Extremely adorable four-legged friend with thick fur and intelligent, quick-witted, affectionate and friendly personality. And that friend is the Cocker Spaniel.
In this article, Wiki Pet shares with you information about the Cocker Spaniel breed. As well as learning about the origins; recognizable characteristics; how to keep and care for dogs at home.
Table of Contents
1. About Cocker Spaniel
1.1 Origin
The Cocker Spaniel is a breed of dog native to Spain. The latter was popularly bred in England, America. In the 19th century the breed was recognized.
+ Classification of cocker dogs
There are currently two common types of cockers. English Cocker Spaniel and American Cocker Spaniel. They are all native to Spain and bred for hunting purposes. Compared to the British Cocker, the American Cocker has a smaller physique.
+ Common cocker dog coat colors
Cocker is a variety of coat colors from yellow, white, black, cream, brown,… But the most common and familiar must be the shiny, silky yellow coat color.
1.2 Features of appearance
Cocker Spaniel is a breed with many outstanding features that are completely different from other breeds. Below will update details of appearance and personality traits.
+ Size & Weight
Dogs possess a slim body with medium size, neither too big nor too small to help them move faster:
+ The average weight is about 12-13kg;
+ The height of females is about : 37 – 40cm. And males from 38 – 4cm
+ Head
They have a large head, which has a clear division between parts. The forehead is wide, the skull is wide and somewhat rough. The temples of the ridge form a sharp line. Between the forehead and nose there is a pronounced curve that people often say is the bridge of the nose of the Cocker Spaniel. The tip of the nose is black, from the muzzle to the nose has a certain curvature, so there is no break point in the middle.
Among the hunting dog lines, the Cocker Spaniel is considered the dog with the most hearing nose. They have a full upper lip and can cover the lower lip but do not sag.
The eyes of the Cocker Spaniel dog are large, not convex and bright. Thanks to that, their eyes are very fine. The distance between the eyes is far apart. The eyes of this breed are usually chestnut brown or darker. The more purebred the Cocker Spaniels, the darker the eye color.
The ears of the Cocker Spaniel are wide, sloping and long from the eyes to the neck. The hair in the ear part is long, soft and does not form curls.
+ Body
The neck of this Spanish hunting breed is long, slightly curved and muscular. The back is short, the hips are relatively toned with rounded buttocks. When standing upright, the body tends to be lower to the tail. The chest is enlarged with a well-proportioned rib frame.
At the end of the dorsal spine is a tail up to 2/5 of the length of the body. For this breed, the longer the tail, the more beautiful it is. However, some people prefer short tails, so when they are 2-3 days old, they will cut off their tails to only 1-2 stings.
+ Fur and Color
The hair of the Cocker Spaniel is thick and long. The coat color of this breed is quite diverse. They are usually plain black, yellowish or cream. Some even have a more unique coat color such as brown black, black and white.
Especially the hair on the back is darker than the sides, head and on 4 legs. Cocker Spaniels whose main task is to hunt will be trimmed regularly so as not to interfere with movement.
1.3 About the Cocker dog personality
This Cocker breed has a special character, looks chic but they are not arrogant. They are sociable, friendly, listen to their owners, live in harmony with family members. They love children so families with young children do not have to worry about raising this breed.
Cocker is a precious, intelligent, understanding dog, so adoptive families can completely train them from a young age with different exercises. They can look after homes, protect property and good owners.
Cocker is also trained in the military to find banned substances, find weapons, find prohibited products. They are flexible, intelligent, so they are adopted by many people for company and housekeeping.
2. How to breed a Cocker Spaniel breed
2.1 Nutrition
The Cocker breed is not picky like other animals. However, pay attention to providing protein and fat through eggs, beef, chicken,… To help nourish the hair to become silky.
They especially like to eat meat and offal. So sometimes it will be uncontrollable to meet the favorite. So if you feed your baby meat, pay attention to control the amount of meat eaten and give your baby movement to avoid obesity!
According to experts, for Cocker Spaniel, the protein content they need is from 24-30% and fat from 14-18%. These two substances are often abundant in meats such as chicken, pork, beef and fish. It is also possible to additionally feed them chicken eggs, duck eggs and animal offal. Every day, you should maintain about 30-50% of the meat and animal organs in the diet for Cocker Spaniel to ensure comprehensive development. Besides, do not forget to provide more fiber and vitamins from vegetables, tubers and fruits to help your dog balance nutrition.
2.2 Habitat
This breed of Cocker Spaniel prefers to be in large, comfortable spaces. So you should keep them in a house with a garden or large enough. If your house is too small, take them for a walk 2-3 times a week outside the park. It will help them stay active, increase endurance and reduce excess body fat.
You can let them participate in exercises or organize games for them. For example: running, throwing the ball, finding objects,… They enjoy playing with their owners, which is better for their mood.
2.3 How to care for and clean a cocker dog
You need to regularly clean the cocker’s ears with a cotton swab and physiological saline. Because their ears are drooping, it is easy to accumulate bacteria that cause inflammation.
Let the cocker dogs always be clean and fragrant. You need to help them bathe about 2.3 times a week with specialized soap.
Note: You need to wipe and dry to avoid dermatological diseases. Brush your hair daily and regularly trim to help cocker become more beautiful!
2.4 Healthcare
Despite being an active and agile hunting dog, cocker is very susceptible to eye, respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases such as visual impairment, glaucoma, osteoarthritis,…
Therefore, when raising cockers, it is necessary to pay attention to the diet and regularly bring the babies to the veterinary department for health checks.
2.5 How to care for feathers
The soft coat of these dogs is relatively thick and long. So hair care will take quite a long time. It is recommended to brush the dog’s coat once a day so that the coat is always smooth, not tangled and removes dead patches of hair. This is a dog with a high density of hair loss, so when brushing, be gentle.
Besides self-care and grooming your dog, you should also create conditions to take your dog to the spa. The dog and cat spa will support bathing, caring and trimming the dog’s hair neatly. Your dog will have a silky, fragrant coat all week.
3. FAQ
Training on daily living: This breed you can optionally let them stay free or keep in a cage for cleanliness. Teach them a daily schedule of toilet time, meal time, walking time, sleep time. They are much more leisurely for the owner.
Teach them to obey: If trained strictly and from a young age, Cocker is very obedient to the owner, obedient and more understanding. You should set aside commands to forge them such as stop, im, sit down, lie down, descend, turn around,… To achieve better results, you should perform both manual movements and facial expressions for them to understand. If you understand them, they will be done on purpose so that you do not feel frustrated. You can use it with rewards for dogs to get them excited and motivated to be more obedient. Maybe the reward is sausages, sales, nuts, dry food,…
Teach dogs to get used to leashes: Cocker Spaniels often run around. So you should familiarize them with the leash so that they don’t run out of control. You should wear them every time you go out, if they run, pull them back and be afraid. Strictly a few times with the signal to stop or stand still, they will understand and listen.
You can feed them what you eat. However, it should also be noted that the diet for dogs will be different from people. Since the coat is “characteristic” of this hunting breed, in order to maintain the smoothness of the coat, give the dog plenty of protein and fat.
