Crocker puppy - your views?

[BarbieCaravan]

We’re a family of 5 and have been considering getting a dog for some time now. The children are now teens and pre-teen (ie can help walk) and I mostly WFH. We live close to a large park and generally, although life is busy, we could realistically get a dog.

I’m not a massive dog person but DH (who grew up with dogs) and children are keen. I would prefer a rescue but understandably shelters aren’t keen to rehouse to families.

A Sprocker girl puppy has come up (cocker spaniel / Springer Spaniel) and in theory seems perfect. However, I am nervous about their energy when I do have to work at home and not entertain a puppy all day! We can walk it minimum 3 times a day realistically, maybe more. We have a large garden too.

Any insights? I don’t want to make a massive mistake!

They bite like crazy when puppies. Will shred clothes, break skin and chew through leads. You can’t ’train’ them out of it. It’s a developmental stage they need to work through.
You need to know what you’re doing if a ‘working’ type parent. Show type is a little easier to manage. Ideally they need more than just walks. Can you commit to regular classes for the first 18 months? Everything they learn goes out the window at adolescence.
They need to learn to settle, they shouldn’t be alone for a good long while (some until after 1 year, depending on how clingy they are) and they should have a proper ‘job’ when older. Agility, scent, obedience, etc etc.

To be honest, if you are trying to work full time from home with a puppy it will be miserable. They aren't going to just sleep while you work - they'll bite your feet/chew the skirting/generally romp and bark their way around. With good training you'll have a lovely dog by the time they are 18 months and hopefully enjoy many great years together, but I wouldn't want to be working full time with a puppy.

Any puppy is hard work initially.
You need to put the work in to get what you want.
A dog of 2 working breeds is not going to be calm, and will need mental and physical exercise. I’d also recommend training with a positive reinforcement gun dog trainer - not to train the dog to work, but to learn what the dogs needs in terms of mental stimulation.

I would be doing some research as to what breed fits into your family, and lifestyle. Make sure you do a lot of research on the breeder themselves too.

This is a ridiculous idea. You’d be sending the puppy back in a matter of weeks, if that!

It’s a “no” from me. We have a sprocker, he’s nearly 5 and is just about calming down. We’re animal lovers and he’s our 3rd dog, but I suspect he might be our last, he’s been too much for too long. He’s not even cuddly, he’s just hard work.

I would personally steer clear of cockers or any mix of them. They're incredibly overbred and people have the mistaken belief that as the smaller of the two (cockers vs springers), they'll be easier, hence their popularity. They're not. And when you mix it with something they're often worse.

Nearly every cocker i've known (many!) has had some issue - either absolutely mental and impossible to settle, barky, food aggresive, zero recall, chewing everything or extremely clingy.

If you want a better chance of a calm, obedient dog by adulthood and you have woods or hills or beaches near enough - get a springer. On average they're much calmer and more obedient than cockers ime.

Contrary to popular belief, they don't need hours of exercise a day. Just one hour of good quality exercise is plenty. And the worst thing you can do for any spaniel is repeatedly throw a ball for them. It makes them run but does absolutely nothing to tire them out.

Nope-friend had a sprocker-completely destroyed their furniture,chewed through wires etc-they had to crate it as could never go off lead-poor thing was two working dogs bred together when all the cocker mixes and doodles were all the rage.Froma backyard breeder -kept the dog but once it’s gone ,then no more.Thry have spent years not enjoying being dog owners, despite having dogs in the past this was their first and last mixed breed

A Sprocker girl puppy has come up
What does that mean? Because it's got dodgy written all over it.

Rescues do rehome to families with older children and a rehomed dog might suit you better than a pup.

Have you ever met or owned a true show cocker? I’ve had 6 in my life and none of them were as you’ve described above. You’re describing working cockers in your post.

A Sprocker girl puppy has come up (cocker spaniel / Springer Spaniel) and in theory seems perfect.

How did it come up? Why is it available to you (specifically, as opposed to the breeder having a wait list)?

What purpose are the parents? What health tests do they have and are the scores good?

Those are the questions you need to answer/ask yourself before considering if you want this puppy. Personally, I'd never recommend a mixed breed as a first time dog - pedigree poodles are always a good first dog.

Ok. Lots of negativity here, yes puppies are hard work, need training, ect. However there are not impossible. I have a working type labrador puppy, 5 months old. she has never chewed my house, wires, clothes apart from 1 pair or shoes that were left out. Young puppies sleep 18 to 20h a day, awake 1h sleep 2hs, when awake they are full on and can't be left unsupervised. Mine has been left alone from 9 weeks old for short times and no separation anxiety. Toilet training is a full-time job. We used an lager pen to keep her safe when we couldn't supervise her. It had her bed, toys, etc in it.
I think.if you're fully prepared the first few years are full on. (Like bringing a baby/toddler home) and prepare for it, puppy proof, look into training then a dog can be a huge blessing, also look into breeds some are higher drive then others. Some are happy with a walk then will swich off in the house, others need more enrichment. Some shead more then others, bark, ect.

For example this month my puppy has swam 4 times so as well as muddy walks, we had odour du wet dog in the house and car. Also she has just started sleeping through the night.
She brings lots of joy, laughter, my exercise has increased, cuddles but its been hard, fusstrating, tiring at times too.
.

Thanks all. Lots to consider. “Has come up” is a shorthand way of saying a friend is getting a puppy from the same litter and mentioned it. I am not naive about puppy farms, I will be asking questions but it only happened recently hence shorthand.

It’s not our first dog but our other was an older rescue so never dealt with the puppy stage. We took this dog to classes etc.

I don’t want to go into this thinking it will be fine as I’m at home, not DH or children.

I've had 4 working cockers and they don't fit this description either.
My sprocker was much harder work. I blamed his springer genes.

@BarbieCaravan Have the parents been health tested? What is the purpose of the litter? Bred by a working kennel for a purpose or by a random for money?

What does 'mostly work from home' mean? Who will look after the puppy when you have to go in to work? How much time can you realistically devote to raising a puppy with your busy lives? They are full on and very hard work. My sprocker was surrended to rescue at 16 weeks old, because the owner was totally unprepared for his energy levels.
Rescues will rehome to families with older children. Perhaps an older dog would suit your circumstances more. Look for one that uses foster homes rather than keeps the dogs in kennels.

Chances are it will be a puppy farm.

with very rare exceptions cross breeds aren t bred by reputable or ethical breeders. They do it because cross breeds mean maximum litters and maximum profit.

especially if they “happen” to have a puppy available.

I have a wcs and he is an absolute treat of a dog, he was a pest as a puppy and adolescent but that is normal, they are not all "mental" with issues we know the dog parents and the mum in particular was also great natured you just have to research and train them accordingly, mine has excellent recall my Dh worked hard on training.

Our sprocker is 8 soon and she's the most wonderful dog. She's very sweet, kind and affectionate and not remotely loopy on a walk (unlike our working cocker who is a lunatic). She's a nervy soul which means she can be a bit reactive to other dogs but we tend to just pop her on a lead if we meet dogs she doesn't know. She's been an angel with our grandchildren as they've grown and I'd have another in a heartbeat. I'm not sure that I'd have a working cocker again, their prey drive is insatiable.

I'd add that I think the nerviness comes from the springer gene, that's my only comment and I'd want to meet Mum before making a decision.

Yes, sadly I agree with this.

I would avoid a cocker / cocker cross around very young children, they are incredibly predisposed to resource guarding. Just spend 2 minutes on the spaniel aid website reading the reasons for relinquishing the dog and it’s often related to snapping/biting due to guarding.

Its not beyond the realms of possibility that a good gundog breeder would breed a sprocker, but they are unlikely to be selling them to pet homes with young children

The thing is, that says more about the idiots who buy dogs than the dogs. They get high energy, sensitive, dogs with young children and don’t teach their child how to act around the dog - including not stealing things, not crawling into the dogs crate (yes this happens).

I help with re-homing Goldies, who are similarly prone to RG. But 9/10 times when they are re-homed into an appropriate environment, with no primary aged children and with competent owners capable of providing a bit of actual parenting…it’s great. There’s never any issues again.

The issue is, always, the owner. Rarely ever the dog. If OP has a good head on her shoulders, can parent her children to an acceptable standard, and gets the right dog from the right breeder and gives it what it needs there’s no reason a cocker or sprocker wouldn’t be a fab choice!

for spaniels it’s about so so much more than just walking and if you don’t realise that you’ve definitely not done anything like enough research, sorry!!

I’m going to disagree with the above very slightly. Genetics do absolutely make a difference with resource guarding. One of my goldies for example instinctively guarded at 8 weeks old when he first arrived at my home. It was all fine because I know what I’m doing but some breeds are more predisposed to this issue than others. Those same people discussed above may well get away with their stupidity with some breeds, unlikely with a goldie or cocker

OP - I think you are going about this the wrong way. First decide what you can offer in terms of walking,training on an ongoing basis. Decide on grooming requirements too. Size, temperament and what you actually want the dog to DO with you. Then look for a breed that fits and start the long process of finding one that has been fully healthy tested from a good breeder.
A random dog popping up on your radar via a friend should not even enter the decision making process

I'd also add in that spaniels are like athletes. The more exercise you give, the more they need. My two get a 30 minute walk in the morning (our older boy is 13 now) and then about 15 minutes on a sniffy on lead walk after I finish work around 3pm - and then I take our sprocker out on her own for another 30 minutes after tea. So she gets an hour off lead a day and that's more than enough for her.

I've got other dog walking friends with a springer and the poor thing is run ragged since they've retired. Between husband and wife the dog is walked for around 4 hours a day and it just doesn't settle well at all. Poor thing will be riddled with arthritis if they don't slow it down.

I would say it depends on its breeding. You could be essentially crossing two gundog breeds that are designed to work flushing, sniffing and retrieving in the field all day. You are going to need to facilitate that drive not only by walks, but scent work or agility to tire the brain. Without that, you potentially have a firecracker on your hands.
It could of course be show-line crossbred, though unlikely. I would imagine a good show breeder wouldn't be cross breeding. There are easier breeder imo, especially with 5 kids to deal with.

With respect, labs are very different to spaniels, especially working spaniel crosses. I have a working lab, he is wonderful. Very chilled at home but focused on the job, this is the same for the vast majority of labs I know. Whereas, the working spaniels (crosses and full springers / cockers) are much more 'on' 24/7. They are excellent workers but are very full on dogs at home, despite excellent training (from the start and ongoing). They are just wired differently.

Springer spaniels are lunatics..look i to the breed.
Its all very wekl taking on a resuce vut the habits and traits are sometimes a ill fit.
Puppy any day to train it and make it stable, just not that type of mxed brees.