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Smaller than the English
springer spaniel, the cocker spaniel is a dog bred especially for hunting
along hedgerows and thick cover. It faces this cover without hesitation
and, in a country such as Ireland with its many areas of natural cover
still existing, the breed is enjoying something of a revival in that
country.
The name ‘cocker’ is
derived from the quarry the dog was primarily bred for hunting, the
woodcock. This wily bird favours the rhododendron and the blackthorn
thickets that still abound in Ireland. The smaller proportions of the
cocker or ‘cocking’ spaniel make it ideally suited for hunting woodcock in
such cover.
It is widely held that the Blenheim
spaniel was bred from the cocker spaniel and that the cocker spaniel, in
turn, was bred from the King Charles spaniel.
It is not surprising that
the cocker was one of Ireland’s most popular gundog breeds at the turn of
the 20th century when large country estates dotted the Irish landscape.
Doubtless the breed has suffered from the attentions of the show
fraternity but it is starting to make something of a comeback both in
Ireland and Scotland.
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