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My dog Archie (a cockapoo / spoodle) is seen running slow motion through a grassy field. While this looks idyllic it is also filling a much needed hole in his life.

You see Archie is part Cocker Spaniel and half Poodle and they love to retrieve.

The poodle history seems to be sketchy though it is known that something resembling the poodle existed as far back as the 15th century. It is speculated that the poodle may have been the 'original water spaniel". One of the poodles main functions remains it being a working hunter and duck retriever.

It is also known that the Poodle’s coat has great protection qualities. It helps the dog remain afloat in water, and adds insulation to keep the heat in and stop debris in the water from piercing its skin.

The poodles coat grows continually and must be shaved regularly to maintain form and manageability - preventing tangles from occurring.

You will see in this video that Archie has his full winter coat on. He is not shaved like a show poodle, as he is more of a working dog (dog pack lead on my dogs walks).

The cocker spaniel history

There are two main cocker spaniels. The English cocker was bred first for hunting and the American version. While there are slight physical differences, particularly noticeable on the head, the English cocker maintains the majority of its hunting skills, while the American dog has been bred more for show purposes. The English cocker spaniel has also been described as "rangier and stronger." I much more appreciate the spoodle being bred from the english cocker as rather than a lap dog, he shows a lot of hunting skills and is more robust in play even with larger dogs.

It is true that there are many spaniel dog types available but the cocker spaniel is one of the oldest, the cocker spaniel originated from the original spaniel also around the 15th century.

One little know fact is that the Springer spaniels were the core breeding stock of what would become the modern day flushing spaniels. The way that this came about was that in a single litter of springer spaniels, the larger pups would become springer spaniels while the smaller ones would become cocker spaniels.

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The point of interest here is that Springer spaniels always appear much more athletic than the straight spaniel. In fact I have two videos of them on my you tube channel! One is of a springer spaniel spinning in circles, the other is of it retrieving and guarding a tennis ball.

What history means to the cockapoo/ spoodle

The reason that I have provided this brief summary of the breeds that make up the spoodle/ cockapoo is that you can begin to see how similar the original breeding stock and function of these dogs are. Both the original breeds love of: water, and tracking/ flushing/ and retrieving bird game make for a formidable single minded dog. This shows that it makes perfect sense for these two dogs to be bred together into a stable high energy and friendly dog!

In this video you will see what seems to be a modern variation on this dogs original purpose. In winter (no snake threat) I take him to grassy areas where there are a lot of rabbits to track. This video shows how relentless his pursuit of fresh rabbit trails are. The main hindrance to him actually finding a rabbit is that these areas have mostly been cleared of the rabbits main predator (foxes and the like) so they very easily over breed and the ground is thick with fresh trails.

The purpose of these adventures is not only to exercise my dog, but to get him in touch with what

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His ancestors (both the poodle and spaniel) where bred to do. I don't go hunting and shoot birds, so this is the next best thing to satisfy his prey retrieving instinct.

Article by Bruce Dwyer. If you wish to use any of this information please use a LINK reference to http://www.dogwalkersmelbourne.com.au

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