Country of Origin: USA
History: Despite his name, the American Cocker Spaniel is in fact originally a breed of Spanish blood. The Spanish Spaniel is considered to be the oldest of the recognized spaniels. Developed by crossing setters and spaniels, it was during the seventeen century he was divided into the water and land spaniels. In 1892 the Cocker Spaniel was recognized as a breed in England . In the late 1870's the breed was brought to the United States and here he was developed quite different lines from the English Cocker and is now registered as a separate breed.
Other Names: Cocker Spaniel
Life Span: 10 - 14 Year
Litter Size: 4 - 6 Inches
Height: 14 -15 in
Weight: 24 -28 lbs
GENERAL APPEARANCE :
The American Cocker Spaniel is the smallest member of the Sporting Group. He has a sturdy, compact body and a cleanly chiselled and refined head, with the overall dog in complete balance and of ideal size. He stands well up at the shoulder on straight forelegs with a topline sloping slightly toward strong, moderately bent, muscular quarters. He is a dog capable of considerable speed, combined with great endurance. Above all, he must be free and merry, sound, well balanced throughout and in action show a keen inclination to work. A dog well balanced in all parts is more desirable than a dog with strongly contrasting good points and faults.
Size, Proportion, Substance
Size- The ideal height at the withers for an adult dog is 15 inches and for an adult bitch, 14 inches. Height may vary one-half inch above or below this ideal. A dog whose height exceeds 15-1/2 inches or a bitch whose height exceeds 14-1/2 inches shall be disqualified. An adult dog whose height is less than 14-1/2 inches and an adult bitch whose height is less than 13-1/2 inches shall be penalized. Height is determined by a line perpendicular to the ground from the top of the shoulder blades, the dog standing naturally with its forelegs and lower hind legs parallel to the line of measurement.
Proportion- The measurement from the breast bone to back of thigh is slightly longer than the measurement from the highest point of withers to the ground. The body must be of sufficient length to permit a straight and free stride; the dog never appears long and low.
The Head
To attain a well proportioned head, which must be in balance with the rest of the dog, it embodies the following:
Here are the two VERY BEAUTIFUL examples of each one:
Another important point to identify a good head- IT MUST HAVE A "8" SHAPE, the two elipses being almost the same size. There are more examples bellow.
More good heads with correct 8 shape:
Here are the some examples of POOR HEAD .
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Expression-The expression is intelligent, alert, soft and appealing.
Eyes- Eyeballs are round and full and look directly forward. The shape of the eye rims gives a slightly almond shaped appearance; the eye is not weak or goggled. The color of the iris is dark brown and in general the darker the better.
Ears- Lobular, long, of fine leather, well feathered, and placed no higher than a line to the lower part of the eye.
Some dogs, in special puppies, look like to have high earset on the photos. In several cases it is because someone is trying to get their atention to the camera. Why do they do their best to look to any other side than the camera?! It is the same dog in two different positions. His earset isn't so high on the 2nd photo as it is on the 1st one.
And finally, don't forget almost all the plush head puppies have high earset before the age of 2 months! Same puppy girl at different ages:
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Skull- Rounded but not exaggerated with no tendency toward flatness; the eyebrows are clearly defined with a pronounced stop. The bony structure beneath the eyes is well chiseled with no prominence in the cheeks. The muzzle is broad and deep, with square even jaws. To be in correct balance, the distance from the stop to the tip of the nose is one half the distance from the stop up over the crown to the base of the skull.
Nose- of sufficient size to balance the muzzle and foreface, with well developed nostrils typical of a sporting dog. It is black in color in the blacks, black and tans, and black and whites; in other colors it may be brown, liver or black, the darker the better. The color of nose harmonizes with the color of the eye rim.
Lips- The upper lip is full and of sufficient depth to cover the lower jaw.
Teeth- Teeth strong and sound, not too small and meet in a scissors bite.
Neck, Topline, Body
Neck- The neck is sufficiently long to allow the nose to reach the ground easily, muscular and free from pendulous "throatiness." It rises strongly from the shoulders and arches slightly as it tapers to join the head.
Topline- sloping slightly toward muscular quarters.
We have three kind of tailset: NORMAL , LOW TAILSET AND TERRIER TAILSET. This is an example of a LOW TAILSET. When the dog is stacked and in show coat, with a proper trimming, it is very difficult to see the problem. But when it is moving, the problem will show up:
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Body- The chest is deep, its lowest point no higher than the elbows, its front sufficiently wide for adequate heart and lung space, yet not so wide as to interfere with the straightforward movement of the forelegs. Ribs are deep and well sprung. Back is strong and sloping evenly and slightly downward from the shoulders to the set-on of the docked tail. The docked tail is set on and carried on a line with the topline of the back, or slightly higher; never straight up like a Terrier and never so low as to indicate timidity. When the dog is in motion the tail action is merry.
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The Forequarters
The shoulders are well laid back forming an angle with the upper arm of approximately 90 degrees which permits the dog to move his forelegs in an easy manner with forward reach. Shoulders are clean-cut and sloping without protrusion and so set that the upper points of the withers are at an angle which permits a wide spring of rib. When viewed from the side with the forelegs vertical, the elbow is directly below the highest point of the shoulder blade. Forelegs are parallel, straight, strongly boned and muscular and set close to the body well under the scapulae. The pasterns are short and strong. Dewclaws on forelegs may be removed. Feet compact, large, round and firm with horny pads; they turn neither in nor out.
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The Hindquarters
Hips are wide and quarters well rounded and muscular. When viewed from behind, the hind legs are parallel when in motion and at rest. The hind legs are strongly boned, and muscled with moderate angulation at the stifle and powerful, clearly defined thighs. The stifle is strong and there is no slippage of it in motion or when standing. The hocks are strong and well let down. Dewclaws on hind legs may be removed.
Now I am using the same lines on the photo:
Can you see she has the same angulations as the draw? It means she is BALLANCED - another term very used for the breeders - and a dog with this kind of angulations will be able to move very well. And it isn't just theoric, this bitch is a great mover. To understand the rears angulations and its movement (it is named DRIVE) it is necessary to think in "to bend" and "to jump". I know, it doesn't seem to make sense, but I will show you my point. You are standing up and start to bend your knee. The more you bend, the higher you will be able to jump, right? The same thing happens with the dogs rear but the dog will not jump, it will "push the ground". The more angulation the dog has (bend in the knees), the more it will be able to push the ground, commonly called 'DRIVE'. The bend in the knee is also called bend of stifle. Pay attention to these two puppies, littermates, pictured at the same day. It is important to say I resized the photos and the pupipes have exaclty the same height , ok?
The first puppy has proper rear angulations and the 2nd one fewer angulation. Can you see the knee of the first puppy is much more bended than the second one? What else you can see on these puppies? Do you see the first puppy has a slooping back and the second one a level back? Why it happens? Because the second puppy's knees aren't bended as they should be! You can think the second puppy isn't well stacked, but it is the "comfortable" position for him. How do I know that? Because the hock must be in 90 degres with the groud. In fact his hock is a little ahead than they should be and you can see the angle with the table is smaller than 90 degrees. It is the reason we say THIS DOG NEED MORE ANGULATIONS, the angle should be higher. Another interesting information. Pay attention on their hocks. Can you note the first puppy has smaller hocks than the second one? Everytime you see a dog with a high hock it is because it doesn't have enough angulations. In fact I believe a lot of problems with rear angulations are because the size of hocks. As higher the hocks are, are less angulations the dog will have. What I don't know is the following: the dog has high hocks because it has less angulation or it has less angulation because it has high hocks? If some noe has the replay for this answer, please let me know. Now let's see other photo of the 2nd puppy when he was a couple of months older:
This time we put his legs as far as possible, trying to improve his topline. But it still is "level" back and not slooping back as it should be. The hocks still are in an angle smaller than 90 degrees. I traced a line of the end of his back (when the tailset starts) to the ground. The knee shouldn't go ahead than that line, but his does. There is an arrow showing where his knee is. Why the knee can't go ahead than that line? Because when it happens his legs will not be bended enough to push the ground properly. Check again the photo of the bitch with good rear angles. Trace an imaginary line on her tailset to the ground and check her knees. Her knee isn't ahead thatn the line like the other puppy, her rears are still bended and read to push the ground. Here is her photo again:
Now let's see the last example, the over angulated rears. This puppy is over angulated. When I stacked him I care his knee was not ahead than the line of his tailset.
Take a look on his hock. Can you see the angle with the ground (table) is over than 90 degrees?
Maybe you can start to wonder a dog over angulated is much better:
Believe or not a lot of breeders thought the same on the past. Nowadays over angulated dogs are so common on the rings, but they forgot about the ballance of the dog. The front will not be able to follow the rear movement even if the dog has a good front. And we can't forget until 1992 the cockers should be 15% shorter on their backs than taller. Try to have a picture. The fronts were terrible, no proper angles and you already learned a dog with that characteristc doesn't have GOOD REACH. The rears were over angulated, it means the dog had TOO MUCH DRIVE. And the back should be short! To resume: IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO THE DOG MOVE PROPERLY. The best movers were the ones with long backs. What hapenned? They changed the standard and the dogs should be longer backs after 1992. I know a lot of people will not agree. They will say there are other reasons, but it is hard to me to believe on the reasons like pain in the back (someone already told me about that). But just remember IT IS MY OPINION. You should keep this in mind - A GOOD DOG IS A BALLANCED DOG. The rears and front should work together, ok?
Now we must see the rears from another view:
These are the photos of the same bitch. The first one around 45 days old and the other when she already was an adult. You can see her legs are parallel, not so wide not so narrow. It is how correct rears should look like. There are two other kinds: cow-hocked (the hockes almost touching each other) and another one who would be exaclty the oposite: The hocks are too far and the legs has the same shape as a "cowboy leg". I don't have photos of these two types, but I will try to find them. Well, we are done with the rears. I will talk now about short and up on leg dogs. I am sure you already heard these expressions, right?
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Coat
On the head, short and fine; on the body, medium length, with enough undercoating to give protection. The ears, chest, abdomen and legs are well feathered, but not so excessively as to hide the Cocker Spaniel's true lines and movement or affect his appearance and function as a moderately coated sporting dog. The texture is most important. The coat is silky, flat or slightly wavy and of a texture which permits easy care. Excessive coat or curly or cottony textured coat shall be severely penalized. Use of electric clippers on the back coat is not desirable. Trimming to enhance the dog's true lines should be done to appear as natural as possible.
Colors and Markings
Black Variety-
Solid color black to include black with tan points. The black should be jet; shadings of brown or liver in the coat are not desirable. A small amount of white on the chest and/or throat is allowed; white in any other location shall disqualify.
Any Solid Color Other than Black (ASCOB)-
Any solid color other than black, ranging from lightest cream to darkest red, including brown and brown with tan points. The color shall be of a uniform shade, but lighter color of the feathering is permissible. A small amount of white on the chest and/or throat is allowed; white in any other location shall disqualify.
Parti-Color Variety-
Two or more solid, well broken colors, one of which must be white; black and white, red and white ( the red may range from lightest cream to darkest red), brown and white, and roans, to include any such color combination with tan points. It is preferable that the tan markings be located in the same pattern as for the tan points in the Black and ASCOB varieties. Roans are classified as parti-colors and may be of any of the usual roaning patterns. Primary color which is ninety percent (90%) or more shall disqualify.
Tan Points- The color of the tan may be from the lightest cream to the darkest red and is restricted to ten percent (10%) or less of the color of the specimen; tan markings in excess of that amount shall disqualify. In the case of tan points in the Black or ASCOB variety, the markings shall be located as follows:
1) A clear tan spot over each eye;
2) On the sides of the muzzle and on the cheeks;
3) On the underside of the ears;
4) On all feet and/or legs;
5) Under the tail;
6) On the chest, optional; presence or absence shall not be penalized.
Tan markings which are not readily visible or which amount only to traces, shall be penalized. Tan on the muzzle which extends upward, over and joins shall also be penalized. The absence of tan markings in the Black or ASCOB variety in any of the specified locations in any otherwise tan-pointed dog shall disqualify.
Gait
Photo: Cathy Carey
The Cocker Spaniel, though the smallest of the sporting dogs, possesses a typical sporting dog gait. Prerequisite to good movement is balance between the front and rear assemblies. He drives with strong, powerful rear quarters and is properly constructed in the shoulders and forelegs so that he can reach forward without constriction in a full stride to counterbalance the driving force from the rear. Above all, his gait is coordinated, smooth and effortless. The dog must cover ground with his action; excessive animation should not be mistaken for proper gait.
More example of Good movement:
Example of Bad reach
Example of SIDEWINDING or SIDLE SIDEWINDING or SIDLE. What is that? It is when the dog can not move in a streight line. Why that happens? Very simple ... look the photo of the buff puppy moving (above). Can you note the paws which are on the floor are very close to each other? All the dogs use to move in that way. But now think in a dog not ballanced. He doesn't have too much reach (small/short front steps) but as it is over angulated on rears, he pushes the ground very much (large/big hind steps). If this dog was moving in a streight line, he would put his hind leg AHEAD than the foreleg. Of course he can't do that, so what he does? He puts his hind leg at the side of the foreleg. Look the draw bellow.
Let's imagine these are two dogs. The left dog is a ballanced one. The red elipses are his forelegs. The blue are his hindlegs, ok? He is moving in a streight line, because his good reach, his forelegs go ahead than his nose. As he is ballanced his you can trace a perfect triangle (green color) shwoing his steps are the same size. But the right dog isn't ballanced . It doesn't have to much REACH (short front steps) and because of that his foreleg isn't ahead than his nose. On the other hand he has too much DRIVE (large hind steps) and his hind leg goes ahead than the point his foreleg is. He puts his two right legs side by side and to make that possible, he can't go in a streight line. He must twist his body. It is the Mother Nature adjusting the dog's movement to its structure. |
Temperament
Equable in temperament with no suggestion of timidity.
Disqualifications
Height- Males over 15-1/2 inches; females over 14-1/2 inches.
Color and Markings-The aforementioned colors are the only acceptable colors or combination of colors. Any other colors or combination of colors to disqualify.
Black Variety-White markings except on chest and throat.
Any Solid Color Other Than Black Variety-White markings except on chest and throat.
Parti-color Variety-Primary color ninety percent (90%) or more. Tan Points(1) Tan markings in excess of ten percent (10%); (2) Absence of tan markings in Black or ASCOB Variety in any of the specified locations in an otherwise tan pointed dog.
