do cockers cut it

[sweet169]

thinking about getting a cocker but are they strong enough as an all round gun dog or are the only good for picking up ( sorry if i have upset any cocker owners with this question lol) i dont really want a springer as would sooner have a smaller dog

 

thanks aaron

[larp]

i have 2 cockers and 2 springers they are out 3 times a week .the cockers will go all day beating .. and they are out with me as im a keeper hope thats some help

[coldweld]

Depends on what you plan on shooting, My springer will struggle with geese or a large hare. Cockers have the energy but not the strength or power needed for some shooting.

[eccles]

Simple answer this one YES :good: Had labs lots,ess loads but last 12+ years cockers only. Great little dogs as larp said go all day. Some might struggle on the foreshore on big tides,

but as a shooting dog brill.Buy a well bred pup and you won't go far wrong.Plenty of lads on here to help you out with training tips.

[kent]

Have a look at a big dog cocker and a small bitch Springer. i don't personally get this "smaller dog" thing, what is the logic its not like you need a bigger car to have a springer rather than a cocker or a bigger kennel

[al4x]

Cockers are massively increasing in popularity round here Aaron, whereas most of our picker uppers used to use labs cockers now seem the dog of choice. Springers are almost rare but this is game shooting inland, and they handle everything. So basically look at your shooting requirements and where you are going to keep the dog and go from there, then research your pups parents well there is a large difference in size among cockers and look for a decent sized line.

[Tis1979]

As you say your looking an all rounder I don't think a cocker Is an all rounder, fantastic dogs at what they do i.e beating picking partridge and pheasant ( mainly beating ). It can also depend on the individual dog of course seems cockers vary in size a great deal. I would say a good all rounder is a springer/clumber or lab. In my opinion anyway. Good luck with it.

 

Cheers

[ROBLATCH]

wouldnt have anything else for my type of shooting

[Cockermax]

Use mine for beating & rough shooting, ticks all the boxes for me. Will work all day gets into places a lab cant and can easily bring back a decent sized pheasant.

 

Might struggle on a goose though.

[ETO]

You could go for a smaller Springer - I know there are a few lines around.

 

I have seen Cockers bring in geese before though.

Edited January 6, 2013 by ETO

[pontbeck]

What would be the advantage of a small springer over a cocker ?

What kind of geese were they ?

 

[WGD]

If you have a need to regularly pick up geese or hares or make numerous retrieves from water get a lab. Otherwise, much as it pains me to say it a cocker will do everything you need.

[Paul223]

If you have a need to regularly pick up geese or hares or make numerous retrieves from water get a lab. Otherwise, much as it pains me to say it a cocker will do everything you need.

what he ^^^^^ says, only any small cocker, springer will do

[sweet169]

thanks to you all for your reply's sounds like the cocker is up to the task may start looking for a pup locally

 

thanks again Aaron

[DJL4]

You have PM Aaron

[cocker3]

had cockers for 8 years now had labs before that and the cocker is every bit as good as a lab in my view if not dare i say better my cockers will swim in ponds or rivers all day if they can get away with it ,will sit in a pigeon hide no bother ,will pick a goose and if it cant carry it it will drag it to me if need be will go beating 4 days back to back on the grouse moors and never seem to flag ,and will handle picking up duties no problem atall and i even know of one that used to pick foxes if they were lost in cover as before i would say the only down side would be swimming in strong flowing water i dont think you will ever regret getting a cocker best of luck to you

[kent]

had cockers for 8 years now had labs before that and the cocker is every bit as good as a lab in my view if not dare i say better my cockers will swim in ponds or rivers all day if they can get away with it ,will sit in a pigeon hide no bother ,will pick a goose and if it cant carry it it will drag it to me if need be will go beating 4 days back to back on the grouse moors and never seem to flag ,and will handle picking up duties no problem atall and i even know of one that used to pick foxes if they were lost in cover as before i would say the only down side would be swimming in strong flowing water i dont think you will ever regret getting a cocker best of luck to you

 

Neither is better they are just different dogs for different reasons.

[ETO]

What would be the advantage of a small springer over a cocker ?

What kind of geese were they ?

 

There isn't really - I just really like the smaller Springers

And the geese were Canada and Greylag.

[beeredup]

 

big birdy

[postie]

outstanding fair play,that's a big bird :-)

[matthunter49]

http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid1338.photobucket.com/albums/o686/matt_cole2/20120914_185639.mp4

Heres my midget retreiving a big fox

[kent]

A bird is weightless in the water, it didn't exactly impress when it put it down and struggled to walk just ten feet on land. Not having a go at your dog its just a fact that they cannot carry their own weight across a rough marsh and haven't a hope at jumping a wall etc. with such a retrieve Pure physics nothing to do with training or quality of dog, a lab is twice as big and then some dogs of this size can run with large geese and hares in carridge, cross fences, deep heather push through rushes while holding large quarry. That said a 3okg lab is going to struggle to push its way around and under a blackthorn hedge or force rabbits out from under the thickest brambles, just as much as a cocker with a gob full of goose or Hare is going to have a hard job to walk carrying it