English Cocker Spaniel
Red English Cocker Spaniel (Show-Type)
Alternative names
Cocker Spaniel
Country of origin
United Kingdom
Common nicknames
Cocker Merry Cocker
Classification and breed standards
FCI:	Group 8 Section 2 #005	Stds
AKC:	Sporting	Stds
ANKC:	Group 3 (Gundogs)	Stds
CKC:	Group 1 - Sporting Dogs	Stds
KC (UK):	Gundog	Stds
NZKC:	Gundog	Stds
UKC:	Gun Dog	Stds

The English Cocker Spaniel is a breed of gun dog. It is one of several varieties of spaniel and somewhat resembles its American cousin, the American Cocker Spaniel, although it's closer to the working-dog form of the Field Spaniel and the Springer Spaniel. Outside the US, the breed is usually known simply as the Cocker Spaniel, as is the American Cocker Spaniel within the US. Due to the breed's happy disposition and continuously wagging tail, it has been given the nickname "merry cocker". Download high resolution version (800x686, 232 KB)English Cocker Spaniel This is Donglow Sir Winston, MX, MXJ, EAC, EJC, EGC, AD (all dog agility titles), a red-colored cocker. ... Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) (English, World Canine Organization), is an international Kennel Club based in Thuin, Belgium. ... © The American Kennel Club (or AKC) is the largest registry of purebred dog pedigrees in the United States. ... The Australian National Kennel Council (ANKC) is the peak body in Australia responsible for promoting excellence in breeding, showing, trialling, obedience, and other canine-related activities and the ownership of temperamentally and physically sound purebred dogs by responsible individuals across Australia. ... The Canadian Kennel Club (or C.K.C.) is the primary registry body for purebred dog pedigrees in Canada. ... The Kennel Club in the United Kingdom is a club aiming to improve the relationships between dogs and their owners. ... The New Zealand Kennel Club is an organisation responsible for dog pedigree registration services in New Zealand. ... The United Kennel Club (or UKC) is the second oldest all-breed registry of purebred dog pedigrees in the United States and the second largest in the world. ... This Chihuahua mix and Great Dane show the wide range of dog breed sizes. ... Gundogs, also called bird dogs, are a category of dog breeds developed to assist hunters to find and retrieve game, usually birds. ... Most spaniels, like this English Cocker Spaniel, are small-to-medium dogs with drop ears and a longer coat. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Breed standards (external links) FCI, AKC, ANKC KC(UK), NZKC, UKC The Field Spaniel is a brown and sometimes black or rowan spaniel, similar to the Springer and Cocker Spaniels. ... Springer Spaniel refers to two different breeds of dogs, both of which are commonly called simply Springer Spaniel: Welsh Springer Spaniel English Springer Spaniel This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Appearance

The Cocker is a sturdy, compact, well-balanced dog. It has a characteristic expression showing intelligence and alertness. Its eyes should be dark and its lobular ears should reach the tip of the nose when pulled forward. Today, a significant difference in appearance exists between field-bred and conformation show-bred dogs. The Cocker's tail is customarily docked in North America. In some countries the tail is generally docked at about 4 or 5 inches in field-bred dogs while show dogs generally are docked closer to the body. Gundogs, also called bird dogs, are a category of dog breeds developed to assist hunters to find and retrieve game, usually birds. ... In a conformation show, judges familiar with specific dog breeds evaluate individual dogs for how well they conform to published breed standards. ... Docking is used as a term for the intentional removal of part of an animals tail or ears. ...

Size

Height at withers: The withers is the highest point on an animals back, on the ridge between its shoulder blades. ...

• Dogs: 15-17 inches (38 – 43 cm)
• Bitches: 15-16 inches (38 – 41 cm)

Weight:

• Dogs: 28 – 34 lb (13 – 15 kg)
• Bitches: 27 – 32 lb (12-15 kg)

Blue Roan coloured English Cocker Spaniel

Show dogs are restricted to certain colours dependent on country, whereas working Cockers can be any of a wide variety of colours. They come in solid (or "self") colours, where white is restricted to only the chest in show dogs, parti-colour, roan, and merle. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2832x2128, 2350 KB) A blue roan cocker spaniel in august 2006, Richmond park, England. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2832x2128, 2350 KB) A blue roan cocker spaniel in august 2006, Richmond park, England. ... A red roan horse Roan is a type of coat color in horses (and, occasionally, in other animals, such as dogs and cattle) that is a mixture of white hairs with a base coat of another color. ... Blue merle Border Collie puppy Merle is a colour combination in dogs’ coats. ...

Although field-bred and show dogs are found in largely the same colours, some hunters prefer to have white in the coat to make the dog more visible to gunners Gundogs, also called bird dogs, are a category of dog breeds developed to assist hunters to find and retrieve game, usually birds. ... An American Cocker Spaniel show dog with its ears wrapped in preparation for showing A show dog is a purebred dog that is displayed at conformation dog shows to determine how well it conforms to established breed standards. ...

Temperament

Cockers are renowned for their friendly, faithful, playful, quiet and affectionate natures. They are easily trained and make a good medium-sized family pet. Very few Cockers have temperament problems; in a 2002 survey consisting of 487 Cockers, only 1% of the dogs were aggressive to people and 2% were aggressive to other dogs.^[1] English cockers have a loving temperament and make an excellent family pets. They will often bond to one person in a family. They have a "go do it now" attitude. For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ...

Black coloured English Cocker Spaniel

Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (3072 × 2304 pixel, file size: 2. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (3072 × 2304 pixel, file size: 2. ...

Health

Mortality

English Cocker Spaniels in UK and USA/Canada surveys had a median lifespan of 11 to 12 years,^[2] which is a typical longevity for purebred dogs, but a little less than most other breeds of their size^[3]. The English Cocker Spaniel typically lives about a year longer than the smaller American Cocker Spaniel^[2].

In a 2004 UK Kennel Club survey, the most common causes of death were cancer (30%), old age (17%), cardiac (9%), and "combinations" (7%) ^[4]. In 1998 and 2002 USA/Canada Health Surveys, the leading causes of death were old age (40%) and cancer (22%) ^[5][6].

Morbidity

Common health issues with English Cockers are bite problems, skin allergies, shyness, cataracts, deafness, aggression towards other dogs, and benign tumors^[7].

Skills

A field-bred cocker spaniel is first and foremost an upland flushing dog. In performing this task there are some skills the dog must be trained to perform.

• Hup This is the traditional command to sit and stay. To be an effective hunter the dog must comply with this command absolutely. When hupped the dog can be given direction called to the handler. The ability to hup a dog actively working a running bird allow the handler and any gunners to keep up without having to run.
• Retrieve to Hand The majority of hunters and all hunt test or field trial judges require that a dog deliver a bird to hand, meaning that a dog will hold the bird until told to give it to the hunter directly.
• Quarter Dogs must work in a pattern in front of the hunter seeking upland game birds. The dog must be taught to stay within gun range to avoid flushing a bird outside of shooting distance.
• Follow Hand Signals Upland hunting involves pursuing wild game in its native habitat. Gun dogs must investigate likely covers for upland game birds. The dog must be responsive to hand signals in order for the hunter to be able to direct the dog into areas of particular interest.
• Steady When hunting upland birds, a flushing dog should be steady to wing and shot, meaning that he sits when a bird rises or a gun is fired. He does this in order to mark the fall and to avoid flushing other birds when pursuing a missed bird.

A hunt test is an event at which the ability and training of gun dogs are evaluated against a standard. ... A Spaniel Field Trial A field trial is a highly competitive event at which hunting dogs usually compete against one another. ... Upland game is an American term which refers to those game birds hunted with pointing breeds, flushing spaniels, and retrievers which are not water fowl. ... Upland game is an American term which refers to those game birds hunted with pointing breeds, flushing spaniels, and retrievers which are not water fowl. ...

History

Black Show-type English Cocker

Spaniel type dogs have been found in art and literature for almost 500 years.^[8] Initially, spaniels in England were divided among land spaniels and water spaniels. The differentiation among the spaniels that led to the breeds that we see today did not begin until the mid 1800’s. During this time, the land spaniels became a bit more specialized and divisions among the types were made based upon weight. According to the 1840 Encyclopedia of Rural Sports, Cockers were between 12 and 20 lb.^[8] At this time it was not uncommon for Cockers and Springers to come from the same litter. Even a puppy from a “Toy” sized lineage could grow to be a springer.^[8] Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (774x1158, 314 KB) Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (774x1158, 314 KB) Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the  United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total 130... A breed is a domesticated subspecies or infrasubspecies of an animal. ...

There is no indication from these early sources that spaniels were used to retrieve game. Rather they were used to drive the game toward the guns.^[8]

During the 1850’s and 60’s other dogs types of Cockers were recorded. There were Welsh Cockers and Devonshire Cockers. Additionally, small dogs from Sussex Spaniel litters were called Cockers.^[8] In 1874 the first stud books were published by the newly formed kennel club. Any spaniel under 25 lb was placed in the Cocker breeding pool, however the Welsh Cocker was reclassified as a Springer in 1903 due to its larger size and shorter ear.^[8] "...in those days only those dogs up to a hard day’s work and sensible specimens were allowed to live, as absolute sporting purposes were about their only enjoyment and dog shows were hardly heard of...".^[8] // General Appearance The Sussex Spaniel was among the first ten breeds to be recognized and admitted to the Stud Book when the American Kennel Club was formed in 1884, but it has existed as a distinct breed for much longer. ... A breed registry, also known as a stud book, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. ... A kennel club (known as a kennel council or canine council in some countries) is an organization for canine affairs that concerns itself with the breeding, showing and promotion of more than one breed of dog. ...

The hobby of conformation showing began in earnest among spaniels after the Spaniel Club was formed in 1885. When showing, the new Springer and Cocker, both were in the same class until The Spaniel Club created breed standards for each of the types. The Kennel Club separated the two types eight years later. Since then, the Springer and Cocker enthusiasts have bred in the separate traits that they desired. Today, the breed differ in more ways than weight alone. In a conformation show, judges familiar with specific dog breeds evaluate individual dogs for how well they conform to published breed standards. ... A breed standard (also called bench standard) in animal fancy and animal husbandry is a set of guidelines which is used to insure that the animals produced by a breeding facility conform to the specifics of the breed. ...

In America, the American Cocker Spaniel type was forming. As a result, the English Cocker lost favour. The two Cocker Spaniels were shown together until 1936, when the English Cocker received status as a separate breed. The American Kennel Club granted a separate breed designation for the English Cocker Spaniel in 1946. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Working Cockers

This breed, like many others with origins as working dogs, has some genetic lines that focus on working-dog skills and other lines that focus on ensuring that the dog's appearance conforms to a breed standard; these are referred to as the "working" (or "field-bred") and "show dog" strains, respectively. Siberian Husky. ... Siberian Husky. ... A breed standard (also called bench standard) in animal fancy and animal husbandry is a set of guidelines which is used to insure that the animals produced by a breeding facility conform to the specifics of the breed. ... Gundogs, also called bird dogs, are a category of dog breeds developed to assist hunters to find and retrieve game, usually birds. ... An American Cocker Spaniel show dog with its ears wrapped in preparation for showing A show dog is a purebred dog that is displayed at conformation dog shows to determine how well it conforms to established breed standards. ...

Field-type English Cocker with pheasant.

After World War II, the show-bred Cocker Spaniel increased enormously in popular appeal and, for a while, was the most numerous Kennel Club registered breed. This popularity increased the view that all Cockers were useless as working dogs. However, for many dogs this is untrue, as even some show-bred Cockers have retained their working instinct. Image File history File links Kerygma_Cockers_Echo_&_Pheasant. ... Image File history File links Kerygma_Cockers_Echo_&_Pheasant. ... Genera Ithaginis Catreus Rheinartia Crossoptilon Lophura Argusianus Pucrasia Syrmaticus Chrysolophus Phasianus † See also partridge, quail Pheasants are a group of large birds in the order Galliformes. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... An American Cocker Spaniel show dog with its ears wrapped in preparation for showing A show dog is a purebred dog that is displayed at conformation dog shows to determine how well it conforms to established breed standards. ... A kennel club (known as a kennel council or canine council in some countries) is an organization for canine affairs that concerns itself with the breeding, showing and promotion of more than one breed of dog. ... Siberian Husky. ...

Today, this breed is experiencing a resurgence in usage as a working and hunting dog. Dogs from working lines are noticeably distinct in appearance. As is the case with the English Springer Spaniel, the working type has been bred exclusively to perform in the field as a hunting companion. Their coat is shorter and ears less pendulous than the show-bred type. Although registered as the same breed, the two strains have diverged significantly enough that they are rarely crossed. The dogs that have dominated the hunt test, field trial and hunting scene in the United States are field-bred dogs from recently imported British lines.^[9] The English Springer Spaniel is a gun dog traditionally used for flushing and retrieving game. ... A hunt test is an event at which the ability and training of gun dogs are evaluated against a standard. ... A Spaniel Field Trial A field trial is a highly competitive event at which hunting dogs usually compete against one another. ... “Hunter” redirects here. ...

Working-dog lines often have physical characteristics that would prevent them from winning in the show ring. This is a result of selecting for different traits than those selected by show breeders. The longer coat and ears, selected for the show ring, are an impediment in the field. In a conformation show, judges familiar with specific dog breeds evaluate individual dogs for how well they conform to published breed standards. ...

Cuban authorities train and use English Cocker Spaniels as sniffer dogs to check for drugs or food products in passengers' baggage at Cuban airports.

References

• Fergus, Charles. Gun Dog Breeds, A Guide to Spaniels, Retrievers, and Pointing Dogs, The Lyons Press, 2002. ISBN 1-58574-618-5
• Kolehouse, Bobbie. "Dusting off History to Look at Cocker Hunting Tradition Part II". Spaniel Journal. 
• English Cocker Spaniels Breed FAQ
• History of the English Cocker Spaniel

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... May 20 is the 140th day of the year (141st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• American Cocker Spaniel
• English Springer Spaniel

This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The English Springer Spaniel is a gun dog traditionally used for flushing and retrieving game. ...

Further reading

• Thoms, Jerry. "Emma is a Gun Dog (Cocker Size)". Gun Dog Magazine. 
• Roettger, Anthony. Urban Gun Dogs: Training Flushing Dogs for Home and Field, The Writer's Collective, 2004. ISBN 1-59411-050-6
• Jamie Sucher. Cocker Spaniels (Complete Pet Owner's Manuals). ISBN 978-0764110344. 
• Grainger, Alex: Training your Cocker...Whilst Playing with Children. Complete Owner's Guide.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

English Cocker Spaniel

• The Cocker Spaniel Club breed club in England
• English Cocker Spaniel Club of America, Inc.
• Cocker Spaniel Club of Victoria Inc.
• Cocker Spaniel Society of New South Wales
• Cocker Spaniel Club of Queensland Inc.
• English Cocker Spaniel information site and pedigree database
• Spaniel Journal Provides comprehensive information and articles on training, hunting, field events and other topics of interest to flushing spaniel owners.
• Cockers in the field The website for cocker field trials in the USA.