Field work for the Cocker Spaniel also includes retrieving from fields, marshlands and open water. To do that job, a Cocker Spaniel must have adequate length, width and depth of muzzle and large strong teeth to allow it to hold and carry a bird, and large nostrils to allow it to breathe.
The length and strength of the neck is also important. A long coat can be cut to a shorter length if the dog is to be used in the field. But a dog with too much volume of coat, even when short, is at a disadvantage in the field because of the amount of water and debris that these dogs work through. Cockers which have undergone seasonal shedding or those with a moderate amount of coat should not be penalized. When Cockers hunt they need to cover a lot of ground when scenting and retrieving birds, which requires efficiency of movement.
A Cocker needs to cover the most amount of ground while expending the least amount of energy. Pheasants Forever is a c 3 charitable organization. Your donation is tax deductible under the fullest extent of the law. Header Secondary Navigation. Search for: Search Site. Donate Renew Join Facebook. Bird Dogs: The Spaniel Breakdown. Field Notes. Small in size, shaggy coat, dull of eye, yet a nose worthy of great admiration—descriptions of such a hunting dog appeared in literature centuries before the Common Era.
Millennia before the flintlock was invented, English storytellers referenced a dog called spaniel. A close-working dog, capable of both locating and flushing birds in dense cover, was even more essential then, when bird hunters required a habitually short distance conducive to more primitive methods such as falconry and netting. One detail is certain: the spaniel quickly garnered praise among hunters. It traveled well and, despite its smaller size, exuded energy and a seemingly limitless prey drive.
Over history, several breeds were established to meet evolving hunting needs. Today, modern pheasant hunters, when determining which spaniel best fits their needs, have a few different options. Though most breeders and trainers agree any spaniel will perform its core duty—locate birds—method, style, as well as physical traits and temperaments, vary from breed to breed.
English Springer Spaniel The English springer spaniel is often considered a great hunting breed for first-time bird dog owners. This series of Project Upland hunting dog breed profiles focuses on the hunting traits that set one breed apart from another, understanding that within a breed, each dog may vary in temperament, conformation, instincts and abilities. This particular article focuses on the English Cocker Spaniel.
Unique among other breeds, the English cocker spaniel is actually named for the bird it was developed to hunt — the woodcock.
After they were introduced in the United States, breeders started developing lines with heavier coats, shorter muzzles and smaller size. Then followed the split between the English cockers, the ones typically used as field dogs, and the American cockers — longer haired, show ring dogs. In the AKC recognized them as a breed separate from American cocker spaniels. The trial should demonstrate the performance of a properly trained spaniel in the field, and should determine the dog with the finest qualities among the group entered in each stake.
The judging will affect the values of the dogs put up and affect the breeding schedules of the future. As of only a working dog test existed for the breed exploring, the basic abilities like flushing, finding and retrieving game.
In a spaniel hunt test was developed by the AKC. The hunt test is a non-competitive set of standards to help dog owners to develop their dog and their own skills past that of the working dog test, expanding into such topics as steady to wing and shot and blind retrieves.
English cockers are compact, solid, and well built for efficiently navigating low thick cover. They are energetic and willing to work. Trained to heel, they work in tandem with pointers who remain steady on a bird while the cockers flush and retrieve.
In addition to this, they excel at working in gun range on their own to locate and flush game. Cocker Spaniels are the smallest of the Sporting Spaniels today, possessing an instinctive ability to quest game. They are alert, merry, and willing to please, making them good hunting companions.
Cockers hunt at a moderate pace, covering ground in an effective manner, making use of both foot and air scent. Cockers may glance to their handlers for direction and work as a team while out hunting game. Cockers will clearly indicate they are making game by their animated body movements and vigorous tail wagging, which may be proceeded or followed by a brief hesitation, where they appear to use their nose, eyes, and ears to help them locate the exact area they have detected bird scent.
A bold flush will follow. Cockers are particularly excellent hunting dogs for Grouse and Woodcock often found in areas of thick hedgerow and dense berry bushes, where they will exhibit their true boldness to cover. Cockers are excellent markers, and willing retrievers. Although bred as upland bird dogs, Cockers are willing swimmers, and will retrieve game from water in an efficient manner.
Summary: A Cocker Spaniel has an action all his own, and will hunt game methodically and at a moderate pace. His smaller size permits the Cocker to hunt efficiently in hedges, brambles, and around downed trees.
His merry action will clearly indicate when he is making game.
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