cocker spaniel are they child friendly

GracieP

I have springers, which are similar to cockers, and the most important thing to consider with these dogs is that they are very active and need a lot of exercise. If you can't commit to giving them an hour everyday of off-lead walks then they will get frustrated and the frustration can turn to aggression when they get older.

emsywoo123

I have a 13 week old cocker...........and she is delightful. Nearly house trained, very calm with my DD (who is 4) and yet really playful. Couldn't recommend them highly enough.
As other posters have said, although many people can justifiably generalise certain breeds, a dog's behaviour will often depend on it's treatment!
Good luck with what you decide to get!
p.s. With a young child, I would only get a puppy. My personal opinion, but I think the OP is right.

lillymay1975_2

I have 2 cockers, one's 3 and the other coming up to 2, they are fab with kids, babys, but always be aware at first, you will know soon enough, they are stubbon dogs, especially my 3 year old, but so loving

suki1964

Cockers are wonderful family dogs but be warned - they are the most stubborn wilful dogs you can imagine I've been owned by two and believe me when I say I wouldnt have changed a thing but I'm so glad I didn't also have children at the same time

Cockers also soon forget they are dogs, they are so human orientated. Expect to find your pup velcroed to you for life

As for food - as good a quality as possible. If you dont fancy feeding barf then a couple of excellent dry foods are Arden grange (waitrose and pet shops) James well beloved (pet shops, pets at home) and Burns (online and petshops). The initial outlay is higher then for supermarket brands but meal for meal these do work out cheaper - and they are good quality foods made with quality ingredients and not full of additives, cheap fillers and colours.

SarahLou

If you do a google search for Cocker Spaniels turning vicious, biting people or just generally becoming completely unruly, you'll get scared off the breed for life. However, this isn't to say Cockers aren't superb pets. As others have said already, a lot of it is solely down to how the pup is brought up. If you're firm but fair from day one, you'll end up with a superb dog. Just as you would if you bought a Doberman or Rottweiler or other breeds that many people think are dangerous. (Again, I differ in opinion to those people!)

We have a Cocker Spaniel (golden) which we bought just weeks before finding out I was pregnant with our first baby. I didn't worry about it for one second. We also own two Border Collies. So its a bit of a mad-house here with all the active breeds! Our Border Collies were aged 2 and 3 respectively when I gave birth last summer (baby is now 9 months old) and of course our Cocker Spaniel was just about 10/11 months of age when I gave birth. All good fun!

We havent had any bother from any of our dogs and our dogs. In fact, I would be more inclined to leave our little baby alone with the Cocker than I would with the Collies because one of our Collies is a licker and I hate her licking our baby on the face! (Doesn't get away with it when I do spot her about to do it but I certainly wouldn't leave the female Collie in a room unsupervised with the baby for that sole reason!) The Cocker is as gentle as anything with our baby. She'll go nose to nose with our baby (but thankfully not lick!) and she's straight to my side whenever our baby cries or generally makes a noise! Its funny to watch. Of course being only 9 months of age, our little one has yet to start moving around on her own so I can't comment what the dogs will be like when they're getting their tails pulled, but I'm not remotely worried about it.

I saw "go for it!" - I agree that you're better getting a puppy than an adult dog. So long as you're prepared to try to grow eyes in the back of your head (which is what you'll need with a puppy an a baby! ) you're half way there already.