Cocker spaniel size/ temperament, but less exercise?

[Glendora]

Hello dog experts!

We're beginning to make plans for getting our first dog in the next couple of years. I've wanted one for ages and have always loved working cocker spaniels. But I don't think we can manage the amount of exercise/stimulation they require - i.e. 2+ hrs of walks a day. We live semi-rurally with good walks on our doorstep and a big garden. But I also work FT (from home most of the time) so don't have masses of time for really long walks every day.

I love the temperament and look of working cockers and we want a medium-sized dog. What else might fit the bill as a good first-time dog for a family? DC will be around 5 & 8 when we get the dog/puppy. So, no labs, retrievers or greyhounds (too big), no terriers (too small, too barky). In an ideal world we'd find a spaniel/lab mix (springador, etc), but they seem impossible to find. Or just a lovely mongrel, but again, impossible to find unless a rescue and I don't think we can take on a rescue (first time dog owners, primary-aged children, etc).

What everyone else said.

My working cockers haven't been walked yet. Do they look bothered?

We've got a cockapoo (I know that's like a red rag to a bull on Mumsnet). She's 6 months, so good natured, brilliant with kids, so much fun and v v cuddly.

Agree with everything people have said above, mental stimulation, chewing, games in the backgarden, a 30 minute good sniffing walk. That all tires her out.

She also gets out for a 30 minute walk at lunchtime and another 30 minutes after tea or in the afternoon.

True she'd only a puppy still so can't walk for long - but it's the mind stuff that tires her out.

We do boxes with treats hidden in newspaper, or toilet roll tubes or egg boxes with treats in . We've got a snuffle mat. We hide treats around a room and get her to find them. She loves a good chew. We hide toys for her to find. Got a couple of Kongs that she likes too.

Latest is an ostrich bone - she spent an hour chewing on that yesterday....bloody loved it.

So basically - very hard work as puppies - but dogs can be trained to settle inside and have a good run outside but don't need hours of walking. But do need mental stimulation.

Well, this thread and all your really helpful responses have made me very happy. Thank you! This is all great to hear and really does make me think that we could give a working cocker a good home/ life. Me and DD would love the training aspect and playing/ mental stimulation. Plenty of space around us for off-lead walking and sniffing about. And we’ve got lots of time to find the right breeder/puppy and research local gun dog and/or agility training locally (of which there seem to be loads of options)

If you do go for it read up on the inherited conditions and make sure the parents are clear.

We found that when they were young and energetic the number one thing for tiring them out was meeting people. 30 mins in the town centre letting random people say hello to them was better that a 2 hour walk for knackering them out.

I have a 1-y-o WCS too and agree with everyone else on here. He loves find-it games, sleeps loads, everyone who meets him comments on how chilled he is for a spaniel, and he’ll happily potter down the park sniffing, occasionally chasing a ball (he gets bored of the ball) or playing with other dogs. He goes hyper on walks near rivers/beaches and can be a pain to recall out of the water when it’s time to go home because he gets too excited by swimming. He follows me around the house sleeping wherever I am during the day. He came from parents who were both pets and I have met wcs with much higher energy who seem to invariably have field trials champion lines - mine has a 5-generation pedigree but nothing special in his breeding! Conversely every full show I’ve met has been grumpy and sometimes aggressive with my dog (show cross working seem fine!) and every Springer has been bonkers - but that’s all just my impressions!

I’m loving this thread. Having done so much research over the last couple of years we’re picking up our working cocker in August and everything said here matches the breeders advice. Lots of people, especially those without dogs, tell me cockers are high energy and bonkers. Firstly, this is not my experience at all and secondly, we’re a fairly high energy family.

Oh how exciting! Can I ask how you found your breeder @m0therofdragons

I have a Sprocker who looks very much a working cocker (and a rescue, so who knows what % of each anyway).

She is 4 in October and neurotic (a bit of a nightmare in many ways and we've had her 9 months now). When we got her we religiously walked her twice a day, loads of time off lead etc etc.

She doesn't need that much. Now she has 1 walk a day, sometimes longer, sometimes under an hour. Always some time off lead (varies due to ber behaviour- over aroused, constant barking = back on lead). If a v long walk the day before she'll miss a day of walking the next day. As others have said, we exercise her mind. Hide her kibble, training games, other games from Absolute Dogs training. Always fine and settled in the house. Needs more time and attention than that 1 walk and way more than I anticipated before i got her.

@Glendora We looked on champ dogs and the KC website but then I messaged an ex colleague who was lovely and I knew from Facebook has 3 cockers for advice and by chance her girl was pregnant with a carefully planned breeding match. It has all fallen into place for us. Word of mouth would definitely be my approach (although I also asked other friends and discovered quite a few went to puppy farms).

I've got a working cocker and a sprocker. Both are very chilled out dogs, get around 45 minutes walking in the morning and 20 minutes in the afternoon and are very content. We often do longer walks at the weekends, and we tend to walk further in the winter as the dreaded grass seeds aren't around.

They're gentle, calm in the house, loving, and they're amazing around our grandkids. My only negative would be the 1st 18 months can be a bit tough going and you really need to put the effort in with training. Our sprocker has been much less work than our working cocker - he's very obsessive with birds especially pheasants, and he has a bell on his collar so if he goes out of sight I can still hear him. We've worked incessantly on his recall but all that still goes out the window when he sees a pheasant..........

They are highly driven scent based workers, so just bear that in mind. They also really really hate being left.......... mine come to work with me, and the only time they leave my side is going to bed at night!

How lovely to see people with actual spaniel experience speaking a whole load of truth and sense.
Our WCS is 4. And an absolute joy. But if we had listened to the naysayers (i.e. usually non spaniel people) he never would have come to us. However we did our research and went for it.
We have found what ours needs is routine, company, love and fun. And thats what we get back, in spades.
We embrace the ''bonkers'', rather than making hard work of it.
This is a breed from which you get out what you put in. Easy to train, quick to learn, funny and loving. All at top speed, yes...but certainly not boring!!