KENAI
Cocker Spaniel

The breeds · gun dog · flushing

AKC Sporting · UKC Gun Dog · FCI standard 167

Cocker Spaniel.

Flushing spaniel, the smallest of the sporting dogs: finds, flushes, marks and retrieves upland birds, working close in dense cover and thicket.

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

13.3YRMedian lifespan13 to 13.7, measured on real dogs.
15 / 14INHeight · show standarddogs 15, bitches 14. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
20–30LBWeight, all linesshow dogs 27.5 lb (25 to 30); field 30 lb; show bitches 22.5 lb (20 to 25).
2.5+ HRSExercise, every dayMore than 2 hours per day (Royal Kennel Club band). The constraint most homes get wrong.

The lines

Within one breed the line can matter more than the breed. Where the lines differ, the page says which one a value belongs to.

field

A real but very small hunting line. The parent club (ASC) records one Field Champion in the breed's modern history (FC Madison's Pride and Passion MH) and the first Champion/Master Hunter (CH Pett's Southwest Breeze CD MH WDX); the AKC's field-trial history calls the mid-century Cocker 'a modern day, field-trial dinosaur' before English Cocker imports revived cocker trials. Gun Dog (2019) describes a cadre of breeders keeping hunting bloodlines, with the Dungarvan line 'arguably the only true hunting line left in America'. No published size or coat figures for the field line were found; its values here are editorial.

show

Conformation and companion bred: the breed as the AKC standard and the Royal Kennel Club describe it. The RKC states the Spaniel (American Cocker) 'has been developed almost entirely as a show and companion breed'. Nearly all American Cockers belong to this line.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

show linedogs 15 in (14.5 to 15.5) · bitches 14 in (13.5 to 14.5)

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2018

Weight

field line30 lb

EditorialGun Dog Magazine, 2019

Single editorial source; no club or registry figure exists for the field line.

show linedogs 27.5 lb (25 to 30) · bitches 22.5 lb (20 to 25)

Breed clubAKC

The AKC standard prints no weight. Center is the midpoint. Fewer than three sources behind this value.

Coat

show lineShort and fine on the head; medium length on the body with enough undercoat to give protection; ears, chest, abdomen and legs well feathered; silky, flat or slightly wavy; excessive, curly or cottony coat severely penalized

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2018

Shedding

Shedding 3 of 5 (AKC breed page trait score)

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Heat tolerance

2 of 5 · Long, well-feathered silky coat with undercoat

DerivedAKC breed standard, 2018

Derived from the standard's coat description (heavy double / long band = 2). RKC lists coat length Long.

How long they live, and what they cost

Measured on real dogs, with the sample and the spread. Never a guess.

Median lifespan

13.3 years (13 to 13.7)

MeasuredMcMillan KM, 2024

Small UK sample relative to the English Cocker row (n = 26,303).

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Exercise need

More than 2 hours per day (Royal Kennel Club band)

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC band read from the live page. The AKC breed page energy band is 4 of 5.

Exercise need

More than 2 hours per day

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

Energy

AKC Energy Level 4 of 5 (between 'Moderate' and 'High Energy')

Breed clubAKC

Grooming load

4 of 5 · Grooming: Every day; coat length Long; 'requires daily brushing to prevent matting, along with regular professional grooming' (RKC)

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC 'Every day' maps to 4 (daily or regular clipping). The AKC breed page grooming band is 4 of 5, between weekly and daily. The RKC text also names regular professional grooming, so 5 is defensible for pet-trimmed show coats.

Grooming

Every day; daily brushing plus regular professional grooming

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

Flushing spaniel, the smallest of the sporting dogs: finds, flushes, marks and retrieves upland birds, working close in dense cover and thicket

Breed clubAmerican Spaniel Club, 2024

The AKC standard asks for 'a keen inclination to work'.

Primary game

Grouse and woodcock ('particularly excellent hunting dogs for Grouse and Woodcock often found in areas of thick hedgerow and dense berry bushes')

Breed clubAmerican Spaniel Club, 2024

Gun Dog (2019) names the same quarry: woodcock, grouse, thick cover.

Also used on

'They hunt everything': run on pheasant and on waterfowl by some owners, though 'their size makes it more difficult for them to handle large birds like pheasants, mallards and geese'

EditorialGun Dog Magazine, 2019

Single editorial source.

Range

Close ('their natural instinct is to quarter close, staying in gun range')

Breed clubAmerican Spaniel Club, 2024

Gun Dog (2019) agrees: works at a nice pace and stays close.

Search pattern

Quarters close, turning into the wind; hunts 'at a moderate pace', uses both foot and air scent; signals game with animated body and tail before a bold flush

Breed clubAmerican Spaniel Club, 2024

Field trial standard

ASC Working Dog / Working Dog Excellent tests (since 1977: find, flush and retrieve on land plus a water retrieve), AKC Spaniel Hunt Tests (Junior, Senior, Master) and AKC Cocker Field Trials, which American and English Cockers run together

Breed clubAmerican Spaniel Club, 2024

AKC field-trial history confirms Cocker stakes since 1925 and that both breeds compete without breed distinction.

Water work

'Although bred as upland bird dogs, Cockers are willing swimmers, and will retrieve game from water in an efficient manner'; the ASC Working Dog test includes a water retrieve

Breed clubAmerican Spaniel Club, 2024

Cold water

2 of 5 · Bred as an upland bird dog; 'willing swimmers' that will retrieve from water, not a late-season water dog

DerivedAmerican Spaniel Club, 2024

Derived from the ASC's hunting-style description and the standard's silky feathered coat.

How common the problems are

Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.

Hip dysplasia

6.9% · 17,448 OFA hip evaluations to date: 92.2% normal (12.0% excellent, 66.1% good, 14.2% fair), 6.9% dysplastic (4.8% mild, 1.9% moderate, 0.2% severe); rank 161

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA breed statistics are voluntary submissions and skew toward breeding stock; the OFA itself warns that abnormal results are under-submitted. Cumulative all-years figure; the service prints no period, so 'to date' = the read date. Hou et al. 2013 excluded this breed from its OFA analysis as chondrodysplastic; the OFA summary is the only percentage.

Elbow dysplasia

1.3% · 1,200 OFA elbow evaluations to date: 98.3% normal, 1.3% abnormal (1.0% grade 1, 0.3% grade 2)

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA breed statistics are voluntary submissions and skew toward breeding stock; the OFA itself warns that abnormal results are under-submitted. Cumulative all-years figure; the service prints no period, so 'to date' = the read date.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 4; Mental Stimulation Needs 3; Trainability Level 4; Barking Level 3; Watchdog/Protective Nature 3; Good With Young Children 5; Openness To Strangers 4; Good With Other Dogs 5; Shedding Level 3; Coat Grooming Frequency 4; Drooling Level 2; Affectionate With Family 4; Playfulness Level 3; Adaptability Level 4.

Breed clubAKC

Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.

What to ask a breeder for

The health clearances the breed’s own club and registry name. Reference only: what to ask for, never a statement about any dog’s health.

No KENAI kennel lists the Cocker Spaniel yet. If you breed them, list your kennel free: it shows on this page and in the hunting dog breed finder, under every handler whose answers land on the breed.

Side by side

Or let the selector rank the Cocker Spaniel against your own answers.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 8 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
American Cocker Spaniel, Cocker

Every breed, read the same way.

The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.

All published breeds

Your cocker spaniel, on the record.

Log the days, the miles and the birds, and the KENAI app keeps the dog’s story beside the breed’s. Free to start.

Get the app