You can't teach an old dog new tricks.........

[Alec Swan]

..... or can you?

I have 4 cocker puppies here, from 2 separate litters, a month apart, and they are chalk-and-cheese.

They really are the most complex and "needy" of puppies. Such a level of fragility, coupled with a drive and dynamism which many would struggle with.

I continue to look at them, at 4 months, and think that I shall have to do something with them, SOON!! Done too soon, would be a mistake, as would too late.

Bright and brilliant puppies, BUT!!.............

Alec.

 

[brighteyes]

..... or can you?

I have 4 cocker puppies here, from 2 separate litters, a month apart, and they are chalk-and-cheese.

They really are the most complex and "needy" of puppies. Such a level of fragility, coupled with a drive and dynamism which many would struggle with.

I continue to look at them, at 4 months, and think that I shall have to do something with them, SOON!! Done too soon, would be a mistake, as would too late.

Bright and brilliant puppies, BUT!!.............

Alec.

Bit too well bred?

 

[EAST KENT]

Good luck starting FOUR puppies Alec. Too Well bred indeed..bred to do a job !

 

[Alec Swan]

Oh bollox, you're probably right! (There isn't a suitable smilie!) Yes there is, !!

Anyone want a black bitch pup FTCH both sides? Bright, sharp, magical, retrieving, just the ticket?

Am I to be reported? Don't care!

Alec.

 

[brighteyes]

Magical?

 

[Cinnamontoast]

God, don't tempt me!

Are you seriously running on four?!

 

[Alec Swan]

God, don't tempt me!

Are you seriously running on four?!

It seem so, doesn't it? It wasn't my intention though. I shall sell the liver coloured dog pup, because I want bitches, but he's probably the sanest of all, and the black bitch from the older litter will/may also go when I've started them. She has near exotic breeding, so we'll see!

When I was serious about gun dogs, I never really bothered with cockers, as back then the bulk of them were nuts. Selective breeding, over the last 30 years or so has developed the modern cocker into a far more amenable creature. What does surprise me though, is that they are all still incredibly high maintenance, and they're also very needy. Early morning exercise tends to be as a pack, but after that they need individual attention.

They continue to surprise me. They're rather fragile, emotionally, and they aren't the hard cases that they initially seem. Doing too much too soon would be asking for trouble. Complex little dogs, but good fun, hopefully!!

Was it you, who some time back, referred to "Breeding Coefficient"? If it was, how are the figures arrived at, and how does one interpret the results? Very close line breeding seems to be the norm with certain breeders, and so I'm told, it's acceptable. It's happened for many generations, and the results are a regular string of Field Trial Champions, so alarming though it is, the results seem to justify the means. There's a remarkable bitch called Priorsmeadow Dancer, she still lives and she's produced 6 FTCHs and 5 Open Stake winners. She is herself a FTCH, and is very well bred. With our older pups, she's the sire's dam.

Alec.