All of us at least once in my life, let's pay attention to the cheerful cheerful dog with silky shiny hair, drooping ears and a short tail that knows no moment of peace.
These happy dogs belong to the breed English Cocker Spaniel. Specialists believe that this breed was formed not later than 150 years ago.
It was then that the first English cocker spaniels participated in the dog show in a separate class. The name of the breed determines its origin and primary original purpose. "Spaniel" comes from the word "Spain", and the word "Cocker" is a modified English name of a woodcock. And, indeed, the first spaniels spread across Europe from Spain, where they were used in hunting with the net. Once in England, the cocker spaniels were successfully used in the hunting of woodcocks, which in huge quantities were at that time on English swamps. Spaniels are very well proven themselves, gambolling through the thick undergrowth and making a stand just when it was needed.
Nowadays this breed of dogs is rarely used for hunting. Thanks to its small size and excellent sociable and friendly character, cocker spaniels have become coveted pets.
Breed Standard
The breed standard, according to which the dogs are evaluated, was adopted in 2004.
According to him, a thoroughbred English spaniel should have the following parameters:
- Height at the withers in males - from 39 to 41 centimeters, in bitches - from 38 to 39 centimeters.
- The weight of the dog should not exceed 14.5 kilograms. But the basic value at an estimation nevertheless is given harmoniousness of dog addition. Of great importance is also the temperament and character of the dog.
- The head of the English cocker spaniel should be of medium size, have a developed, clearly delineated skull and a pronounced transition from forehead to nose.
- The ears should be set low, level with the eyes of the dog, drop-shaped, thin, covered with long, straight, thin and silky hair.
- The eyes should be attentive, shiny, smart, kind and cheerful, eyeballs large enough, but without bulge. Eye color can be brown or dark brown. Eyes should not be light. Dogs that have a chocolate-speckled, white-chocolate and pure chocolate color are allowed a dark nut color of the eyes, if it matches the main color.
- The nose of the English Cocker Spaniel should be straight, with a well developed, large lobe. The color of the lobe is only black. Dogs of chocolate and white and chocolate color are allowed chocolate colored lumps.
- The body in dogs should be compact and very strong. The upper line of the body is flat, with a slight inclination from the waist to the base of the tail.
- Chest - deep, well developed. Not allowed too wide or narrow in front of the chest.
- The back of dogs of this breed should be straight, strong, muscular and short.
- The forelimbs are straight, with strong bones, relatively short in relation to the hind limbs. Paws - with elastic thick pads.
- The hind legs of dogs of this breed are distinguished by well-developed muscles and strong bones. Paws are "feline" with dense pads.
- The tail is placed slightly below the line of the back. Usually the tail is cut to ½ or 2/3 of the length. It is desirable, that the dog constantly kept a tail not below a line of a back and actively it moved.
- The coat of the English Cocker Spaniel is contiguous, silky. Wavy, curly or wire-like wool is not allowed. The body, hindquarters and forelimbs should have well-defined strips.
- Color dog breed English Cocker Spaniel can have both monophonic and mixed. For monochrome colors, a small white mark on the chest is allowed, in dogs of mixed tones, the predominance of any color should not be observed. All colors should be in equal proportion.
A dog of this breed can be disqualified, - she has yellow eyes, pink nose, uncolored lips and eyelids, any deviation from scissor bite, amble.
Care and features of the breed
Dog breed English Cocker Spaniel requires periodic but regular trimming to release the wool cover from the dead wool. Also, dogs need to be combed to avoid stalling the wool. Bathing cocker spaniels is not recommended. This procedure should be minimized, resorting to it only in emergency situations. From frequent bathing, the quality of the dog's coat can go down, and dandruff may appear in it.
Careful care requires long ears spaniels, especially in summer, when there is a possibility of penetration of mites and other insects.
Do not overfeed the animal. By nature, dogs of this breed are distinguished by voracity and can eat everything. It is necessary to control the amount of food eaten by a dog, to avoid excess carbohydrates and not to treat the dog with different "delicacies" between basic meals. Overweight in these dogs is extremely difficult to fight.
Thanks to their hunting past, cocker spaniels are very athletic and active dogs with an irrepressible craving for games and fun. They are happy to do physical exercises and training, especially if you turn these exercises into a kind of game and make them saturated.
It is not recommended when raising and training English Cocker Spaniels to be unnecessarily strict or to beat the animal. This can cause attacks of aggression in dogs. Excessive softness is also not desirable. It can lead to the fact that the dog will use the master's compliance and become selfish.
Cheerful, active character of the dog will cure fatigue and depression of a person of any age. Cocker Spaniel can not only give the owner love and devotion, but also bring a lot of pleasure from communicating with him.