Things I didn’t expect about owning a Cocker Spaniel

When I was a little kid, I was subscribed to a kids’ animal magazine. It arrived every few weeks in the mail, and I loved it. Living in the city, we didn’t get to see many animals, so it was the second-best thing, learning about horses, cats and different breeds of dogs, along with beautiful, poster-size pictures, of which I picked my favourites to go on the wall. That was how I fell in love with Cocker Spaniels. Their long ears and genuine, soft eyes, along with their thick silky coat, always got to me. Any time I met a Cocker in person, they were so happy and cuddly, and it melted my heart. 

A couple of years ago my dream finally came true and we got a Cocker Spaniel puppy, who we named Chilli. I’ve done the research about their personality and what you can expect, thinking this will be easy. We were told Cocker Spaniels didn’t need much exercise, they were content just being with the family. As a child we had a Golden Retriever and I imagined Cockers to be just a smaller, easier-to-manage version of them. I was due for a rude shock.

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Here are some of the things I didn’t expect about a Cocker Spaniel:

1. Anxiety- Chilli has such high anxiety that he is incapable of staying outside while we’re inside for more than a minute, without crying, barking or hitting the door. This also applies to leaving him outside a coffee shop or the chemist, literally impossible without creating a scene. When we do leave him outside a shop, people often look at him with mercy, wondering if he has been abandoned, as he looks and sounds so upset. 
2. Energy levels- Chilli has an infinite amount of energy to spend, and this is not an exaggeration. He regularly comes back from two hours of running around the park and playing with other dogs, ready for more exercise. It is nearly impossible to tire him out. We send him to the country with family to help with this, which usually buys us one day of manageable energy levels upon his return. Then it’s game on again. 
3. Difficulty to train- I was actually told about this by some people before we got Chilli, but chose to attribute it to individual dogs or owners who didn’t really know how to train dogs. My father was a dog trainer and I thought we will have a better idea. I was wrong. Except for basic commands which he obeys (sometimes), it has been harder to train him than I ever imagined. It’s not that he doesn’t understand, he simply doesn’t want to obey a lot of the time. 
4. Grooming- I’ll admit, I love brushing Chilli’s long, beautiful hair. But the amount of time it takes to fully brush him is around one hour and to maintain the hair properly you’re looking at a daily brush. Needless to say, this is nearly impossible. Add to this the ears and paws that get wet at every single walk in winter, and you are up for a failure in maintaining the hair in its’ perfect-looking condition. If you think maintaining the hair is just for looks, think again. The extra-long hair creates more mess than shedding, regularly having grass seeds, dry leaves and dirt stuck to it, creating the perfect combination of mess on our floors. 
5. Food- Talking about mess, most dogs are good at one thing when it comes to household chores- cleaning up food scraps. Not Chilli. Chilli has never been very interested in food (thus contributing to the difficulty in training him) and he often leaves food scraps untouched on the floor. Worst yet, he has a bizarre habit of taking food pieces to the living-room rug, and after a good sniff and a lick, leave it there. You will not be surprised to hear we have an ant problem in our house. 
6. Attention- unlike a Golden Retriever, Chilli wants almost constant attention from us. Following us around the house (which is small!), getting between our legs, jumping on us and barking for attention are regular behaviours in our home. And I haven’t even mentioned guests, who produce any combination of barking, jumping, begging for attention and running around the place trying to contain his excitement. 

If you think all of this is normal puppy behaviour, you’re right. Except Chilli is almost two years old and after meeting older Cockers, I’m confident to say this does not often change with age. 

I love Chilli and am so grateful to have such a happy, loving dog in our life. He provides much joy and laughter with his silliness and excitement about life. But sometimes you just want to relax on the couch and write a blog post in peace, without the crying or jumping that was my company for this writing session. 

L. K. Bridgford