Its one of those endless discussions where opinions are strongly divided. I had a "discussion' again with our "local dog expert ( some of you might remember my previous posts!
) who keeps asking when I'm going to get rid of that stupid thing (the harness), it apparantly encourages them to pull and feel dominant (that's one argument I've never heard until now!). My answer was, as always, well you've never had a cocker! I did loads of reading up on the net before I decided , it was all very confusing, so in the end I tried both and can say without a shadow of a doubt that I prefer the harness. I have the walk your dog with love one for normal use and a ruffwear for the long lead (although London Girl's solution for both sounds good).
I was advised against a retractable lead as it apparantly also encourages pulling, so I don't use one but to be honest, cockers need no enouragement anyway
, so its a personal choice.
Best of luck, let us know how you get on!