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The working variety of the cocker spaniel frequently is a much
misunderstood animal, even among a fairly large cross-section of
shooting people, in fact it would be fair to state that many do not
even know the animal exists.
This was recently borne out by a remark in a contemporary magazine
to the effect that cocker spaniels 'can now inherit ectropian, a
bleeding disorder known as factor X deficiency, progressive retinal
atrophy, distichiasis and three different skeletal anomalies'. I would
not dispute this testimony had the writer made it clear that he was
referring solely to show cockers but as no such qualification was made,
I can only assume that he was unaware that the cocker, like so many
other gundog breeds, had split into working and show varieties.
This up to a point was excusable. After the second world war, the show
bred cocker spaniel increased enormously in popular appeal and for a
period of time,was the most numerous Kennel Club registered breed.
It was at this time that the cocker aquiredan unenviable reputation
for being useless as a working dog which in most,but not all cases
was justified .
The truth of the matter is that in earlier times, before the advent of
either dog shows or field trials, all cocker spaniels bad been bred
solely for work and a few strains had been kept purely with this
object in view after the advent of dog shows in l859. Whereas a few
shooting men like Mr.C.A.Phillips bred their cockers for work and
entered them in dog shows, this being the only competitive activity
for gundogs until spaniel trials were inaugurated in 1899, many others
did not shoot, bred solely to conform to the breed standard and had
no interest in the perpetuation of working qualities, or it would seem
in some cases, in physical soundness, which would seem to be the reason
that the aforementioned physical defects can be perpetuated in show
strains today.
It must have been the case, however, that those persons who were
interested in their cockers as working dogs, men like C.A.Phillips and
Dr.Dawson, bred for physical soundness as well as working qualities
as working cockers today suffer from physical abnormalities to a
lesser degree, arguably, than any other gundog breed. A working breeder,
recently deceased, Jim Edgar,MRCVS, once told me that he had working
cockers since 1948 and had never encountered a case of hip dysplasia
in his own dogs or anyone else's and personally I have only heard
of three cases of progressive retinal atrophy and that seems confined
to one bloodline only and is not spreading. |
by Keith Erlandson