Why so negative?!

[merrysmum]

I know, that's exactly how it felt!
I am totally soppy with Merry and when he met him I said 'say hello to Grandad' and Merry went over all waggy tail and wanting to lick him and my Dad just wanted him away from him and yet he lets my sister's Bosties go to sleep on his lap and snore for Britain and he just thinks they're cute!  
I have asked him why he hates spangles and he said an old girlfriend had one and he was forever trying to stop other dogs attacking it. I did point out it was hardly the poor dogs fault if other dogs were attacking him though!
My Dad is a bit of a strange creature though and we've never really got on too well so I shouldn't have been too surprised.
Anyway my dear, sorry for kind of hijacking your thread! It just touched a nerve because I totally know what you mean. I know everybody makes generalisations about things but we get the 'ooh crazy spaniel' thing a lot. Yes, Merry can be a loon but that's one of the things I love about him because he makes us laugh so much and he's so loving.
Has anyone got any good replies for people who make the silly generalisations?

[emilyjw]

All we can do is display our fine spaniels to their fullest advantage and keep telling everyone how great they are. Some people will always have favourite breeds and for lots of us that's cockers 

It doesn't seem very fair of your dad just to reject your little bundle because he is a spaniel... But trust me he is the one missing out 

[Crazy Cocker Gang]

we were told we were mad to get a cocker as out first working dog and that he would be impossible to train, destroy our house and be a lunatic. Jacks 7mths old and im really proud of him. hes really well behaved when out, only thing hes chewed is OH phone (his fault for leaving it out) and is calm in the house. People now say im lucky to have a well behaved spaniel, nothing to do with the two walks a day mental stimulation and games we play with him then 
i think alot of people dont understand spaniels. Jack is stubborn and i have to come up with different ways of teaching him things through games and con him into thinking hes doing what he wants to do. you have to see things from the dogs point of view and keep it fun for them and change your approach if something isnt working.
im glad our first working dog is a spaniel so we have nothing to compare him to.
theres a man we see occasionally when were out and he thinks hes a dog expert and has been expecting us to fail from the start. A few days ago we were in the same field when a man came through with 6 dogs! all 8 dogs were running round playing together and this man looked at me with a big smile on his face and told me i would never get Jack back now. I just smiled and when it was time to go i set off walking and whistled jack and he followed me.i could still hear this guy trying to get his dog back about 10mins later 

[tiamaria]

theres a man we see occasionally when were out and he thinks hes a dog expert and has been expecting us to fail from the start. A few days ago we were in the same field when a man came through with 6 dogs! all 8 dogs were running round playing together and this man looked at me with a big smile on his face and told me i would never get Jack back now. I just smiled and when it was time to go i set off walking and whistled jack and he followed me.i could still hear this guy trying to get his dog back about 10mins later 

 Love it! Well done Jack! 

[stuffster]

  Good one Jack!!

I had a weird one this week.

I was at puppy training classes and the teacher asked if I had seen that Send in the Dogs programme about the working spaniel. I said I had and she said "Well now you know what you are dealing with" as if that was a NEGATIVE about the dogs. If anything I thought it showed what wonderful creatures they are.

Purdey went on to make me very proud (despite being the youngest puppy by far) by being the only one who could do a Sit, Stand, Down and Stay, and not only that, she did it all in a linked sequence for just one treat! The teacher was amazed!   

[JerryBerry]

Good one Jack!!

I had a weird one this week.

I was at puppy training classes and the teacher asked if I had seen that Send in the Dogs programme about the working spaniel. I said I had and she said "Well now you know what you are dealing with" as if that was a NEGATIVE about the dogs. If anything I thought it showed what wonderful creatures they are.

Purdey went on to make me very proud (despite being the youngest puppy by far) by being the only one who could do a Sit, Stand, Down and Stay, and not only that, she did it all in a linked sequence for just one treat! The teacher was amazed!   

Yeah that programme just made me MORE proud to be a cocker owner!! how weird?!...Jerry only went to one training class as to be honest the one we went to was a bit of a sham and they wanted us to have a half check on him for the week after! so we asked for our money back! (he is signed up to a very reputable one now which starts in September) but in the one that we did attend, he too was by far the youngest there, he was the only one that hadnt been going for weeks and he was the only one who followed instructions!!! - everyone including the rubbish instructor was amazed by him!!! - so yeah - thats what we are dealing with 

[merrysmum]

Hi guys,
Had a good one this weekend and just had to share it with you.
We were out walking Merry when a woman walked past with a dalmatian and called over "I bet that springer's totally stupid. We used to have one and we used to call it amoeba". 
I mean what do you say to that?! a. he's a cocker b. he's very smart and c. how rude are you?!
I was so shocked I just didn't say anything and she carried on walking with a smug look on her face.
Your original post, Jerryberry, sprang to mind and I just thought that all these people's attitudes say more about them than they ever do about the dogs.
At least we love and appreciate them and the more silly people there are, the more lovely spangles there are for us 

[emilyjw]

How rude!

[stuffster]

  That is shocking!!

The only stupid one is her, if she cant tell a springer from a cocker!!

And dalmations are hardly likely to win any competitions for brains, are they?

[mac]

a friend of a friend trains springers, when i said i was getting a working cocker he said it will drive you to destraction they aren't like springers.  he went on to relay a time when he had a cocker which drove him mad, his parting words they are all mad to highly strung and they aren't that easy to train.  do you not want a nice springer.  

nop i love my little cocker he is nuts he has his own little ways but i love em and he is my first spaniel.  my point to this friend was do you get a class room full of kids the same they all have there own differences.  
 
this was the same friend who told me a border collie don't get a border collie they will destroy your house bark all of the time they don't like other dogs they are very head strong.  yip sheba was all of these but a complete joy to train so quick on the up take it was unreal and his face when she was about 12 months and she could do send away and would do sit down etc to hand signals.  fuse is comming along but he is such a happy little boy i am so glad that i own two A.S.B.O dogs

[*jean*]

I come from good crofting stock..   up here we all have collies and we all have spaniels! 
apparantly a long time ago early 1900s or late 1800s they used to put their collie to a spaniel to get one dog that did both jobs retrieve and work stock! cant think that would have been very successful but you never know, anyway my spaniel Liath as im sure ive told you all before, can help me at lambing time. the collie I had as a teenager I taught to flush and retrieve and she was excellent at finding sheep buried in the snowdrifts,
 I think as humans we all have preferences to some breeds just as we do to colours garden styles jewellary, you name it. If we were all the same we would be boring, yes it hurts our feelings when folk babble on what we know isnt correct about our spaniels but all breeds get it. for instance collies arent robotic or emotionless. ( which Ive been told in the past!) I dont know any like that and ive had them all my life. and my lot are croft collies . they love football swimming chasing tennisballs, playing games their tails wag and they smile like any other dog. any working dog in a pet home may have problems as they are intelligent and if left to get bored will make their own fun.
it speads into the horse world too.. "oh I wouldnt have a shetland they are far too grumpy and hard to train" ( heard at show the other day!)  or "little kickers and biters" 

[PennyB]

b) it may stop people from buying them because they are cute and need less grooming than 'normal cockers' without appreciating they will have a busy, energetic working dog on their hands 

I agree --- mind you I do also think some of us don't realise how much work and attention we put into our dogs but that may be because we do it without thinking and don't see them as a chore like some do

I always err on the side of caution of some people wanting cockers because they look cute. I would rather people were realistic though about having a cocker or any dog. I do think though some people really shouldn't have dogs at all (that's with my rescue hat on).

[emilyjw]

One of my reasons was fostering was to experience some different breeds, they all have their differences and some are right for us and our lifestyle and some aren't...

I just don't see why people have to be rude and force their opionions on others, but that's just life...

[Tyler83]

Ha, just had to add to this thread!! A few weeks ago i was walking through the fields with Tyler when i saw two alsations (spelling!) in the distance. The women who were walking them got into a panic that we were heading towards them so i very quickly got Tyler back on his lead (notice he returned to me from off lead!!!). Anyway i stood, with tyler sat at my heel until the women had these dogs on their leads and then i proceeded to walk past with tyler (in the 'close' position). These alsations were barking and howling as we walked past, but i heard the little girl who was with them shout...oooh how cute i want one!! One woman replied 'he's a field spaniel (!!!), its not fair to keep them, they're too hyperactive. I just started at her....in disbelief! Here's my seven month old dog, walking to hell, ignoring your pretty loopy, untrained dogs and you have the nerve to day that?!? and get his breed wrong??! oh how i chuckled!! 
xx

[JerryBerry]

Ha, just had to add to this thread!! A few weeks ago i was walking through the fields with Tyler when i saw two alsations (spelling!) in the distance. The women who were walking them got into a panic that we were heading towards them so i very quickly got Tyler back on his lead (notice he returned to me from off lead!!!). Anyway i stood, with tyler sat at my heel until the women had these dogs on their leads and then i proceeded to walk past with tyler (in the 'close' position). These alsations were barking and howling as we walked past, but i heard the little girl who was with them shout...oooh how cute i want one!! One woman replied 'he's a field spaniel (!!!), its not fair to keep them, they're too hyperactive. I just started at her....in disbelief! Here's my seven month old dog, walking to hell, ignoring your pretty loopy, untrained dogs and you have the nerve to day that?!? and get his breed wrong??! oh how i chuckled!! 
xx

Exactly!!!!! This is how I felt with the woman with the whippet! It was going mad...pulling her the length of the woods, diving on me and Jerry, while Jerry sat there waiting to be fussed...but Jerry was the mad one??!!   I actually bumped into a friend of mine who Ive not seen for a while on Sunday while I was seeking out new walks for Jerry - she was walking her two dogs, an older one and a pup they looked down right miserable!!! Just plodding along, she looked fed up to be walking them and her little girl was moaning about missing CBeebies...she looked at me and said "You must be mad!" I looked at my daughters and said "what? having two kids? - god yeah I know, nightmare!" she looked a bit dumb struck and we waltzed off. I looked back a few minutes later and thought, do you know what, Jerry is a bit of a loon at times but I know who is enjoying their walk more!!