SKYROCKET COCKERS

cockers Working in the Field and in the ring

I got my first cocker while I was in Graduate School - my red and white boy, Wallace . My main requirements were that it was a small dog that looked purebred, so we could compete in AKC events.  I heard about some cockers in the pound and when I got there, there was one left.  I took him home and then sort of figured it out from there.  Took classes, made training errors and learned!  Wallace is now Wallace VCD1 (NA NAJ TD) CDX.  

Fate had taken a hand and I had found the breed of my heart. I had grown up with Labradors, and my grandfather had field trialled setters and pointers, so taking them into the field was a logical step.  I still remember the first hunt test I went to seeing a little tiny black and tan trying to trap a pheasant. I was impressed by the dog's drive, and wanted to try it with my guys.

My next cockers were Flair and Gunny, and we continued training in field and in obedience - then I discovered agility!

I have been teaching for several years now (the last two I have been a full time agility instructor), and compete most weekends.

I breed my first litter, which produced Ch. MACH Hunter CD RN SH,  Can. OTCH Can CH. Raven SH Can. CDX,  CH. Rudy JH.

Along the way, I also acquire a "big dog" - Kizzi, the Ibizan hound CD RN AX AXJ JC.

I also moved away from the show ring.  After several years, I decided to focus on the traits that produce a very functional dog.  The show ring can select for traits that are seriously detrimental to the dog in the field and in events requiring soundness and athleticism (Straight shoulders, very short backs, excessive rear angluation, and of course, too much coat!).  So while I do breed to show dogs when they have traits I want to improve my lines, I don't select for what will win in the show ring but what will actually work in the field/stay sound in the agility ring.  They aren't the same thing, and I decided to focus on what mattered to me and my puppy buyers.  I do think that the standard does describe a good cocker, but what matters is how it is interpreted in the breed ring - "excessive coat shall be heavily penalized", yet when do you see a cocker in appropriate coat to do field work?  And while, yes, you can cut it off, it does show where confirmation has focused (winning in the show ring or breeding to the standard)

My younger dogs have less coat, a more old fashioned head, good shoulder layback and a more moderate rear than a typical show cocker. Dice is representative of what I am moving toward with my breeding program.  MACH Dice MX MXJ JH FDX is the prime example - she is an exceptional bitch, taking 8th at WT try-outs at 2 1/2 yo. 

She is developing beautifully into a Very Competitive agility dog, and easily one of the fastest cocker in the nation.  She can run all day, and her athleticism still impresses me.  Yet she is biddable and sweet and sugar, and one of the smartest dogs I have worked with.