English Cocker Spaniels - a fairly typical, but potentially moody, dog

(Image: Pixabay CC0) A new study from the Royal Veterinary College illuminates the most common disorders in English Cocker Spaniels in the UK, aiding owners to know what to expect if they get this breed New research from the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) has found the most common conditions in one the UK's most popular dog breeds, English Cocker Spaniels, include dental disease, ear infection, obesity and aggression. These findings will help owners and veterinary teams provide more targeted preventative healthcare as well as helping anyone considering getting an English Cocker Spaniel to know what to expect. The English Cocker Spaniel has long been a popular family dog breed in the UK and is generally considered to be fairly healthy. However, the UK Kennel Club recommends that breeders of pedigree dogs should screen them for several conditions including eye disorders, hip dysplasia and a wide range of hereditary diseases. Despite these recommendations, there has been relatively little information until now on the health of English Cocker Spaniels owned more widely as pets in the UK. As the largest study ever carried out on the health of the breed based on veterinary clinical records, the RVC's VetCompass programme studied 10,313 English Cocker Spaniels from an overall sample of 336,865 UK dogs of all breeds under first opinion veterinary care during 2016. English Cocker Spaniels made up 3.1% of all dogs, showing ongoing high popularity of this breed as a UK companion animal.