You don’t see them much anymore, if at all.
The pattern was removed from the breed standards of major breeding clubs in the UK and USA, so you won’t find sable English Cocker Spaniels accepted by the AKC, the Kennel Club or most English Cocker Spaniel Clubs.
Though the sable phenotype has been documented in English Cockers since at least 1938, genetic evidence alluded to by several sources suggests it has existed in the breed for over a one-hundred years. Back in the day – way back before genetics was better understood, the pattern was occasionally mislabeled as “mahogany” or “domino.” The sable gene, in fact, was so dominant when these dogs were bred that most puppies in a litter were also sables. A shaded coat with lighter roots and darker tips, often described as “dirty red” or “golden sable,” was unmistakable, even more so because there was typically quite a bit of black hair on the dog.
These English Cockers exhibited a genetically distinct sable pattern caused by the eH allele (officially eH(D84N)) at the E-Locus, a mutation in the MC1R gene that reduces eumelanin production and enhances phaeomelanin. In some circles, the color was referred to as “cocker sable,” and if the dog was a self-colored Cocker, it might be called a “shaded sable.” Depending upon the extent of the sable, a dog might also have a domino-like widow’s peak or distinctive cross-shaped face markings.
While a sable, sable & tan, and sable & white English Cocker can be registered with the AKC, it is a non-standard color and disqualified from conformation shows.
The question you might be asking now is ‘why?’
The sable in English Cocker Spaniels was frowned upon largely because of concerns about its impact on the breed’s genetic diversity. Again, sable isn’t a true color but a dominant pattern that has the potential to override all other solid colors in the breed like black, red, and black-and-tan within a few generations. Such dominance could lead to a loss of traditional colors.
As fanciers know, there is also always a breeder that sees dollar signs if a color or pattern is either rare or unaccepted, and such “breeders” will market sables as “exotic or “special” and charge top dollar from an ignorant buyer. Since they are breeding for color, soundness may be tossed aside, and for this reason alone, sables may have more health issues. This isn’t something particularly related to the gene itself, but how some breeders have bred sables over the years.
There are some breeders who may be breeding sables not for financial gain, but to keep a unique genetic legacy alive within the breed, and perhaps they feel that such a pattern has a place in contributing to broader genetic variation within the breed. We defer to English Cocker Spaniel people as to the wisdom of this thinking. For potential owners, buyer beware!
A Google search on “Sable English Cocker Spaniel” will bring up a cross section of images for your perusal, but the image at the top is of a six-month-old Sable-colored English Cocker Spaniel puppy by SueRob/iStock
I’ve seen sable ECS shown at UKC shows and the UKC standard does not DQ the color. They are beautiful dogs.