Russian Spaniel is the youngest breed among Russian gun dogs. It is included in the larger group of spaniel breeds, and is originated mostly from English cocker spaniels and English Springer spaniels.     
The hunting conditions in Russian territories created new requirements for a gun dog. All of this stimulated creation of the new spaniel breed, the Russian Spaniel, differing from its parent breeds by stronger build, stamina, and less decorativeness. For example, only 14 cocker spaniels, 5 Sussex spaniels, 4 Field spaniels, and 2 Springer spaniels were displayed on the Moscow dog show of 1945.  At first the Russian Spaniel stock varied externally and was mostly a mix of cocker, Sussex and Springer spaniels. Slowly, resulting from careful selection of individual dogs with qualities necessary for domestic hunting, the dogs began to look like the Russian Spaniel of today. Already at the 1949 Dog Show, dog expert V. Dmitrievsky stated, “Most dogs no longer look like the small pre-war spaniels, and are good specimens for the difficult conditions of the Russian hunt. They are a separate type of the Russian spaniel different from the small English cocker spaniel.” 
Since 1972, the Russian Spaniels were no longer crossbred with other spaniel breeds. The Russian Spaniel has all the field qualities necessary for a gun dog: stamina, great sense of smell, energy during the search, persistence, and inborn willingness to retrieve. Owners of Russian Spaniels are as loyal to their dogs as dogs are loyal to them. In 2002, a couple of Russian Spaniel owners got together and established the first registration website for Russian Spaniels in the USA and Canada. Russian Spaniel is a relatively small dog with height in withers of 38 - 45 cm.