The history of the Cocker Spaniel as a hunting dog of long standing is pretty well out of the picture as far as the utility of the dog in today's modern world. The English cocker has retained much more of the qualities of a hunting breed, while the American Cocker, having gained great popularity in the 60s and 70s, has gone the way of many "overbred" dogs, losing in the process some of the instinctive behaviors for which it was bred. Most probably the small size of this dog led to its demise, for it was and is an "easy breeder" and thus a popular dog for commercial breeding purposes, easy to keep and proliferate for producing puppies.

Unfortunately the offspring of dogs who do well as breeding dogs in commercial puppy farms often lose even more than instinctive qualities, they usually lose a certain amount of temperament and good health. More often than not, a commercial breeder is not inclined to spend money on genetic testing for health problems, nor worry overly about the temperament of the animals he is breeding. In some years, the American Cocker Spaniel has even been high on the list of the dogs who are considered aggressive and are the dogs reported as the "biters" in dog aggression incidents.

This is a little dog that needs training like any other dog and needs to recognize who is the alpha figure in the family. He is normally a very happy go lucky little dog, however because of his size it is often overlooked that he can be stubborn and needs to be trained early to accept his place in the household. The Cocker Spaniel is a popular pet. His coat requires care and those folks who purchase a Cocker Spaniel puppy soon learn that it does take regular grooming. The coats of Cockers are long, silky and mat easily. Often the best solution for busy owners is to take the dog to a groomer.

The Cocker Spaniel is a breed that is represented by three separate varieties in the Sporting Group at American Kennel Club shows. The three varieties are the "Parti" (black and white or combinations of two colors ), the "ASCOB" (Any solid Color Other Than black) and "Black" (solid black with tan points allowed). He is the smallest member of the Sporting Group and may be 15 inches at the withers for a male, 14 for a female. The Cocker Spaniel has an expression that is "perpetually a puppy" and is a popular dog when he makes his appearance in the Show Ring. The little dog will fly around the ring with his beautiful long coat brushing the floor and creating a "skirt" around the legs that flows and undulates with his moving. They are indeed a showy dog and the show breeders of today have recognized that they do have to take great care in maintaining and improving upon this little dog, so that it can become what it used to be, a dog with excellent character and spirit, non aggressive and gentle and a wonderful family companion.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Dogs