Are show cocker spaniels nice natured?

[Lillycoo]

Been wanting a doggo since forever and I finally now have a job where I can WFH and I've always wanted a show cocker. Anyone who has them as pets, are they well behaved and good around children? Pictures are a bonus!

Totally bonkers and hyperactive!

and adorable, good natured and good with children

Completely mental 😂

But spaniels in general are amazing dogs, you just need to make sure you give them enough brain exercises (yes even the show ones!) and enough exercise. My working cocker was happy with an hour in the morning and evening mostly off lead running and sniffing/retrieving a dummy. We’d be out all day with her running and swimming at the weekend.

Have to say life has been very chill since not having a dog. I miss my dearly departed animals but I do not miss freezing my arse off in torrential rain for hours at a time!

SoupDogg

This one is working/show mix.

Mad as a box of frogs out the house and a cuddle monster in. Sweet natured boy.

We do a lot of training and walks and he's not an insta pose kinda dog. We are intending working him next season.

But he's lush 🥰

How lovely. Thank you for the piccys. How adorable are they! I don't mind a crazy dog to be honest, keep me on my toes! How easy are they to train? X

Utterly batshit, always on the go but bloody great little dogs. DS was 9 when we got our boy so no experience around very young children but he’s incredibly gentle with everyone. There is a nursery opposite my flat and he loves getting a fuss from the little ones.

Here’s my old boy during a calm moment.

With regards to training, they’re quite smart and eager to please but they are also a whole new level of stubborn.

Mine was. But they can be quite sensitive. You have to find the right breeder who will breed for a family home, or the right one in rescue (where mine came from). Mine could have his moments of being a git too!

Mine was shit at being trained but learnt so many weird things by himself ("where's the ball?" being one of them... you'd ask him that and he'd rush off and come back with a tennis ball, no one taught him that! He also learnt his name if it was spelt out rather than said as a name).

@SoupDragon 😂😂😂

My thoughts exactly lol!

@Peckhaminn 😁👍

Yes they are.
But they do have a mind of their own & often do their own thing. Mine grew up with 4 kids & essentially acts like a lovable, cuddly, naughty child. When young he was a bit bonkers though. Now at 12 he's pretty chill & snoozes on the sofa like an old man.

Mine is feral! Honestly she will go in EVERY puddle, find ALL the mud and roll in something gross on most walks. But she is so so adorable, gentle and good natured. She was an absolute pain to train on the lead but her recall is great. She will also do anything for cheese!

I have had all types of spaniels over the last 20 years. I foster them as well.

They are mad as a box of frogs and knobheads. But all have been amazing with the kids. Even the working one I have now is really calm in the house.

They are prone to resource guarding if they aren’t mentally stimulated enough. They need plenty of exercise, but more mental stimulation. Some people get spaniels walk them for hours and then find that they are still mental inside the house. They need mental stimulation to calm them down and they need training to be calm in the house.

But they are amazing. I have 2 rescues. One is a spaniel/poodle cross of some sort and one a working. Great dogs. Also knobheads 😆

I agree with a previous poster about resource guarding, they are well known for it. But if you avoid that then they are really lovely, if a bit loopy, family dogs.

Look at Perthshire Gundog Rescue on Facebook - not to adopt, but you might learn something about how badly some irresponsible breeders have been creating show cockers with real behavioural problems. Do your research on breeders and don’t get taken for a ride, especially if you have children. A bite from a beautiful but frustrated and inadequately trained cocker is still going to hurt, still going to scare you.

They’re bright and very energetic dogs, they need lots of exercise, they need walks where they can sniff, not running miles while you jog or cycle! They need brain work, they need clear and consistent boundaries. Their coats need attention, they tangle easily and get every possible prickly weed stuck on their ears. They need trimming or clipping to keep their coats tidy, an additional regular expense unless you can do it yourself.

Learn to feed it properly, they can get tubby, and remember you won’t get a well mannered pet without commitment on your part.

My daughter’s working cocker is nearly 10, gentle, kind and gorgeous - and very well trained!

Show cockers are calmer than working cockers in my experience. They're still bonkers during puppy stage mostly, as with any breed, but they're calmer once they reach maturity in comparison to working cockers.

Have had two show cockers. One: super intelligent, crazy thief who was nervous around people she didn't know, especially children, but very loyal and devoted to her family, good recall. Other, completely soppy fluff brain who loves everyone and stays close by on walks but is a bugger to get back if she gets out the back door off lead.

Get to know the breeder and be as honest as possible about what your lifestyle will be like, so they can tell if their pup might be right for you, and you for them.

they need walks where they can sniff,

absolutely! I don't think SoupDogg's nose ever leaves the ground when we are out on a walk.

I've got a show cocker and unfortunately he has serious resource guarding tendencies and I would not have him around children. And he has a nervous disposition in general which makes him unsuitable around kids. He can guard anything that's near him, slippers, bags, plants even, but of course is especially bad around food and toys.

He and his siblings showed the same behaviours from a surprisingly young age which suggests a genetic element.

So I would do your homework on the breeder and get refs from other owners of previous pups perhaps. I have read that the darker, solid colours are more prone to the behaviour and the roans are less likely to be affected but don't know if there's anything in that.

Mine definitely likes to sniff. It takes us about 30 minute to do a lap of the lake which is only about a mile. He’s so obsessed with scents that he’s walked into numerous parked cars, lampposts and rather memorably fell down a hole in the footpath. The poor workman was a bit surprised.

I know one show cocker and 2 working cockers. Lovely as they are I'd never have a working cocker as they are so full on, they are both male. The show cocker I know is female and is fantastic, very bright very biddable, and very sweet, wonderful with kids BUT she is quite needy, a real companion dog and isn't keen on being left for long.
I would choose a female every time as I generally find they're a bit smaller and a bit less crazy (I prefer female dogs in general though) and I would always go for a show over a working cocker.
You really need to look at the parents though and know what they are like, buying from someone who knows a lot about the breed and does everything properly is so important and not someone out to make a bit of cash from their pet despite being completely clueless or puppy farmers (who often go to great lengths to look legit).

How exciting. Yes they are well behaved and fantastic around children in my experience. So gentle, like a gorgeous live teddy. Lots of PPs saying they're completely mad but ours is very chilled and calm, especially around ither dogs, horses, humans. Just likes a bit of attention though.

We bought from a local breeder. Although I wanted a golden show cocker, after researching I went for a (chocolate) roan as apparently the non solid colours have fewer breeding problems but don’t know how true that is.

We have had no problems with resource guarding. One annoying habit ours has is volleys of barking in the garden at crows, pheasants etc. But you could not find a more loveable gentle cuddleable chap. He has been cuddled enthusiastically by a whole class of five year olds once and absolutely lapped up the attention. And yes, he loves a sniffy walk so no power walking for us!

I think that the show cockers are slightly less bonkers than working cockers.
We have had both in the past. Our current one is half working/ half show and she’s a blimmin wonderful dog, I love her so much honestly!

She’s a bit dippy, much harder to train than our Labrador. She’s better at chilling out and relaxing although she enjoys a good walk. She’s great with the kids, very attached to our other dog so not too needy with me, doesn’t guard resources particularly.
She has a mop of curls on her head when she hasn’t had a haircut, she looks like she’s had a perm! She does get lugs in her fur and need grooming, but she doesn’t lose a lot of fur like the labrador. I never see her fur on my clothes or the floor.
She does smell a bit spaniely unlike the lab who rarely smells.
She does bark but only occasionally and will stop when told. She’s very gentle natured bordering on timid, loves people and dogs. She’s just the best! I would have another one in a heartbeat.