do all show cockers have the personality of a tea towel

[Jamandcheesesandwich]

hi all

I am still pondering breeds and are now down the last two
lab and cocker

I am going for the show cocker rather than working due to the needs of the wcs being much higher than the show

the only show I have known had the personality of a tea towel

so please tell me about your show cockers , pictures too if possible

@Ohcrapp

My younger dog is very food motivated so she was quite easy to train in terms of recall, as long as I have plenty of treats with me and reward her regularly she can be sprinting towards another dog/bird/person and will do a complete 180 and sprint back to me if I whistle.
I also made a point of having them both off lead or on a long line right from their first walks, as puppies are generally quite clingy to begin with when they go out, so I wanted to get them used to being off lead and practicing recall early on. I figure if they've been on leash up until they're six months and are let off right as they hit adolescence they'll go a bit mad with the freedom and be a lot more challenging to get back. This method has always worked for me at least.

In terms of behaviour around children/other animals, a lot of this is down to good socialisation when they were pups, and also teaching the kids to treat them with respect. If your kids are old enough to get in on the training your dogs will be more responsive to them and have a better relationship.

If they have something they shouldn't always switch it out for something else suitable, rather than just straight up taking it away. It helps teach them what they should be chewing on/playing with, as well as avoiding encouraging them to resource guard.

For training commands, I use positive reinforcement - look up clicker training as a good example of this.

Sorry not meaning to derail the thread, but didn't want Ohcrapp's post to go unanswered!
Hope some of this helps.

I do t like kitchen gadgets with personalities. I have enough trouble with an over-clever oven timer, thank you.

We have a show cocker and he’s a very funny full on personality and we love him to bits. We had a female show before who was also a delight

I have a show type cocker - he's as show type as they get (got all show champions making up the last 5 generations of his lines).

He's loving and protective but hyper and always so happy. All spaniels are a bit hyper and full of joy. As a human with ADHD, I think of spaniels as joy filled dogs with ADHD. So not the dog for everyone but brilliant if you want energetic and full of life.

He doesn't resource guard toward people but I did have a few issues of him trying to resource guard me from my other dog when he was 12months old. Was fairly easy to fix though, I just moved away and ignored him for a few minutes, every time he tried to resource guard me. He's so desperate for positive attention from me that he soon learnt.

He's highly trainable, extremely food motivated and recall was easy - he naturally does tear drop shaped loops from me as we walk.

With my kids he is loving and sweet and if something even slightly scares my kids he puts himself between them and what ever the scary thing was.

Be warned about the cocker whine though. Cockers have this very distinctive whine when they are upset - mine did it as a puppy if I tried to leave him with someone else and walk away (was fine left at home though). He doesn't any more thankfully.

My main problems with him are PICA, sensitive stomach and need for a lot of calories. I have trouble keeping his weight on.

Haha that seems to be a classic cocker pose!

@Whattheladybird never heard of Stabyhouns before, but what beautiful dogs!

If you get a show cocker call it Tefal. Crock Pot just doesn’t seem right.

Our show cocker is lovely!
Loves walks, plays with toys / balls when we play with her but otherwise very calm in the house. Always want to be on someone's lap for a cuddle. Perfect family dog.

I don't know what personality your tea towels have and so can't comment on that - not even sure if it's a good or bad thing 🤣

I misread as slow cookers, and was baffled as to what you wanted it to offer personality wise.

I'll be going now.

Get two, Morphy and Richards. Unless your surname is Richards.

Just here to stick up for terriers ha ha! Here’s my little rip!

It doesn’t even look comfortable! He’s moved onto my favourite cushion now, I’m sure he just uses it because he knows it’s my favourite one!

Sorry, another one here for the slow cooker chat..... 😂

Here’s ours!
Honestly, he’s been a great family dog. Happy with an hour or so walk weekdays, weekends he will take as much as you can throw at him. Hills, mountains, beaches you name it, he’ll do it. Very food motivated so training has been easy. Recall is good and now at 8 he’s indifferent to other dogs, not very interested in playing, would rather sniff every leaf/twig in the park!! Good with kids, from teenagers to small babies and never had any issues with resourcing guarding. Since a puppy we’ve always swapped something we didn’t want him to have for something he could have which had probably helped. He loves his people and likes to be nearby when indoors but equally can be left happily for a couple of hours. Lack of personality is definitely not an issue; he’s quite ingenious about getting what he wants!!

Terriers can make fabulous pets and are easy to train IME. Lots in the top levels of the sports and obedience.

Ive got a border terrier from show and pet lines. She’s coming along beautifully and is a lovely temperament, smart and really keen to learn. She needs training around our calm cat but all puppies do. Bonkers at times but funny.

I’ve trained lots of dogs in 12 years as an agility trainer. Show cockers used to be lovely but now they’re rare and breeding isn’t what it was. The two I teach are really difficult to recall and go off hunting at every opportunity. Worse than any terrier!

Cairn terriers are nice. Westies too but beware of breeding and health. If you want terrier go down the pet and show line NOT working and choose an experienced breeder who knows the breed. Terriers are essentially still all working but they vary massively in drive from born killer to cuddly pet. Our pups mum, aunt, cousin etc live happily with cats and chicken so not crazy drive.

Terriers do need a job. They excel at agility and also things like scent work and man trailing. They need reasonable exercise but not crazy levels as long as they’re brain is worked. A bored terrier is a naughty terrier.

I clicked because I thought it said slow cookers and was completely baffled

Tea towel personalities indeed! Our 4 year old show is fabulous, and very characterful! Lots of exercise, please, especially walks that include water, football, hide and seek games with treats. Bus and train rides are very big treats. Resource guarding is a thing, but fortunately, they are distractable with treats. Coming to fetch the socks you have taken off each night to take them off to his bed is just part of the routine. Learn not to put your glasses or the remote control or the newspaper you have been looking forward to reading within reach.

They are quite bright and active dogs, so respond well to lots of training - doesn't have to be complicated, just include stay, down, come, fetch in your walks. My DH really likes the higher reaches of training, so takes our lad to 'sniffer training' for gun dogs and bomb detection - he's currently doing his silver medal level. Recall is generally good, although he had a phase of massively getting the horn, and chasing after girls in season. He's now been neutered so that stimulus will go.

He is quite reactive - noisy about fireworks, yells at the foxes in the garden - and can be really, really insistent about being played with at a point in the day when I just want to sit on the sofa with my laptop. He will paw at me and stare imploringly. This is just part of what he is, and I've adapted to it. If you want a dog that is really going to love you, and wants to be with you, and wants cuddles and play, this is a good breed.

I have a show cocker who has the personality of a toddler on crack.

He’s a loveable absolute pain in the arse. Loves cuddles, is needy as fuck and is the softest melt going. Wouldn’t change him for anything.

Loving the photos of the SC on here! And yes, that flung open sleeping posture is glorious, and very typical. This is one from when still a puppy. They are just hilarity packaged in fur, IMO.

Pics to show him off 😍

I dog sit a show cocker and a collie cross, both are intelligent but the show cocker waits for you to tell her what to do while the collie cross is two steps ahead with her intelligence and thinks much more for herself. The show cocker is very obedient and loves to please - but is needy and wants to be sat on you all the time, doesn't like to be left.

I know a completely crazy Springer (wouldn't recommend!) I also look after a couple of labs and I like how generally you know what you're getting with a lab - crazy as a puppy but then fabulous when they get through that stage, good all rounder. I'd go for lab personally - and I prefer girls.

And yes. Typical cocker ‘look at me’ pose 😂

I have a slow cooker and a show cocker. The cooker is definitely the more useful of the two.

The dog on the other hand is like having a Tasmanian devil in the house, constantly on the go, utterly stubborn and into everything all the time. He’s 12 now so unlikely to change.

I have had some guarding issues with him and also some fairly expensive and ongoing health issues. Love him to bits though. Here he is in one of his quiet moments!

Does the breeder you found have labradors, show cockers and working cocker puppies for sale, because that isn't usually regarded as a good thing.