English Cockers are a medium sized spaniel with long ears, a soft melting expression, and moderate amounts of feathering. The standard describes this breed as "merry" and that is exactly what they are. They are happy, merry little dogs who are ready for fun at a moments notice. Once they outgrow the puppy stages, they can easily settle down in the house as long as they are provided with adequate exercise. English Cockers are very intelligent and they learn easily. They are eager to please, but their high level of intelligence makes them "think for themselves" and they can be mischievous. English Cockers are a part of the Sporting Group and they are very athletic. They usually enjoy chasing tennis balls, swimming, hiking and other outdoor activities. They are flushing spaniels and still retain their hunting instincts. They can make great companion hunters and they take great joy in flushing birds whether it is pheasant in the brush or seagulls on the beach. They have also been used to hunt rabbits in some countries. They are usually good with cats, but may have too much drive to do well around smaller animals or pet birds. English Cocker Spaniels are a good family breed, if the family has time to devote to the exercise and grooming requirements of this breed. English Cockers who are raised around children are usually very good with kids and they are large enough as adults to play with young children. Like all dogs, they should be supervised with children at all times for the safety of the dog and the child. Never let an English Cocker puppy run underfoot with young children as an ECS puppy is fragile and can suffer broken limbs or worse if a child falls on him/her.

Size: Males should be 16-17 inches and 28-34 lbs. Females should be 15-16 inches and 26-32 lbs.

Coat type: The English Cocker coat should be flat or slightly wavy and silky. Sometimes coats are not flat and silky... they are instead fluffy and cottony. This commonly happens after a shave down, after spaying or neutering or the coat can just be that way genetically. If you buy an English Cocker, please be prepared for a breed that requires grooming. You can talk to a reputable breeder about the amount of grooming and the type of coat texture in his/her dogs. This often varies in different family lines.

Coat colors: English Cockers can come in a multitude of colors. It is one of the wonderful things about this breed. The possible colors are: blue roan, black and white, blue roan and tan, black, white and tan (also called tri-color) orange roan, orange and white, liver roan, liver and white, liver roan and tan, liver white and tan, lemon roan, lemon and white, black, red, black and tan, liver, and liver and tan. The broken colors and roans, with or without tan markings, are referred to as Parti-colors and the solid colors and solid colors with tan are referred to as Solids.

Photo courtesy of Winfree English Cockers