Sunwannee Cockers

WELCOME!

WE ARE A SMALL AMERICAN COCKER SPANIEL KENNEL located in the beautiful Suwannee River Valley in Northcentral Florida. We also raise Cocker mixes, and you may see pictures of our Bologcos--which are a mix of one part Bichon Bolognese and one part small Cocker Spaniel--at our Bologco website. And our our aim in breeding is to produce healthy, happy dogs with superb temperament that can fit in with their new families and become beloved pets and companions.

We have been involved with dogs for many years, with several breeds, including Afghans, Salukis, Borzois and Shelties, but no longer show as we are "retired." We breed our Cocker Spaniels in order to have special dogs for ourselves--as we are interested in the more unusual colors and markings found in the breed--and we are especially interested in the genetics involved with these unusual colors.

We endeavor to raise our dogs in as natural a manner as possible, and this includes no longer docking puppy tails or removing dewclaws, as we feel that this once necessary operation to protect the tails and legs of hunting dogs in heavy brush in England is no longer necessary for modern pet Cockers. Also these surgery wounds allow germs to enter a puppy's bloodstream, and we know that we have lost puppies due to these procedures, as well as having puppies with scars and bald spots on their tails from serious infections. Raising puppies in the sub-tropics, with ever present microbes, is just not the same as raising puppies in very cool England. And ironically tail docking,dew claw removal and ear cropping is now banned in England, as well as in Scotland, Wales, and on the European continent--and recently in the province of New Brunswick in Canada--but not yet here in the United States.

However, on November 20, 2008 the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) issued an official position on this subject as follows:

"AVMA policy Ear Cropping and Tail Docking (Oversight: AWC; HOD 07/1999, EB revised 11/2008)

The AVMA opposes ear cropping and tail docking of dogs when done solely for cosmetic purposes The AVMA encourages the elimination of ear cropping and tail docking from breed standards."

We also minimize using toxins on and around our dogs, feed a meat based dogfood with no corn or soy, and we make sure that our dogs get a large amount of time playing out in the sunshine and fresh air every day, all to ensure producing the healthiest puppies possible.

The blue eyed adult Cocker shown on this page is our oldest male named Maximus von Bremer (call name Max), who is a sable and white dog. But Max is also a cryptic, or hidden merle, because although he does have blue eyes, blue eyes are not always a sign of merle in a dog, and Max has absolutely no merle markings on his body. Max is the the ultimate source of all of our merle and sable dogs, and Max has sired quite a few litters here with absolutely no health problems whatsoever.

And the pretty sable-merle and white puppy shown both across the top of this page and to the left is Max's granddaughter named Zori, and Zori is the only puppy that we've ever had that duplicates not only Max's markings and coloring--except that she has more white on her body--but also has his gorgeous, black lined "Egyptian Eyes" too, as well as his silvery blue/gray ears.

ABOUT THIS NEW WEBSITE

RECENT CHANGES IN POPULAR BROWSERS have forced us to give up our old website, as one of the columns no longer scrolls in either Mozilla or the browser that comes with Vista, and some of the pictures no longer come up for some unknown reason. And since the old website is so huge, we finally decided that it would take much more time to try to fix it than to just start all over with a format that works better in most of the modern and most popular browsers.

And we also need a "fixed width" format now, as the new, very large LCD monitors were stretching the old website so much that it became virtually unreabable. But bringing over most of the material from the old website will take a lot of our time, plus we want to add some new sections on health issues. So please have patience as we revamp our Suwannee Cocker website to make it better than ever!

SABLES AND MERLES

THE FOLLOWING PICTURES are of some of our strikingly marked merle and sable puppies over the past few years.

ZACK is a blue merle and terrier tan marked boy who lives with his family in Titusville, Florida.

DIXIE is a solid blue merle girl who lives with her family in Parrish, Florida.

DIXIE is a beautiful small Cocker whose long coat shows how striking the merle marking can be in this breed.

SPROCKET is a sable and white boy who lives with his family in Palm Bay, Florida.

THIS SABLE AND WHITE PUPPY is a black based girl with a silver undercoat, and she is shown at seven weeks old. And we love this little girls's freckles.

SUNCATCHER'S ZARIZA is a solid merle girl out of Max that lives with us, but we are just not sure of her markings, as she could either be a solid sable-merle, or a seal-merle and tan girl. But whatever the name of her markings, they are rather unusual.

SUNCATCHER'S ZAFFRE ZECCHINO is a seal-merle and white boy with "caico merle" markings, who also throws sable, and he is our smallest Cocker stud dog.

ZECCHINO has very unusual merle markings, in that he has patches of solid black interspersed with lighter patches of sable across his back, with more usual merle spotted markings on his head and near his tail. The above picture shows Zecchino's unusually marked back, with his head to the right, out of the picture. This type of merle marking is called "calico merle" in Cockers, but it is not thought to actually be related genetically to the type of marking called calico in cats.

BREWSTER is only the second calico merle marked dog that we have ever produced. He is a chocolate merle tri boy, shown at three months old, and he lives with his littermate and brother named Bailey--who is also a chocolate merle tri, but not calico marked--in a great home in Jacksonville, Florida. Brewster has some solid chocolate spots, some chocolate merle spots, and partial blue-green eyes. He has a great little Cocker body and a very sweet personality too.

MORE TYPICAL COLORS AND MARKINGS

WE ALSO BREED "REGULAR" COLORS AND MARKINGS, and this cute little buff and white boy is shown at seven weeks old. He lives with his family in Gainesville, Florida.

SUNCATCHER'S ROUSSANNE is one of our retired black tri dams, and she is shown above at three years old. Roussnne now lives with her family in Jacksonville.

AND MIA is a deep red and white girl, shown at five months old, and we love to get pictures of our puppies from our buyers--especially very cute ones like this. Mia lives with her family in Titusville, Florida, and doesn't she look quite comfy?

PLEASE HELP PRESERVE THE RIGHT TO OWN PETS

To learn more about the vegan based, animal rights movement that is dedicated to destroying the pet-human bond--and more--please visit the Americans Supporting Animal Ownership website.

"One generation and out. We have no problems with the extinction of domestic animals. They are creations of human selective breeding." -- Wayne Pacelle, CEO, Humane Society of the United States

From “Politics of Animal Liberation”

by Kim Bartlett, published in ANIMAL AGENDA, November 1987

1. Abolish by law all animal research

2. Outlaw the use of animals for cosmetic and product testing, classroom demonstration and in weapons development

3. Vegetarian meals should be made available at all public institutions, including schools

4. Eliminate all animal agriculture

5. No herbicides, pesticides or other agricultural chemicals. Outlaw predator control.

6. Transfer enforcement of animal welfare legislation away from the Department of Agriculture

7. Eliminate fur ranching and the use of furs.

8. Prohibit hunting, trapping and fishing.

9. End the international trade in wildlife goods

10. Stop any further breeding of companion animals, including purebred dogs and cats. Spaying and neutering should be subsidized by state and municipal governments. Abolish commerce in animals for the pet trade.

11. End the use of animals in entertainment and sports.

12. Prohibit the genetic manipulation of species.

NOTE: This was written in 1987, long before genetic engineering and cloning. In this context, “genetic manipulation” means "selective breeding,” such as the purposeful breeding of purebred pets or even the designer hybrids.

CONTACT INFORMATION

WE ARE LOCATED IN THE RURAL GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA area, near Cross City, Florida, just a few miles from the Gulf of Mexico. We can be contacted by E-mail at:

suwannee.cockers@gmail.com

"A dog wags his tail with his heart."

Martin Buxbaum

Copyright 2008 - Suwannee Cockers - All Rights Reserved