Before you get your cocker

Where can you find a Cocker to rescue, adopt or buy?

• at your local shelter
• from Cocker Spaniel rescue groups
• from people giving them up for various reasons:  they’re divorcing, going into the military, going into a nursing home, their landlord won’t allow them, they’re having a new baby, they’re allergic, they’re expensive, they’re too old, they take up too much of their time, etc.
• from Serious Hobby Breeders – the best place to buy a puppy, young adult or retired show dog
• And, sadly, from backyard breeders, pet shops or puppy brokers where profit is the bottom line in breeding dogs

Responsible Breeders If you’ve decided to purchase your Cocker puppy or older dog, instead of adopting or rescuing one, read the message that the Westminster Kennel Club announces on television and posts on their site.

"If you are planning to add a dog to your life and have come to look over the best of the best, please note, no dog you have seen here (yesterday or today) came from a pet shop, or was the 'product', if you will, of a puppy mill. If you want a dog, go to the people who care - the dedicated specialty breeders who have made dogs like those you see here - a lifetime effort. Talk dogs with dog people who care and understand."

The message couldn’t be more clear:  buy your Cocker from a Responsible Breeder. A responsible breeder will never sell a dog to a pet home that is not neutered or spayed! 

Just what is a Responsible Breeder and how do you find one?  It’s not hard to find one, it just takes research and patience waiting for the right Cocker to add to your family — don’t rush and buy impulsively.  Adding a Cocker to you life should be handled with the same concerns as adopting a child.

The Westminster Kennel Club also defines what a responsible breeder is:

“. . . those responsible breeders who produce puppies with the goal of improving the health and physical traits of that breed. To accomplish that, responsible breeders continuously study their pedigrees and breeding stock, do health checks on all of their dogs involved, properly raise and socialize their puppies, and stand behind their puppies. Responsible breeders are proud of their dogs and participate in activities and organizations that further their knowledge of their breed and their dogs. The Westminster Kennel Club continues to firmly believe and advocate that the best source for a puppy or adult dog for your family will always be those responsible breeders who produce puppies with the goal of improving the health and physical traits of that breed. To accomplish that, responsible breeders continuously study their pedigrees and breeding stock, do health checks on all of their dogs involved, properly raise and socialize their puppies, and stand behind their puppies. Responsible breeders are proud of their dogs and participate in activities and organizations that further their knowledge of their breed and their dogs.”

CLICK HERE to learn what you should expect from a Responsible Breeder

Why does it matter where I get my Cocker? If you purchase a Cocker Spaniel instead of adopt one, it matters a lot. Your money is powerful and You are responsible for how you spend your money, and the consequences of what you promote when you spend it.

Would you donate your money to promoting bad breeding? Would you donate your money to promote animal suffering? Would you spend your money to ensure that hereditary diseases are passed on to future generations? Of course not. You love Cocker Spaniels, that's why you want one. And you care about the health of your dog and the future of the breed.

If you buy your Cocker from a pet store, puppymill or backyard breeder or anyone less than a true responsible breeder than you are supporting not only bad breeding practices that will affect the future health of the entire Cocker Spaniel breed, you are funding the commercial breeding of our beloved breed, and all of the nightmares that go along with that. It's only common sense that if you do not see where a puppy came from, or see it's parents, there is no way you can know how they were raised or bred. Could this poor soul be that puppy's mother?

What you do know after reading the information on OurAnimalsOurEarth is that responsible breeders do not sell their puppies to pet stores, not ever. You will not receive any confirmation about the health of your puppies parents from a pet store. You will never receive certification that your puppy's parents were tested for the hereditary diseases mentioned in our section on the hereditary diseases of Cocker Spaniels. You will never receive copies of their hip and eye testings that they passed and were healthy to breed. You will not know how old your puppy's parents were when they were bred, and how many times they were bred, or if they suffered, or were blind, or sick. Yes, the puppies in pet stores need homes and need to be loved, but don't buy them, force the pet stores to put them in shelters and rescues because no one is buying them. Then you can go and adopt one instead of giving your money to the commercial dog breeding industry.