Spockers

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Annette4

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Anyone have them/experience of them?

Asking on behalf of a friend who already has a working bred cocker but she's stupidly gun shy. She doesn't fancy another cocker as she wants something a bit bigger (her bitch is teenie tiny). I am presuming they are as mental as every other spangel under the sun just bigger than a cocker?

She'll be doing her research on working breeders etc.
 
Well as a mongrel they will be random in the litter and some will be more springer like and some more cocker. I should think you pays your money and takes your chance.
I would go for a calm strain of pure bred springer if I were you.
 
Why not get a full Springer? With a mongrel you run the risk it won't grow as big as she wants. They're two great breeds individually so personally I'd just go for a full bred one :)
 
MIL has a sprocker, she is now coming up to 18 months, she's bigger than most springers i know including our own and has a lot of energy more than our springer has ever had....... very very prey driven but she's the only one i have met so i don't know if this is normal for the cross .....
 
No idea why, not my decision to make. As a mongrel owner I have made that point to her. I suspect someone has told her sprockers make better workers :p

My experience and interest in spangles goes as far as 'they are mental' :p ;)
 
Springers and cockers are only separated by size, historically. Springers aren't necessarily mental. I chose Bear carefully from ten and he is exactly what I judged him to be: calm, excellent worker, focussed, obedient. I know it sounds mad, but he let me manhandle him at the breeder's and I knew he was a good 'un. He is lots taller than my working stock older boy who is also very steady and calm. It's just Zak who flies the flag for the stereotypical mad springer!
 
Spaniels, be they Springers or Cockers, are spaniels, and as such, they will arrive with totally different outlooks on life. All spaniels will have a heavy leaning towards their parentage. I have some 6 month old cocker pups here, and they're as soft and as easy going as their mother. Regardless of the fact that their father is a Field Trial Champion, and the dog which won the 2012-13 Championships. There are very few who could handle one side of their father, and many would describe him as verging on the unmanageable.

Now then, the temperament of the bitch, and to describe her as 'soft' would be an over statement, was what I was hoping to steer away from. I was wrong. The puppies have followed their dam's temperament.

Springers and Cockers, at one time, were considered to be the same animal, all bar the size. That's no longer the case. Cockers are generally the more difficult of the two breeds, or at least take for a greater understanding. Difficult because they have a streak running through them which is so demanding, and it's often referred to as being 'needy', and needy's what they are. They need and demand the focus of their owner, and it can be very waring.

I have a neighbouring farmer who bought himself a fully trained Cocker bitch that was, when he paid a small fortune for her, quite exceptional. She's been to stay with me on occasion, and she's as fond of me , as I am of her. When her owner asks me why my dogs don't take their eyes off me, I explain that neither does his dog, but he can't see the point!! He simply doesn't give his 'needy' dog the attention that she 'needs'. He's not the only one who fails to understand.

Why people refer to Sprockers as Mongrels, and in a rather derogatory manner, is rather beyond me, as I've always believed that a mongrel was a dog of unknown parentage. I've seen many Sprockers over the years, and have yet to see one that I didn't like. Perhaps one day, when I can find the right Springer dog, a serious Trial prospect, I may just breed a litter!

Spaniel puppies are born with a predisposition to either be soft and useless, soft and biddable, or hard cases which call for a handler. My preference has always been for the dog that I need to 'stop', rather than the animal that I have to 'push'. Most that would be pets, and for the average pet home, would probably benefit from being those of a softer disposition!!

Alec.
 
I always been taught a mongrel is different breeds making it up. Quite the contrary I use it in a derogatory manner, I just dislike cutesie names. I'd never refer to my girl as a rottador or a labraweiler ;) :D
 
GinaB said:
I always been taught a mongrel is different breeds making it up. Quite the contrary I use it in a derogatory manner, I just dislike cutesie names. I'd never refer to my girl as a rottador or a labraweiler ;) :D
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Point taken, and I'd support you. I too have a loathing of stupid names. A real loathing!!

From here forwards, they will be Cocker x Springers. Or should they be "Springer-Cocker First Cross"? I wonder if anyone's ever taken two 'first cross' dogs, and had a litter of pure-breds.

Alec.
 
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