Cocker Spaniel Dog Breed Information, Pictures, Characteristics & Facts – Dogtime
The modern Cocker Spaniel is descended from the Spaniel family, a large group that dates to antiquity. The word spaniel means “Spanish dog,” and it’s generally believed that they indeed originated in Spain. By the 1800s, Spaniels were divided into two groups: toys (primarily companions) and large hunting dogs. Hunting dogs were further divided into land and water spaniels. The Cocker Spaniel was named so for his excellence in the field hunting woodcock.
In England, spaniels were a functional category, rather than an individual breed of dog, for several hundred years. The first kennel to gain recognition for the Cocker Spaniel as a distinct breed in England was the Obo Kennel of Mr. James Farrow. In 1892, the Cocker Spaniel was recognized as a breed in England.
Shortly before, in the late 1870s, American fanciers began importing English Cockers to the United States. A liver-and-white Cocker Spaniel named Captain was registered in the first studbook of the National American Kennel Club (later called the American Kennel Club). The second volume of the studbook, printed in 1885, registers a black Cocker named Brush II. This dog was imported from England by Commings Cocker Spaniel Kennel of New Hampshire.
Right around this time, in 1881, Clinton Wilmerding and James Watson formed the American Spaniel Club. The oldest breed club in America, it originally included breeders of many types of Spaniels. Eventually, however, breeders split off into separate organizations as differences among the Spaniel breeds were refined.
Cocker Spaniels quickly gained popularity both with breeders and the public. In time, some breeders started favoring a smaller type of Cocker Spaniel with a slightly different conformation than the original English Cocker. These smaller dogs were especially flashy in the show ring.
In 1936, a group of English Cocker breeders formed a specialty club known as the English Cocker Spaniel Club of America, and they gained recognition from the AKC for an English type of the Cocker Spaniel. Two years later, to strengthen its position, the club passed a motion that English Cocker Spaniels should not be bred to American-type Cocker Spaniels. The club also resolved to oppose the showing of American-type Cockers in English Cocker classes.
In 1939, a Cocker Spaniel named CH My Own Brucie won the Best American Bred in Show at the prestigious Westminster Dog Show, a feat that he repeated the following year. Brucie, a black Cocker Spaniel, won the hearts of the American public, clinching his popularity in the 1940 show when, as his owner/handler removed Brucie’s leash as they entered the ring, the little dog gaited proudly along his side, wagging his tail. Brucie was so beloved that when he died, The New York Times published his obituary.
Brucie’s success in the show ring led to a spectacular rise in the popularity of Cocker Spaniels. It also encouraged American breeders to concentrate more on breeding for the show ring than for the field, further widening the gap between American and English Cockers. In 1946, the American Kennel Club recognized the American Cocker Spaniel and the English Cocker Spaniel as two distinct breeds.
