History of the Cocker Spaniel
Originally, Cocker Spaniels came to America from England and/or
Spain. Around the time of the Mayflower landing in America, there were many
references made to spaniel dogs that were really good at flushing birds on a hunt.
In these earlier years, all spaniels were simply, a spaniel. One particular
spaniel became known as the cocking spaniel because of its supreme ability to
track and flush woodcocks. The cocker spaniel did not become a separate breed
until the late in the 19th century.
Dog shows had begun to get very popular in the 1850s. At this
time, the only difference between a springer spaniel and a cocker spaniel was
weight. It was possible to get a cocker, field, and springer spaniel from the
same litter of puppies. Finally, in 1892, the The Kennel Club of England recognized a spaniel weighing less than 25 pounds as being a
cocker spaniel. The The American Kennel Club(AKC) took much
longer to make a distinction.
A few years earlier (in 1881), The The American Spaniel Club (ASC) was formed to help resolve the differences in America
with the spaniel breeds. Interbreeding between American, Canadian, and English
spaniel dogs was happening and a very distinct difference was appearing between
cockers that were bred from pure English stock and those bred only from
American stock. The English Cocker Spaniel Club of America (ECSA) was formed in
1935 to help discourage the interbreeding of English and American cockers and
to have the English spaniel recognized as a separate breed from the Cocker
spaniel. Through extensive and
exhaustive research by the ECSA, they completed the task of separating the
American, Canadian, and English Cocker spaniel breeds in 1941.Through a massive
pedigree purge, they eliminated any dog that could not prove a minimum of 5
generations of pure English breeding. Only the dogs that could legitimately do
so would be identified as pure English Cockers.
The AKC granted separate breed status to the American and
English cocker spaniels in 1946. Before this, cocker spaniels were recognized
in America as both the characteristics of the English and American cockers.
American Cocker
Spaniel
The grandfather of American cocker spaniels is Obo. Other
cockers existed in America, but none as notably as Obo. Obo was born in 1879
and was bred to a female named Chloe II. She was brought to the Americas and
whelped a son named Obo II.
Obo II weighed in at 23 ½ pounds and stood 9 ½ inches from foot
to withers. He was a black dog with a curly coat, especially on the hindquarters
and shoulders, and he had profuse feathering. By the 1920s, almost all cockers
in America could be traced back to Obo II. We must understand that without club
recognition, all other cockers in America were simply cocker spaniel hunting
dogs.
Today, the cocker spaniel standard is 15 inches in height for a male and 14 inches for a female, with no more than 1/2 inch variance for either. More can be read furhter on the breed standard in America at The American Kennel Club(AKC).
Since Obo II, many breeders have helped formulate the Cocker
Spaniel we have today. Responsible breeders try to maintain the original
standard for the Cocker Spaniel, while eradicating obvious faults such as
diseases and temperament. Coat and color should never be the characteristics to
drive a responsible breeder.
We hope that this article enlightens you. God Bless.