In 1935, the English Cocker Spaniel club was formed to spread the word about the breed. In 1946, the AKC recognized the English Cocker Spaniel as a breed of dog separate from the American Cocker Spaniel. Before the 1930's, the English and American Cocker Spaniels were considered the same dog breed. The fact that they have a standard for eye color does disqualify many English Cocker Spaniels from competition. The eyes need to be brown or dark brown in dogs with darker coats and a dark hazel in dogs with lighter coats. The noses need to be black in all dogs except for the red and liver coats, which can have a dark brown nose.

In 2004, the English Cocker Spaniel was number three in the top ten popular dog breeds recorded by the American Kennel Club.

English Cocker Spaniel Stamps

Have you ever received mail from a foreign country? If so, you may have received an envelope with a picture of an English Cocker Spaniel in the form of a stamp. Many of these countries for one reason or another started using stamps with the Spaniel on them in hopes of boosting the economy. The stamps can be purchased for four dollars and ninety-five cents. Some will be collector stamps because they do date back many, many years. There are stamps available with different backgrounds as well as different colors of dogs.

Famous English Cocker Spaniel

John Kennedy owned an English Cocker Spaniel while in the White House and her name was Shannon. She was allowed to roam the building.

Name Origins

The English Cocker Spaniel was named after what it was best at doing for over hundreds of years. The dog was a great woodcock hunter, which resulted in the name Cocker. It originated from England, hence the name English and it was a Spaniel.

Other Little Tidbits

English Cocker Spaniels are great therapy dogs because they are so loving. Nursing homes and other medical institutions enjoy having dogs come in and visit the people, especially the English Cocker Spaniels.

English Cocker Spaniels as well as other dogs are known to relieve stress by petting them and receiving love back. They also seem to have an adverse effect on high blood pressure. In a study done, dogs including the Spaniel are known to lower blood pressure in people who worked in stressful occupations.

"Cocker rage" is more common in dogs of one color than multi-colored dogs. "Cocker rage" is a dominance aggressive behavior normally resulting from poor breeding.

English Cocker Spaniels are great housedogs, but do not make good dogs to keep outside. They need human companionship and will cause disturbances outside if they are kept on a chain outdoors for long periods. This is caused because of their loving nature and the need to be with their companions. They also do not like to left alone for very long periods without some form of human contact. They are very attached to their owners and resent being taken from them.