It is only a few decades since the high point of the Spring Cleaning Spaniels career, when the dogs could be found throughout the UK, Europe, and North America, leading a hand, or paw I should say, with the cleaning.
The main champion of the Spring Cleaning Spaniel breed was the the cleaning fan and obsessive Doris Bustle, legendary housekeeper to Industrialist and billionaire Dustin Mophead IV. Mophead had made a fortune in the manufacturer of cheese graters and even held several patents relating to the devices.
Bustle found that it was taking way too much time to take care of the one hundred and thirty nine and a half rooms of Mophead's mansion, and so sought to revive a breed once popular with stately homes throughout Europe. Bustle was successful, and soon the Spaniels started to spring up again.
The dogs were bred to help out with a variety of household chores, from doing the dishes, sweeping the floor, and taking out garbage amongst other things. The dogs became very adept at griping assorted tools in their mouths and were probably as skilled at is as any other breed.
The dogs would fling themselves about their task with much glee, it was obvious that this was a working breed that really enjoyed it's occupation.
The British Museum even employed them at one point to help out with the task of keeping clean the extensive exhibition halls and corridors. This lasted up until the notorious Ming vase episode, which led to the premature closure of an exhibition, and the resulting diplomatic incident with China.
Ultimately the spaniel's sheer enthusiasm for the task at hand was it's undoing, for it tended to flood the kitchen while washing up, move the dust around rather than pick it up, and generally act like a miniature version of a bull in a china shop.
In hind sight it was probably not the greatest greatest decision ever to think that spaniels, known for their occasional daftness, would be the most suited to this role.
They can still be found, but it is advised that this good-natured, but somewhat scatty breed is perhaps best of working under direct supervision.
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