Cocker Spaniel History

The English Cocker Spaniel came from a number of ancient spotted dogs.

A 19th-century English hunting writer, Hugh Dalziel, a well-known author of the British Dogs book, believed that cocker spaniels (espanols, or, as they were called in Russia, shanks) became famous for falconry in Western Europe during the time of Charles the Great.

The dog came to Britain from Ireland thanks to the Celts who lived in Iberia in the V-III centuries BC, and kept long-haired fold-horned bird hounds. From XIV-XV, the dog appeared in the first mention of spaniels and their use with falcons in field hunting and with nets in the swamp in cynological literature. The owner of a dog hunt, the author of the book “English Dogges” John Johannes Kay wrote that at the beginning of the 16th century, English breeders divided their spaniels according to their purpose into a meadow (field) spaniel and a water (marsh) cocker, since they wanted to breed a universal breed, a dog that would hunt any bird. At the same time, the meadow (land) cocker spaniel had to point the hunter to the place where the bird was hiding, or raise it to the wing under the falcon, while the water cocker spaniel was used for hunting with a net. Separation of breeds into: English cocker spaniel and American cocker spaniel: At the first dog shows held in England, the meadow cocker spaniel was subdivided by weight into two groups: up to 11, 4 kg, and heavier dogs. Since 1892, the Cocker Spaniel was recognized as an independent breed, removing weight restrictions from it in 1901, which led to the appearance of stronger, hardy dogs with long llamas. And in 1902, a specialized national cocker spaniel club was organized in Britain.