Workers v. show types - similarities and differences?

[M4ndy]

I had no idea there were 2 strains when I started thinking about getting a cocker or just how different those 2 strains are. Luckily I found COL before I started looking at pups. I had seen a cocker in a pub and soon realised that it must have been a show strain and that was what I was after. I had stupidly thought that the shows had just been groomed and the workers clipped 
Personally I would have been hugely disappointed if I had got a worker by accident as I really like the show look and they can be very different. (Not that workers aren't lovely too I think the breeder should totally make all this clear (mine did BTW) as it is so important.
There is a worker puppy at our training class and he and Jasmine are sooo different in looks. He is all sleek and shiny and Jasmine is a complete furball. He is really busy too and does everything at a hundred miles an hour where as Jasmine is just a bit slower at everything. They are both a bit naughty compared to the labs though
 

[hedgehog]

I wanted a working type and went to a gun dog breeders  kennels to get the Woodster, I was warned by the breeder that he would be a little working machine who would have his nose constantly on the ground, she made it very clear that I must get a reliable recall and emergency stop in place with him to keep him safe. he is the most affectionate loving boy who has the best temperment I have ever seen in a dog and he gives my other two big dogs as good as he gets, just working on OH to let me have another pup in the late summer................yep I have the cocker bug

[SkyeSue]

I must get a reliable recall and emergency stop in place with him to keep him safe.

Have you managed it? Chloe's recall varies from brilliant to hopeless and she certainly hasn't got the emergency stop yet  we're working on it 

[mcphee]

Four and a half years ago I did read a lot of books, and I now realise they were probably the wrong books. Even trainers did not explain the difference. It was a man coppicing the woods where we go who saw me struggling to get Rufus back. He told me off because he said the harness I was using at the time restricted his shoulders. Anyway, he got Rufus to come to him, took of his work gloves and examined him. he said he had watched him moveand quarter and he was a good worker. At this, Rufus leapt up, took his leather gloves and ran off at breakneck speed. This was when I realised there was a difference!

[Toni-UK]

I must get a reliable recall and emergency stop in place with him to keep him safe.

Have you managed it? Chloe's recall varies from brilliant to hopeless and she certainly hasn't got the emergency stop yet  we're working on it 

I usually find the "voice of doom" works well for an emergency stop   

[t1gg3er]

We have 2 workers & 2 show types.  The main differences with ours are in stamina & the workers seem quicker to learn & more eager to try new things.  With regard to temperament, they're all just big cuddle monsters 

We didn't know there were 2 different types until we went to see Mindy (working type) & her breeder went into great detail as to what we could expect from her compared to a show type.  He didn't manage to put us off & we couldn't have a more wonderful girlie 

[seasideblue]

I must get a reliable recall and emergency stop in place with him to keep him safe.

Have you managed it? Chloe's recall varies from brilliant to hopeless and she certainly hasn't got the emergency stop yet  we're working on it 

I usually find the "voice of doom" works well for an emergency stop   

..."voice of doom"  Works though. Sorry - lost the plot! I have two show type girls, with very different characters. Bella (four and a half years) is a 'truffler' to quote Clover, when walking, but she is like greased lightning when chasing a ball and completely focussed/obsessed. She tip-toes around puddles, neatly lowers herself herself into rock pools to cool down at the beach and enjoys swimming - especially if it to retrieve said ball! Mabel (nearly seven months) is very busy, full of energy and never stops running when off the lead. She is very enthusiastic and exuberant, crashes through the undergrowth in the woods, leaping over Bella en route and then runs round in circles when we hit the fields. I think she is going to enjoy water, she learns quickly and has great recall (at the moment - the selective hearing hasn't kicked in yet ). She is also obsessed with chasing balls  . Could be the difference between pup and adult. They both love toys, both like to be where ever I am, both give great welcomes and both zonk out (on the sofa if possible ) in the evenings. I wouldn't be without them for the world.   

[*jean*]

this will make you laugh, my first ever worker would not go into water, was gunshy, hated getting dirty was a  slouch in the walk department , loved beaches.. SO I though perfect wee dog .. got pepper as he was getting old, shes half 'n half working cocker springer. shock to the system. never stops outside strong working drive likes dirt. and water. hates beaches.
 cue two more working cockers .. middle of the road spaniels. certainly not hyper, automatically obedient if peppers not there. so moral of the story is each and every dog is their own man/dog. and has their own wee ways.
 just because its a show type doesnt mean its a slouch and every working type wont work.
 its a lottery. but looking at the parents will give you a fair idea.

[JohnW]

I also agree breeders should really ask questions to people buying their pups as alot of joe public are still unaware of the working strain, I have a little blue roan show girl, a lemon and white halfshow/halfworker (she is on my profile) and 4 workers although one other girl has a little show in her too. My workers are alot more active than my little show girl and i must admit because she is smaller than them and more dainty I tend to moddycoddle her to the point she is spoilt rotten. As an owner of a worker the biggest frustration I get and I guess alot of working owners will say the same is questions by passers by, when i take my dogs out for walks they always comment on blossom the show and say how pretty she is etc and lovely cocker etc, my workers often raise the question like "so what breed are those " "Cockers too" i always reply and sometime you get an unsure look as they dont really beleive they are cockers, then you feel the need to explain the differences in cockers strains and so on and so on,I suppose in doing so I spread a little education . But thats the wonderful thing about cockers I dont think any other breed of dog that I can think of has so much variety in colour or stature, the one true thing I notice is that they are rarely aggresive very loving dogs and always have the ability to make you laugh.

[Jane S]

I think that every Cocker is different with their own unique personality. Even when you own multiple dogs of the same type, they're not the same - we've had show-types for more years than I care to remember and some have been placid and a tad lazy and others have been very active, keen to hunt and use their noses in the same way a worker does (but maybe without the turbo charged speed of some workers). The same applies to workers of course - not all will be hyperactive, bounce-off-the walls types (although some will be especially if they are in the wrong home). I find it extremely sad when people who prefer one particular type make disparaging and usually inaccurate remarks about the type they don't like (not that this happens very much on this forum thankfully) It's horses for courses - there may be some differences between the two types but at heart they are all Cocker Spaniels with the same common ancestors and loveable characteristics that made each of us fall for this breed.

[dj]

I do wish the breeder ( although not his responsibility I guess ) had mentioned to us the massive difference between the 2 .

I disagree, I do think it was also his responsibility as the breeder, to ensure you were fully aware of the differences of the two types  

Absolutely 100% agree with Jan.  There are still a lot of people out there that don't know there are two strains.  I didn't when I was looking for a pup.  It was only being on here, that I knew. 

Thank you I have been trying to "discuss"  with my husband that the breeder could/should have made it clear about working/show differences when we first went to visit them. My husband said it was 100% our responsibility. I guess I now know the differences 

I always get asked what breed Monty is and usually they follow it with he's a springer isn't he!  I guess most people associate cocker spaniel with the show cocker look

xx

[PennyB]

There are 6 or so beautiful bitches which are so sweet and clean and stay nice and close and don't run through brambles and stagnant ponds. They wear coats in the rain, and I never see them with pond weed over their muzzles, and stinking mud up their legs.

Not fair - why aren't my show cockers like that ?? 

Mine two - in fact I never see any cockers round here that look like that

I must admit I met a couple when I was fundraising on saturday and it turned out their elderly mother had been sold a working cocker pup and the breeder had told her a pack of lies - he was now living with another member of the family.

[*jean*]

I think that every Cocker is different with their own unique personality. Even when you own multiple dogs of the same type, they're not the same - we've had show-types for more years than I care to remember and some have been placid and a tad lazy and others have been very active, keen to hunt and use their noses in the same way a worker does (but maybe without the turbo charged speed of some workers). The same applies to workers of course - not all will be hyperactive, bounce-off-the walls types (although some will be especially if they are in the wrong home). I find it extremely sad when people who prefer one particular type make disparaging and usually inaccurate remarks about the type they don't like (not that this happens very much on this forum thankfully) It's horses for courses - there may be some differences between the two types but at heart they are all Cocker Spaniels with the same common ancestors and loveable characteristics that made each of us fall for this breed.

well put!!

[Ellie]

When I got Daisy, as a pup, I didn't know there were two strains.  I thought cockers were all like the show type.  Which is what I wanted, and is what I got.  I could have taken home a worker and been none the wiser    , not that I'd have minded in the least if she had been a worker, but I would have got a bit of a surprise when I'd been expecting a show. 

Daisy does the 'truffling' and tiptoes neatly round puddles in a ladylike fashion.  But her nose goes ten to the dozen, and if she finds a smell she really likes, she digs craters in fields, trashes her way through brambles and often goes home plastered in mud and full of sticks    .  Then she's back to the sofa/her bed, where she likes to spend an awful lot of time snoozing and letting the water evaporate from the mud so it can turn into dust for mummy to clear up later    .

[Han]

Darcey is a show cocker and she is a bit of a princess  She does love to sniff/ fetch/ run / get filthy BUT it doesn't seem to take much to tire her out. That seems to be the main contrast from what I've read about workers who can just go and go. On saturday she was busy - a couple of walks and lots of fuss and games. She insisted on going to bed at 8.30pm -  and then on sunday morning ran and hid in her basket when asked if she wanted to go for a walk! She even slept through roast chicken sunday lunch! That girl loves to sleep.