Cocker spaniel owners come here please

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OK can you tell me about your dog.

Show/working?
Colour?
How much walking?
Grooming?
And anything else you feel a prospective new owner should know

Working
Chocolate brown / liver
C.8 months
Can run about for hours ; also copes with a couple of walks per day
Very affectionate
Bit barky
Prefers ladies
Loves cuddles
And the kids
And paper, socks, knickers and zips.
Hasn't really destroyed anything of importance
Easy to toilet train
But pully on the lead
Pretty good recall, except where birds and small furry rabbits are involved
Trys to be dominant with other dogs, except labs which scare her
Very little grooming but can get a bit wiffy when damp.

Anything else?

Always mooching for food
Less keen on the monotony of her own food

Not an owner but a walker... IME they are great family dogs, working look nicer to me than show, but no difference in temperament, colour doesn't matter, they are always the colour of the local mud by the time you get home they need about average amount of walking for a dog that size, grooming yes daily, or they'll end up needing massive professional help, and regular haircuts will help, and they thrive on work and training, they will get bored and chase rabbits and not come back if you don't put the hours in right from the beginning.

X-post with fussbucket with grooming. But we really don't groom daily - she has some feathering but it just seems to sort itself out. Ears are quite curly and get a wee sort out just with my fingers when she is sitting on my knee of a night

Not sure where i read it but somewhere said self colours were calmer (not that im expecting a calm cocker haha) I prefer black or golden but obviously everything else comes first and im a strong believer that the pup will chose me rather than me choosing the pup.

We have a black working cocker girl. Now about 6 yrs old. Loves food so was easy to train - I trained her as a gun dog to work on local shoot. Compared to my border terrier, she was a walkover!
Barks, but very friendly. Still prone to jumping up esp onto people wearing white trousers or with zimmer frames :)
Get a crate because it will run you ragged in the first year... boundless energy., so somewhere safe to put her. Great family dog with big fondness for carrying odd socks and single shoes around the house.
Has one walk a day for an hour ish, but cannot - just cannot go for longer than 24 hours without exercise.

I agree with Gomez, they don't need a full on groom daily, but ears and feet should be sorted after all outings especially in grass seed season. I love fondling spaniel's ears, they're so soft!
All the cockers I know are slightly bonkers, although the most bonkers was a liver and white show-type. But he had been through Rescue. The next most bonkers was a black show type bitch, but the calmest was also black (working type dog, had been trained for gun-work although they had no intention of shooting over him, just wanted high standards of recall).
Hope you get chosen by a lovely pup!

Second the crate. Also train your DP and children if you have such things to put their shoes away out of reach, there is nothing as dispiriting as one perfect shoe and one trashed one.

Everything Gomez said:
Doesn't recall, gets distracted when picking up a scent and he's off
Scavenges for food, sticks his nose in bottoms of buggies, scarpers with picnic food in the park
Pongs a bit
Great with children
Has a dust mite allergy
Tri-colour
Working
Barks - a lot
Two walks at least a day. We do a 3 mile on a lead, and a mile walk with a good sniff/play/ball chase in the park after. He doesn't mind if he only gets one walk, but he does love being out.
Probably the best family dog to get

working cocker
golden
very easy to train
walks could run all day, needs at least a good hour.
grroming every few days, very stinky
is mad as a can of spam, they call him the tazmanian devil at training.
chews everything and eats poo.
Barks quite a bit.
very loving, great dog, would thoroughly recommend if you have the energy to keep up. pics on profile.

peculiar half-working, half-show so she looks like a mutt - which we really like!
fantastic with children
loves everyone (terribly easy to steal)
despite firm early training still jumps up at visitors (but not children)
happy with short walks as long as she sees the outside
didn't chew much at all but could run faster than a cheetah as a young pup
she's lovely

3/4 cocker/1/4 springer (but looks cocker and size of cocker)
Allegedly show, but I suspect not. Fur not nearly long enough.
Red with white flashing courtesy of springer heritage.
Walked twice a day, at least half an hour per walk, and most days half an hour off lead chasing a ball. So, 1-1.5 hrs a day, sometimes more.
Groomed every few days, unless he's been rolling in mud and needs a good brush out. You have to watch the bit behind their ears, as it has a tendency to matt.
Easy to train as quite intelligent.
Dreadful food thief, your dinner is not safe.
Adores everyone, and enjoys cuddles.
The DC's best friend.
Hoards things. So, your socks, hairbrush, shoes etc will all go missing and turn up in his bed.
Ball obessed, to the extent that when off lead he will ignore passers by, other dogs, cyclists etc as long as you are holding a tennis ball.
Needs to be exercised, or bonkers in the house.
Does bark a bit.
Can be left for short periods of time, but is a 'people' dog and misses company.
Pulls like a train on the lead, especially when you first leave the house.
Will crawl in to your heart and make you spend vast amounts of money on treats, toys, beds and collars

Show (i think there is a big difference in energy and personality between the two types)
Black,white and tan
About an hour a day off lead in the week ,more at weekend.He would go forever but equally if you miss a day he is fine .Recall is pretty good now ,they are quite food orientated

Grooming ,they moult a lot ,I try to keep Otto tidy but he goes to a groomer once every 6 weeks where he has a cocker cut;basically short underneath but with a bit of skirt and short feathers on his legs and tail and chest tidied

He is the most lovely friendly optimistic character ,no problem with other dogs ,very friendly to people ,a dream to house train and no problem to leave for short periods.His worst faults are that he still jumps up when excited and he barks very loudly at postmen and cats and sometimes whines in car if excited and knows we are going for a walk.Also despite having KC Bronze he still pulls on lead if not reminded (But i think this is my fault for not training him very well)He loves cuddles and human contact and is currently sitting with his head on my foot!

Most important advice is get on www.cockersonline.co.uk especially their puppy section of the forum,it is a mine of information (not to mention lots of lovely photos),everyone is really supportive and friendly ,I don't think I would have had such an easy time when he was a puppy without all the advice and info on there.I am Pip1965 on there and have a pic of Otto as my profile.There is also lots of info on workers v show and the differences

Cockers can be very hard work as puppies as they are a bit mad and mouthy but you just have to be prepared and get on with it and treated properly they emerge as fantastic family dogs ,at least we think so .would definitely second the suggestion of a crate and we had a puppy pen too

Show
Black and tan
Eighteen months
45 minutes to an hour off lead walk
Needs brushing every few days, quick to matt if you don't.
Very affectionate and loves to play but can't stop him barking at postman and any other little noise outside. Any advice on this would be appreciated!
Terrible stealer of socks ,knickers, food and loves shoes with straps which he can chew off [hasn't done that for a while now, so hopefully over that little habit!]
Quite wilful but that is probably the fault of his owners for not being firm enough!
It's our second cocker . . love them!
Agree with wooden top about cockers online.

working
black
4 yrs old
we keep her hair short so brush about once a week
friendliest dog ever, loves socks, shoes, teddies, just to carry not chew.
Definately agree with getting a crate, She was very easy to train too.
Does sulk if she doesnt like her food or has been left on her own for more than an hour. (shes a wee bit spoiled though)
Will walk for hours but sleeps whenever she is inside.
Great with children.
Loves food and is ball mad.
Has to lie right next to you all the time.
Hubby takes her to work so she bounces about all day, gets wee treats from loads of people he visits and he also takes her to an old folks home cos they love the dog too.
Going to get another one later in the year. Cant wait.

working
black
4 yrs old
has a good clip every few months or turns into a little bear
Irrepressible thief of anything she can nick to carry around - paper, shoes, toys, socks - mostly emerge unscathed
Completely uninterested in food as a pup, which didn't help with training.....
Now thinks about her belly 24 hours a day
Pulls like a train on the lead
Thinks she's a lap dog; can't wait for someone to sit down so she can jump on them, or lie on the sofa with her head in your lap, or lie across the back of the sofa with her head on your shoulder like a parrot
Fab with children, our other dog and the cat
Barks at any noise outside and throws herself at the front door so any strangers think we have a huge ferocious hound
In summary, bonkers but lovely

Show type.
Black.
18 months old.
About 1 hour off-lead walk per day, he's happy with less but easily walks all day too.
He's entire, so grooming isn't too bad. I have him handstripped by a groomer roughly every 6 months and use a coat king to strip out dead hairs in between. I don't brush him enough (once every couple of weeks) so he sometimes gets tangly armpits, he sheds a LOT and leaves mud everywhere.
He doesn't bark, he's easy going and relaxed, was easy to train (although he pulls on the lead) he's slightly nervous so doesn't really like to be stroked by srangers when we're out, but he's very friendly with other dogs. He lives with cats and young DC and is fine with them.
He's food mad and seems to be constantly on the lookout for any scrounging opportunity.
He's really very sweet and easy to own, he's my first dog so I'm glad he wasn't difficult.

5 month old Show cocker - was result of accidental mating - dad was black, mum was red.
He is golden with freckles on his nose:)
Walks well on the lead now (still training), and recalls well. Plays nicely with other dogs and is still very submissive - falling onto his back if another dog approaches.
Second getting a crate - we are now tending to leave him alone for a couple of hours a day just in the kitchen with his cushion, but still crate at night.
He will eat almost anything, but has nor chewed (yet!)
Is very loving, not much of a barker, and a lovely family pet :)

I year old gorgeous golden working girl
Loves as many walks as possible but happy to sleep at home I believe she could walk all day.
Water crazy she just makes a beeline for it so is often damp and smelly
Good recall and very sociable with dogs and people but Jack Russell's don't like her.
Walks with nose to floor seeking anything edible
I comb out her ears and legs when she sits with me in the evening as if not they tangle
Independent feisty and absolutely a darling the baby of our family

Show/working? - Show
Colour? - Chocolate and tan
How much walking? Only 6 months so about 35 mins a day
Grooming? yes, every day, but clipped every 8 weeks
And anything else you feel a prospective new owner should know - I love our cocker, we've only had her since November, but she is well and truly a member of our family. I would get another one in a heartbeat

Try Nessr they are a Scottish springer rescue but often have cockers as well .asp CAESSR which is the cocker rescue.We paid £600 for our pup,he's worth every penny but it is a lot of money.

Im in scotland too. Ive been looking on champdogs , cockers club of scotland and kennel club.

Working. And loving it. But mostly a pet now, cos he's getting on a bit.

Solid black, with a tiny wisp of white on his chest. He's listed in his KC register as black.

About an hour most days, unless I absolutely have to have dd2 with me and then it's half an hour. We also have a big garden.

Brushing most days and a trip to the groomers for a wash cut & blow dry every three months.

Clever, loyal, loving, obedient, and all the other things a dog should be that I can't remember.

Also cant greet anyone at the door without a shoe in his mouth. I put it down to the working genes.

Easy to train except for toiletting for some reason, he took weeks.

Never chewed much at all.

Hope thast helps!