Cost of cocker spaniel?

[Rzim]

The right breeder/dog is more important to me than the cost - but equally don't want to pay hugely over the odds. I know costs have increased significantly - but I wondered if there's such thing as an average price for a pedigree working cocker spaniel - and out of interest is there a price difference between working/show cockers? I know bitches are normally more expensive than dogs.

Is this a stupid question - how long is a piece of string! Thx x

I would expect to pay £1500 - 2500 for a well bred cocker spaniel with health tested parents from a good and reputable breeder. Bitches shouldn't be more expensive than dogs from a good breeder.

I move in training circles and that is what friends have paid. My own dog (not cocker) was £2000 two years ago from a good breeder who health tests.

Personally I think a well bread, health tested and registered pedigree dog is around 1.5- 2k (Not bought a Coker lately!!)
Now you'll get all the people saying money grabber, backyard breeder and so on. They got their mutt for a fraction of the price...
But think about it, you do all your research, walked away from some litters of similar price for whatever reason and then find the right breeder.
You pay for their time and expertise to produce and raise a well balanced puppy.

@Rzim Is there such a thing as a ''Breed Club'' for Working Cockers?

I really wanted a Purebred breed, none in that breed's rescue - and Contacted the Breed Club, only to be told ''We don't have anything to to with finding people puppies''

I persisted, and sent them details of a breed I'd owned previously , and about other dogs, and they said they are wary of ''Impulse buyers''.. But they could see I was serious.

I was put in touch with someone, who knew someone, who knew someone..and after a strict grilling, was put on a waiting list.

6 months later, I had a puppy {she is next to me now-Aged 2- a perfect dog for me}

Ironically this person works for the breed rescue, and says there are hardly any {luckily} and extremely long waiting lists .

Breed Club also said not to pay too much and also NEVER buy from an online advert.

Kennel Club assured breeder scheme?

Health testing is so important.

Someone I know bought an impulse buy Maine Coon Kitten... lovely kitten, beautiful, well socialised, but displayed respiratory problem...she had serious cardiomyopathy, genetic... and the Vet recommended returning her to the {online ad} 'back yard' breeder...these cats were raised indoors, but clearly had been born from un-health tested parents.

Worth waiting for the right Pup. And Dogs are the same price as Bitches for reputable breeders.

Why do you want a worker? Do you plan on working him or her?

Thx all super helpful and thank you for not laughing at my question! Think I would be equally happy with show/working (know very different) I lived in London for the majority of my show cocker's life, but now I live in the country and although I won't be working the dog, will have much more time and space than before (know they need more than that!)

We had a show cocker in London, from a pedigree litter that was born round the corner from us. Total luck, saw a note in the local vet's window.

Now, in the countryside, we have a working cocker. We got her through someone on the Kennel Club site, an estate manager. He vetted us, not the other way round! 8 years ago she was £500, as I recall.

My working cocker was £1200 2 years ago from a gundog breeder/trainer, health tested parents and KC registered.

I don't think they have increased in price. Make sure you do your homework re working or show, they are quite different. Alternatively there are lots in the spaniel rescues at the moment looking for homes.

We paid £2000 for our show cocker 2 years ago. KC registered and health tested. Met her mum, her gran. Both were family pets and we stay in contact now. As PP has said the lady vetted us as much as we did her and had turned down a few potential owners first.

We brought her in London if that makes a difference? We are in Essex.

Ours is daft as brush but lovely.

@Rzim My friend 'dog sits' a Working Cocker [He lives rurally] and she NEVER stops.
I walk with them sometimes- and she is just on the go constantly-{They are same age} my dog {Whippet} had had a 3 hr walk today and is now zonked out on the sofa, but the Working Cocker still would be on the go indoors.
She is a lovely dog though.

If you have the mental energy for that level of activity , then go for it, but I like a dog who is 'quiet' indoors, once they have had their walk. The pic with friend shows my dog trotting at his heels and Working Cocker about to do her own thing!

@Rzim This blog has a really good article and advice about show vs working and how to purchase ethically and healthily.

https://woofwagwalk.co.uk/working-cocker-spaniel-or-show-cocker-spaniel-whats-the-difference/

I paid £2.5K for my bitch 10 years ago and the same for her brother. But they were from very good lines and I showed her at very high levels.

IMO no one who isn't doing working 'work' with their dog needs a working line anything. A show cocker is 100% good enough for 99.9% of families. Most families cannot provide a working cocker with anywhere near enough stimulation. You might get the odd exception...and someone will pipe up and say 'my working cocker is lovely and sleeps all day' but realistically...does it? Or does it just lay there because it knows that's the best it'll get?

Nobody should be making any money out of a dog going through pregnant and childbirth. 'Breeders' are no better than so called 'backstreet breeders'. It's all the same if selling puppies for more than a couple of hundred is involved.

🙄

There's a health-tested working springer litter advertised in my neck of the woods, parents proven in the field, £1150 for a puppy.

Every time there is a thread about getting a puppy. EVERY time.

It's bloody hard work to plan and rear a litter. It costs a lot of money to health test, to purchase stuff you need (whelping box etc). It takes a huge amount of time to do it properly. So people should be doing it for free, should they?

Setting up for a proper birth for your dog, getting all the equipment etc. etc etc. costs THOUSANDS. The only way people can do it without charging £££ for a puppy is if they are churning out 20+ litters a year from multiple bitches.

The only people selling puppies for a few hundred quid are puppy farmers - who either kill, abuse or abandon their bitches after they've had 6+ litters (recommendation is 2-3 per bitch).

Go take your twaddle elsewhere.

Not to mention vet visits for all the puppies, injections, infrared lamp to keep them warm, constant looking after them...

You also have to pay to breed your bitch with a pedigree dog. But yeah, £200 a puppy should cover it! 🙄

Spaniel aid and save our spaniels rescues are desperate for good homes, they seem to have a lot of young dogs at the moment if you are open to a slightly older puppy.

Breed rescues are overflowing with dumped pedigrees so why is it ethical to keep breeding more?

The clue is in the name of a working cocker. IMO if you aren't going to work the dog then get a show cocker. WCS are rightly high energy and prone to anxiety, they need a job to do otherwise can get bored and destructive.
Remember they are fundamentally bred to work all day out in the field, not go for 1 - 2 walks a day!
All my WCS are calm and highly trained bit that's because they work and have a job to do.

Plenty of ‘well bred’ cockers are dumped in breed rescues but anyone suggesting that these should be considered for adoption are accused of peddling ‘twaddle’.
Are you a breeder?

The response I was giving was to the poster who said no one should sell a puppy for more than a few hundred. I pointed out that doing so is only economically viable if you abuse your dogs or run a puppy farm. It IS twaddle to suggest that people can breed puppies from healthy and well cared for dogs and sell them for a few hundred quid.

Literally nothing to do with rescues at all.

Rescues were not even mentioned. Bit of a bee in your bonnet?

Not sure why you've quoted me there? And not sure who you're arguing with?

Currently £1200-1800 for well bred wcs, health tested parents, licenced etc is a fair price. Area will also affect pricing. Have a look on the kennel club website for available pups as a start

Regarding specific breed rescues..if one can be found that is suitable, that is excellent, I did just look at the Spaniel rescue site, and there are some young dogs there- one wonders WHY they are there?

IF they were properly bred, the person who bred them would be taking them back - and also ..why are people giving up on such young dogs?

Probably as they had no idea how much work a dog is, especially of a 'Working' line.

A farmer in Australia bred a litter of working dogs for her massive acreage,{She wanted to keep one} and she refused to sell the others to 'Pet' homes- they had to be working homes only.

A 'Working' cocker is a canine dynamo, for sure.

I'd not be suited to owning one, or a Border Collie. Both need such input.

On a Farm, or otherwise 'working' these dogs will be on the go most of the day, or they will be training.

Working Cockers look nice, but unless one can give them the input they need, they will get frustrated and naughty, potentially destructive out of boredom.

They are very ''full on''.