Crossbreed · United Kingdom, working gundog kennels
Sprocker
Also called Sprocker Spaniel, Springer x Cocker.
What makes them remarkable
The Sprocker was never a designer dog. British gundog kennels bred it for decades because it works.
- Energetic
- Biddable
- Enthusiastic
- Affectionate
- Busy
- Size
- Medium
- Weight
- 14 to 20 kg30 to 45 lb
- Lives
- 12 to 14 years
- Energy
- Very High
- Trains
- High
- Barks
- Moderate
Training
Training a Sprocker
Crossbreed breeds. Train the dog in front of you, not the label. Read both parents, then watch which one turned up.
A working dog needs work
Start here
Bred to hunt cover all day. Scent games, retrieves and a hunting-style walk with stop and recall built in. A bored Sprocker finds its own job.
Recall before freedom
The nose goes down and the ears go off. Whistle recall taught on a long line, proofed around scent, before any off-lead in the woods.
Teach an off switch
Settle on a mat is the hardest and most valuable thing you will teach this dog. Short, rewarded, every day.
The app turns this into five to fifteen minutes a day.
Add your Sprocker and it builds the plan around their age, where they came from and what they already know, on video with Atlas and Shango.
Free to start. iPhone. No card needed.
At home
Living with one
Deliberate crosses of two breeds. No standard, so more variety within the cross than within a breed; the two parent pages explain the range.
Gets on with
- ChildrenHigh
- Other dogsHigh
- StrangersHigh
- CatsModerate
Breed averages. Early socialisation and the individual dog matter more.
- Exercise
- Ninety minutes or more a day, with scent work and running, not just distance.
- Grooming
- Brushing two or three times a week; feathering picks up everything. Trim the ears and feet.
- Drool
- Low
- Coat
- Medium, Feathered, WavyLiver & White, Black & White, Black, Liver, Golden, Tricolour
- In a flat
- Needs more space than a flat gives.
Health
Things to ask a breeder or vet about
Ear Infections
Moderate
Long drop ears in both parents; check and dry them after swimming
Hip Dysplasia
Moderate
Joint condition in both spaniel parents
Progressive Retinal Atrophy
Moderate
Inherited eye condition; test the parents
Where they come from
History
A British working cross, bred for decades in gundog kennels to combine the Springer's drive with the Cocker's size and biddability. Unlike the designer crosses it was never sold on coat or looks; it exists because it works. That drive comes home with it.
The two sides
English Springer Spaniel and American Cocker Spaniel
A cross has no standard, so any one Sprocker can lean either way. Read both parent pages, then watch which one turned up in your dog.
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