Description: This is a medium size dog that is round headed. The American Cocker Spaniel has a broad muzzle that is deep with a square jaw line. The teeth meet in a scissor bite. The eyes are round, with the lids being slightly almond in shape. The eyes are dark in color. The exception to this rule is the Merle, and here we see blue eyes. A feature of this dog is their long, low set ears and these are heavily feathered. The legs are straight. The tails, in countries that permit docking, are docked. The dog's height is 15 ½ inches with the bitches being 14 ½ inches. The weight is 15- 30 pounds. This dog has a wonderful silky coat that is flat, or can be slightly wavy. The body fur is medium in length and shorter on the head. There is feathering on the chest, ears, tummy and legs. The coat comes in solid color, all colors are accepted. Then you can have parti-colored, merle, black and tan point’s solid color with tan points. The working class field dog have slightly shorter coats. Their life expectancy is 12- 15 years.

History: The American Cocker Spaniel descends from the English Cocker Spaniel. This breed goes as far back as the 14th century. The English cocker Spaniel was bred down in size, to what we see today. This breed is more popular than the English cocker Spaniel. This is a hunting dog and is a great gun dog, being able to hunt in all terrains. This dog can listen to commands well, in the field. This breed is good at hunting, flushing out the birds, retrieving, and watchdogs and in more modern times is good at obedience, and agility competitions.

Temperament: The American Cocker Spaniel is gentle and happy go lucky in nature. Here is a dog that is good at working but also makes a great family pet. Of average intelligence this dog loves all and is great with children. Socializing them very well, as a puppy, will help the dog not to be shy. They can be one of the harder dogs to potty train, but do get there in the end. Overall this entire dog is easy to train and will love a leader that is kind but firm. Giving this dog long walks daily will help to use the energy this dog has and will enable you to train this dog better. Small dog syndrome should be avoided at all cost as this is where the dog has been allowed to take the leader role and this doesn’t make the dog happy but gives rise to problem behavior. This can show in extreme shyness, submissive urinating, being mentally wound up unable to calm down, becoming aggressive or guarding objects obsessively, hyper activity and roaming or barking. This can all stop with the right leadership and positive placement within the pack. The field line in this breed has more energy. If the balance is in place you will have a wonderful dog who will love daily exercise and mental stimulation giving them the best in life.

Health issues: There are a lot of major health issues connected with the American Cocker Spaniel and good research should be done before getting this dog. Some of the issues are listed here; PRA, otitis externa, liver disease, CHF, cardiomyopathy, elbow dysplasia, IMHA, ectropion, allergies, seborrhoea and glaucoma are some.

Grooming: The eyes tend to tear so will need wiping. This breed needs brushing daily for the long coat to keep nice. An American Cocker Spaniel will need trimming regularly. This is an average shedder.

Living conditions: The American Cocker Spaniel can live in an apartment. They only need a small garden.

If you can't find a local breeder in your area don't worry, many breeders are using the major airlines like American, Delta, Continental and Northwest airlines for shipping their puppies.

At this time the airlines will ship puppies to the following States: Alabama AL - Alaska AK - Arizona AZ - Arkansas AR - California CA - Colorado CO - Connecticut CT - Delaware DE - Florida FL - Georgia GA - Hawaii HI - Idaho ID - Illinois IL - Indiana IN - Iowa IA - Kansas KS - Kentucky KY - Louisiana LA - Maine ME - Maryland MD - Massachusetts MA - Michigan MI - Minnesota MN - Mississippi MS - Missouri MO - Montana MT - Nebraska NE - Nevada NV - New Hampshire NH - New Jersey NJ - New Mexico NM - New York NY - North Carolina NC - North Dakota ND - Ohio OH - Oklahoma OK - Oregon OR - Pennsylvania PA - Rhode Island RI - South Carolina SC - South Dakota SD - Tennessee TN - Texas TX - Utah UT - Vermont VT - Virginia VA - Washington WA - Washington, D.C. - West Virginia WV - Wisconsin WI - Wyoming WY - Hawaii HI.