Comment (Heads)

Mrs. Prudence Walker Sidney, BC Canada

Since coming to live in Canada, I have often been asked how I think the American and Canadian English Cockers compare with the English Cockers in Britain.

The short answer is "They are very different!

At first I thought that the difference lay in the trim - but this is not so. Once one has grown accustomed to the heavy barbering that goes on to achieve the exaggerated appearance of the American English cocker, it is possible to appreciate the smart lines and spectacular appearance produced for the showring. (I shudder to think what would happen to all that excessive leghair if the poor dogs were required to work in the field.)

What disturbs me is that the whole concept of the Cocker is different on this continent. In Britain our aim has always been to produce short-backed, big-ribbed, compact and cobby dogs free from exaggeration - these characteristics being as typical of a Cocker as loose skin is to a Bloodhound. But here, the aim seems to be for a long, elegant dog, full of exaggerations, and, in the pursuit of this ideal, so much of the charm that has made the Cocker top favorite in Britain for 20 years and more is being lost.

The most charming and appealing feature of the English Cocker surely is its head, and this is so clearly revealed at a very tender age. No one can resist those soft pansy-like faces of very young cockers. But I wonder if some of the heads I see here ever had a soft-eyed, round pansy face? The wide nostrils, large soft cushions on upper lips, and strong, wide under-jaws seem to be missing, and we are left with a long, snipey foreface, narrow jaws and thin pendulous lips.

Viewed from the front, there should be very little difference in width between the skull and the muzzle. When I am assessing a head, I always lay my two forefingers along the cheeks and, if I can't keep them in straight lines, I know the head is incorrect. So many of the heads I see today tend to fit into a lozenge shape rather than a rectangle. The excessive width across the eye line with the prominent bone is so ugly.

Viewed in profile, a Cocker's head should fit into two rectangles - the muzzle, and then the rest of the head, with both sections being on the same parallel planes. Many that I see nowadays have long snipey forefaces with the planes completely at variance with the back-sloping skull, giving the dog a foreign, mean look, which is not helped by a cut-away muzzle.

I think a lot of the blame must be laid at the door of the breeders who have been obsessed with the desire for long necks. To gain this point, dogs have been used with the desired long necks, but also possessing long muzzles, long backs, long loin-couplings, and long hocks. The harvest is now being reaped, and if care is not taken the untypical products, in their turn are going to produce even more untypical specimens and then where will the compact little Cocker be?