[Closed] Sprocker questions

I have one... He's Mental if he didn't have a normal name he'd be called Tigger!

It really depends on dog! every sprocker I've met is different, some less mental, some more so!

Very Trainable, very clever, mine has a lovely coat but sheds hair all the time! Can walk all day, loves the mud and water.....

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My experience is you can roughly predict the behaviour based on looks, i.e. more springer looking = more springer-like behaviour!

I'm slightly biased as we have a Springer and I think she's absolutely awesome (if a little nuttsy) 🙂

EDIT: ^^great picture btw ^^

Oh, outspoken, how could you not love a dog like that?

What are they like for noise? Our next door neighbour has a cocker that barks at anything and howls like crazy sometimes. Not as bad as he was but was a very distressed dog for quite a while.

Also, do you trim in the summer? The dog, not you, don't need to know your personal habits!

The sprocket we had was slightly less mental than the springer we have now. Definitely less intelligent and proper fluffy. Haircut a must!!

Guess it depends on the dog and what its disposition is like. Mine only ever barks if you are trying to get out the door and your not taking him! (he goes in his crate over night and if I'm out during the day, where he doesn't bark)

As for less intelligent, I'm not sure about that..... I've seen a sprocker out work a springer. Depends on the trainer, the dog and the training

If you want something clever and easy to train get a collie, poodle or perhaps a poodle cross such as a labradoodle or spoodle. The poodles and poodle crosses have masses of character.

My family had about 5 working springers, they were all ****ing nuts. One despite being well trained, would **** off for mikes in open countryside about once a year - if they latch onto something they like they seem to block out everything else. They were also very independent dogs.

Sprockers are easy to train and clever, and Collies are more nuts than springers!

Each to their own I guess. I've always had springers, cockers now I have a mixture of both!

My friends collies all pretty much trained themselves, although true to the stereotype they are all one man dogs. Really though, poodles are great if you want an intelligent dog that is affectionate and easy to train. They're just a bit clingy though.

Having said this one of the nicest and best trained dogs I've met was a Sprollie, so Springers aren't totally nuts...I'd just say anything with a bit of Springer in it will tend to be a little more difficult than average to cope with.

Be very[u] careful with crosses. With a cross you could get the best of both breeds, but equally you could get the worst of both. In terms of a trail dog neither cocker or spinger are suitable. Maybe look at something like a dalmatian if running next to a bike is important.

Not met a bad cockapoo/spoodle/labradoodle yet though bentos 😛

I have however met plenty of psychotic Springers. I just don't think they are a beginners dog, that includes anything with a bit of Springer in.

it doesn't matter what breed you have, its how much time and the life you give it that determines a lot of their outcome and behaviours.

Spaniels are mental, Cockers or Springers can be just as mental there is no way of telling from seeing a pup or even the parents.

it doesn't matter what breed you have, its how much time and the life you give it that determines a lot of their outcome and behaviours.

The above probably sums it up best.

I have a 2 year old Working Cocker, chilled when needed but also mental as they come when he's given freedom to play/run around.

Don't see how Spaniels aren't suitable trail hounds though. They have speed and stamina (can keep a constant 20 mph on fireroads), yeah maybe not capable of much more than 10 to 15 miles at a time once old enough, but you shouldn't run any dog for distances greater than that!

Daughter has a sprocker & a short haired pointer/springer cross.

Both young, both crazy and take a ridiculous amount of training.
It's paying off though as they are coming along well and only have the very odd moment.
😀
Both from working stock.

The sprocker does tend to eat bootliners though.

Amazing dogs, I'd have either, tbh.

Picture above is great, but the sight of the collar goes through me.

Mate nearly learnt the hard way, came very close to carrying a dead sprocker back home after his almost strangled itself to death getting the collar caught up on a branch then twisting and thrashing trying to escape.

She was wrapped so tight the plastic buckle wouldn't click open, and by the time he'd managed to lift her up, swing her round to loosen the collar and untangle her she'd passed out.

Happy ending that time because as soon as her brain got a bit of oxygen again she immediately sprung back into action and carried on charging around as if nothing happened. Because spaniel. But it was only luck that he got to her in time. Slip leads only now.

OOH, A DOG THREAD!

Outspoken - your dog looks ace!

This is Benny.

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He was a rescue dog, and we weren't sure what he was. The Dogs Trust thought he was a Tibetan Terrier X. We had him DNA tested, and it turned out that he is a Tibetan Terrier/English Cocker Spaniel Cross. In the US they call TT/American Cocker crosses 'Kobetans'. I like to call him a Tibetan Cock.

When we had our DNA report back, it was amusing to see what traits he'd picked up from each breed. He was playful and friendly, like both, but also to the point of being overly boisterous and lively (cocker), very easy to bribe with food (cocker) and stubborn (TT). Physically he looks more Tibetan (curly tail, non shedding hair rather than fur, facial hair), but his mannerisms are very spanielly. I remember in the cafe at Glentress he was sopping wet, and there were two wet spaniels, and they all looked pretty identical at that point, both in terms of looks and behaviour!

Strangely though, there are some traits he doesn't have at all. Tibetan Terriers are supposed to be aloof and even shy with strangers, and Cockers can 'exhibit fearful behaviours'. Benny has no fear (to the point we sometimes wonder if he has a mental disorder), and loves people. He's also a curiously silent dog - he will bark briefly if somebody knocks at the door, and that's about it. He travels in the car happily, and is downright adorable.

I'd definitely recommend any spanielly dogs, every one I've ever encountered has been lovely!

Picture above is great, but the sight of the collar goes through me.

Legally dogs always have to be wearing collars with info tags (with the owner's name and address) if they're out in public. I have heard a few incidents of spaniels getting themselves into trouble though by catching their collars on things. 🙁

Benny looks ace, and that's a great shot Outspoken. I find mine difficult to take good pictures of, just because the eyes get a bit lost.
Here's Meg anyway:
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She's half welsh springer, half field spaniel.
mellow most of the time, but has her funny five minutes every now and then. bit like me i suppose. 😀
sometimes cocks a deaf one, but is otherwise, mostly, very good.

wrt collars it's a bit of a difficult call. if you loose them, and someone finds them, then often it's going to be a quick mobile conversation and you're back together, but i understand the fear of them getting tangled up. 🙁

Collars; understand the risks and in situations where not needed, like at home then we do without. But when out she always wears one. Our dog trainers always stresses the need to make sure it's tight enough; just so you can get a couple of fingers in. At least it then reduces the risk of it getting snagged.

Ours is a cocker-poodle cross (aka scruffy brown dog, I can't bring myself to call her a Cockapoo, and pooeycock sounds very wrong!) She's very intelligent yet at the same time utterly stupid, has been very quick to learn and trains relatively easily, has a tendency to get a bit overexcited and boisterous (but she is still a pup @ 8 months) and is very vocal - she's always chatting away with little barks and growls about everything and nothing. The growling was offputting to start with but having got to know her it's most definitely chatting rather than snarling, there's no baring of teeth or the like. As example, she'll crouch down with one of her toys in front of her and just grumble away at it until you come along and throw it for her to fetch.

That's not proper growling then, a real aggressive growl is deep and guttural as opposed to typical poodle "talking" (mine does it).

I never used a proper collar for certain walks for exactly the reasons mentioned, I've known of a few nearly strangled Springers. A tight collar is not going to stop a Springer strangling itself, they dive into undergrowth with total abandon. Mt poodle/cocker cross is fine as it doesn't give two shits about diving into things.

Do the harness type jobs not cover the collar requirements, if they have an ID attached? Seem's a bit daft

Collars is an interesting one, it is an actual requirement by law to have a collar and tag on your dog.... as for being in the brush I do get worried when they go tearing through, however his collar is so loose you can pull it over his head with ease! he walks on a separate rope lead which is not attached to the collar!

He's a bugger to picture as well! but heres some more! plenty of reasons to get a sprocker!

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**** knows why the government saw fit to write a piece of legalisation that makes the mandatory use of dog tags only legal when attached to a neck collar as opposed to a harness - the only difference being a slight positional change of the device.

Morons. You'd have thought they'd thought of that considering how many of them are pheasant shooting Eton toffs.

I guess the easy way round it is to make a collar that snaps with a mild amount force applied to it.

Well if mine was beating i'd take it off...

All the Spaniels I had considered every walk a beat , the only time they were truly happy was when they were rummaging through undergrowth.

mine aint happy unless he is wet or muddy!

After much discussions with Mr Kip it looks like a sprocker is out. Whilst I am experienced with dogs and would be happy to have one and put in the required work, Mr Kip has never had a dog and doesn't like "straggley looking dogs" and struggles to get past our friends mental beast!

Sigh, my search starts anew. Personally I love Patterdales but that's just not practical due to the whole, too independant, leg it off after small furry things. Would keep the cats out of the garden though, hmmmm!

We have a cocker, he's certainly different to other dogs we've had in the family before, mad as a hatter but beautiful. A friend has two sprockers, bit mental but one isn't the brightest and the other extremely clever. Gorgeous breed. We've just started walking ours, he walks along like he's boss of the world.

Can't you just Keep the dog shaved 😉

I keep my springer clipped all the time, (saves my wife nagging me about the dreadful amount of hair he sheds).

We've a Cocker and a Springer, both working breed.

The Cocker is quite highly strung while the Springer has a more hippie attitude.

The Cocker is a better trail dog as he just follows/leads but stays within sight/sound, the Springer will happily go out of sight/sound.

The Cocker goes after anything with feathers, whereas for the Springer its fur.

Luckily we've land and parents who live 50m away, so they get plenty of outdoors/exercise - and the Springer can easily clear a 2m fence/wall, from stationary...