Talk to me about Cocker Spaniels...

[Dollygirl2008]

Would dearly love one and after doing my homework for a year, I've settled on getting a puppy in the Summer.

I yearn for a cocker spaniel as I grew up with one, but obviously I didn't see the hard work my mum had to do!!!!

I've more or less decided they're not a "first time owners"'dog - or can it work?!

home-alone time would need to be built up to 4 hours and then doggy daycare if anything over

How quickly would you want to build this up, & would you be able to afford regular daycare if pup can't cope alone?

I built up with ours gradually - he could do up to 2 hours at around 6 months, occasional 2.5-3 hours at 8 months, but I'm not sure he would have coped with it regularly at that age.

Unfortunately he became unwell at 9 months (immune mediated polyarthitis) which was a big set back (time in hospital then side effects of medication meant he needed regular toileting) so we've only recently built up to 4 hours (around 15 months).

Its really tricky as, with the immunosuppressive medication, he can't currently have his vaccinations, so no daycare or kennels. Luckily my DH works from home permanently.

One of our fellow working cockers from our puppy group has separation anxiety and can't be left at all. They can really be velcro dogs.

Ours is a worker x show (breeder had a wonderful working bitch but wanted a calmer influence as she is a seriously busy little dog). He's barmy without a walk - come rain, snow or however rubbish you feel, he needs to go out. We can get away with a slow sniffy stroll plus a puzzle toy, but he really needs a good hour or two offlead to sniff everything.

He is a massive thief - read up on resource guarding, be prepared to put everything out of reach and never forcibly taken something from their mouths (unless dangerous).

All that said, he's fantastic. Smart but simultaneously daft as a brush, got his head totally stuck in a fox hole a few days ago. Very good with the cats, although the older one hates him. Definitely has his own mind but also wants to please so usually makes the right decision when asked to do something

I adore my 8 month old cocker. She’s such a character and a lovely dog, she melts my heart. I’m a first time dog owner and I don’t find anything particularly challenging about it. She’s obedient and well trained but a bit bonkers. Loves her walks, if I miss a day for whatever reason then I just play ball with her in the garden. She also loves cuddles and is brilliant with eye contact, she looks lovingly into my eyes and cocks her head from side to side when I talk to her. She’s friendly towards other people and dogs.
She’s also brilliant with my wild 3 year old (he was 2.5 when we got her). She’s very patient but also very playful. They’re best friends.

I would never get another breed now. I think if you love cockers then you’ve got to get one. Labradors used to be my favourite but now nothing compares to Spaniels in my eyes

Our cocker is a thief, too! Has had a whole chicken carcass off the worktop before, and been to the vet twice for swallowed socks.

We're self isolating at the moment and he's not happy without his walks, even though we've arranged for one a day.

Show cocker here. He lives a walk but doesn't need lots. Loves laps and sofa sleeps. Very very cuddly and calm. However, I'd never prepared myself for the hair and the mud and the mud and the dirt and the hair. Hideous. I have him close shaved but keeping it up is very expensive! I pay almost £50 per groom.

Absolutely mental!!

I have a 1 year old and she is totally adorable! They don’t call them sprockerdiles for the first few months for nothing, but she’s the most loving, placid dog. Totally bonkers too at times, but I love walking, and that’s part of the reason it works. She’s currently fast asleep next to me snoring!

I work from home mostly, and she wanders around the house mainly sleeping because she gets a good walk first thing, and a bit at lunch, and again late afternoon. Equally she gets left 4-5 hours occasionally, but because we’ve built up to that from the outset, she’s fine. I have a camera In the kitchen and know she just sleeps!

My friend has a show cocker, and is in the groomers every 4 weeks, whereas mine goes every 3 months for a quick tidy up and claw trim!

Bit hyper and according to my vet friend can turn unexpectedly ( even worse if crossed with poodles apparently).
I have known a couple of sweet ones - but they were nuts

Get a show type - ours was our first dog (we now have lots of spaniels!) and he's just the best. He's incredibly lazy - enjoys his walks but loves nothing more than a cuddle on the sofa, and makes me laugh every day. Great with other dogs, people, friends kids. Plus there is nothing cuter than a spaniel puppy

@willthatbeall

Show cocker here. He lives a walk but doesn't need lots. Loves laps and sofa sleeps. Very very cuddly and calm. However, I'd never prepared myself for the hair and the mud and the mud and the dirt and the hair. Hideous. I have him close shaved but keeping it up is very expensive! I pay almost £50 per groom.

Exactly the same as mine. We also have ours fully clipped out every couple of months as he is a bog monster

Working or show? Show cockers tend to be calmer and need less exercise. Ours is ok with a couple of half hour mooches a day but will walk/run for hours if we are.

If you must, then get a show not a worker.

Ours is 50:50 but definitely show type in the house. Likes to play and nap. Prey drive is there but he's no working spaniel.

He's crackers but oh my word, the most loyal, loving sweetheart. Sock thief, counter surfing teenage numpty 7 months old....but a snuggle muffin and just love him to bits.

They are indefatigable and need a lot of exercise. Not all dogs need the same amount or show their need the same way. They are lovely though.

We have a 7 month old WCS as our first dog. To make things more fun, we also have a 3 year old human child. However, I think the madness of the house, and the fact that he's had to cope on his own sometimes has helped him. He has zero sense of personal space when we're home, but we can leave him for a few hours and he's fine.

Her chews a bit but so far nothing excessive (my friend's whippet literally ate her sofa recently), he's awful on the lead, but his recall is good. He gets a damn good run around in the morning off lead and is then happy to flop about the house for the rest of the day.

Mental stimulation is definitely just as important as physical with cockers. In fact, exercise them too much and you will just have a really fit dog that will want hours of walking every day.

The nipping was horrendous for the first couple of months but we used a pen and crate to enforce quiet time and naps which really helped.

He's lovely. A bit mad as PPs have said, but not quite as nuts as some seem to make out the breed is. He also doesn't have an aggressive bone in his body (that we've seen so far).

We got a working Cocker for our first dog. It was a long time in the planning. He’s been an absolute dream - excellent with the kids and easy to train. Fully appreciate we may have just been lucky. Having said that, he can be a bit of a grumpy sod, now he’s getting on a bit (and I’m sure I’ve mentally blocked out the puppy stage). Wouldn’t swap him for the world.

Cocker spaniels are the absolute best, I would def recommend a show over a working cocker though or even a mix.

A show cocker is still very clever and active but you can relax more - a working cocker needs a job to do. And despite lots of research and feeling that you’re ready, this is a big task to take on.

I speak from experience as I really really wanted a working cocker because I think they’re so beautiful but had a breeder really give me some tough love over it.

I went with a show and now when I see her in the park next to the working versions who are 10 x as fast I am just so glad I took that advice!

Our dog needs two 30 min good off lead walks a day with fetch and needs a proper mega off lead run around extravaganza park romp walk at least 3 times a week (so a big long walk on weekends).

When she was a puppy she would do zoomies for 30 minutes! (Me and my partner sat on the couch timing this tiny beast sprinting in circles around the house for that long lol).

She was and is bonkers and I’m so glad I didn’t opt for more work than her by getting a working version 🤣

In terms of being left, she’s totally fine. Our approach was not to do it too early, wait until they’re developmentally ready to be away from you (you notice as they start to explore rooms you aren’t in etc) and then take it very slowly.

In my non professional opinion I think some separation anxiety could be down to puppies being left alone too young rather than the idea that you need to train them to be alone as early as possible. They’re just babies when you get them.

We picked our show cocker up in Wednesday. She's a lovely little thing so far, sleepy cuddly. Not to keen to be left but I'm still working from home for the foreseeable so that's no problem. I had same advice about shows being easier.

We have a show type cocker spaniel. He is 8 now and still absolutely mad but he is quite content now to snooze on the sofa all day. When we got him someone said to me you do realise they dont calm down until at least 8 and they were correct. He is absolutely amazing with my children and always cuddling and sitting next to them. They adore him. He is fab just crazy.

Sorry forgot to say when i was working before I had my youngest i didnt leave him alone he went to a daycare for the day twice a week.

My show cocker sticks to me like velcro, cries when he's happy or sad, barks like crazy in a dog park, but focusses on sniffing only when he's walking. Has a pretty broad vocabulary of understanding & can follow orders (not dumb), is sweet, cuddly & affectionate. Doesn't like strangers in the house & was a nightmare to housebreak. Has eaten some very nice shoes... and chewed through toys. Recall is a bit iffy. Love him to bits.

I think it really depends on what you want from a dog. I have always wanted a spaniel and went in to it with my eyes open.

We have a sprocker who is 3/4 working cocker and he’s brilliant. He didn’t nip as a puppy, is bright but not wired like people suggest they will be.

He loves his exercise, although I use it as training and we practice recall, loose lead walking, sit and stay while we’re out. Just starting to do some retrieving with him. I am conscious of not massively building up how much we walk as I know he’ll take whatever we throw at him and not be tired, just get overtired and nuts.

Has has hit adolescence now and can go deaf and try to go self employed flushing and chasing so I’m working on that. Getting him working with/off me is going to be important and that’s all to do with his breeding.

He loves his crate and chooses to snooze in there in the evenings. Enforcing naps/downtime sometimes is part of keeping him chilled and appropriately rested, he wasn’t left to run himself ragged until he crashed as a young pup. As a consequence, we missed out of lots of ‘normal’ overtired puppy behaviour.

He is great with our kids (4&8), very soft and forgiving with them and just generally loves being around all of us (but I am his person over everyone else).

To be honest, I don't think it's about having dog experience, so much as being willing to put in the work!

I have a working Cocker, and he's hard work but amazing. I love him sooooo much. Mine is fearful and reactive, though; and really, it's mostly this that's difficult. In terms of his general "fizzy, busy, Spaniel-ness", I'm used to that now. It was a shock at first, how clingy he is, how energetic, etc., but he's so fun, and so loving, and so clever.

He knows about 50+ tricks and commands, can fetch his toys by name and even colour, has a fantastic understanding of vocabulary, brilliant recall, and is very well trained. I've put in a lot of work. Easily a couple of hours per day, between exercise, mental stimulation, training, etc.

I wouldn't say working Cockers are easygoing dogs. As in, if you skip a day's walk, get sloppy on giving other activities like sniffing games and training, etc., you'll probably know about it very quickly. But if you're able to devote say 2-3 hours a day on average (with half of that being training and mental activities), you won't really have a problem.

I've often wondered if I'd be happier with a lower-energy dog. But I've also asked myself if such a dog wouldn't be so fun and engaging.

As for being left alone, mine has no problems! It's more about training, usually. He was left alone frequently from the day he came home, so it became totally normal, no big deal. Just 10 mins here and there, then an hour, then more, etc.

@Snowdaysandhappydays Of course! He's 18 months now. We adopted him at 8 months and he's progressed a lot since then - but only to a point. We're kind of stuck at that point now, so we'll be working with a behaviourist soon to see if they can help us push forward with the progress some more.

I'll send you a DM! :)

DH bought sandwichpup as a cockapoo but I think sandwichpup is 100% cocker spaniel but I don't know if working or show or indeed he does have some poodle. He is now 7 months and a bitey, counter surfing, sock theif, zero recall that we love to bits, sound familiar GuyFawkesDay?!