History
The English Cocker is no doubt one of the oldest types of land spaniel. Their origins can be traced back to 14th century Spain. They have been found in art and literature for almost 500 years. Prior to the 1600′s all types of spaniels were categorised together; the larger ones being used to spring game and the smaller ones to flush out woodcock. Hence the names Springer and Cocker were derived. In 1892, the Kennel Club of Great Britain differentiated the two breeds separately. In the 1930′s, the Cocker was the most popular breed of dog in Britain and there he stayed for almost 20 years! During the 1850s and 1860s other dog types of cockers were recorded. There were Welsh Cockers and Devonshire Cockers, additionally, small dogs from Sussex Spaniel litters were called Cockers. On the other side of the Atlantic, Americans were using the same breeding stock to develop a slightly different Cocker. In 1940, the Kennel Club then split these Spaniels into American and English.
Breed Standard
There are physical differencesbetween the show strains and working strains in the UK. The show strain is bred to the conformation standard, with the skull being well-developed and cleanly chiselled with a distinct stop. The jaws should be strong with a complete scissor bite. The eyes should be full and either dark brown or brown although dark hazel is allowed in the liver-coloured varieties, with an intelligent, gentle, bright and merry expression. The ears should be lobular set on low level with the eyes, well-covered with straight, silky hair. The muscular neck should be moderate in length and set into sloping shoulders. The body should be strong and compact with a level top line which should gently slope towards the tail. The forelegs should be straight and well-boned, and the hind legs well-rounded and very muscular and again well-boned with a good bend of stifle. The feet should be firm, thickly padded and cat-like. The tail should be set on slightly lower than the line of the back and carried level. It is customarily docked.
The working strain is bred for character, bid ability and style in their working ability and as such several physical differences have appeared. Working type dogs have tended to be larger with flatter heads and shorter ears. The coat also tends to be finer than the show variety and have less feathering.
Weight Height Range: Bitches measure between 38 to 39cms at the withers, dogs between 39 to 41cms. Both sexes weigh between 12.75 to 14.5kgs.
Show Cocker: Working Cocker: 
Training
Cocker Spaniels are fun loving dogs, with great intelligence, are outgoing, but sensitive and can be excellent family pets.
They are extremely trainable and can be trained in many disciplines including fly ball, agility, retrieving and not forgetting being sniffer dogs for drugs and bombs.
These are busy, friendly little dogs that thrive on human companionship, wanting nothing more than to please their owners. They are ideal pets where there are children about and get on well with other household animals.
Training with these little cockers needs to be on a friendship basis. Anyone with a quick temper or heavy hand should not consider having a cocker. They are very sensitive but can push the boundaries sometimes, so you need to be authoritive but gentle. Also let a puppy have its ‘puppy time’, don’t start intensive or advanced training too early. No two pups are the same and they all mature mentally at different times depending on their breeding/line and their environment. This may be anything from a few months old to 12 months old. However, basic training can be incorporated in the pups everyday routine i.e. sitting the pup before putting its food down and walking to heel.
Building a good trusting relationship with your dog is essential to gain its respect and obedience.
Cockers need stimulation, physical and mental. If they are going to be working dogs then they need to be able to quest around under your feet in varied different places under your control and listening to your commands. If they are a family pet, in addition to their daily walks, they can be trained to perform tricks.
The Kennel Club run the Good Citizen Dog Scheme Bronze, Silver and Gold which is a good starting point for your training and socialisation.
There are many Field Trial Societies which you can join. Many of them do regular training sessions which you can book to go on. They will also be able to suggest trainers to you for one-to-one lessons and group lessons. These societies also hold regular competitions and social events.
One important thing to remember is to do the training step by step and steadily, do not rush it.
Average Food Cost: £7.50 week
Feeding: Puppies must be fed according to the breeder’s diet sheet to ensure the bones and muscles develop correctly. As adults, this breed can very greedy so care must be taken to avoid obesity.
Purchase price: Show puppies will cost around £500 – £800, whilst the working types cost from £350-£600.
Grooming cost: Grooming cost must be taken into consideration for the show types as a professional groomer might have to be employed to strip them 3 or 4 times a year at an average cost of £30 per visit.
Insurance: Insurance premiums will vary greatly depending your location and the age of dog. Insurance companies also add a premium against policies were the dog is working in the field during shooting season, but they may allow a just few days within the standard premium. Premiums can range on average from £14 to £35 per month.
Lifespan: 9 – 15 years
Average Litter Size: 6
Physical Description: Active dogs with much substance and bone, English Cocker Spaniels are well-balanced, compact little dogs. Their coats are flat and silky with plenty of feathering on the front legs. They cover the ground well, their great drive coming from their muscular back legs
They absolutely love water and are excellent swimmers and enjoy hunting, which of course is in their breeding, so they therefore tend to run around in hedgerows and in ditches, which cover them in sticky burs, thistles and mud. So a quick check over of them after their walk for any attached debris would be beneficial to keep on top of things.
Working cockers are generally quite dogs that do not bark much, this is in the breeding as competition dogs would be eliminated if they make any noise. Whereas the show cockers can be more vocal.
Coat Length: Short/Medium
Grooming Requirement: Once a week for Show types, less for Working types
Trimming: Frequent – requiring a professional groomer for the Show types
Grooming: Their coats must be brushed regularly. The excess hair around the ear passages and beneath the ears must be removed to ensure the ears are adequately ventilated and that no infections set in. The hair around their feet and that between their pads also needs regular attention. They should be stripped out 3 or 4 times a year by a professional groomer. It is possible, however, to learn how to do this yourself.
Colour: Cockers come in a multitude of different colours including: solid colours of black, red, orange and brown, gold, lemon, combinations of black with white, liver with white, red and white, blue roan, orange roans, black roans, part colours and tricolours.
Shedding: Little
Health
Whilst the breed has a relatively long lifespan, they are prone to many eye problems and indeed, blindness can set in from the age of 10. The long drop ears predispose the breed to many infections and, therefore, regular checking and cleaning is a must
Inherited Conditions: Although the best breeders make every effort to avoid breeding from stock genetically carrying conditions which are known sometimes to affect dogs, these are not always easy to detect.
PRA (Progressive Retinal Atrophy): Night Blindness, may not be detected until the dog is 5 years old or more, is an inherited eye disease found in many breeds of dogs with varying ages of onset. There are various types of PRA but the one most commonly seen in Cockers is GPRA (General Progressive Retinal Atrophy) also known as prcd-PRA. This results in night blindness gradually leading to total blindness. In Cockers, PRA has a variable age of onset, from as early as 18 months to as late as 7 years. It is inherited as a simple Autosomal Recessive gene, meaning that a copy of the PRA gene must be inherited from both parents for the disease to occur. With recessive conditions like PRA, there are 3 genetic categories, affected, normal and carriers. Affected animals have two copies of the faulty PRA gene, one inherited from each parent.
Retinal Pigment Epithelial Dystrophy (RPED): This is the condition previously known as CPRA (Central Progressive Retinal Atrophy). Recent research has shown that this disease in Cockers is associated with an inherited metabolic inability to circulate Vitamin E around the dog’s system. This results in a central loss of vision but not usually total blindness (affected dogs still maintain peripheral vision). Supplementation with Vitamin E can apparently help in stopping further development of the condition. It is not yet known exactly how this genetic defect is inherited and no DNA test is currently available.
Primary Glaucoma: This is a very painful condition caused by a build up of internal fluid pressure in the eye due to an inherited abnormality of the drainage angle. An affected dog will go blind (and surgery to remove the affected eye or eyes is often necessary). Predisposition to Glaucoma can be determined by the Gonioscopy test as part of the BVA/KC eye testing scheme (the gonioscopy is a one-off test in Cockers and does not need to be done annually). At the moment, the mode of inheritance of this disease is not known and there is no DNA test available.
Other eye conditions are also occasionally seen in Cockers such as cataracts, persistent papillary membrane, distichiasis (extra eye lashes), entropion (in growing eyelids) and ectropion (sagging, loose eyelids)
Familial Nephropathy: A Fatal kidney disease in young Cockers, was unfortunately quite prevalent in the breed in the 1980’s until research instigated by The Cocker Spaniel Club established that this was a hereditary condition with a simple recessive mode of inheritance (as with PRA). A Control Scheme was set up by The Cocker Club in the mid 1980’s under which, all dogs & bitches known to have produced confirmed cases of FN were withdrawn from breeding and details of these carrier animals were published & made available to members & other breeders so that sensible decisions could be made in the selection of breeding stock. The success of this Control Scheme can be demonstrated by the fact that in recent years, only a small number of confirmed cases has been reported.
Hip Dysplasia: abnormal development of the hip joint is generally associated with bigger breeds of dog but it can be found in any breed, including Cockers. It can cause lameness & pain in severe cases or produce no noticeable symptoms in minor cases. HD does not have a simple pattern of inheritance (it is a polygenic condition meaning it is controlled by several different genes) and whether an animal will develop HD is also influenced by external factors such as diet and exercise. At present, the incidence of HD in the breed is being monitored to determine if there is a problem. A relatively small number (in comparison to the total number of annual registrations) of Cockers in the UK have been hip-scored to date producing a current breed average score of 14.
Auto-Immune Disease: is an umbrella name and covers different immune-mediated diseases of the dog, such as Addison’s Disease, Hypothyroidism, Haemolytic Anaemia and others.
Auto-immune problems appear in all the dog population pure bred and otherwise, although some breeds appear to be predisposed to certain conditions. Cockers & Springers have been linked to Haemolytic Anaemia, although research so far does not indicate that the problem is inherited. It seems that environment, age and sex play an important role in an animal developing an auto-immune condition.
Vaccination: Consult your own Vet and be guided by him/her. Most puppies need to be vaccinated at about 8, 10 and/or 12 weeks of age and most Vets recommend boosters from time to time throughout the dog’s life. Nosodes (a homeopathic inoculation) may be preferred. Remember that most boarding kennels require all visiting dogs to have an up to date vaccination certificate including Kennel Cough vaccinations.