With its stunning coat and melt-on-contact gaze, it’s easy to forget that the Cocker Spaniel is a working dog, and the smallest member of the Sporting Group. The breed came out of a larger group of flushing “field” spaniels developed in the 19^th century, the smallest of them becoming known as “cockers” because they hunted a bird known as a woodcock. Had hunters not had a small dog to go under hedge rows, and through bushes, birds would never have been flushed out into the open.  Skeptics may scoff at the abilities of a coated “foo foo” dog, but the Cocker Spaniel is no “foo foo dog,” and its standard calls for hair not to “affect his appearance and function as a moderately coated sporting dog,” and that “excessive coat or curly or cottony textured coat shall be severely penalized.”

One fan of the breed as a hunting dog said, “…they are a comfortable dog to hunt with, meaning they work at a nice pace and they stay close. There is no sprinting to catch up with them. The second reason is that they rely so heavily on ground scent and sorting out bird trails. This makes them perfect for heavy cover and means that they are really good at tracking down cripples. Since they tend to top out at around 30 pounds, they get through cover easily. I think this is the reason they hunt so well in hot weather when other breeds can’t hack it. The cockers just don’t have to work as hard to get through the brush.” (Gundog Magazine).

Cocker Spaniel Flushing Woodcock by John Trickett. This print is available for purchase here.