific form best suited to perform its particular job. The Boykin Spaniel is no exception. The story of the Boykin Spaniel is the story of the need for a capable hunting spaniel that fit into a boat as well as into the lives of their families.

It started with a brown spaniel-type dog that was found outside a church in Spartanburg after service by Mr. Alexander Lawrence White (1860-1942) sometime between 1905-1910. The dog was named "Dumpy", but showed some aptitude for hunting. Mr. White took the dog to his friend, Mr. Lemuel Whitaker "Whit" Boykin (1861-1932) for training.

Whit Boykin lived in the the Wateree River basin located in the midlands of South Carolina. The post-Civil War economy lead well-to-do Northerners to make the Camden area their winter home.  Whit Boykin provided dogs to the vacationers to hunt the Wateree swamp areas using "section boats". Dumpy filled a roll sought after; he was an excellent hunting dog in a size smaller than a retriever. Thus the Boykin Spaniel became known as the breed that wouldn't "rock the boat".

Whit Boykin bred Dumpy with a female dog described as a small curly, reddish-brown spaniel-type found in an unclaimed crate at the Camden railroad station. Whit named the female "Singo" and thus the Boykin Spaniel breed was created. Speculation on this female's breed has continued to this day; it is reasonable to believe she was a hunting breed since shipping dogs to this area of the country would be limited to only those with a purpose.

The breed prospered over the years. Many puppies became loyal, loving pets and were shipped back home with the vacationing families when the hunt season was over. Many breeds were continually introduced into the Boykin Spaniel to eventually form a dog whose genetic background is a diverse melting pot.

About 6 decades after Dumpy was first found in Spartanburg a breed registry was formed. Their mission was to document the breed in a registry to encourage breeding of purebred Boykins, and ultimately obtain national recognition in a recognized organization such as UKC and AKC.

The Boykin registry applied to the AKC for recognition in the early years of formation but were unsuccessful and on further attempts to become recognized they decided to abandon the project. In the late 1990's, a group of people who still desired AKC recognition formed the Boykin Spaniel Club & Breeders Assoc. of America.

Although they remained an AKC FSS breed at that time, the AKC felt the club had made progress to the point of allowing them to begin participating in AKC events. In January 2006, the breed was allowed to participate and earn titled in AKC Spaniel Hunt Tests. In July 2006, they became eligible to compete in AKC agility, obedience, rally and tracking.

In January 2007, the BSCBAA was named the Official AKC Parent Club of the Boykin Spaniel.

January 1, 2008 the Boykin Spaniel is eligible to compete in the Miscellaneous Classes at conformation shows. More information about the AKC Miscellaneous Group can be found here- www.akc.org/breeds/miscellaneous_class.cfm

AKC Event History

Earning a "title" is a sign of the love and devotion that is shared between a dog and handler. All of the rules and regulations for all AKC events & how to record your Boykin Spaniel to be allowed to compete are located on their website.

The American Kennel Club offered Spaniel Hunt Tests to Boykin Spaniels starting on January 1, 2006. The SHT offers 3 levels & corresponding titles which are Junior Hunter (JH), Senior Hunter (SH) and Master Hunter (MH).

The AKC offered the Companion Events to Boykins on July 1, 2006. The Companion Events are Obedience (OB), Tracking, Rally and Agility. Each event has 3 levels of difficulty in which a dog may earn a title. Agility offers several titling classes; Standard, Jumpers With Weaves (JWW) and as of 01/01/07 the FAST class. OB, rally & agility offer an additional title at the highest level by qualifying at that level a specified number of times. OB, tracking and agility offer Championship level titles (Obedience Trial Champion (OTCH), Master Agility Champion (MACH) and Champion Tracker (CT) and yearly invitational nationwide competitive events.