hi i am looking to buy either a cocker spaniel or a labrador puppy in the south of england area. i would appreciate if anyone with any help could contact me at nat_crawf@hotmail.com. thanks for any help

Not trying to be funny but I think you need to decide which breed you really want. The two breeds are totally different in appearance and in nature. The Labrador, properly trained is a quiet laid back breed who was bred to sit quietly behind the guns for possibly up to an hour waiting for his time to start work retrieving shot game. On the other hand the Cocker is a busy little dog, more like the Springer, who is always on the go hunting up any patch of undergrowth he can find. His job is predominantly as a rough shooting dog quartering the ground out in front of the gun. A hunting dog.

I appreciate that you quite possibly do not want a dog for shooting over but its nature is such and as a pet will still follow these traits. Working with the nature of the breed will always yield better results than trying to change it. I would also add that a Labrador can also be a complete hooligan without proper training!

Regards, John