Anyone have a Cocker Spaniel?

[SRUAlmn]

We did a stupid thing and got a cocker spaniel before talking to the vet and trainers about the breed and boy do we regret it. As soon as you mention Cocker Spaniel to a trainer or vet they say they are aggressive dogs and not good for families with kids. We got one for my daughter when she was 3, he is actually good with her but her has bitten my mom so bad I had to take her to the hospital for stitches, he has snapped at my brother and he is very aggressive. The only person he is good with is my daughter! It took 2 years before the stubborn thing would stop goign to the bathroom in the house. He steals anything you leave laying around and shreds it .... if you try to take it from him he would rip your arm off. I would NEVER recommend a cocker spaniel to anyone. Last week when I was at the vet putting my friends dog to sleep some lady walked in with a cocker spaniel and wanted to leave it there, she said she had had it..I said Oh its a cute dog, she asked me if I wanted it and I told her no way, I had one that ripped my moms arm open as it was and she said that hers did the same thing to her young son!

From what I have come to know this is not typical. Every Cocker I have come in contact with has been loving and playful and sweet and cuddly and VERY smart. None of ours have ever been aggressive, and they need to be trained properly like any puppy not to chew and bite. I really have a strong love for Cockers and would be sad if you let one bad experience turn you off from an entire breed. Would you do that with people??

 

[RadioNate]

IMO cockers can be hit or miss dogs. My DH had a cocker/retreiver mix before we were married and Kelly was the best dog ever. However my best friend and my aunt/uncle have cockers that are complete terrors.

Both of the other cockers are very aggressive towards other dogs and both are really bad with children. My aunt's dog has snapped at DS and once got into an all out fight with my cousins dog when it was accidently let into my aunt's house (my cousin owns the house next door and a guest thought it was ok to let it in my aunt's house).

Both of the dogs are pretty dumb. My best friend has taken her's through training several times. Her dog also does the nervous pee thing that was mentioned. Neither bark a lot but both howl when other dogs are outside or when they are left alone. They both are tempermental about weather too. Like someone else mentioned neither of them like to go out in the rain but my b/f's dog loves the snow.

I'm sure you can find a lot of good info online.

The funny thing is that both were rescue dogs, both are overweight at nearly 40 lbs each and both are named Sam!

Like I did say before. Our Kelly was the best ever. She was part cocker and part golden retreiver. She was the size of a cocker with retriever smarts. The dog was great with everyone. Never barked. Was well trained and an all around great dog.

 

[the kabuki]

My Bonnie is a 15 yr old buff cocker and is my first "baby", got her before I was married and had kids. She's deaf now, I think from all the ear infections she got which is a common cocker problem. She also has limited eye sight, but she's 15 so I'd expect that.

She also did the pee piddling when someone came over, but that pretty much stopped after 2 or 3 years.

They are prone to skin allergies also, but we didn't have anything that couldn't be controlled.

As for being around kids, according to most books they are not kid friendly dogs. I would agree to a point, mostly around babies and toddlers up to 2 years old. The only reason being that they tend to pull at fur,ears, tail, etc. and while my dog never bit any child, if they were doing something like this, I would see her lip start to go up, kind of a warning like I don't care for this. Again, she never bit, but I would always keep an eye on my kids when they were little. But I'd advise doing that with any dog no matter the breed. Although the bigger dogs, the labs, golden retrievers tend to have more patience with this kind of stuff.

One thing I've read to do when picking out a puppy is to put it on its' back and see how hard, if at all , it struggles to right itself. If the dog stays put, then they tend to be more submissive, if they won't let you do this or struggle to get turned over then they tend to be more dominant and might not be a good choice for children.

If it sounds like I'm anti-cocker , I'm most definetly not! She's been a wonderful dog, our whole family just adores her. When she was younger she'd sleep right by me at the end of the bed every night(she's too old too jump that far now). Even at 15 she still acts like a puppy, runs around with the kids.
I love my baby and now that she's getting up there in years I have thought that I would get another one when she crosses that rainbow bridge. Just wanted to give out all info-good and bad.

My Baby Bonnie

 

[aprilgail2]

Both of the other cockers are very aggressive towards other dogs and both are really bad with children.

Both of the dogs are pretty dumb. My best friend has taken her's through training several times.
Our Kelly was the best ever. She was part cocker and part golden retreiver. She was the size of a cocker with retriever smarts. The dog was great with everyone. Never barked. Was well trained and an all around great dog.

I swear my cocker has to be the dumbest animal alive. And all he does is bark, if a leave blows up the path he barks. If you leave the room he barks. If you are standing up in the room and he is sitting he barks at you. The vet has actually put my dog on some drug...its a medicine used in humans for obsessive compulsive disorder and depression and he has actually gotten a little better since he has been on it a few months.

 

[paigevz]

Very attractive looking dog. Very difficult to train. Someone who really knows what they are doing needs to train it, or it'll train you instead. Most cockers run their house.

 

[ZachnElli]

My parents have had 2 cockers. Both had/have wonderful tempers and have never been aggressive toward children, adults or other animals. Now the first one was probably a puppy mill puppy, that was 20 years ago and we didn't know. He had lots of health problems and was dead by 6 years. The other one is about 13 now. I found her along with her pup along side a road. My mom kept her and I have her pup (dad was obviously a golden retriever). The dogs were abused and still, the cocker is not aggressive, but very loving and friendly. I found the 2 dogs 11 years ago, so her age is approximately 13. Both cockers were big barkers and chase alot of things, birds, cars, etc. when they get out of the fenced yard.

 

[SRUAlmn]

Very attractive looking dog. Very difficult to train. Someone who really knows what they are doing needs to train it, or it'll train you instead. Most cockers run their house.

See, we have found the total opposite. Our cockers have been very easy to train. Both were lying down, sitting, shaking hands, rolling over, and not having accidents inside within the first few months. The cocker my mom has now actually rings a bell that is by the front door when she has to go out

 

[eeyore74]

As for the question about how they relate to cats, my mom was babysitting my sisters cat for a month while she moved, and now Bailee thinks she is a cat. The cat was black and white like her and I think she thought it was her baby. They were so cute together!

Bailee is cute! Duncan is part cat, as well. We think he was raised by one as a pup.