Cocker Spaniels?

[4horses]

Anyone have experience with the breed? My friend works at a rescue and they have one up for adoption. I have read about rage syndrome but I’m not certain how common it is in the breed and I know they can be prone to ear infections. Anything else that I should be concerned about?

[Lusoluv]

I’ve known 6 Cockers well (family member and good friends). I briefly considered them when I got my last dog, but wrote them off the list due to:

• highly prone to nervous/excitement urination (each of the 6 dogs had this issue to varying degrees)
• " " to ear infections and serious skin allergies
• high cost of grooming and odor if not kept very clean/bathed/brushed

I was an assistant at 2 dog grooming shops in my teen-college years, so I am very capable of doing my own grooming. But that workload on top of the health issues was a deal-breaker for me personally.

[IndysMom]

My Aunt Ruth has two and my sister has two. All of them were very nice dogs. We had springers-related to cockers. Wonderfudogs and I miss them both terribly. But they did have ear issues and needed to be brushed and clipped regularly. Don’t care, I’d get them again in a heartbeat. Happy dogs with soft mouths.

[GraceLikeRain]

Evaluate the dog in front of you. Like any breed, there are good eggs and bad eggs.

Since they are a heavy-coated breed and prone to ear infections I’d want to see and then personally practice cleaning ears and brushing out a cocker if I was considering one. Even if you keep them shaved down, grooming is a larger facet of their care than with other breeds. I’d want assure of a nice stable brain that is easy to manage for daily care.

My dad showed them for years and I grew up with them in the home. We lost our last one when I was 17 and she was almost 18 years old. I loved all of them and they had a wide range of temperaments. Our last one was phenomenal with children and cats but a real asshat to other dogs, even ones 3x her size.

A rescue can be anything from a beautifully bred bench dog that ended up in a bad situation to a mostly cocker spaniel backyard cross. I’d take breed characteristics with a grain of salt. It is really different when you’re looking at a puppy out of a program where you can evaluate the disposition of the parents and relatives.

Best of luck!

[jherold]

American cockers? Unless things have changed, be wary of the buff males. They either bite you or pee on you. I used to work at vet clinics 30 years ago when cocker’s were popular and that was true for every one of them, including the one I owned.

[S1969]

What GraceLikeRain said - evaluate the dog in front of you.

The color is irrelevant. One person’s experience at a vet clinic 30 years ago is not data.

They should be friendly and even-tempered. That is what the breed is known for - the standard says “Equable in temperament with no suggestion of timidity.”

They can be really poorly bred for health and temperament - like any other backyard bred disaster.

Regardless of breeding, they have long, heavy drop ears so ear issues are common. They can be prone to a number of genetic issues, but so can most breeds. I wouldn’t avoid a rescue because of potential genetic issues because you won’t be breeding it anyway - which is the most important thing to remember about genetic issues. Even well-bred dogs can have defects, but the goal is not to pass them on.

[Mosey_2003]

I love them, but I’ll never choose another. It depends on how much daily/weekly/monthly effort you want to devote for 10+ years. They need to be brushed and bathed and clipped and their ears cleaned (weekly at least, some every other day). Being so popular for so long, they tend to have health issues when they’re poorly bred. It’s just a lot of work keeping on top of the coat and ears when your daily life is also busy.

Spaniel rage is more common in Springers than Cockers. Our cockers have all been pretty sweet, but they’ve all also been willing to bite if they felt threatened enough.

[Where_sMyWhite]

@GraceLikeRain

A rescue can be anything from a beautifully bred bench dog that ended up in a bad situation to a mostly cocker spaniel backyard cross. I’d take breed characteristics with a grain of salt. It is really different when you’re looking at a puppy out of a program where you can evaluate the disposition of the parents and relatives.
!

This was my thought. You evaluate the dog in front of you and bear in mind that depending on where the dog came from (ie, breeder) you may have a quality dog (although those often end up in breed-specific rescues) or a dog from a backyard breeder (probably really an appropriate misnomer) who did little to nothing in terms of health checking the parents to help ensure the puppies have a shot a being healthy.

Were you interested in a cocker before your friend’s rescue had one?

[4horses]

No we weren’t really interested in a Cocker Spaniel before this one became available. My friend works at the shelter and I told her a couple months ago to please keep an eye out for a small breed dog with a good temperament. Its hard to find a small dog in this area, as they mostly get Pitt mixes or large breeds in. This is actually the first dog my friend has contacted me about, so apparently the dog made a good impression as far as temperament. I should know more tomorrow when I go to see her.

I will definitely check her ears when I go look at her. Many shelter dogs come in with ear infections and that should give us an idea if allergies are going to be a problem for her. I don’t know if I will pass on her just due to ear infections though… My Lab had terrible allergies and was prone to ear infections, but with the right diet and flea control, it was a manageable problem. Mental stability is my major concern, as many shelter dogs have baggage, although my friend says she is very sweet and loving. So fingers crossed.

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

My family used to raise them. The ones we kept were not show quality, but were good companion dogs and were tempered accordingly. I don’t remember any of them ever having issues with temperment or training - they were lovely dogs, well-behaved and good house dogs. My personal one was so timid that she would hide the second she heard anyone in the driveway; she also had baby-fine hair, not the long feathers some do, so she was an easy keeper.

My sister in law, however, wanted to raise them as well and purchased some. They were higher quality in terms of conformation, but ye gods, those dogs were nuts . . . they also had the longer, curlier coats and feathers. She gave me one. That dog was extremely intelligent and high energy - she went through obedience training quickly, learned off-leash commands far faster than any dog I’d ever had, and I’d started a little agility with her - but I never knew a cocker to have a temper like hers. One second, she was fine; the next, she was trying to rip your face off. The others that my sister in law had were similar. I can’t tell you if it was just those bloodlines or not. Based on my first dog, I’d get another in a heartbeat, but based on my second dog, no.

So in answer to your question, it really depends on the dog itself. Go see it, evaluate it, see how it gets along with you.

[4horses]

Well, it’s official. She’s ours!

She loved every person she met. Wasn’t super cuddly but she would come for petting and lean against you. The guy who feeds her walked by and she gave him a huge “your my best friend” greeting . He said he hasn’t interacted with her, just feeds her, but clearly she recognized him. She was slightly nervous/stressed by being in the shelter “stress panting”, but not acting terrified either. Didn’t bark or lunge towards other dogs, wasn’t interested in the cats. Very interested in sniffing and exploring. She does know sit and sort of knows come, but wasn’t great on recall. It would help if we knew her original name. It sort of felt weird not knowing what to call her.

What we do know:

She’s 20 lbs. Not spayed. Was found wandering on the street. Good weight. No one has brushed her in a very long time. Terrible mats all over. She’s probably going to need 4 hours of grooming and most of that will need to be clipped. Estimated age 2-4 years. I want my vet to double check that age range. Teeth looked clean. Ears looked okay but someone at the shelter had cleaned them recently. She desperately needs a bath and a brushing.

Any suggestions on removing clotted hair? Her hair looks like dread locks. She is due to be spayed on Monday or Tuesday and then we can pick her up. Unfortunately she won’t be getting a bath (no bathing after surgery), so she will be a stinky dog for a while longer.

I’m trying to come up with some names. If anyone has name suggestions?

Her ears are one giant mat.

[TKR]

I would shave her. Matts can be painful to brush out. She’s beautiful. Looks big for a Cocker from the photo. Could be a Springer. Thanks for saving/rescueing!!!

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

She’s adorbs!

I would shave and bathe her before she gets spayed. Then, it’s done. Can your vet do grooming?

[Where_sMyWhite]

I am definitely not a ‘spaniel’ person but that photo when I first saw it made me think Springer more than Cocker??

But, she’s cute for sure!

[MsM]

I’m thinking perhaps English Cocker. They generally have calmer temperaments too. Cute! Can you get her shaved before being spayed?

[4horses]

She’s only 20lbs. I thought Springers were bigger?

[Kyrabee]

Congrats. She looks sweet. She has those soulful cocker spaniel eyes. I am no good with names though. I would just clip her down all over…including ears with a 10 blade (at least an 8.5). Let her grow out and start over with the cocker pattern. Can the shelter not do that before her spay?

I have had one cocker and my parents have had 2. Luckily none of them have ear issues but we kept them with a full short body clip all the time. I couldn’t imagine taking care of a cocker with a cocker clip and a full coat. That kind of grooming is not for me. They were all sweet dogs. One of my parents was a rescue and one was a puppy that was returned from a not compatible situation. Mine I got as a 12 week old puppy.

I took 2 of the 3 through obedience and they did well… Pepper (my dog) got his CD and we were working on his CDX (this was eons ago…early 80’s). For some reason he could not get the height for the high jump. I worked on incrementally raising the height but when we got to the show, I threw the dumbbell. He looked up at me with the saddest eyes…slowly walked AROUND the jump…picked up the dumbbell, sadly looked at me again and brought it back, again going AROUND the jump. I said OK buddy…we are done with formal obedience. He was kind of a tall cocker (17 1/2 inches) and back then they had to jump I think 1.5 x their height. He could do 1.5 inches less but just had issues with the official height. I don’t know why it was difficult for him. The long jump (51 inches!) was no problem at all.

I guess what I would be most leery of is health issues. All of these 3 developed significant chronic issues. Mom and Dad’s rescue died of liver failure at the young age of 8. They got absolutely no history on her when they got her and I doubt she had had regular health care. She literally looked like a mop with legs. Mine got Cushing’s disease which we battled for several months before I lost him and Mom’s last little dog which we just lost in March had a significant heart murmur (which as far as we could tell, she was not symptomatic from it) and went into kidney failure. Mom’s (Coco) dog also blew an ACL but she fairly well recovered from that without surgery. The vets were sure she wouldn’t get better without it…they were wrong. Pepper and Coco were about 13 when they passed…old but not that old?

I wouldn’t get another one…primarily because I don’t want a dog that needs grooming. I have the clippers and can do it but man, it is a chore and $$$ (but worth it) to have a groomer do it.

Enjoy your new friend. She is a cutie.
Susan

[pony4me]

Congratulations! Our cocker spaniel was sweet as could be. If she has lots of mats and needs careful grooming can you have the vet do that when she is knocked out for her spay? That way you are not adding grooming to her already stressful new home situation. Same for nail trimming and ear cleaning if needed. Make her first weeks in her new home as easy as possible. She can look like a beauty queen later after she’s settled in.

[S1969]

Yay congrats! She’s definitely not a Springer, but she might be a Boykin Spaniel, or possibly any kind of spaniel mix. I can’t tell from the photo if she is liver or black; Boykins are always liver but the color can range from coppery to almost black. Where do you live? Boykins are not very popular in general, but they were developed in South Carolina so there are more of them in the southeast than in other areas.

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I agree that I’d clip and bathe her before being spayed - and if the vet could do it that would be the best.

If not, she won’t die from being stinky, but I would definitely line up a professional groomer to clip her. You won’t be able to comb out the mats and it’s best to just get rid of them all and start with short coat and keep it from becoming tangled.

[Where_sMyWhite]

@S1969

Yay congrats! She’s definitely not a Springer, but she might be a Boykin Spaniel, or possibly any kind of spaniel mix.

As I said, I’m not a spaniel ‘person’ and wasn’t thinking full Springer but the head didn’t say, at least to me, full Cocker. I was thinking more a cross of some type.

Thanks for the photo of the Boykin. Not sure I recognize that breed but the head looks very similar to the head on the cutie that OP just brought home.