Standard for the American Cocker Spaniel
~ Notes from Laran ~
The Standard For the American Cocker Spaniel is available on the American Spaniel Club site (the parent club for the American Cocker Spaniel) as well as other sites. We offer it here again because we feel it is the most important piece of information for breeders to have and understand.
For further study of the standard we suggest the ASC publication "A Study Of The Cocker Spaniel", also called "the Blue Book" it is available from ASC for a nominal fee.

Pet owners may be interested to know why the standard is so important to a breeder. The standard describes how a Cocker should be constructed in order to perform the job he was originally bred to do. At a dog show, the dogs are being judged by the standard for the breed.

A conscientious breeder keeps the standard in mind as he or she selects the dogs to be bred. They carefully study the structure, temperament and health of these dogs. They research the dogs' pedigrees, again looking for structure, temperament and health of their lines. They also look at the puppies that have been produced by similar breedings. While the standard describes the individual "parts" of the dog, the breeder looks for a dog in which the "parts" are balanced in order to choose a dog that conforms to the standard.

Dogs offered as pets by breeders do not meet this standard as well as others in the litter. This does not mean that the dog is inferior. Breeders strive to keep the dogs that most closely conform to the standard to use in their breeding program.

We have separated the standard over 5 pages to limit scrolling to read the text. You can access a specific portion by using the links below or move through the pages in succession. To read the standard in succession start with "General Appearance" below and use the buttons on the left side of the page to continue. Links have been provided at the bottom of the page for those of you without JAVA enabled browsers. We have also placed the entire standard on a printable page.

Please note: We have used a picture of our dog, Chevy, to demonstrate where lines and angles would be on an actual dog. His use here does not imply that he is the perfect representation of the standard. He is used purely to illustrate the text.
It is hard to tell the actual bone structure of a Cocker from a picture because they are a coated breed. A picture of a dog cannot substitute for actually putting your hands on the dog, it only serves as a general guide to where lines will fall.


standard page 1 standard page 2
standard page 3 standard page 4
standard page 5 standard printable version

[About Laran][Our Dogs][Information]
[Choosing A Breeder][Links][Home]


1