Hi,
  I was wondering if anyone could tell me what the difference is between an american cocker spaniel, a cocker spaniel and an english cocker spaniel.

                                       Thanks:)

Here in the UK we do not have English Cockers we have the Cocker Spaniel and the American Cocker Sapniel.
Our straying colonial cousins ;) across the Atlantic have what they call English Cockers Spaniels which are basically the same as our Cocker Spaniels although sometime hard to recognise as they are frequently clippered and groomed to the very inch of their lives :D

If you look at American-bred Yankees, say on the Bryce Group's excellent website, they seem to look almost more like our English cockers than our American Cockers, with the longer slanted nose as opposed to the snubbed upturned one. Weird! When people in the UK say cockers they mean English cockers. I have a Yankee and he's wonderful! :-)

I think you have got that slightly wrong Lucy ;), when people in the UK say Cockers they mean Cockers, and when people in the US say English Cockers they mean Cockers :p :)

Hi LucyD
I dont know the Bryce Groups web site, but as a frequent attendee of  Spaniel shows in the USA, the owner of several American Cockers either bred in the USA or whose parents were USA born, I can assure you that the American Bred "Yankee"  (ie our American Cocker) are nothing at all like the (English) Cocker, or at leaset, the quality ones aren't.  The USA breed standar is very similar to ours for the American Cocker(known as the "Cocker) in the USA, with only a couple of minor differences.  However, as in any breed, there are excellent, good and poor examples of the breed.  Any Americna Cocker who has a head resembling an (English) cocker is not a good example of the breed!

Dawn's excellent answer puts the main differences in a nutshell, and yes, as a whole the Amrican Cocker is much more outgoing and "Show off" than its English realtive!  Lokk at the ring performance or a great "Yankee" to see the sheer exuberance and "pizazz" of the breed - this is not just an act, they are equally  "look at me" at home.

bye
Gwen

Hi Guest, I have American Cockers and the difference between them and Cocker Spaniels is clear when you have the two breeds side by side. The American Cocker is the smallest breed in the Gundog group. They have a short foreface a deeply defined stop, and a domed skull with round forward facing eyes. The tail set is higher than in the Cocker, and the coat is profuse and voluminous. The American movement is striding out with forward reach, and drive from powerful hind quarters, much quicker than the Cocker.The American character is outgoing and 'larger than life' a bit like an American person really.

A Cocker Spaniel has a more elongated head shape than the American a less defined stop, and almond shaped eyes. They have a lower tail set, a very definate bum and they move at a more jaunty pace. The coat is a fully featherd affair, but nowhere near the length of the Yankee. The Cocker is a quieter personality, more reserved really, a bit like English people as compared to Americans.

I wonder if Cocker people would agree with my thoughts. ;)

Why not look in at the Kennel Club website and check out the two breed standards.  www.the-kennel-club.org.uk

The KC standards are the links I have given Nursey ;)
I think you have described the physical differences very well.  I think the character differences are likely to be accurate as well from what other people who live with them tell me about the American Cocker but I would not like anyone to run away with the idea that a Cocker is reserved it's just a case of the American being even less reserved, heaven help us :D

LucyD I have just had a look at the Bryce Group site, and while the pictures there are certainly 'cute' almost every dog shown is untypical of the breed standards either KC or AKC. All lovely pets by the looks of things but, none would hold their own in the showring either here or in the US.

Dawn R.

Hi Dawn and Lucy D,  I just googled the site, and if I found the right one it is a sort of "Web ring" where lots of people lift there sites.  The ones I checked out were either rescues or looked suspiciously like puppy mills!  Anyone who boasts on a web site that they are producing dogs spcifically as pets, and dont breed show dogs, and make no mention of any health status, are to be treated with extreme caution.
bye
Gwen