Owning Spaniels - What's it like?

Not sure if I should admit this but the latest Stacey Solomon program shows her three year old show cocker suffering a devastating spinal problem.
 
pistolpete said:
Not sure if I should admit this but the latest Stacey Solomon program shows her three year old show cocker suffering a devastating spinal problem.
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Spinal issues don't seem to be uncommon in the breed unfortunately. I've heard of a few Cockers having IVDD—it's definitely something I'll need to take into consideration if I decide to go for a spaniel.
 
Actually vs. my daughter's lab puppy I'll take my springer any day of the week. Yes lab's amazing to train but leaves a wake of destruction behind him. He's a velocirapter in disguise or maybe a termite!
 
Thistletide said:
My only concern would be whether I'd be able to fulfil a working Lab's energy/drive in a purely companion home—I have no intention to hunt with my dog.
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On the law of averages, the cocker will be far worse for that than a working lab.

I’ve discovered I’m not a spaniel person, particularly cockers. I love them in small doses but they are in general far to busy and needy for my liking.
 
Have you considered a clumber spaniel ? My friend has 2, and they are the most wonderful dogs . Busy when out but happy to switch off . The younger one is extremely fast and agile and has masses of stamina and loves agility work . Both well trained happy dogs
They are my show type labs best mates and can out run him at every level . He’s far from portly , but has more of an off than an on switch 🤣
 
Asha said:
Have you considered a clumber spaniel ? My friend has 2, and they are the most wonderful dogs . Busy when out but happy to switch off . The younger one is extremely fast and agile and has masses of stamina and loves agility work . Both well trained happy dogs
They are my show type labs best mates and can out run him at every level . He’s far from portly , but has more of an off than an on switch 🤣
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I have a friend with Clumbers. They show but are adorable dogs. The only problem is they are lower to the ground and pick up far more cr*p on their undercarriage than other spanners. Good call though.
 
GrassChop said:
😂 This.

I believe that my rescue is actually a sprocker, although we were initially told he was a cocker. He would tend to prefer to sleep during the day and comes alive in the evenings so he's not full on 24/7 like some can be but if he's not been able to sleep all day like he'd like to, he's knackered by the evening which means we get a night off from constant entertainment 😂.
However, when he is awake, everything is a rush and a competition of how fast he can possibly do everything. You can't sniff without him thinking you're going to do something or make any sort of noise without him thinking it's about him. Everything must be about him, surely? I adjust myself on the sofa and he's flying up thinking I'm going to go somewhere. So despite being needy because they just love you soooo much, he's actually been very trainable and just so loving despite being totally wired for the best part. He's had moments where he decides it's much more fun becoming "self employed" and sprinting at 100mph in huge circles, crashing through bushes but he's a lot better and knows when to stay at heel and when he's free to go but not too far. His retrieval on things when he's told to "find it" is incredible too and he absolutely thrives off being given tasks for a ball, even just the basics of sit, back up, lay down, paw etc, anything to be told he's a good boy!

Mental stimulation tires them out much quicker. Mine could run for 6 hours straight before being tired but take him to a friend's house for an hour and he'll be conked for 24 hours after that! Overall, it is usually total chaos but trained to know the boundaries and when to settle.
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And I 100% agree with this. Always ready to go - but equally, if you teach an off switch - mine does sleep for most of the day, just if I’m doing something, he’s trying to join in. If you want to do stuff with them and train new and silly things in minutes, and your life to probably revolve around that, they really are brilliant. But I can also see how so many end up in rescues and how some people hate them. It’s rarely boring!
 
Asha said:
Have you considered a clumber spaniel ? My friend has 2, and they are the most wonderful dogs . Busy when out but happy to switch off . The younger one is extremely fast and agile and has masses of stamina and loves agility work . Both well trained happy dogs
They are my show type labs best mates and can out run him at every level . He’s far from portly , but has more of an off than an on switch 🤣
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I have a clumber x springer. He’s lovely but does cast an awful lot more coat / hair than the springers. He has an awesome bark and maybe a little clumsy, bumbly but good fun and relatively obedient, but if he doesn’t want to go for a walk or in a particular direction he just sits down and refuses to move 😀
 
Nicnac said:
I have a friend with Clumbers. They show but are adorable dogs. The only problem is they are lower to the ground and pick up far more cr*p on their undercarriage than other spanners. Good call though.
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My friend has mother and son . The mother is as you say very close to the ground and constantly has a filthy belly . Her son however , is a much taller dog and much more agile / agility type . Both have the same beautiful temperaments . If I was looking for a spaniel I’d definitely consider this breed
 
I haven't looked into Clumbers, so I'll have to check them out. I really don't know much about them. They don't seem to be particularly common and I've never seen one out and about before unfortunately.
 
There aren’t a lot of Clumbers around as they’re now on the rare breeds list. Why not have a trip to Discover dogs at the NEC? You should be able to see a good selection of spaniels and talk to the owners. Most breed societies offer the opportunity to take their dogs to members and so you should be able to meet people who have been in the breed for a long time as well as some newer members. You could also contact the rescue section of each of the breeds to find out more.
 
My show cocker was a plod of a dog compared to my working springer. A bit stubborn and tricky to train, but he’d be sniffing the closest hedge ignoring you not 3 fields away still running!
 
gallopingby said:
There aren’t a lot of Clumbers around as they’re now on the rare breeds list. Why not have a trip to Discover dogs at the NEC? You should be able to see a good selection of spaniels and talk to the owners. Most breed societies offer the opportunity to take their dogs to members and so you should be able to meet people who have been in the breed for a long time as well as some newer members. You could also contact the rescue section of each of the breeds to find out more.
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Discover Dogs as a standalone event is no longer, now the discover dogs at Crufts it the only event.
 
I have two working bred littermate springers. Their energy is similar, but they are very different dogs. One is a cuddler, the other is not. One has extremely high prey drive, the other not so much. They’re my 2nd set of working bred, also had a pair of pet bred. I find them funny, extremely trainable, mostly very obedient. They are very food motivated.

They are all different. The current pair didn’t make a sound on a 3 hour journey today, they’re both asleep on their beds. Working bred are supposed to be more energetic, show bred allegedly calmer. Never had a show bred. These two do not need hours of exercise, they have multiple walks if we’re home, longer ones otherwise. I can have a proper tramp through woods with them.

You cannot guarantee energy levels (get a whippet 😂) but you can research for temperament. Nothing is set in stone, tho, they’re all different.
 
druid said:
I've picked up on a shoot with a show champion Am Cocker from the Afterglow kennel whose grandson was Crufts BIS. She was a properly driven little madam, loved retrieving!
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My pet bred two were highly focused, we had to keep them like this because of Zak’s DA. We didn’t/don’t keep the others on a tight rein. I think it’s innate, regardless of breeding. Cold game training was always fun in the park. 😱😀
 
I have a cocker. She's a rescue ex breeding bitch. She's the most loyal loving dog with me but isn't as keen on men. She is a very good easy to be around dog but can be aggressive around other dogs where food is concerned, I think from her past life. She's gentle, sweet, brilliant with kids, tolerates the cats. She has no intention of chasing a ball unlike most spaniels. You throw she will fetch it once. Throw it again she gives you the look. What did you do that for. You go get it. She loves to carry her toys around but chase is not for her. She definitely sticks like velcro and needs to be close to me. If i go out without her she will sulk by the front door til im home regardless of who else is at home. I am absolutely smitten and now doubt i will have any other breed. They do need a fair amount of exercise though to remain chilled but loving and loyal definitely describes mine.
 
My neighbour has a show line spaniel. It honestly is worlds apart from a working cocker.

She plods out with it for a short walk about three times a day. Often see her cleaning her car out the front and the dog just quietly sniffs about.

She seems a very quiet, amenable sort.


On the other hand, my brother has a working cocker. I think she must be about nine now and is still 100mph.

She was actually diagnosed with arthritis at just four years old and has had to have careful management ever since. Very sad as she had spent a season or two picking up and had absolutely lived for it prior to that.
 
Ironically, I think I might be leaning more towards the Labrador Retriever now... It's the biddability that's really drawing me in. Still, I have plenty of time to make up my mind.
 
Cinnamontoast said:
I have two working bred littermate springers. Their energy is similar, but they are very different dogs. One is a cuddler, the other is not. One has extremely high prey drive, the other not so much. They’re my 2nd set of working bred, also had a pair of pet bred. I find them funny, extremely trainable, mostly very obedient. They are very food motivated.

They are all different. The current pair didn’t make a sound on a 3 hour journey today, they’re both asleep on their beds. Working bred are supposed to be more energetic, show bred allegedly calmer. Never had a show bred. These two do not need hours of exercise, they have multiple walks if we’re home, longer ones otherwise. I can have a proper tramp through woods with them.

You cannot guarantee energy levels (get a whippet 😂) but you can research for temperament. Nothing is set in stone, tho, they’re all different.
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I take it back about the whippet! Met one out today and she made mine look slow! 😱
 
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