We had a show cocker. She was a lovely dog, friendly, energetic (e.g. climbed Caingorm with us), mostly obedient, great recall (unless she was on a disgusting scent). We could take her anywhere, and she was everyone’s friend. She had been docked, but badly, so had intermittent shooting pain from her stump ( our vet was very cross when he saw the mess on X-ray).
Working cockers need less grooming, but a gamekeeper bred dog could be a nightmare. Our friends have one that is so hyper it’s almost uncontrollable. They had another that had such severe psychological problems, it had to be put down aged 3.
We now have a Welsh Springer that we adopted at 4 years old – she’s a very different dog and much more of a handful. She’s an old lady now (nearly 11) but still runs like a young dog. She’s also lovely in her own special way.