Cocker Spaniel

Common Name:  Cocker Spaniel

Group:  Sporting Group

Origin or Range:  Spain

Relative Size:  Average

Average Lifespan:  14 years

Compatibility:  Relatively Aggressive

The Cocker Spaniels are sweet, friendly, loyal playful dogs. They love to be involved in the family’s activities, getting along with children. They behave nice with other dogs or smaller animals, especially if socialized with them since puppy-hood. They are popular dogs too: Oprah Winfrey has 3, President Truman had Feller and President Nixon had Checkers. Two other Cockers are famous in England for sniffing out cancer at Amersham hospital.

They were first mentioned in the 14th century writings and commonly assumed to originate from Spain. There are two modern breeds of cocker spaniel, the English Cocker Spaniel and the American Cocker Spaniel, both hunting breeds. The major differences between the two varieties is that the American is smaller with a shorter back, a domed head and a shorter muzzle, while the English variety is taller with a narrower head and chest.

They both were used to flush birds into the air to be shot and to retrieve the birds once downed. That’s where the term “cocker” is deriving from: they use to hunt woodcocks. With heir silky slightly wavy long coat, they are stunning to look at. There are lots of people that would pay a lot of money to have hair like a Cocker Spaniel.

Characteristics

There are a number of different colors that the dog’s coat comes in, including all the major solid ones, plus merle, black and tan points and solid colors which have tan points on them: white with black, liver, blue, or red markings; or black, liver, or red with or without tan markings.

The first lovable things you can see at Cocker Spaniels are their long floppy flowing ears. Traditionally, they have dark round eyes with slight almond shaped eye rims. When they look at you, they give you the impression that they understand you and they can look into your soul. The Cocker Spaniel’s body is sturdy and compact. He is the smallest of the sporting dog breeds and the smallest of the Spaniels. They live around 12 to 14 years if properly taken care of. They are perfect for apartment living, in an stress free environment. They just need to exercise.

Health

Most of Cocker Spaniels live healthy long lives but they do get eyes and ears problems. Progressive retinal atrophy and Canine glaucoma are the two most common conditions that affect a dog’s eyesight and can lead to blindness.

Having long, pendulous ears, the Cocker Spaniels are more predisposed to ear problems than some other breeds like Otitis externa and yeast infections. Keeping the hair on the ears short and flushing the ears with an antibacterial solution can be used as a preventative method to ear problems.

Training & Grooming

Along with keeping their ears clean, you will need to groom their body. And training can happen with the Cocker Spaniels, but they can be a little stubborn. If not trained well, they become a little aggressive and territorial. They are good family pets just make sure that you get yours from a good breeder.

So, in general, Cocker Spaniels:

• can live anywhere
• can develop cataracts and ear infections
• need grooming
• are trainable
• make great family pets

Puppies

Wallpapers with Cocker Spaniels

If you want to show off to the world your love for this dog breed, feel free to check out the wallpapers we have included below, with Cocker Spaniels doing various things.