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Cocker Spaniels are dogs belonging to two breeds of the
spaniel A spaniel is a Dog type, type of gun dog. Spaniels were especially bred to flush game out of denser brush. By the late 17th century, spaniels had been specialized into water and land breeds. The extinct English Water Spaniel was used to retriev ...
dog type Dog types are broad categories of domestic dogs based on form, function, style of work, lineage, or appearance. Some may be locally adapted dog types (or ''landraces'') that may have the visual characteristics of a modern purebred dog. In cont ...
: the
American Cocker Spaniel The American Cocker Spaniel is a breed of sporting dog. It is a spaniel type dog that is closely related to the English Cocker Spaniel; the two breeds diverged during the 20th century due to differing breed standards in the US and the UK. In the ...
and the
English Cocker Spaniel The English Cocker Spaniel is a breed of gun dog. It is noteworthy for producing one of the most varied numbers of pups in a litter among all dog breeds. The English Cocker Spaniel is an active, good-natured, sporting dog standing well up at ...
, both of which are commonly called simply Cocker Spaniel in their countries of origin. In the early 20th century, Cocker Spaniels also included small hunting spaniels. Cocker Spaniels were originally bred as hunting dogs in the UK, with the term "cocker" deriving from their use to hunt the
Eurasian woodcock The Eurasian woodcock (''Scolopax rusticola'') is a medium-small wader, wading bird found in temperate and subarctic Palearctic realm, Eurasia. It has Camouflage#Cryptic coloration in nature, cryptic camouflage to suit its woodland habitat, with ...
. When the breed was brought to the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, it was bred to a different
standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object ...
, which enabled it to specialize in hunting the American woodcock. Further physical changes were bred into the cocker in the United States during the early part of the 20th century. Spaniels were first mentioned in the 14th century by
Gaston III, Count of Foix Gaston III, known as Gaston Phoebus or Fébus (30 April 1331 – 1 August 1391), was the eleventh Count of Foix (as Gaston III) and twenty-fourth Viscount of Béarn (as Gaston X) from 1343 until his death. Due to his ancestral inheritance, Gas ...
in his work the ''Livre de Chasse''. The "cocking" or "cocker spaniel" was a type of field or land spaniel in the 19th century. Prior to 1901, Cocker Spaniels were only separated from Field Spaniels and Springer Spaniels by weight. Two dogs are considered to be the foundation sires of both modern breeds, the English variety are descended from Ch. Obo, while the American breed descends from Obo's son, Ch. Obo II. In the United States, the English Cocker was recognized as separate from the native breed in 1946; in the UK, the American type was recognized as a separate breed in 1970. In addition, a second strain of English Cocker Spaniel, a working strain, is not bred to a standard, but to working ability. Both breeds share similar coat colors and health issues with a few exceptions.


History

image:111. English and Welsh Cocker.JPG, left, alt=A drawing of two dogs in greyscale, the other is light with dark patches, A drawing of English and Welsh Cockers, from John Henry Walsh's (under the pseudonym "Stonehenge") 1859 work ''The Dog in Health and Disease'' While their origins are unknown, "spaynels" are mentioned in 14th-century writings. Sucher (1999): p. 7 They are commonly assumed to have originated in Spain, and Edward, 2nd Duke of York in his 15th-century work '' The Master of Game'' introduces them as "Another kind of hound there is that be called hounds for the hawk and spaniels, for their kind cometh from Spain, notwithstanding that there are many in other countries." York (1909): p. 119 ''The Master of Game'' was mostly an English translation of an earlier 14th century
Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...
work by Gaston III of Foix-Béarn entitled ''Livre de Chasse''. York (1909): p. xii In 1801, Sydenham Edwards wrote in ''Cynographia Britannica'' that the "Land Spaniel" is divided into two types: the hawking, springing/springer and the cocking/cocker spaniel. The term "cocker" came from the dog's use in hunting
woodcock The woodcocks are a group of seven or eight very similar living species of sandpipers in the genus ''Scolopax''. The genus name is Latin for a snipe or woodcock, and until around 1800 was used to refer to a variety of waders. The English name ...
s. During the 19th century, a "cocker spaniel" was a type of small Field Spaniel; at the time, this term referred to a number of different
spaniel A spaniel is a Dog type, type of gun dog. Spaniels were especially bred to flush game out of denser brush. By the late 17th century, spaniels had been specialized into water and land breeds. The extinct English Water Spaniel was used to retriev ...
hunting breeds, including the Norfolk Spaniel, Sussex Spaniel, and Clumber Spaniel. While no Sussex Cockers or Clumber Cockers existed, some dogs were known as Welsh Cockers and Devonshire Cockers. The Welsh or Devonshire were considered cockers until 1903, when they were recognized by
The Kennel Club The Royal Kennel Club (KC) is the official kennel club of the United Kingdom. It is the oldest recognised kennel club in the world. Its role is to oversee various canine activities including dog shows, dog agility and working trials. It also ...
as the
Welsh Springer Spaniel The Welsh Springer Spaniel (''Welsh'': ''Llamgi Cymru'' or ''Tarfgi Cymru'') is a dog breed, breed of dog and a member of the spaniel family. Thought to be comparable to the old Land Spaniel, they are similar to the English Springer Spaniel a ...
. alt=A drawing of a dark-colored cocker spaniel, in profile, facing left, Champion American Cocker Spaniel Ch. Obo II Prior to the 1870s, the only requirement for a dog to be classed as a Cocker Spaniel was that it needed to weigh less than , although breeders separated the cocker from the
King Charles Spaniel The King Charles Spaniel (also known as the English Toy Spaniel) is a small dog breed of the spaniel type. In 1903, The Kennel Club combined four separate toy spaniel breeds under this single title. The other varieties merged into this breed wer ...
, which remains a smaller breed of spaniel. Sucher (1999): p. 8 This maximum weight limit remained on the Cocker Spaniel until 1900, with larger dogs being classed as Springer Spaniels. The colors of the Devonshire and Welsh Cockers were described by John Henry Walsh under the pseudonym Stonehenge in his book ''The Dog in Health and Disease'' as being a deeper shade of liver than that of the Sussex Spaniel. Following the formation of The Kennel Club in the UK in 1873, efforts were made by breeders to record the pedigrees of cockers and springers. In 1892, English Cocker Spaniels and
English Springer Spaniel The English Springer Spaniel is a breed of gun dog in the Spaniel group traditionally used for flushing and retrieving game. They are descended from the Norfolk or Shropshire Spaniels of the mid-19th century; the breed has diverged into sepa ...
s were recognized as separate breeds by The Kennel Club. Palika (2009): p. 19 Two dogs are thought to be the foundation sires of both modern breeds of cocker spaniels. Ch. Obo is considered by breed enthusiasts to be the father of the modern English Cocker Spaniel, while his son, Ch. Obo II, is considered to be the progenitor of the American Cocker Spaniel. Obo was born in 1879, when registration as a cocker was still only by size and not by ancestry. He was the son of a Sussex Spaniel and a Field Spaniel. Although Obo was an English dog, Obo II was born on American shores – his mother was shipped to the United States while pregnant. Palika (2009): p. 21 During his lifetime, Obo II was claimed in advertisements to be the sire or grandsire of nearly every prize-winning cocker in America.


Modern breeds

left, alt=A diagram showing the difference in heights and body shapes of two dogs, A graph showing the height and shape difference between the American and English Cocker Spaniel The two breeds of cocker spaniel are the English Cocker Spaniel and the American Cocker Spaniel. They were bred as
gun dog Gun dogs (gundogs) or bird dogs are types of hunting dogs developed to assist hunters in finding and retrieving game, typically various fowls that are shot down on the wing (in flight). The term hunting dog is broad and includes all breeds and s ...
s, to use their sense of smell to cover low areas near the handler to flush birds into the air to be shot, and to use their eyes and nose to locate the bird once downed, and then to retrieve the bird with a soft mouth. The major differences between the English and American 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. Cocker Spaniel coats occur in a variety of colors, including black, liver, red, and golden in solids. Also, black and tan, and sometimes liver and tan are known, as well as a variety of color mixtures of those solid colors including roans, roan and tans, tricolors, and those solid colors with additional white markings. Rare colours can appear unexpectedly in certain lines, for instance while an all-white cocker is usually bred by selective breeding of very light golden strains, they can still appear very uncommonly to parents that are dark-colored. A noted occurrence of this happened in 1943, when a grandson of My Own Brucie, Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in 1940 and 1941, was born all-white. In its native United States, the American Cocker Spaniel was ranked the 23rd-most popular breed according to registration statistics of the AKC in 2009, a decrease in popularity since 1999, when it was ranked 13th. For 25 years, the American Cocker Spaniel was the most popular dog in America. It was ranked number one first in 1936 prior to the English Cocker Spaniel being recognized as a separate breed, and held onto the spot until 1952, when
Beagle The Beagle is a small breed of scent hound, similar in appearance to the much larger foxhound. The beagle was developed primarily for hunting rabbit or hare, known as beagling. Possessing a great sense of smell and superior tracking inst ...
s became the most popular dogs. It regained the spot in 1983 and held on at number one until 1990. In the UK, the American Cocker Spaniel is far less popular than its English relative, with 322 registrations compared to the English Cocker's 22,211 in 2009.


English Cocker Spaniel

left, alt=A yellow-colored dog with floppy ears stands in profile: Its tongue sticks out., A golden English Cocker Spaniel of the show strain Called simply Cocker Spaniel in the UK, this is the breed that was originally recognized by
The Kennel Club The Royal Kennel Club (KC) is the official kennel club of the United Kingdom. It is the oldest recognised kennel club in the world. Its role is to oversee various canine activities including dog shows, dog agility and working trials. It also ...
(KC) in 1892. The
American Kennel Club The American Kennel Club (AKC) is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit breed registry, registry of purebred dog pedigree (animal), pedigrees in the United States. In addition to maintaining its pedigree registry, this kennel club also promotes and sanctions eve ...
(AKC) recognized the English Cocker Spaniel as a separate breed in 1946. The size of the English Cocker Spaniel according to the KC is at the
withers Withers are the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, this ridge is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, catt ...
for males, and for females. The weight of a show dog should be . The English Cocker Spaniel is the most popular dog breed for showing in the UK,
Crufts Crufts is an international dog show held annually in the United Kingdom, held since 1891, and organised by The Kennel Club. It is the largest show of its kind in the world. Crufts is primarily a championship conformation show for dogs, and ...
, with seven best-in-show wins since the prize was first awarded in 1928. This was mostly due to the success of dog breeder H.S. Lloyd's Ware Kennel, dogs of which won best-in-show on six occasions between 1930–1950. They are the second most popular dog breed in the UK according to statistics released by the KC with 22,211 registrations in 2009, beaten only by the
Labrador Retriever The Labrador Retriever or simply Labrador or Lab is a British list of dog breeds, breed of water dog retriever gun dog. It was developed in the United Kingdom from St. John's water dogs imported from the Newfoundland Colony, colony of Newfoun ...
with 40,943. In third place was the English Springer Spaniel with 12,700. The English Cocker's popularity has increased steadily since 1999 in the United States when they were ranked 76th in registrations by the AKC, to 2009 when they were ranked 66th. Physical differences exist between the show strain and working strain in the UK. While the show strain is bred to the conformation standard, the working strain is bred for working ability, and as such, several physical differences have appeared. Working-type dogs tend to be larger with flatter heads and shorter ears. The coat also tends to be shorter and finer than the show variety and have less feathering. The working strain seems to be more energetic than the show strain.


American Cocker Spaniel

American Cocker Spaniels were recognized by the AKC in 1878. Generally smaller than the English, separate classes were created for the two types in America in 1935 and the Cocker Spaniel Club of America discouraged breeding between the two types in 1938. The American Cocker Spaniel was recognized as a separate breed by the KC in the UK in 1970. The American Cocker Spaniel is referred to as the Cocker Spaniel within the United States. The American Cocker Spaniel was bred smaller, as American woodcocks are smaller than their European relatives, and the breed's appearance changed slightly during the first part of the 20th century, as the preference by American breeders was for a more stylish appearance. The standard size according to the AKC is between at the withers for males and for females. The weight of the breed is typically between . At the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, the most prestigious dog show in the United States, the American Cocker Spaniel has won Best in Show on four occasions since its first award in 1907. The American Cocker Spaniel is judged in three separate breed classes under AKC rules; "black", "parti-color", and "any solid color other than black..." (ASCOB).


See also

* Dogs portal *
List of dog breeds This list of dog breeds includes both Neontology#Extant taxa versus extinct taxa, extant and extinct dog breeds, Designer breed, varieties and dog type, types. A research article on dog genomics published in Science/AAAS defines modern dog breeds ...


References

Footnotes Bibliography * * * *


External links

{{Authority control Gundogs Hunting dogs Spaniels