The Cocker Spaniel: Care and Training for Home and Sport

by Janet Menzies

Overview

Drawing on more than a quarter of a century’s experience with cockers, Janet Menzies takes you on a wonderful journey from the moment your puppy arrives home, to the day you start enjoying sports and activities together. Many cocker owners want to work their dog as a gundog in country sports, including field trials and working tests. With this book, the transition from family dog at home to elite performance dog in the field is seamless and easy to achieve. There is plenty of technical instruction on how to work your cocker in the field, as the author has done, successfully, with five Field Trial Champions to her name. There is also plenty of information on contacting the wider cocker community and joining groups and clubs.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781846893230
Publisher:	Quiller Publishing
Publication date:	09/01/2020
Pages:	228
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.75(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Janet Menzies is a gundog and shooting correspondent for The Field magazine. Her previous books include From Puppy to Perfect and Training the Working Spaniel. 

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 7

Introduction: Welcome to your cocker 9

Cockers are different

The history and family tree of working cockers

Part 1 Your Cocker at Home

Getting started with your cocker pup 16

What preparations and equipment do I need?

Where should pup live?

How should pup travel?

What happens when I collect my puppy?

What happens when pup has moved in?

How do I toilet train?

How much attention and exercise will pup need?

What food is best?

When do I start training?

Basic education 39

The foundation experiences:

Come

Sit/hup

Stay

Stop

Heel and lead

Whistle and hand signals

Retrieve

Socialisation

Putting it all together

Cocker health 74

Tooth care

Ear care

Eye care

Coat and feet checks

Skin parasites

Worms and fleas

Ticks

Vaccinations

A note on tails

Weight maintenance

Hereditary health issues

Conclusion

Part 2 Your Cocker in Sport

Training and working your cocker as a gundog 94

Pre-training planning

Glossary of terms

Equipment versus gadgets

Aspects of the shooting field

Transition to gundog training

Retrieving

Rabbit pen lessons

Going shooting

Hunting

Handling

On the peg

Staying steady

Field trials

Other cocker activities 167

Working gundog tests

Agility Competitions

Obedience training and competitions

Heelwork to music

Assistance dogs

Kennel Club activities

Part 3 The A-Z Cocker Problem Solver

Attention-seeking

Barking

Chasing

Disobeying

Eating

Family conflict

Guarding

Hyperactive

Inattentive

Jumping up

Kennelling

Learning difficulty

Mouthing

Nipping

Over-stimulation

Pulling on the lead

Quarrelsome

Running away

Stealing

Telling off

Unconfident

Variety

Weeing

Xenophobia

Yapping

Zipping and Zigzagging

Useful contacts 227

Editorial Reviews

I would recommend this book to anyone who has recently acquired, or intends to acquire a Cocker Spaniel. It is ideal for a person who is looking for guidance to take them through puppyhood, basic training and even on to the dizzy heights of advanced training, competitions and field trials.

From the Publisher

This is a really useful book for all cocker spaniel owners, whether you're on your first cocker or your tenth. It is perfect for first-time cocker owners. It has sections on getting started with your pup, as well as information on the breed and its health, which are detailed yet easy to understand. At the time of reading Janet's book, I had a litter of cocker pups. When they went to their new homes, I recommended it to one of the new owners who wanted a bit of direction. I've had feedback that it has been invaluable in helping get the whole family on the right path. This book has a useful section about the use of cockers in sport, covering a variety of disciplines such as agility, heelwork to music and, of course, shooting. I found the 'A-Z cocker problem solver' section to be the most valuable. This section covers the traits, trials and tribulations that are experienced in any household home to a cocker and offers a comprehensive insight into the specifics of the breed. It made me realise that I was not alone in having extremely smart and persistent dogs. Because of this last section, Janet's book will stay on my bookshelf for as long as there is a cocker spaniel in my life.

BASC - Jan Chesters

Janet Menzies has, on this occasion, absolutely hit the nail squarely on the head. The book is very obviously aimed at the new owner who wants to work their spaniel and she delivers on every aspect, from the preparations you need to take before bringing your puppy home to competing in field trials.

Each chapter is well structured and she has covered each topic in detail. A lot of training books make the assumption that the reader has some understanding of the end goal or that they have been a previous dog owner, which is often not the case. Janet makes no such assumption and covers everything that the new owner needs to know step by step.

Not every new working Cocker owner wants a peg dog, or even to take their spaniel shooting, so the inclusion of other activities such as heelwork to music and obedience competitions are a welcome addition.

Probably one of the most helpful sections of the book is at the back and this is the A-Z problem solver. Covering everything form attention seeking to yapping, she has some very innovative ways of solving any problem that may occur during and after training.

Overall, it is probably one of the best books I have read for the new working Cocker Spaniel owner.

Bailey's Hunting Directory - Nick Orr

There is no one more suited to guide you through the highs (and sometimes lows) of owning a cocker spaniel than Field columnist and cocker expert Janet Menzies... Menzies writes with clarity and enthusiasm and the book is an essential guide for anyone who has, or is thinking about, one of these sterling sorts as either a home or working companion.

The Field - Alexandra Henton