A short history of the ever loveable Cocker Spaniel
The delightful Cocker Spaniel like the other Spaniel breeds has been around for centuries as both pets and working dogs. The Cocker gets its name from what was it was originally used for which was for flushing out from the deep undergrowth in woodland the Woodcock which is a type of pigeon. This then sent the birds out for the Hunters to shoot.
But They do make incredible sniffer dog for drugs and exposives. You can just imagine the fear that some of these drug runners must experience at customs when they see a cocker standing there with his little tail waggling away. I don't think the drug runners think its a game.
It was'nt however until the late 1800's that there was a standard set by the newly formed Spaniel Club.
It was decided that any Spaniel over 25 lb in weight was a field spaniel and any under was a Cocker. Simple.
Here's an interesting fact you may not know. It seems that all Cocker Spaniels can be traced back to one Dog. His name was Obo who was unbeaten in the showring in the 1800's and was mated with lots of Spaniel bitchs of different colours. Just a thought, I must be related to Obe somewhere down the line. I bet thats where I get my stunning looks from. But the Cocker breed really started to become into its own after the second world war,when it was regularly the most popular entered breed of Dog. This continued up through the 1940's and 50's and was seen by many in the dog world as the golden age of the Cocker.
There are some small differences but I just think that all Cockers are magic and Old Obo must be looking down from doggy heaven feeling very proud of himself.
Take care x Skipper |
Nowdays though the little Cockers tend to be mainly pets rather than Gundogs, the larger springers
It was about then that the English cocker got it's own identity as it was given it's own standard to differentiate it from the Cocker.
