Cocker History
The word spaniel reflects a probable Spanish origin for all the breeds we presently call by that name. But it was the English who perfected the flushing spaniel. Of course, you will not hear the term flusher in England. There, spaniels do not "flush" game; they "spring" it. Winston Churchill said Americans and Britons are "two great peoples separated by a common language." In this case we must tip our hats to the Brits, because their terminology really is more precise. After all, to spring something is to make it go up; to flush something is, well, to make it go down.

Though not really suited to retrieving large waterfowl under severe conditions, English cockers are willing water workers.

"The feasant cocke the woods doth frequent, where spaniels spring and perche him by the sent." So says a 13th century engraver who described how spaniels were used to spring pheasants onto tree limbs where they could be potted with a crossbow.

But whence came the cocker? He was the runt of a springer litter. When the old-time Brits bred a litter of spaniels, they held off classifying the dogs until full grown. The big ones they called "springers," and the wee lads they called "cockers."

How little are they? There is considerable variation among cockers. Properly proportioned dogs run anywhere from 25 to 42 pounds, while bitches run 22 to 38, although both favor the lower end of these ranges. Today the average cocker--if there is such a thing--probably weighs about 30 pounds.

The name cocker comes from the unique niche occupied by the smaller dogs. The British considered them ideal for hunting woodcock in dense thickets of gorse. Over time, dogs were bred selectively for size, producing the separate breeds we know today--the English springer spaniel and the English cocker spaniel. As we shall see, however, the English cocker is not simply a small springer. Cockers have a very distinct personality.

National field trials for cockers were held in the United States from 1925 through 1962, with some interruptions caused by World War II. However, American hunters always showed relatively minor interest in the breed, and by 1963 there weren't enough hunting-focused cocker owners to justify the running of a National Championship. Cocker field trials in America faded away altogether in the mid-1960s, while show enthusiasts remained interested in the breed.

Meanwhile, British hunters never lost their affection for the field cocker, and their field trials continued apace. When a few American hunters became interested in the breed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, they looked to the Isles for hunting stock. Many cockers were imported from England, Scotland and Wales bearing Old World kennel names: Jordieland, Parkbreck, Nancarrow, Wernffrwd, Maesydderwen and others.

The bulk of them found new homes in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, New York and other states where the game bag includes ruffed grouse, woodcock, pen-raised pheasants and the occasional duck. But today you'll find top-notch cocker breeders even in places that seem unlikely for the breed, places like the windswept prairies of North Dakota and the brush country of Texas.