Which breed? feeling overwhelmed!

[Theonewiththreechildren]

Hi all, I'm a long time lurker but don't post often. My family and I have been thinking about getting a dog but I'm feeling a bit confused. We really like spaniels and we thought we had decided on a cavalier king charles spaniel as from what I've read they seem good family pets. However I'm concerned about the health issues with this breed. Obviously I would insure any dog I get but I'm worried that no matter how well I think I've researched breeders etc I could still end up with a dog that suffers.

So now I'm looking at cocker spaniels. How are these as family pets? I have 3 children aged 8,6 & 3. My main concern is that I've heard people say you can never wear them out! I'm a stay at home mum so whilst I am around much of the time, it's inevitable that the pup would have to be left alone at some point in the day (for example when I need to go to supermarket or school run) and I would hate to think it would be bored and unhappy because I hasn't worn it out enough!

Can anybody who has a cocker tell me how much exercise/simulation they need. Is there a great difference between show and working?

I should've said we live in a modem detached house but garden not huge. In s village surrounded by woods and fields so plenty of lovely walks. My husband and I have never owned a dog as adults but had family dogs as children - we do have a cat and a tortoise though.

Thanks in advance for any help, sorry if this is garbled - thinking as I'm typing and confusing myself!

Truly - sorry also meant to ask.....does your dog have a docked tail too? Is it a similar length to Writingbeagle's dog?

I have a preference for a female - is there any significant difference between the sexes with this breed?

Have tried to get a pic of eric where you can see his tail, he is also docked to 3quarters. I would have preferred undocked but becasue the litter were for working homes they were docked early. It is very feathery now but he is due a trip to the groomers and they tidy up his ears and tail, he has never needed clipping.

"I wasn't sure if that was even more of a risk because you know even less about what type of dog it will become?"

Yes and no...unless the cross is something hugely incompatible with spaniels or a really tricky breed, it's not a huge huge gamble or anything.

The vast majority of pet dogs are nice pet dogs...so yes, there is a chance it may not be as spanielly as you'd like, but that's not necessarily a huge issue - if that makes sense because even with a pedigree dogs are individuals anyway.

And with a good rescue they should be able to give you their assessment of personality and training back up if you ever need it.

My best dogs have been ones where we had no clue whatsoever what breeds were in them, lol.

Not pressuring you at all, if you want a cocker, then that's fine, but, if there's a chance a rescue puppy might be ok, then it's worth looking into.

I believe a 3/4 dock is usual for working cockers although I am not at expert .

Male v female - females are a bit smaller generally. If you plan to neuter, it is more expensive to neuter a female and if you don't you have the issue of seasons. Friends also have male dogs and told me they can be more affectionate but I'm not convinced by that, on the cockersonline forum both male and females seem to be super friendly. We didn't have a strong preference. My minimum requirement was health testing. After that I was keen on a black coat, but actually now I think they are all beautiful. We may well get a second in a year or so.

Overall, cannot stress enough that getting him has been the best decision we ever made as a family. Our family feels complete with him in it.

This is great, feeling quite encouraged and excited now.....and I've not even found a pup yet!

The docked tails actually look fine don't they? I thought they cut them really short. Would still rather a pup didn't need to go through the pain but I'm not put off by the look of it.

The main reason for wanting female tho is because all the dogs I've known personally (as it were!) Have been female. So I guess it's sticking to what I know. My mum currently has a female Westie. And a silly reason is that my DD and I are outnumbered by males in our house so it would be nice to even up the balance slightly

We have a 7.5 month cocker spaniel bitch and she is mad as a hatter but lovely. She has a docked tail but still has enough to wag :-)

Aw all these pictures are making me even more dog broody

I've seen an advert for a 4 month old puppy bought to be a working dog who has no interest in working. So the owners are looking for a family home - I know I'm not supposed to be rushing into anything, but would I be crazy to even consider this? She sounds perfect - a working cocker who doesn't want to work! It says she comes with all paperwork etc.

I know, I know I'm being stupid! I've answered my own question

how can they tell already if she would make a worker or not?

Genuine question as I know nothing about working dogs. Maybe it is obvious early on but Id be concerned that's not the real reason.

Theone, that sounds pretty reasonable. Why don't you have a look at her? Unless she's a complete head-the-ball and that's the reason for not suiting work, she might be perfect. But be prepared to walk away if she seems like she won't suit.

CKCs are the world's easiest dogs. Sweet, kind, as trustworthy with kids as a dog can be.

I once heard of a trick to assess the temperament of a puppy. Gently turn the puppy onto its back and hold it there softly but firmly for a minute. See how it reacts. Any aggression - no. Hysterics - also no. Catatonia - also no. Good-humoured wriggling or patient oh-well-do-what-you-want would be a great sign.

I think it's supposed to be obvious early on if they're really not cut out for working...but, it seems a bit odd that it seemed a good prospect and then a few weeks later isn't

At only four months old I'd query why they're just selling the pup on instead of returning her to the breeder. It may be they just don't want to as they might not get all their money back but if the breeder isn't interested in having the pup back it would ring alarm bells for me.

Thanks all, went back to have another look and it said she'd been sold. Saves me having to make the decision.

OP please don't disregard a rescue dog just because you have young children. Many many puppies (if you are set on a puppy) are born in rescue. Many adolescent dogs have been surrendered because the teen phase was too hard. Not all rescue dogs should be overlooked for the sake of lining a breeders pockets.

I'm a vet and see a lot of dogs of all breeds. There are gorgeous, happy, endearing dogs of every breed, and be reassured that nice sensible people like you almost always end up having nice sensible dogs, I suppose because they are loving and firm and careful. I bet it wouldn't ultimately matter too much what type of dog you chose.
Having said that, I think that the spaniel breeds are generally gentle and good family dogs.
Occasionally I do see people who have inadvertently chosen dogs who are an energy level mismatch for their lifestyle. It causes both parties to be unhappy and it's smart of you to be conscious of it before you begin. I think that it's actually reasonably easy to avoid, firstly by realistically assessing how much time you have to exercise, train and interact with your dog and secondly it's fairly apparent when you go to look at your prospective dog. The older the dog, the more obvious its character will be, and that's one advantage of the rescue.

I'm not against the idea of a rescue puppy (it would need to be a puppy as my DS 6 is a little nervous of dogs but is fine with my mum's as they have grown together and know each others quirks) but I'm slightly put off because years ago we tried to rescue a kitten and it was so hard that we ended up buying one from one we saw advertised in the paper (that's how long ago it was!)

Also how can you know that a puppy from a rescue comes from healthy parents? I realise you don't pay as much for a rescue puppy but for me it's not about the money, I just want a healthy pet. I realise there are no guarantees but I'd like to give it the best chance.

Good luck with your puppy hunt - only thing I would like to add is please reconsider getting a dog at the start of the summer hols.
A puppy won't be able to go out unless carried for about 4 weeks, you will be sleep deprived at the start and will need to spend a lot of time embedding toilet training (standing around in the garden). The kids will alternate between being super excited and super bored with puppy and being confined to barracks for most of hols.
I found after the initial flurry of getting my 3 ready for school, pup came with us for drop off, had a bit of socialisation in my arms at school gate, learned how to travel well in the car then I had all day to concentrate on basic training and mopping up accidents.

Good point, thanks. I will have a rethink and chat to DH.

Don't forget to look at your local dog shelters...there might be a dog waiting for you that you didn't consider before....might even be a cocker there.

You can't know for sure that a rescue puppy has two healthy parents, though they tend to come in with mum, so she'll have been checked out at least.

If you go for a breeder, you'll have no choice at all about timing as you'll have to find a decent one and then it's all pretty much down to the dog.

Theone - sorry not to reply sooner. Yes, he does have a docked tail but he still has a substantial amount left, so it doesn't look odd, he's still got lots left to wag! Re food on the floor - it's true, we don't have to hoover after mealtimes

Also, I would suggest that if you are very keen on a wcs, find some local breeders and go and visit them. Many good ones will have waiting lists, so if you find a breeder you like you can get on a list and they will let you know when they have puppies available.

I would also agree that school holidays are not the best times to get a puppy. you will be so restricted and it will be frustrating for your dcs. ours arrived at the beginning of October, so the dcs were back at school but it was still warm enough for him to play lots in the garden (and for us going out there with him every half hour). DH is a sahd and I took the first week off work so we could really concentrate on getting him settled and into a routine.

Good luck ð???

The reason why I was thinking of summer holidays is because on a normal week aside from school run (when I probably would take pup with me) the kids have swimming/dance lessons etc a couple of times a week (only half hour lessons) so I was going to gradually build up the time the puppy could be left over the holidays so that by the time we got back to our usual routine it wouldn't be a shock for him/her. Do you think I'm being unrealistic with that? Am I better off scrapping lessons for a week or so - or would that not be long enough to settle him/her in?

I have emailed my local cocker spaniel club to ask about breeders but not heard anything as yet - is there another way to find breeders?

I'm sorry to keep asking all these questions, I just want to be prepared as I can be.

The Kennel Club has a list of breeders by area. What I hadn't realised is that only the KC assured ones have been vetted though. You can be notified of new litters registered in the regions you are interested in. I worked on the basis of a three hour drive from home. I worked through this list and cross referred it with champdogs to find our dpup. I discounted a few before finding a breeder who I was happy with and who had puppies available. And we were lucky, we found him quickly, but I'd expected to wait a while. We did have to drive 3 hours to get him.

I haven't read all of the replies on here so apologies if I am repeating.

We have a 7 month old Cocker. His father is working, his mother is show. He is a joy! My DD's are 13, 10 & 7 & love getting involved with training. We do have a large garden (but a small house!) so 1 walk a day is fine for him, he runs/pootles around the garden for hours if it's fine.
I am a first time dog owner and was very concerned about the amount of time he would need but I started working from home just before we got him, so now I am pleased to have someone to talk to! He follows me round all day and sleeps on my feet.

He is very springy and jumpy though, my 7 year old can just about handle it , I am told he will calm down eventually if it helps I don't regret not getting a dog when my DC were younger, house training was hard, at least at 13 & 10 the DC help out too.

I would recommend Cockers as a family dog, I leave him to go to the shops etc and he is fine for a few hours. We crate trained and that works well when you need to go out or if you stay away with the dog.