Golden Cocker Spaniels are our favourite, but we're biased because we have a golden Cocker called Max - that's him at the top of our homepage!
Cocker Spaniels coats come in a variety of colours, some solid, like chocolate, black or golden, and some a combination of mixed colours and markings, for example, black and white, parti-colours and roans.
What follows is a brief explanation of Cocker Spaniel coat colours and of some of the terms used to describe them.
Solid Coat Colours Of The Cocker Spaniel
The solid colours are chocolate, black, and golden.
Golden Cocker Spaniels can be a light golden in colour or a darker, more reddish shade. Where the golden coats are darker, they're sometimes referred to as red Cocker Spaniels.
Some breeders say that the golden Cocker Spaniel is prone to 'Rage Syndrome' but today breeders are very careful and check the history of the sire and dam for any sign of the condition prior to breeding.
If there's evidence to suggest that either dog has shown signs of rage syndrome, they won't be used for breeding purposes.
It's said that the black, glossy coats are heavier and may need more grooming than the other colours.
The chocolate Cocker Spaniel is a lovely reddish-chocolate brown and is sometimes referred to as 'liver' coloured.
Roans
The roan colours are blue roan (light blue and dark blue), chocolate (or liver) roan, orange roan, red roan, and lemon roan.
Parti-colours
The parti-colours are black and white, orange and white, lemon and white, chocolate (or liver) and white, or in the case of the tricolour, black, white and tan.
Ticking
Ticking is a term used when there are small flecks of colour showing in the white of the dog's coat.
Open Marked
The term "open marked" is used where there is no ticking or roaning in the dog's coat, instead the coat will have clear white between the coloured patches.
You'll also find dogs with tan markings on their face, (above the eyebrows and on the muzzle) under their tails, on their feet, and on their chest. Where the dog's coat is predominantly black, his colouring would be termed black and tan.
