Dog with lovers
Subscribe to The FREE English Cocker Spaniel Training Course to learn how you can easily turn your unruly and disobedient English Cocker Spaniel into a loving, friendly companion. Step-by-step tips for puppy housebreaking, dog obedience training and stopping bad behavior.
Sign Up

English Cocker Spaniel: Training, Temperament, Exercise, Health

Dog with lovers
About English Cocker Spaniel

Country of Origin, History of English Cocker Spaniels

English Cocker Spaniels descended from the original spaniels of Spain. The various spaniels (Springers and Cockers) were all one large group of dogs until the 1600s when they began to be bred to be specific for different purposes and different appearances and sizes. There are two types of English Cocker Spaniels - the field (working) cocker and the show cocker.

The name ‘cocker’ comes from the fact that it helped with the hunting of woodcocks. They also aided in the hunting of other birds. They are excellent retrievers with a soft mouth and are able to hunt and retrieve in difficult terrain.

They are also good at tracking. They are good watchdogs. They excel in competitive obedience and agility.

English Cocker Spaniel Tools

Breed Selector Tool - is the English Cocker Spaniel the right breed for you?

Is the English Cocker Spaniel the right breed for you and your family?

Find out by using our Free Dog Breed Selector Tool

Check Your English Cocker Spaniel's Learning Style

Are you aware dogs also have a learning style that can greatly affect their ability to housetrain as well as be trained correctly. Evaluate your English Cocker Spaniel's learning style and personality using our free Learning Style tool so that you are better able to provide him with the proper English Cocker Spaniel training methods.

Is your English Cocker Spaniel dominating over you?

Does your English Cocker Spaniel bark unnecessarily? Does your English Cocker Spaniel come to you when you call? Download a FREE Report on Dog Dominance for you and your English Cocker Spaniel and learn how to control your dog.

Do you make these mistakes with your English Cocker Spaniel?

Are you inadvertently snow-balling bad behavior in your English Cocker Spaniel? Evaluate your Dog Training Style from our Free Tool and learn how best to deal with your dog.

English Cocker Spaniel Calorie Calculator

Do you know how many calories your English Cocker Spaniel needs every day and how many cups of food you should be giving it every day? Click here to use our English Cocker Spaniel Calorie Calculator.

Dog with lovers

A General Appearance of the Dog

The English Cocker Spaniel is a medium-sized yet compactly built dog with long ears. English Cockers have short, thick legs ending in round paws. Their eyes are questioning yet intelligent. Most English Cocker Spaniels have a docked tail. Their chest is deep for their size. Their medium length hair is wavy and nearly the same length over the entire body including the legs, with long fur on the chest.

The English Cocker Spaniel has a larger, more elongated head than the American Cocker Spaniel. It also has a longer muzzle.

Coat Color

A wide variety of coat colors are found on English Cocker Spaniels. They can be solid colors of black, liver (red-brown), red, blue (gray) or shades of fawn (tan). The only acceptable white on a solid colored dog is on his chest. However, many English Cockers are parti-colored which means they are combinations of the colors. They can also be blue merle. Parti-colors are either clearly marked (patches of colors), ticked or roaned. Parti-colored Cockers can have white markings anywhere.

Coat Type

The field type English Cocker Spaniel has a shorter coat than the show type English Cocker Spaniel.

Height

Males: 16-17 inches
Females: 15-16 inches

Weight

Males: 28 – 34 lbs
Females: 26 – 32 lbs

Dog with lovers
Dog with lovers

Free English Cocker Spaniel Training Secrets

Free Course on English Cocker Spaniel Training & Obedience
Stop All Bad Behavior, Excessive Barking and Biting

Sign Up Here

English Cocker Spaniel Personality Traits

Dog with lovers

Temperament

The Spanish Water Dog is an extremely intelligent, fearless, ever-active, strong, attentive, happy and well balanced versatile working dog with strong herding, hunting and guardian instincts. It is a devoted companion. It is reserved, not shy, with strangers. They can be protective and territorial.

Are they suited to families with kids?

Most of them are good with children and other animals if properly socialized.

English Cocker Spaniel Activity Level

How active is the Breed?

The English Cocker enjoys as much exercise as you can give it throughout its life.

Exercise Need

English Cocker Spaniels need quite a bit of exercise and do best with a medium-sized fenced yard. Daily brisk walks are greatly enjoyed.

Grooming

The English Cocker Spaniel’s coat needs at least weekly brushing. Baths need to be given regularly, and the ears need to be checked frequently for burrs and signs of infection, and cleaned on a regular basis.

The hair on the breed’s feet needs to be brushed down over the toes and trimmed around the pads and level with the base of the feet. The English Cocker Spaniel is an average shedder.

Coat types vary - some are fairly silky and do not mat easily while others are much softer and mat very easily.

Dog with lovers

Free English Cocker Spaniel Training Secrets

Free Course on English Cocker Spaniel Training & Obedience
Stop All Bad Behavior, Excessive Barking and Biting

Sign Up Here

Health and Care

Watch for ear infections and deafness. Due to its ears being so long and hanging down, it is prone to getting all types of things in its ears. Keep the fur free of burs and ticks and check the inside frequently.

Kidney disease and anal sac tumors are seen in English Cockers.

Life Span: English Cockers live 12-15 years.

National Breed Clubs

Life Expectancy: About 10-14 years.

Group: Sporting Group.

AKC Popularity Ranking: 52

Also Known As:English Cocker.

Train Your English Cocker Spaniel To Listen To You

Get Instant Access to Your Training Now - For Free

Sign up for our Free English Cocker Spaniel Mini Course to have a housebroken, obedient dog that happily comes to you every time you call.

You'll learn new commands to obedience-train your dog as well as how to housebreak your dog in 6 days or less.

You'll also learn how to eliminate bad habits like barking, nipping or biting, jumping, or pulling on the leash.Here's just s small fraction of what else you'll learn in the course:

  • How to lead and think like a pack dog - the new psychology.

  • 3 dangerous mistakes that most English Cocker Spaniel owners make when they are trying to potty train their dogs.

  • The 2 main reasons why your dog barks excessively and how to control its excessive barking.

  • How to obedience train your English Cocker Spaniel to permanently end behavioral problems like Jumping, Aggression, Pulling on Leash.

  • A surprisingly easy way to teach your dog cool new tricks.

  • How to improve your dog's lifespan and keep it from getting overly heavy with a healthy and nutritious diet.

  • Getting Pro help fast - how to get access to our expert trainers when you need them most.

  • One hidden psychological trigger that all English Cocker Spaniels have... that practically allows you to "analyze" and "control" your dog's every action.

  • Priority access to the free online seminars conducted by our training experts.

Whereas other dog training related web sites and books offer generic information for dogs in general, ours is the ONLY web site that offers English Cocker Spaniel information specifically, from a renowned panel of experts - because as you probably know, English Cocker Spaniels have their own special training requirements that other dogs don't have.

Dog with lovers

Our Dog Experts

The English Cocker Spaniel training information you will read here was developed by a panel of renowned dog training experts whose combined wisdom represents nearly 100 years of specialist experience training dogs.

Here are a few of our experts:

What Other Dog Owners Say…

Did you know we have over 875,000 subscribers of the FREE English Cocker Spaniel Training mini course?
You can also subscribe for free, but first...
Read what other dog owners just like you found when they subscribed to this mini course:

Here are a few of our experts: