Help!
Can someone explain cocker rage? We are looking for a pup and have been chatting to various people and everyone seems to have an opinion on what colour we should go for?
Some say the solid colours are prone to this?? 
to be honest I have never heard of anything so daft?? Or am I being naive?
Help!!!!!!
I did my degree dissertation on coat colour and aggression in cocker spaniels from which I concluded that it is probably not coat colour to blame in most cases of aggression but selective breeding for appearance.
Solid show cockers showed slightly higher instances of aggression than parti's but when introducing working cockers into the studied population with the same colour genetics that had been bred for working ability and temperament there was no higher instances of aggression in solids.
Having dabbled in the show world in a different breed it does sadden me that some folks overlook temperament when selecting dogs to breed from, but it does happen.
In saying this i have no intention to tar all breeders with the same brush but my experience does back up the findings of my study.
Some of my findings
It was found when comparing working cockers with show cockers in regard to aggression that a significant association between show cockers and aggression existed in five out of the ten situations listed in table one (shown on page thirteen). In situations A2, (where objects are taken away), A3, (when touched by any person), A4, (where objects are taken away), A5, (where food was taken away) and A7, (where cockers on lead interacted with other strange dogs) we can accept hypothesis one “that a significant association exists between show cocker spaniels and aggression” and a significant difference exists between show cockers and their working relations. Whilst in situation’s A1, A6, A8, A9, and A 10 we must accept the null hypothesis that there is no significant association between show cocker spaniels and aggression.
One possible reason for the difference between the two strains are the changes that have taken place culturally in the last century, where selection and use of dogs has led to many of the dogs practical function being diminished and subjective breeding for appearance replacing selection for working traits(Lindsay 2000). Even over a short number of generations it is realistic to assume that this change in breeding strategy has affected traits of emotion and temperament, such as aggression or fear and these could have been altered by the pressures of artificial selection (Scott and Fuller, 1965). It is also possible that possible differing lifestyles, of the working cocker and domestic show cocker play a part in why a difference exists between the two strains in regard to aggression, however the popularity of the working cocker spaniel bred originally for the shooting field is on the increase as a domestic pet, so it would be useful to re examine this relationship further in future years to see if there has been any further shift in behaviour.
7.3 Aggression in relation to solid and parti-coloured dogs
Aggression in relation to coat colour in the cocker spaniel has previously been studied by Podberscek and Serpell, (1996) who found that solid colour cocker spaniels were significantly more aggressive in twelve out of thirteen situations tested. This study also looked at instances of aggression in relation to coat colour but unlike Podberscek and Serpell, (1996) the results were not as clear cut. The findings of this study agreed with those of Vage et al. (2008), who found a shift towards solid colour cockers and aggression although it was not consistent. A major limitation of the Podberscek and Serpell study is that it looked only at the show strain for results, despite the fact that the same colour coat genetics is present in the working strain also.
This study found that when only show strain cocker spaniels were tested, solid colour dogs were significantly likely to display aggressive behaviour in five out of the ten situations included in the questionnaire, this enabled the acceptance of hypothesis two for show strain cocker spaniels (that there is a significant association with solid colour dogs and aggressive behaviour) in situations A1, (having been verbally chastised by any person), A3, (if touched by any person), A4, (when objects were taken away), A5, (if food is taken away), Situation A9, (towards other family pets or members of its social group).
However in situation A2, A6, A7, A8, and A10 we must accept the null hypothesis (that there is no significant association between solid colour cocker spaniels and aggression).
Situations in which solid show cockers were more likely to show aggression however agree to an extent with the findings of Podberscek and Serpell, (1996) and Mugford (1984), with instances of aggression more likely directed towards people including the owner or immediate family and often involving resource holding potential. Owner directed aggression in the past has been labeled as dominant which as highlighted in the review of literature is a term often wrongly applied when relating to social interactions. (Bradshaw et al., 2009), also suggested that agonistic behaviour labeled as dominant in nature is more aligned with associative learning combined with subjective resource value.
According to Aloff, (2005) all too often owners do not recognize warnings given by the dog, which combined with often inappropriate rank reduction solutions to unwanted behaviour often performed badly result in a lack of trust between the dog and owner. this can lead to further guarding of resources and owner directed aggression (Appleby 2010).
Unlike Podberscek and Serpell (1996), this study did look at both strains of the breed, and very interestingly the results of the analysis of show dogs only contrasted greatly with the results of the analysis when both working and show strain dogs were tested together for aggression in the same ten situations. When the strains were tested together, the solid colours showed a significant association with aggression in just one of the ten situations. So when testing the breed as a whole, hypotheses two, (that there is a significant association with solid colour dogs and aggressive behaviour) can be accepted in situation A9, (towards other family pets or members of the dog’s social group) only.
The null hypotheses must be accepted in situations A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8, and A10.
Although aggression was only significant in one situation, the results point to a degree of aggression directed towards immediate family which was in agreement with the findings of Vage et al., (2008) who stated to a large extent the growling, biting, and snapping observed in their study was directed toward family members.
The fact that the different strains showed differing results when tested together and then separately suggests something other than coat colour was responsible for the aggressive behaviour as all colours were well represented across the two strains. Mugford (1984) suggested that observations from owners as well as breeders showed aggression tended to be related with specific breeding lines, signifying a strong genetic element.
