I always say I had a cocker that raised me. Then we had a blond cocker when we were first married.

What incredibly sweet and smart dogs.

Thank goodness for benevolent, caring people.

They are SO smart, so LOVING. The long hair was a problem when I didn't know betterk - ticks, gnarls. Late in life, I visited a friend/family with cancer/death and their Cocker was loaded with ticks, and the whole situation was just overwhelming.

For myself, my first was at that young age, and me ignorant of the breeds, didn't realize Cockers are water dogs/retrievers. And my second or third was landlocked in our yard. Then when I took him to a park with a little lagoon feature, I tossed a tennis ball and it bounced off a rock into the water, and he JUMPED and SWAM to the middle, and I went, oh- and then started throwing the ball into the water and pointing to where it was.