All Dog Breeds >>History of Cocker Spaniel
While its initial origins are unknown, "spaynels" are mentioned in 14th century writings.It is commonly assumed that they originated in Spain, and Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York in his 15th century work The Master of Game introduces them as "Another kind of hound there is that be called hounds for the hawk and spaniels, for their kind cometh from Spain, notwithstanding that there are many in other countries."The Master of Game was mostly an English translation of an earlier 14th century Old French work by Gaston III of Foix-Béarn entitled Livre de Chasse.
In 1801, Sydenham Edwards wrote in Cynographia Britannica that the "Land Spaniel" is divided into two types; the hawking, springing or springer and the cocking or cocker spaniel.The term "cocker" came from the dog's use in hunting Woodcock, a game bird from Wales and South West England.During the 19th century the term "cocker spaniel" was used to describe a type of small Field Spaniel, which at the time was also a general term to describe a number of different spaniel hunting breeds including the Norfolk Spaniel, Sussex Spaniel and Clumber Spaniel. While there were no Sussex Cockers or Clumber Cockers, there were dogs known as Welsh Cockers and Devonshire Cockers.
The Welsh or Devonshire were considered Cockers until 1903 when they were recognized by The Kennel Club as the Welsh Springer Spaniel. Prior to the 1870s, the only requirement for a dog to be classed as a Cocker Spaniel was that it needed to weigh less than 25 pounds (11 kg), although breeders separated the Cocker from the King Charles Spaniel which remains a smaller breed of spaniel.The maximum weight limit on the Cocker Spaniel would remain until 1901.
The colors of the Devonshire and Welsh Cockers were described by John Henry Walsh under the pseudonym Stonehenge in his book The Dog in Health and Disease as being deeper a shade of liver than that of the Sussex Spaniel.Following the formation of The Kennel Club in the UK in 1873, efforts were made by breeders to record the pedigrees of Cockers and Springers. In 1892, English Cocker Spaniels and English Springer Spaniels were recognized as separate breeds by The Kennel Club.