English Cocker Spaniel
Description:
The English Cocker Spaniel is a very active dog with a compact body. The male's height is around thirty-nine to forty one centimeters, and the females between thirty-eight to forty one centimeters. The males weigh around fourteen to seventeen kilograms and the females around twelve to fourteen and a half kilograms. The great thing about this dog is that it is well balanced, has a very sweet expression, but is also alert and funny. It has a very strong head with soft angles. Its head is arched and a little flat. It has full medium sized eyes that are separate. The ears are lowly inserted, close to its head and covered in silky hair. This dog's nose is full and is the same length as its skull. The neck is elegant and muscular without a jowl; its chest is deep and medium sized. The tail's insertion is slightly lower than its back's line and is normally docked but never docked completely. The front legs are straight and it has thick thighs. The cost of this dog is slightly wavy and silky to the touch. The English Cocker has an abundant amount of hair however it doesn't have as much as the American Cocker. This dog comes in a variety of colors that include golden, black, speckled, roan, and reddish.
Ideal owner:
The English Cocker Spaniel is a very charming dog and a family dog. If you have children in your family you will need to teach them to treat the dog with respect and allow it to rest when it wants to sleep. The English Cocker has less hair than the American Cocker but it still needs daily grooming and brushing. This dog can be a little manipulative sometimes and since it has such a cute and sweet expression on its face its easy for the owners to fall for it. Don't let its sad looking eyes give you an erroneous conception of it; to the contrary this dog is very happy when well taken care of.
Growth:
The average size litter is around five puppies, although sometimes they have more. The birth weight is only around fifty-six to 120 grams. During the first six months an English Cocker grows fairly fast, and after this time it grows slower. It continues to gain body substance and height until around the age of eighteen to twenty four months, which is when it reaches its full maturity. The English Cocker Spaniel needs more exercise during its growing stage to stimulate proper growth. During adolescence it will be necessary to educate it in a firm but loving way, especially in the case of the males as they have a tendency to be a little more independent than the females. When picking out one of these dogs go after the one that looks sweet and docile. At around six to eight months of age its puppy "fur" is substituted with longer hair on its legs, body and ears. During this time it will be necessary to brush its coat more often to avoid knots and to keep its hair and skin healthy.
General health:
The life span of an English Cocker Spaniel can be around twelve to fifteen years, unfortunately though sometimes they go blind at around the age of ten. Ocular problems are more frequent in this breed. Progressive retina atrophy, cataracts and glaucoma unfortunately are very frequent also. Ocular examinations are a must for this breed. Another problem that has been seen in this breed is the inability to be able to stand on its legs when the muscles don't develop properly. Cryptorchidism is has also been seen and on some occasions, although it is rare, hermaphroditism. Kidney stones can also occur. The big ears of this breed make it prone to ear infections however this problem can be prevented by cleaning them regularly. The most important thing to keeping this dog healthy is to feed it an adequate diet and make sure it gets daily exercise, as this will ensure the proper growth of its bones. There have also been reported cases of these dogs having Von Willebrand, which is a blood disease.
