sprocker spaniel

[ips]

Last year my friends 12yr sprocker never ever been trained in any way as a gundog (he aquired it four years ago from his son after relationship breakdown) did a perfect retrieve and delivery of a pheasant he had shot.

No point as such to the above, just sayin.

[romanriver]

I have trained one, went well enough but couldn't cope with big commercial days, gave her to a friend for small shoots. They are no better than a poorly bred Cocker or ESS, and definitely not the wonder dog allrounder with hybrid vigour that some claim.

[Naj]

Not quite sure why any dog couldn't cope with a big commercial day. Read recently that some top cocker breeding is little more than sprocker, allegedly.

Naj

[Alice]

have a mate with one who a top boy told her to get papers for and run as a cocker....but also seen plenty of shite ones. I guess 9 times out of 10 they tend to be not the best breeding on the ESS or cocker side cos if they were why wouldn't the owner mate them with their own breed, unless it's an accident.

They're a cheap dog for beating, in the main, nothing wrong with that at all, but like romanriver says, there's no hybrid vigour to be had.

[ips]

I can't see the point of deliberately crossing breeds, and cant see the point of then giving it a fancy cross name.

[romanriver]

Not quite sure why any dog couldn't cope with a big commercial day. Read recently that some top cocker breeding is little more than sprocker, allegedly.

Naj

She probably would have coped if eased in gently on smaller days, but at the time I was picking up on very big bag days and didn't have the time, as she was given to me at 12 months with some bad habits she didn't do too badly.

[Naj]

I can't see the point of deliberately crossing breeds, and cant see the point of then giving it a fancy cross name.

Where do you think our pure breeds came from.

[Dawnrazor]

There's no such thing as a "cheap" gundog these days it seems, you could get a sprocker from a keeper for 25 quid when a pedigree springer was 75 or 80 quid, there was an advert in the Shooting Times a wee while ago for sprockers, £450!!! I've only ever seen a couple I liked, never had one and never want one, but, theres cockers running in trials that have more than a dash of springer in them!! One famous "Cocker Man" would sell you a pup for top dollar then, for 50 quid extra you could pick the pedigree you wanted!!!

[Judy]

Was he a Cocker man or was he a Springer man who had Cockers because there was more money in them?

Seen some blooming awful Sprockers, all black with long legs, short bodies and voices as loud as Kiri te Kanawa's. And one Lovely looking Springer who turned out to be a 1/4 Cocker.

[Matt]

Any dog is only as good as the sum of its parents and the input from the trainer. I'm certain there are duff Sprockers out there just as there are duff Springers and Cockers so, why does everyone seem to rave about Sprockers? What do they have that the parent breeds lack? Apart from being realistically priced of course.

I think it may be something to do with what they lack that their parent breeds may have...