# Working chocolate roan cocker continually mistaken for a springer



## dmcchesnie

Hi all,

We have a 5 month old chocolate roan working cocker full KC papers etc and we did see both his mum and dad on more than one occasion.

However we constantly get told that he is a springer spaniel and its starting to get quite frustrating... He is not the same shape as a springer spaniel and his roan is starting to get darker, We got told yesterday that he rund like a springer, hes still a pup . Is this common with chocolate roans, has anyone else has this before ??


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## Sleeping_Lion

They're from the same lines originally, and could be born within the same litter, with the smaller ones being called cockers, and the larger ones springers. Since the breeds were separated and bred to work differently, there is an obvious difference. Cockers work a tighter pattern than springers, and should look like a suction cup when working with their tail down and moving. Springers tend to be more tail high, larger, and work a wider pattern from what I've been told.


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## dmcchesnie

Hi I know there from the same lines originally ! However our bailey's only resemblance is the colour , though he is getting darker as he gets older ! Just very frustrating when you know he's a working cocker !


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## PetloverJo

I've made the opposite mistake when I saw a black and white working springer and thought it was a working cocker, because it was rather short in leg for a springer, and more the size of our black and white working cocker.


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## Sleeping_Lion

dmcchesnie said:


> Hi I know there from the same lines originally ! However our bailey's only resemblance is the colour , though he is getting darker as he gets older ! Just very frustrating when you know he's a working cocker !


Your initial post didn't really indicate how much or little you know about how the various spaniel breeds have evolved, hence my answer. As far as getting frustrated goes, well, that's life when you own a dog, you will always get some numpty trying to tell you something completely wrong about them, whether that's doubting what breed they are, to what to feed them, how to train them etc, etc, etc. I've learned to develop selective hearing and just nod my head at regular intervals with that sort of person.


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## Amy-manycats

I happens all the time, I have 2 slight springers and people often assume they are cockers. If I can be bothered of they are interested I correct them, if they are a know it all I nod and ignore. As your pup fully develops I'm sure people will stop calling him a sprinegr so often. For what its worth, 90% oc cockers round here are show where as 99.99% springers are workers, so people sometime just look at how much substance one has compared to the other, not knowing nor interested that there are show and working lines of both dogs.


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## dmcchesnie

thanks for your responses folks. I know a little about spaniels - but i'm starting to understand alot more about the breed.


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## springfieldbean

I get asked if my cocker's a springer all the time - and he's gold, so not even a colour that springers can be! It is a bit annoying, especially when people _tell _you what your dog's breed is rather than _ask_ , but I think a lot of people don't really know about the difference between working and show cockers, and assume that a slim, relatively short-eared cocker is a springer as they're used to the cone headed, barrel-shaped show cockers.

I have to say though, that I often can't tell if a small springer is a cocker or not - their shape and build and liveliness can be so similar!

Bailey is gorgeous, by the way :001_tt1:


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## Supasilvfoxy

This makes me chuckle as I mistakenly thought a working cocker spaniel puppy was a puppy field spaniel a couple of months ago and I've been in dogs for years. We all make mistakes from time to time. As my first knowledge of dogs goes back some sixty-odd years I can't keep up with all the newer fellas we get these days, the Dogue De Bordeaux, look like an English Mastiff to me - cept they speak french of course. 

Just accept it with a pinch of salt, smile and politely correct people - as long as they're nice people of course.


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