60 Fun Facts About American Cocker Spaniel

Within the United States, what is this breed usually called?

Elsewhere in the world it takes the 'American' prefix to distinguish it from its older English cousin.

The American Cocker Spaniel holds what distinction among the sporting breeds recognised by the AKC?

Its distinctly domed head makes it immediately recognisable.

The first spaniel in America is said to have arrived aboard which ship in 1620?

It was another 258 years before the AKC registered its first Cocker Spaniel.

What was the first Cocker Spaniel recorded in America, registered with the AKC in 1878, called?

The American Cocker Spaniel Club followed in 1881 and is now the oldest breed club in the United States.

The American Spaniel Club, formed in 1881, holds what distinction?

Its first task, writing a standard to separate the Cocker from other land spaniels, took until 1905.

What was the name of the pregnant dam shipped to America who whelped Ch. Obo II, father of the American Cocker Spaniel?

His sire, Ch. Obo, is regarded as the father of the English Cocker.

How tall was Ch. Obo II, the foundation sire of the American Cocker?

With his long body he looked little like the modern breed, but he was a hugely popular sire.

By which decade had the American and English types of Cocker become noticeably different?

American Cockers had smaller muzzles, softer coats and lighter frames; breeders restricted crossing the two in 1935.

In which year did the UK Kennel Club recognise the American Cocker Spaniel as a separate breed?

The AKC had recognised the English type as separate back in 1946.

The first American Cocker registered with the UK Kennel Club, born in 1956, was named what?

Two judges had to confirm he was an American and not an English Cocker before he could be shown.

How did most of the first American Cockers arrive in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s?

Others came with embassy staff and returning business people; there were only about 100 UK registrations between 1966 and 1968.

For how many years in total has the American Cocker been the most popular breed in the United States?

It reigned through the 1940s and 1950s and again in the 1980s.

Which breed knocked the Cocker Spaniel off the top of the US popularity list in 1952?

The Cocker regained the number one spot in 1983 and held it until 1990.

How many times has the American Cocker Spaniel won Best in Show at Westminster?

The wins came in 1921, 1940, 1941 and 1954.

Which American Cocker won Best in Show at Westminster in both 1940 and 1941?

Obituaries called him the most photographed dog in the world.

The owner of the 1940-41 Westminster winner turned down offers of how much for the dog?

Herman Mellenthin refused several bids, including $10,000 and $15,000, at the height of the Depression era.

The 1940-41 double Westminster winner was the youngest son of which sire of 36 champions?

That sire was considered the father of the modern Cocker, an example of the 'popular sire effect'.

What killed the 1940-41 Westminster champion in 1943 at the age of eight?

His obituary made the front pages of the New York Times and the Montreal Gazette.

Which dog won the American Cocker's fourth Westminster Best in Show, in 1954?

The breed's most recent top prize came at Crufts in 2017.

In which year did an American Cocker Spaniel first win Best in Show at Crufts?

Afterglow Miami Ink's 2017 win was the breed's first Best in Show at Crufts.

Where did the American Cocker Spaniel rank in AKC registrations in 2024?

It had been 15th as recently as 2005.

Which senator's 1952 TV address became the Checkers speech, after his family's Cocker Spaniel?

Nixon vowed to keep the black-and-white puppy 'regardless of what they say about it', and stayed on Eisenhower's ticket.

Who named the family's Cocker Spaniel Checkers?

The puppy had been shipped by rail from Texas by a travelling salesman who read that the girls longed for a dog.

The Checkers speech borrowed its dog anecdote from which earlier president's talk?

Roosevelt had mocked claims that he sent a destroyer to fetch his Scottie, exactly eight years earlier to the day.

About how many Americans saw or heard the Checkers speech?

It was the largest television audience to that time and brought a flood of supportive telegrams.

A buff-coloured Cocker named Feller caused a minor scandal for which president, who gave the unwanted gift away to a White House physician?

Rutherford B. Hayes had a parti-colour Cocker called Dot, and Bill Clinton had Zeke as governor of Arkansas.

The breed standard disqualifies a male American Cocker Spaniel taller than what?

Females are limited to 14.5 inches, and dogs weigh around 24 to 30 pounds.

The AKC judges American Cockers in three colour classes: black, parti-colour and which one?

ASCOB covers everything from light cream to dark red; merle is not recognised at all.

Which shade, common in the American Cocker, is not seen in the English breed at all?

Roan colours run the other way, being much rarer in the American variety.

The medium-long silky fur hanging from an American Cocker's legs and belly is called what?

The long, low-set ears carry the same silky coat.

The breed standard's nickname for the ideal dog of this breed is what?

The standard demands a dog 'equable in temperament with no suggestion of timidity'.

Where does the American Cocker Spaniel rank in Stanley Coren's The Intelligence of Dogs?

That indicates good working or obedience intelligence; the English Cocker sits two places higher.

In IQ tests of the 1950s and 60s, the American Cocker performed best of all breeds at what?

It was credited to the bred-in habit of freezing on a bird before flushing; it was the worst breed at pawing open a food dish.

In the same 1950s-60s IQ tests, at what task did the American Cocker prove the worst breed?

Uncovering a dish or pulling a string defeated it, even as it aced tests of restraint.

A 2024 UK study found what life expectancy for the American Cocker Spaniel?

That is comfortably above the purebred average of 12.7.

A US study found the American Cocker Spaniel had the highest prevalence of which eye disease, at 5.52%?

The breed is also commonly affected by progressive rod-cone degeneration through a PRCD gene mutation.

Nutritional dilated cardiomyopathy in American Cockers is linked to low levels of which amino acid?

It is often reversible with supplementation, unlike most canine heart disease.

A study of 44,000 American Cocker Spaniels found what rate of hip dysplasia (all dogs: 3.52%)?

Ears, eyes and skin are the breed's real trouble spots.

Lady, the heroine of the 1955 animated film Lady and the Tramp, is what breed?

In the 2019 live-action remake she was played by a rescue Cocker named Rose.

Who voiced Lady in the 1955 animated Lady and the Tramp?

Peggy Lee voiced Darling, Peg and the Siamese cats Si and Am, and co-wrote the songs.

Lady and the Tramp was the first animated film shot in which widescreen process?

It was also the studio's first animated film distributed by its own Buena Vista division after the split from RKO.

In Lady and the Tramp, Lady's neighbours Jock and Trusty are what breeds?

Trusty, the elderly bloodhound, is injured chasing the dogcatcher's wagon to save Tramp.

What is the name of the restaurant where Tramp takes Lady for their famous spaghetti dinner?

The film was based on Ward Greene's 1945 Cosmopolitan story 'Happy Dan, the Cynical Dog'.

The 2019 live-action Lady and the Tramp remake premiered as a launch title for which streaming service?

The original was added to the National Film Registry in 2023.

In the horror game Poppy Playtime, which member of the Smiling Critters is an American Cocker Spaniel?

The breed also turns up as Trilby in Raggs and Mags in Turbo Dogs.

The US Cocker was bred down in size partly because of what?

American breeders also favoured a more stylish look, changing the breed's appearance in the early 20th century.

The word 'spaniel' is thought to derive from the dog's origins in which country?

'Spanyell' dates from the late 12th century, when such dogs were imported into England; 'cocker' comes from hunting woodcock.

How long did it take the American Spaniel Club to complete a standard separating the Cocker from other land spaniels?

Formed in 1881, the club only finished the job in 1905.

In which year did the AKC recognise the English Cocker Spaniel as a breed separate from the American type?

Breeders had founded the English Cocker Spaniel Club in 1935 and restricted breeding between the two types.

Before 1900, what was the maximum weight for a dog to count as a Cocker rather than a Springer Spaniel?

Until the 1870s weight was the only requirement, though breeders already separated cockers from the smaller King Charles Spaniel.

Which two breeds were the parents of Ch. Obo, born in 1879 and grandfather of the American Cocker?

His son Obo II was advertised as sire or grandsire of nearly every prize-winning cocker in America.

Which 14th-century count first mentioned spaniels, in his hunting treatise Livre de Chasse?

Edward, 2nd Duke of York, later translated it as The Master of Game, noting spaniels' 'kind cometh from Spain'.

In 1801 which writer's Cynographia Britannica divided land spaniels into springing and cocking types?

During the 19th century 'cocker spaniel' covered several small hunting types, including Welsh and Devonshire cockers.

What is the typical weight range of an American Cocker Spaniel?

Females usually weigh slightly less than males; the English breed stands a little taller at 14.5–15.5 inches.

Which coat pattern seen in American Cockers is NOT recognised by the American Kennel Club?

Roan dogs are grouped with the parti-colours, and any solid shade other than black falls into the ASCOB class.

A mutation in which gene causes progressive rod-cone degeneration, an eye disease common in the breed?

The condition is autosomal recessive; the breed is also prone to hypothyroidism and various skin problems.

What was the name of the American Cocker Spaniel who played Lady in the 2019 live-action remake?

Tessa Thompson voiced Lady, opposite Justin Theroux as Tramp.

Which Texas travelling salesman shipped the puppy Checkers by rail to the Nixon family in 1952?

He had read that the Nixon girls 'longed' for a dog just as his own Cocker Spaniel had a litter.

From which Hollywood venue did Nixon deliver the Checkers speech, chosen for its superior lighting?

He insisted the theatre be entirely empty; the speech also praised Pat's 'respectable Republican cloth coat'.

Which singer voiced Darling and co-wrote the songs for the 1955 film Lady and the Tramp?

She wrote them with Sonny Burke; the story came from Ward Greene's Cosmopolitan tale 'Happy Dan, the Cynical Dog'.