They are brilliant dogs, very loyal, easily trained with patience, they love company, I would have another one tomorrow without a second thought.

We have a working/show Cocker (more working than show really), 7 years old, full of the joys of life, mad as a box of frogs but he is well behaved, he does have his moments though !

Just make sure you go to a breeder who knows their stuff and you shouldn’t have any behaviour or worse still health problems.

Our chocolate roan cocker is 14 and still going strong (if a bit creaky and deaf). She has been an excellent dog, everyone’s friend, easy to travel with and leave with other people. She’s a bit of a whiner, which isn’t unusual for cockers.
The important thing is to by from a good breeder, and see the dam at home. Friends had to have a working cocker put down as he’d been mistreated by someone (probably a gamekeeper) and his behaviour was unmanageable (they really tried to sort him out). When they got him he was filthy and urine soaked. They now realise they should have called the RSPCA. Their other working cocker is terrible with children and eats everything, dead or alive.
Well bred cocker should be everyone’s friend, constantly busy when out, but relaxed at home. They are stubborn and need gentle, consistent handling to get the best out of them.
We now also have a 4 year old Welsh Springer and she’s a completely different animal – nervous, wary of strangers, and unpredictable.
Our next puppy will be another English Cocker for sure.

You also get different temperaments with the different colours.

Ours, a Liver Roan, has a tendency to try and dominate women. No idea why but from talking to other owners it seems quite usual for them – a bit like the sock stealing.

Also the solid colours don’t malt, so budget for 6-weekly cut/shave if you get one.

When we first got him (as a pup) we worked full-time, but my wife could come home at lunch, plus later our retired neighbour would walk him. This covered his first 2-3 years. Never had a problem.

Since then, one of us either works from home or is at home most of the day – plus my folks live about 100yds away, and they take them for walks with their dog.

And, I think this is most important, walks need to be off the lead so they can roam and do their ‘thing’ – which is cover about 10x the distance we do 🙂

The Cocker is 7 now and (touch wood) has never had any problem that needed a Vet, except his yearly jabs.

Show English Blue Roan Cocker, but never shown. He’s now nearly 10, but a bit of a Peter Pan dog – age hasn’t changed him. Been a perfect dog for a young and growing family. Relatively easily trained. Fantastic with children. Took him about six years to learn to bark! Will do almost anything for food. Fetches aerobie. Hates water. Can walk 10 miles and run trails, but is just as happy lying around the house all day. Doesn’t shed hair. Has had no major health issues. Gets on with anyone and any dog.

We’ll get another.

By contrast others in the family have Springers, and they are higher strung, have more energy, never tired. They too will do anything for food.

Just took this now – I know, hard to see two brown dogs on a brown sofa…

But, I let them out at 0730 and they were stood waiting to come back in after 5 mins. Fed at 0800 outside, and the door has been open all the time. Neither has gone anywhere (we’ve nearly an acre plus they can just wander into the land around us), and now they are both sleeping – after sleeping all night. Only way they’ll move is if I put my boots on.

So folk, don’t get het up about leaving dogs at home – ‘cos IME the majority of time they just sleep. And if it was a video, you could hear the Springer snoring!

will go for a fairly large “+1” on the they’ll sleep for aaaaages!!

ours is the same, i take him for 1/2 hour walk before work, give him breakfast then he’s sleeping until after lunchtime. will play for a bit then sleep for 5 hours.

Good to hear that they can deal with being on their on for a bit – I know dogs are a massive commitment, but some don’t seem to be able to deal with being left. My aunt’s Vizsla was a gorgeous dog but we refused to be left on his own and was a nightmare if you did. As long as he was with people he was good as gold. Her lab by contrast is quite happy entertaining herself in the garden.

We have a pretty big garden and I intend to give it a shorter walk before work a longer one in the evening plus long walks at weekend. The other half isn’t far when at work so can pop back at lunchtime.

The more I think about it, the more I want to go down the route of a good breeder. I want to see he house where the pups are, meet mum etc and just try and get a feel for how well they have been bred / looked after.

What br said ^
Ours is fast asleep in a bed under a desk in my office. She was taken for a walk/swim last night and prob won’t get anything today. We have loads of space but she’s happy to mooch around near us. That said she was mightily upset that I didn’t take her riding last night (ride: 7-8.30, pub: 8.30 – 11.00) so I’m not really in her good books right now 🙁

I miss my springer – RIP stinky 🙁

When we were looking for ours (A working one) we found there to be quite a mix of them out there.

I think it’s been said earlier up but if you get one with almost solid FTCH’s in the parent line odds are it’ll be a machine. This article, although it can seem negative, gives a strong opinion on working cockers and cockers from strong ftch lines.
http://www.felsteadgundogs.com/workingvstriallingspaniel.html

I’d suggest going along to a game fair, or such like, where there will be loads of them either on demos or with owners. Most if not all will happily talk to you about them, (Spaniel people are great!) the lines they’re from and what they’re like day to day.

That article is just one persons view and, from my experience of having three dogs from “solid FTCH pedigree’s”) absolute bo***cks.
Working Cockers (from good pedigrees) have a level of training pre-loaded which I’ve found makes them pretty easy to control.

That article is just one persons view and, from my experience of having three dogs from “solid FTCH pedigree’s”) absolute bo***cks.
Working Cockers (from good pedigrees) have a level of training pre-loaded which I’ve found makes them pretty easy to control.

Couldn’t agree more, we didn’t know our dogs family background until after we received his KC 5 generations certificate. He’s related to some pretty impressive FTCH’s, and he’s a pet and pretty chilled!