Walt Disney once portrayed a scalawag Tramp who took his Lady to an Italian restaurant for a spaghetti dinner in a back alley where the two larger-than-life canines slurped pasta and fell in love to the music of the concertina. Of course, Walt Disney had another animated hit on his hands.

Tramp was a nondescript terrier-type mongrel, a dog of the streets as his name would indicate. Lady, on the other hand, was a sensitive, demure Cocker Spaniel. A dog that won the hearts of tens of millions of families. Of course, it did help that the Cocker Spaniel was already a favorite of the American family.

In fact, up until 1991 the AKC classify the Cocker Spaniel as their “top dog”. The new “top dog”, the Labrador Retriever, received the title only because the number of registered cocker spaniels went down. The Cocker is now number two, but this does not mean that Cocker is not still a favorite of America!

There are actually two types of cocker spaniels, the American Cocker Spaniel and the English Cocker Spaniel. In the United States, the breed is known officially by the AKC as the “Cocker Spaniel”. Outside the US, it is often referred to as the American Cocker Spaniel, but it was the creation of the English Cocker Spaniel (ECS) that triggered the breed split in the 1930s.

The American type Cocker popularity surged during the 1940s and ECS fanciers knew they needed the American Cocker Spaniel to be recognized as a separate breed. To get this recognition they needed to sort out the pedigrees not only in the United States, but in England and Canada. In June 1946, the English Cocker Spaniel was officially recognized by AKC as a breed different from the American Cocker Spaniel.

The American Cocker Spaniels are the smallest of the sporting spaniels. It is commonly believed athat their name “Cocker” stems from their use to hunt woodcock in England. The breed had its beginnings in Spain but developed in England. Originally, spaniels were hunting dogs, and were classified by size. Thus several different types of spaniels could come from the same litter. Cockers and toys were the smaller types and the toy spaniels were bred as ladies’ companions.

The Cocker Spaniel stands about 15 inches at the top of the shoulder blades, with a medium-length, double coat. They have long, pendulous ears and a happily wagging stumpy tail. Females are slightly smaller than males.

The Cocker comes in a variety of colors black, tan or buff, red or any combination thereof. For show dogs, the AKC does have standards for what the colorings should be and where certain markings should be.

Without a good temperament the Cocker could not have become the top dog in the US. A well-bred Cocker is sweet, loyal, cheerful, playful, trustworthy, easily trained and adaptable. All of these things are what is sought after in a family pet. Like humans, they need a moderate amount of exercise otherwise they could become a couch potato. The Cocker’s sensitivity may be its only drawback so discipline must be gentle.

The popularity of the breed was almost been its downfall. Puppy mills and backyard breeders have flooded the market with poorly bred pups that are yappy, snappy, nervous, high-strung dogs that are difficult to train and handle.

Like all other breeds and mixed breeds, Cockers should have some obedience training to teach them manners. As sweet as the breed generally is, an untrained Cocker can be a handful. Formal classes are not necessary as long as the puppy is gently taught to sit, lie down (preferably in their pet bed), stay, come and to walk on a leash without pulling.

Breeders will usually keep the mother and her pups in a dog crate for easy viewing of potential buyers. Cocker’s that are well bred are subject to few diseases or genetic abnormalities. But look for a puppy whose parents have been cleared of progressive retinal atrophy, a genetic eye disease that causes blindness, and whose lines are free of heart problems and epilepsy. Cataracts, glaucoma, and hemophilia can also be problems, as can chronic ear and skin infections. As with any pure bred, problems can be caused from inbreeding, so make sure that you check the pedigree before making your purchase.

The one thing that is not brought about by breeding is with the pendulous Cocker ears, which lend themselves well to infections because the long ears prevent air circulation that would normally dry the ear and prevent moisture-loving bacteria from gaining a foothold. The Cocker puppies must be taught from an early age to have their ears handled. They will need to be groomed to remove seeds and other vegetative matter and tied back to encourage air circulation and cleaned if infection develops.

Cockers should be fed in deep, narrow bowls that allow them to eat and drink without getting their ears into the food or water. You can also help prevent their ears from getting into their food or water by using a clip-type clothespin and clipping the tips of the ears together over the top of their head. Just make sure that you clip the fur on the in the ear and not the ear itself to avoid causing pain.

Along with a willingness to clean and protect the ears, Cocker owners must be willing to groom the soft, silky coat. If a Cocker is nothing more than a family pet, it is recommended to shave their coat in what is termed a “puppy cut” or a close cut. This will reduce the number of burs and twigs that get matted into the coat. Otherwise, Cocker’s should be brushed out frequently to remove tangles that can pull the skin and cause sores that make the dog uncomfortable and may contribute to major skin problems if left untended.

Other than paying close attention to ears and coat and training the dog to be a good canine citizen, the proud owner of a Cocker Spaniel should feed his dog a premium food for good nutrition, visit the veterinarian for yearly checkups, spay or neuter his pet if not a breeder and be prepared to enjoy the company of this little dog for 15 years or more.

Tags: Dog bed, dog beds, dog crates, pet bed

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 21st, 2008 at 12:03 pm and is filed under Pets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.