Gundog Training Forum

springer-spaniel wrote:i cant understand why an inferior breed of dog sells for more money than a springer spaniel its mad! i sold a litter a few months ago dogs and bitches 400 each, i thought this was at the high end for non trialling dog to ftw.

What do you mean inferior breed?

wat do you think, how many cockers have won the irish championship? how many cockers have won av trials compared to ess winning them? and if cockers are so popular and vast in their numbers should these figures not be the other way round? just wondering thats all?

You've lit the touch paper there Ry!!!!

Amberquest wrote:You've lit the touch paper there Ry!!!!

surprised i havent had any hate mail yet!!?

dont get me wrong ive seen some real nice cockers, and some real nice springers but i just havent seen a top class cocker that would blow a top class springer like 'rosebay blossom' out the water. just my opinion though and were all entitled to it although some may not be willing to express theirs.

I have had springers and cockers. I like both breeds but it is the cockers that make me smile the most. Springers seem to take a more gradual slide downwards from really good ones to utterly crap ones. I think I see more mediocrity in springers than I do in cockers. The cockers either seem to be good or bad with fewer middle rankers.

Wullie

trekmoor wrote:I have had springers and cockers. I like both breeds but it is the cockers that make me smile the most. Springers seem to take a more gradual slide downwards from really good ones to utterly crap ones. I think I see more mediocrity in springers than I do in cockers. The cockers either seem to be good or bad with fewer middle rankers.

Wullie

Fair play mate and if they make you smile thats even better, wat is your oppinion on the rather increasingly high price of cockers and do you think it is justifiable?

I'm paying £850 for a HWV bred from Hungarian parents but whelped in England. Were it not for my mainland contacts I'm sure it would stand me another £250 to get it home. For a pup I think this is very good value for money but it is very much a question of supply and demand.
What I don't understand is the way people don rose coloured glasses when looking at and writing about cocker spaniels. I have been spoilt in regards to this breed having been friends with the late Will Sloan of Ardoon fame. The long and short of it is that for most people the cocker is not a viable option for two basic reasons. Lack of proper amenities to train the dog and lack of experience of the breed. There must be more spoiled cockers in the shooting fraternity than just about any breed of dog.
I have been lucky with Cinderella breeds having had only one failure with my Water Spaniel. Maybe this HWV might well be my second but at least I have done my best to avoid buying a pig in a poke by doing a heap of research and buying the very best I can afford.

Well said des, but like you say its supply and demand. With cockers supposedly being bred in greater numbers than springers, should the price not be the same or lower?