Any Cocker Spaniel owners out there?

[mabongwen]

I have a make 2 year old cocker, and well he is MAD. Is anyone elses cocker mad?

He is very good with obedience and is walked about 1mile a day, however he suddenly will just start running around the dining room table barking, he rubs his ears in the carpet if they get wet. He howls at the tv sometimes

is yours as mad as mine? haha

[FreshLeticia]

sorry to break the news, but all cockers are mad.
But, they are very gentle as a rule and can be extremely obedient.
Is yours a working cocker or a show type? Ours is a working dog and she has shitloads of energy.

[TeaOneSugar]

Sounds fairly standard to me, athough ours is only 7.5 months so we expect madness.

[ChickensHaveNoEyebrows]

My cocker/springer is batshit. He is walked for a minimum of 4 miles a day (that's me walking 4 miles, he covers much more as he's mostly off lead). He chases shadows and lights on the ground, and regularly tries to bite the face of the floppy eared git that lives in mirrors/windows. Sometimes, he spins around in a circle as fast as he can, growling, until he falls over He wipes his face and ears everywhere while purring, too. Oh, and sneaks up the hoover, whacks it, and then runs away crying when it moves.

Bloody love him, though

[mabongwen]

Mine is a show type a blue roan.

He is very gentle and obedient, when he wants to be Our dog has selective hearing I think.

Glad I am not the only one with a mad cocker! We didn't want a working as we couldn't commit to the extra exercise requirement that they need.

[mabongwen]

chickens HAHA! that all sounds pretty familiar if I am honest! Ours dislikes the vacuum greatly and tried to attack it by pulling the hose out of it :/

[FreshLeticia]

ours isn't keen on the hoover either, funnily enough, but is getting better. She is still learning that cats are dangerous though
Walking on the beach is best, she can go totally flat out. DH is teaching her to be a gundog, her daddy is a champion working dog and she is getting pretty obedient at 10 months old thank God, she was a bloody pain when little.
but she is really loving and generally a nice- natured doggy, but they do say you don't own a cocker, you wear it!

[MountainOrMolehill]

Madness is a cocker trait isn't it?

Part of the package?

And yes, ours is barking mad. Does yours have a word which sends her crazy? Our magic word is 'squirrels'. She goes NUTS when they're mentioned!

[HotPinkWeaselWearingLederhosen]

Cockerness is contagious. They are a bad example on canine kind. I did an ENTIRE walk today unable to see my Labrador as a cocker had shown her the joys of barreling through hedges and undergrowth rather than using, you know PATHS.

[ChickensHaveNoEyebrows]

If we say 'dinner', or spell it, or say 'walk', or spell it, we get treated to The Wall Of Death. This involves batshit spaniel attempting to run across the ceiling with joy.

[ExitPursuedByABear]

We have a BastardDog thread you know.



DUCK!

[neontetra]

My working cocker is mad on walks, belting around all over the place, and chronically bad on the lead. Very calm and super obedient in the house though. This is only because she was a rescue, and we've not quite managed to untrain her yet! Such a gentle dog. My 11 month old adores her - in fact her first and only word so far is "dog".

[mabongwen]

Fresh aww that's lovely that she is so well trained. I sometimes feel like mine is the "naughty" child in doggy classes or the slow one

Mountain Just the usual words for us that evoke sheer madness "walkies" and "foodies"

[neontetra]

The words "walk", "lead" and "birds" drive my dog crazy!

[binger]

Helloooo! Aren't cockers the best, I have a golden girl show type. She does the room running after a walk, I think it helps to wind her down after the excitement of a walk. She is very obedient but also very stubborn lol. They absolutely love clicker training, give it a go. I'd love another but would be utter madness.

Cockers on line is a good site for cocker owners.

[FreshLeticia]

ooh will have a look at cockers online. better spell it correctly or I might get something I haven't bargained for
Ours goes batshit rolling crazy on the floor when DH puts his coat on. Or when he comes home. She luffs him. The cat teases her mercilessly though by lying provocatively just inside the dog-gate we have between the kitchen and the sitting room. She isn't allowed in the carpeted part of the house. She has been very confused this last couple of weeks at her first season.

[cathpip]

I have two working cockers, nice and calm in the house but as soon as you pull out the wellies or appear in running kit they go bonkers and start hurdling the kids!. I walk/run/cycle about 7/8 miles a day (they do a lot more) and that seems to help contain the madness, i did however wear one out by doing the yorkshire three peaks (24 mile, 3 hill round robin walk) very funny, poor fella refused to get out of his bed for 36 hrs!!!

[FreshLeticia]

oh God, the three peaks. I did it with me dad and our fox terrier when I was in me teens. It was a killer, no wonder your dog protested!

[happygardening]

My friend who I walk with has a 6 month old working cocker (both parents are field trial champions). He's started running off after birds and is gone for over half an hour sometimes longer she's been told by the breeder to "entertain him" more when out for a walk she throws balls frisbees etc but he quickly looses interest. He doesn't do it when out with my dogs and they're not big on running off they just run around near by. She's thinking about getting another dog but wonders if he will get bored of it soon and start running off again. Her main worry is that soon livestock will be all over the place and that he'll get into a field and chase them instead. Any thoughts I can pass on?

[ditavonteesed]

yep I have a mad cocker. gets about 3 or 4 miles day but could happily go all day. would fetch a ball all day, he does what we call zoomies where he just runs around us in a massive figure of eight for the whole walk.

[mabongwen]

So glad I am not alone in the cocker madness haha was starting to think I had a dog with a behavioural disorder or something

[feetlkeblocksofice]

Yes sorry there is no hope my nearly 3yr old is as mad as a box of frogs.

[TapselteerieO]

Neontetra our spaniel sounds similar to yours.

Taking her to be spayed tomorrow and worried, we have only had her two months, she was a stray, we got her from a rescue centre. She is v small (everyone has an opinion on what type of spaniel she is!?), the vet thinks she is about 18 months.

She is generally a house angel/street wild thing, not good on the lead until you are nearly home then she calms down. She loves beaches and dunes to launch herself from, and thick undergrowth to dive into.

I am worried about looking after her and her getting cabin fever after the op, so any tips/advice would be great.

She has (obviously I am not biased at all) gorgeous markings, chocolate polka dot paws and nose and a tail that wags her. She is adoring and adorable. We haven't let her off lead yet, had her on extender lead, worried about her recall and not being neutered! So she gets one long (1 and a half hour) and two smaller walks a day. She is a gentle sweetheart and full of joy.

[MrsTomHardy]

My cocker spaniel Harvey is nearly 10 now and I wouldn't change him for the world.
Very laid back, easy going and loves attention.
He's great with my 4 cats and hens.
Brilliant off the lead.
I got him when my boys were 1,4 and 6 and he's been great.
He does however like to nick socks and take them to his bed

[MummyNoName]

Tapsel-what type do you think your Cocker is?

Ours is quite small too.

[TapselteerieO]

I have zero dog expertise, my dd has much more dog knowledge than me, dh thinks she is a sprocker, or working type cocker. Whatever, she is very fine boned, I just think she is a mad spaniel!