This might be one Fred can help me with, as I believe he originally answered a question on this breed, and is familiar with it. But any opinions would be appreciated.
I got back from the UK yesterday, to find that my 18 year old daughter wants to buy a puppy. She has been talking about it for some time, but lately really seems to have been researching the idea. She has the money, but as she still lives at home, I want some say in the matter. She seems to have settled on a cocker spaniel. Any reservations I raise, are answered by, "Oh I looked into that too, and that's not really a problem." or " That is only a difficulty if you do this , or don't do this."
So tell me, what are the pros and cons of this breed? It would be left alone at home for short periods of time, but not all day. There is another dog in the house already, a lab-cross, and also two cats. My youngest daughter is 8, so could probably help her sister with the new pet.
Well, I spent some time thinking about this before I posted this reply, Fred. I have to admit that most of my reticence is due to how much time I will be looking after the dog, while she is at school, and how much of an impact it's going to have on an already overwhelmed family.
Anyway, it's an English cocker spaniel she wants. I don't have any experience of this breed, and I wonder how energetic they are as puppies, also how trainable they are, in comparison to other breeds.
Our present dog is, as I said, a lab-cross, and was very easy to train as a puppy. We have owned an Old English sheepdog in the past, which was very obedient and loyal, once she got over the first two years of puppyhood. We also owned Yorkshire terriers. The Yorkies seemed, to me, to be almost untrainable. The Bobtail was easier.
My daughter says she has read cocker spaniels need an hour of exercise a day. Is an hour a realistic amount of time? That means walking it, because the back yard here, while big, isn't completely fenced.
Then there's the older dog we own. He is almost 10. About 5 years ago we introduced a beagle to the house. It was a disaster. The dog was 5 years old, and had been used as a hunting dog and abused by it's previous owners. There were all sorts of behavioral issues, not the least of which, was his constant escaping, and running away. After persevering for 3 years, we finally called it a day, and handed him back to the Humane Society.
Anyway, during the time we had the beagle, the older dog never got along with him. Was it a breed issue, or maybe the fact that we had two males? This is a small house, and we don't need two constantly fighting dogs in it.
I am concerned about health issues with a Cocker, but I know each breed probably has it's own set of health concerns. Ear infections are common I know, and apparently many have hip problems.
My daughter is constantly showing me ads in the paper for dogs. I think a lot of these may be from local farms. Would it be better to go to a breeder, even though she isn't looking for a show dog?
Having made a mistake in adopting a dog once, I'm sure you can understand my general feeling of unease about the idea of taking on a new puppy. But at the same time, my daughter has put a lot of thought into this, and I don't want to turn her down flat.
Ah, she wants a proper cocker spaniel !(Not one of those little American things with a short temper Good job my bitch can't read this. She's very sweet but doesn't take kindly to teasing. She's a highly enthusiastic, if not very good, ratter though She's also a very strict mother. However old her offspring are she reminds them all who is boss)
Now, the true [English] cocker spaniel.That's a very different matter to my bitch and her variety. It's a gundog.Hobbies include nosing and rummaging around in bushes when out and sleeping by its owner's feet when in. When I was a boy [cue violins playing 'In the Deep Midwinter'] the cocker spaniel was the family pet dog to have . That was not fashion but sense. In those days most people bought dogs as dogs not accessories. [The rest bought Pomeranians or dachsunds or min poodles ] I hope it makes a comeback.It's a faithful, fairly intelligent, happy dog.It has no vices as regards children or visitors and is placid but playful.
Difficulties: behaviour? If you buy a bitch she should prove fairly easy at all ages.She needs to be trained but is fine at any age. If you buy a dog you may find he gets difficult at puberty. He'll need firm but kindly handling then. Gundogs are meant to be trained and male dogs , in particular, can't just be left to get on with 'adolescent' life as they think best, because they may start treating you as the dog, not the boss, and be unhappy as a result.Happily for everyone, the breed is easy to train and loves being trained. Remember that the key to choosing any breed is finding out what it was originally bred for. Gundogs were to be trained for work and to stick with the owner, awaiting commands, and any wimpish tendencies were bred out: you can't have a gundog that wanders off at its own whims, is worried by gunfire or which won't go into a thicket . So you may expect the dog to be self-confident.
Difficulties :Exercise? Most owners tend to give young dogs far too much exercise. At six months a cocker needs about 20 minutes free and about 30 minutes walking, a day. At 18 months you give it as much exercise as you want.
Difficulties:Health?The breed's own problems have been primarily with the eyes. You should ensure that both the dam and the sire have been certified healthy in that respect.The problem is progressive retinal atrophy.
Grooming. This is important. The cocker needs to be groomed every six to eight weeks. It must be combed and brushed very frequently in between. The coat will otherwise quickly get matted and in knots and it is the very devil to work once neglected
Never buy a puppy from a puppy farm or any breeder who claims to breed more than two breeds. You should meet the breeder, ask questions about the dam and the sire,how long and why the breeder has that breed (expect an answer which gives you clues as to temperament and other good features of that breed, but you'll likely get an answer which doesn't make any logical sense at all but amounts to "because: wouldn't anyone?"), ask to see the dam (and the sire if available) and see the conditions in which the dogs are kept. Any worthwhile breeder will cross-examine any prospective buyer. Expect a grilling! And all breeders live for their dogs, so don't expect a short answer when you ask of the dam. You should get, whether you want it or not, a history of every dog the breeder has ever had or known which is anything to do with them: " Now that's Fred, I bred his sire who is now with Mrs Smith at Jocasta Cockers, anyhow, his half brother is an uncle to this litter and he got a reserve at Cruft's last year, and now that one there's sister is.......[until five hours later, or death, or your finding an excuse ]
Don't pick a puppy that is obviously cowering or nervous. Some people pick the one that runs to them (the sentimental souls !) but there's no harm in watching the litter to spot any which is an obvious leader in play or dominating its siblings, even briefly.
Don't be surprised if the breeder asks what you want the dog for!They want to know whether it's simply for a pet. If you want one with a view to showing then the breeder might pick out one with that potential, in their view, but the main thing for them is breeding. If you expect to breed from the animal then the breeder may want some control of the bloodline and it's common for the breeder to demand approval of any mating or to put other terms restricting the breeding [ As to showing, in itself,it's one of the great mysteries, and myths, of dogdom that a breeder can ever hope to guess which of a litter at eight weeks is a potential champion. The best you can ever do is spot one which has some feature which could count against it in the show ring]
Ask the breeder about vaccinations given or needed.
Introducing a new pup to other dogs shouldn't be a problem. Other dogs are more motivated by curiosity than anything else. However, it's as well to think of the new arrival as you would a new baby brother or sister to young children. There's a possibility that the new one will get so much fuss that the others get neglected, or feel they are, so do try to keep them happy As it grows up it'll find its own place in the domestic hierarchy of dogs.
I hope that any cocker purchased proves a gem ! It should be fine.
Fred, great advice as always. Thanks so much. My daughter read your post, and just grinned at me. Anyway, this won't happen for a few weeks yet, because I want to get everyone back to school, and settled down, but I'll let you know how it goes. dg
dance girl: Completely off-topic (this is AnswerPool, after all) but how's your Da? And did you finally enjoy what was officially the wettest 'Summer' in Britain since records of seasonal rainfall were first kept, in 1914 ?!
Cockers, by the way, aren't fond of getting wet; they are not aquatic, like poodles and Newfoundlands are; though they do have a distressing enthusiasm for getting muddy. That they regard as a necessary product of their keenness for rabbit warrens, thickets, hedgerows and any soggy boscage that they dive into in their pursuit of the latest promising scent. Fine for them but they have paws like dinner plates and leave quite a trail on their return ! 'Patient' owners (in my case read 'lazy') have tiled flooring for them to walk on and then wait for the dog to dry. A cocker is a fastidious dog and will spend quite a while carefully cleaning itself. My 'miniature' version has just been picking bits of burr out of her long leathers (ears), which is quite a performance. She turns her head so that the offending leather lies flat on the floor and picks the bits out with her teeth or the opposing forepaw. I do offer to help by teasing out the fur but she regards this as an incompetent's intrusion into her personal toilette, the lady, and gets quite offish about it
My daughter asked me to ask you two more questions, Fred. First, when I mentioned that she was looking at getting a dog from a farm, she said she didn't mean a puppy farm, but an actual farm, where the dog is often raised in a family setting. These dogs usually don't come with papers, but you can see both parents. The other question is involving equipment: would you advise buying feeding bowls specially designed for dogs with long ears (I never knew there was such a thing, but apparently there is), or is this unnecessary?
You say cockers are fastidious groomers? This will make a welcome change from our pathetic mutt. He rummages in the garbage cans in the yard, after dark, and slurps from the garden pond, and then returns, with pond scum all over his muzzle. Once he dragged a bag of garbage into the kids' play tent that was set up in the yard, so that he could pick through it unseen. Of course, all the above has a predictable effect on his digestive system, when he returns from his jaunts. We usually leave a window open in the sitting room when he sits with us in the evenings. Here is a picture of him, looking pretty guilty. He is always in trouble. His name is also Fred.
My Dad is doing well, thanks. He came out of the hospital on Wednesday, but will probably have an angiogram in a few weeks time, when he is a bit stronger. I am glad I went over to visit them.
I said to my dad, when I visited him in the hospital, " A friend told me to bring you some winkles, Dad, but I got you Jammy Dodgers and Digestive biscuits instead." He said, "Good idea, darling. Some friend you have there! Winkles would have been the finish of me.
The first few days there, the weather was absolutely dreadful, but it brightened up enough to go to London and Oxford towards the end of the trip. I have shown the pictures of my trip to others on here, and if you would like to email me, (email in my profile) I'd love to share them with you, and also tell you how I have been getting on in my classical music endeavors.
Thanks for your advice on cocker spaniels, I expect I'll be back with more questions. dg
Kinda getting off subject here.... But I got an American Cocker a month ago. She is almost 15 months now. I notice she is always pushing my other dogs away, and follows me all over! Are the protective at all? I have never owned one, and I had planned on fostering her.... HAD planned! But she has been doing so good here, it is a shame for me to give her away, and I will NOT do it! It would be a shame to push her into another environment now... she was so timid and shy when we got her. I won't give her up, not now! I wanted to know what the breed was bred for, as far as hunting. I only saw something called a Woodcock. What exactly do they hunt? She has seen my Guinea Pig now! Not very comfortable about that! Skye.
Originally posted by Skye: I got an American Cocker a month ago. She is almost 15 months now. I notice she is always pushing my other dogs away, and follows me all over! Are the protective at all? I have never owned one, and I had planned on fostering her.... HAD planned! But she has been doing so good here, it is a shame for me to give her away, and I will NOT do it! It would be a shame to push her into another environment now... she was so timid and shy when we got her. I won't give her up, not now! I wanted to know what the breed was bred for, as far as hunting. I only saw something called a Woodcock. What exactly do they hunt? She has seen my Guinea Pig now! Not very comfortable about that! Skye.
[How much time have you got? ]She's a spaniel. Spaniels are not hunting dogs but they are for hunting! Confusing? Well, a huntsman requires dogs for different tasks. Some were bred to flush game, to go ahead into thickets and other cover to scare and drive the birds into flying up to be shot by the guns. Before we had guns they would drive the birds up to be taken by hawks or into bird nets.The spaniel is the first type of dog bred for this purpose in Europe (the name comes from the former English word for a Spaniard, 'Spaynell').We soon demanded that they do a bit more than flush the game: we expected them to retrieve some of the shot birds too. Later we developed 'retrievers' for that purpose.The spaniel breeds differ in weight according to the local conditions found by the sportsmen; the Clumber is heaviest and slowest, for working in very heavy thickets and gorse and the cocker the lightest, most nimble in light cover, and quickest
The woodcock is a game bird, favoured by sportsmen as a challenging target. The woodcock that we have in Europe would has been so for hundreds of years and it was that that your bitch's ancestors would have flushed out. There's an American woodcock too but it's not related, merely similar.
[The American cocker is a recent breed. It was the result of market forces. The original cockers in America had been imported from England from about 1870, as gundogs, but by the 1930s American breeders were breeding more for the show ring than for the field and had begun to breed smaller and smaller dogs, the petite dog being thought more suitable for modern households.(The show dog in America was then so different from the working cocker that the sportsmen formed a separate club for their cockers in 1935 and interbreeding between the working strain and the show one was forbidden ) In 1946 the 'American cocker spaniel' was declared a separate breed in the USA.]
Your 'American cocker' bitch is a newby in the dog world ! But she's still at heart a gundog: you can't breed out, in some 70 years, what was the essence of spaniels for over 700 years. She's not a lapdog or a hunting hound or a guard dog. No, she's the dog that will dive into thickets . More important for you is the character that those centuries put in and reinforced. Gundogs in general are, and were, faithful to one person above all and the flushing dogs, the spaniels, would stick close by the owner and follow him wherever he went, watching every move, until commanded to go off to do their work and then promptly return, as often as not bringing back the owner's prey to drop softly at his feet for him.That in itself will explain much of her behaviour towards you. It's in her blood.We humans put it there.
When you add the effects of her life so far,as we may imagine that life,to that natural tendency it's no wonder she sticks close. She has, at last, one person whom she can trust and who responds to that trust. And with that comes a degree of insecurity and possesiveness: "That's my person, my boss, so go away!" As she gains confidence and the understanding that you are not going to leave her she'll get a bit less clinging. All you can do at present is to make sure that you treat all the dogs equally but make sure she knows that your attending to the others is not your rejecting her.That means petting her 'rival{s}' but then instantly petting her,then gently pushing her away, petting the rival again, then all of them and so on until she gets the picture that she's not entitled to all the attention but is getting her share. To start with she'll get a bit more, and should, but it's important that she learns that your pushing her away is part of your loving her too. I say warmly to mine 'Now, that's enough .You've had your turn !" but, where , as here, one is a bit insecure, I am very quick to pet the 'offended one' again once she has moved down or back on my pushing her away and I've petted a rival. As time goes on the insecure one learns to accept that her 'turn ' will come and she can gradually be left longer and longer, pushed away more and more, without her becoming worried that she's being treated unfairly or rejected.(She'll never be cured of trying to say 'me! me!' as it were, and vying for attention, but that's because all dogs you have think that way ).Best you can do is get her to accept that you will refuse to attend to her every demand but she will get attention collectively or in her turn.If you have several dogs than don't always feed her first. Make her go second occasionally, or third (here she could be ninth, but all have learned that the random process is almost a game, and probably take bets among themselves as to who'll be first this time !)
Is your bitch aggressive to any rival? You don't say that she is. If she is then I'll advise further.
Guinea pigs? The fact that spaniels are not bred to kill doesn't make them incapable of it.She'll most likely treat it as an object of curiosity but it's better to be safe.Any animal that runs triggers a deep instinct in all dogs.Heavens, they even chase cyclists! So the guinea pig might set your dog to chase and even kill if it ran away.
PS Had you been looking for a working spaniel, rare, American, smallish,and , by the way, make yourself the envy of any country snob , you'd have had to get a Boykin spaniel. They are all descended from one stray called 'Dumpy' found early in the C20 outside a church in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He was so good as a working dog that his new owner had him used as the basis of a new breed, crossing him and his descendants with other breeds thereby producing an ideal dog for flushing and retrieving wild turkeys. It makes a great pet too ! (You may feel that your one spaniel is quite enough to start with )
Wow! Thanks for that information! I had no idea on any ancestry and such! She is still very jumpy, and I am wondering if I can ever break her of this? She is not clingy... she follows all of us. But there again, a real family is new to her. She may eventually pick her "human" as she get's to trust more.No, she isn't aggressive, and waits her turn at the food bowl. She has 3 brothers to share with! But, sometimes, she will horn right in to eat, and other times, she will wait. I have yet to hear her bark or say anything! Is this typical of Cockers? TY Skye
Another question, Fred! I noticed my Cocker has a mat on her tummy. Now, as timid as she is, I am wondering if it would be wise to try to roll her over and cut it out? I don't want her coat to get out of control, as you said about working with it. I don't want to ruin the trust I have gained, so I am thinking just let it be for now..? It is just a bitty one- not a huge one, by the way! Skye.
Skye re the 'new' cocker (and dance girl, re bowls): Sorry for my late reply.
Special bowls for spaniels? Right. I'll just say that these are for sale at every big dog show I've ever been to and I've never seen a person from dogdom ever buy one The bowl sits in a metal frame. The frame raises the bowl up so that the dog can eat without dropping its leathers on the floor, where much of the food ends up So, in theory, the leathers stay cleaner than they would have done had they been free to wipe the floor clean of food particles, gravy, mud etc. The frames come in different heights, to suit the size of dog. So there is a cocker height one, a beagle height one and a red setter height one and so on.To a degree the frame gives some stability to the bowl. Great! So the pooch can't slide the bowl around a tiled floor, huh, like its playing ice hockey with its nose? And it can't turn the bowl over? It can't, or won't, turn a normal dog bowl over until the bowl is empty and it's looking, hopefully, for any food hidden underneath
Mats in the coat.This is fun. Aren't you glad you have a cocker ? (To be fair, these do occur in other breeds e.g poodles )You don't need to bathe the dog first, but it helps.For a mat on the belly:Have the dog on her back or side. She'll likely accept this ( She's a bitch and so intended to lie to suckle and, in any case, she may associate this posture with having her tummy rubbed or tickled )Place your hand flat on the dog's tummy, palm up,and leave the mat between your fingers. Reduce the mat by cutting through it in stages, down to your fingers. The plan is to avoid 1) cutting the dog 2) pulling the skin up, tugging it, when you try to remove the knot or mat.Then it may be possible to gently tease the mat apart, using both hands. Alternatively you may be able to get a comb under the knot or mat and cut down to the comb. But remember she's a bitch and would quite like to keep the teats she was born with The teats are small, hidden in the fur and not always where you'd guess. She may have some which are right up the front end, almost on her chest. She may have a double row in places, not just neat pairs of one on each opposing side but two pairs of two in places. She probably hasn't got them in a straight line along her belly, either. So, be very careful.And always be sure not to cut blind, without being certain that what you have is all fur with no skin hidden in it, of course. If you nick the skin of any dog it won't take kindly to your grooming it in future and will show a distinct enthusiasm for running off and hiding at the sight of comb or scissors
Behaviour in general. Sounds as though she's doing well.If she's coping with three others competing for food etc then she sounds a true spaniel. Barking? Who wants a dog that barks? If she barked a lot that would be a bad sign. If she stays quiet then she has decided that there's not much to say A self-confident dog is always the strong silent type.In a pack the leader, at very serious moments, gives the cue for others to bark. He leads, others join in. The rest of the time the leader doesn't bother. If one of the others reports that they've seen something then the leader might bother to acknowledge the signal with one gruff bark but mostly he (or the dominant female, in his absence) stays silent. The Irish wolfhound here, all one metre or so at the shoulder (about 39 inches), barely says a thing. She may deign to bark once or twice at anyone she doesn't recognise. The Yorkshire terrier, on the other hand,has conversations with some of the passers by in the lane, the postman, and any farm tractor ( ). And when there's nobody in particular to address, she barks to get food, to go out, to come in, to say it's bedtime,at the chimes of Big Ben [ the clock bell of the Houses of Parliament, relayed at the start of the BBC 10pm news], to complain about her water bowl being empty,at a sudden fall in the stockmarket...
Is your bitch spayed? If not, then the op is not essential but is worth considering, not just to prevent pups or having her confined inside twice a year but because a spayed bitch has far less chance than an entire one of contracting mammarian tumours, benign or cancerous,in later years.If the others are entire males then you already know what to expect
Hi Fred, Its over a month ago that I told you we were planning to get a new puppy. Finally, today we got him . Not a Cocker Spaniel, as we first planned, but a Wheaten Terrier-Poodle cross.
YW! Wow, big size differance in 2 males! I think my Cocker is going into heat. Even tho we have her about 4 months, she is still a bit on the timid side. So I really can't check her! Good luck with the new puppy! Keep us posted! Skye.
He looks like an over-grown Mr Winkle!!! LOL OMG, He is to cute! Oscar fits him! When I first saw him, I said to myself, that dog looks like a Gizmo!!! Skye.
dg
Good job my bitch can't read this. She's very sweet but doesn't take kindly to teasing. She's a highly enthusiastic, if not very good, ratter though 
She's also a very strict mother. However old her offspring are she reminds them all who is boss) 
But she has been doing so good here, it is a shame for me to give her away, and I will NOT do it! It would be a shame to push her into another environment now... she was so timid and shy when we got her. I won't give her up, not now! I wanted to know what the breed was bred for, as far as hunting. I only saw something called a Woodcock. What exactly do they hunt? She has seen my Guinea Pig now! Not very comfortable about that!