Suwannee Cockers
The Place for Natural Merles and Sables
Max's Pups
Max is our oldest male, and he has had litters with four different girls so far, and all of his pups have either been very beautiful or very striking looking. We did not breed all of his litters, as we acquired Max an an adult, but we do have some pictures of some of his previous pups from his first breeder in South Florida.
Max has many desirable Cocker Spaniel qualities, including beautiful markings and eyes, of course, and a nice body--he is medium in back length for a Cocker--and he has a rather thick, silky, mostly straight coat, with pretty fringe curls, and a low ear set. He also has an absolutely beautiful bite, with lots of room for fabulously strong teeth in a perfect "scissor-bite" formation.
The picture directly below shows Max's physical structure rather well, and it highlights his beautiful mahogany red, Sable and white coloring and markings. Max is genetically a heterozygous Merle, and thus half of the puppies that he throws are Merles. But the only physical indication that Max is a Merle are his two beautiful blue eyes, and perhaps the silvery grey (blue) coloring on his ears. However, Max also throws "Blue Sables," so we aren't really sure what his "blue" ears mean.
Max also has a very lively and comical personality, and he is very people oriented. He is also rather vocal at times! He is also very smart for a dog, and extremely obedient. He will also chase and retrieve tennis balls all day long. And Max is very "male" in that he is a rather strong and muscular dog, and he has a very dominant personality with other dogs and he is certainly our alpha male. We generally keep Max's coat clipped short, so these pictures with all of his grown out "frilly hair" seem kind of comical to us! But suffice to say that we believe that Max is basically a nicely balanced Cocker who is not too extreme in any way, and that he has been proven to throw healthy and pretty pups with good temperaments who make nice pets.
Max has never had a sick day in his life, and he is a very healthy and strong dog, with lots of muscle mass. He is the standard size for a Cocker, weighing about 26 pounds at six years old, but when he was younger he only weighed 22 pounds, and he does tend to throw smaller puppies in general. And his Merle pups can be especially small, with only the occasional regular sized Cocker pup showing up here and there in his litters. And he has never thrown a pup that has grown up to weigh more than 29 pounds.
The following are all pictures of Max's puppies, and this is a very large page, with lots and lots of pictures, so please give it time to load fully, especially if you are on dialup. But the pictures are worth the wait!
This is the first litter from Max that we have a picture of, although it was not his first litter. It is from a black tri roan girl named Dottie, who is now retired into a pet home in West Palm Beach, Florida, and it contained, from left to right, a Blue Merle tri, a Sable and white, two chocolate Sable and whites, a black tri, and a second Blue Merle tri.
And here is a picture showing the great stance of the Sable and white boy from the above litter, named Winston, and it also shows his wonderfully deep, mahogany red Sable coloring. Winston was kept by his breeder, and he lives in Wellington, Florida.
Bridget, shown here at a few weeks old, is from a 2003 litter from Max and Dottie, and she eventually turned out to be a Sable-Merle-Roan girl, with light Merle spots in her dark Sable areas, and dark spots in her white areas--in other words a polka dotted dog!
And this is a picture of Bridget and her black tri littermate named Gus, shown at about eight weeks old.
Zadda was from the first litter that we ever had from Max, out of our now retired red girl named Sparkle, and Zadda is a beauty! She is a solid Merle girl, with brown eyes, and silvery colored Merling. Zadda is one of our retired breeding girls, and she now lives with her family in Deltona, Florida.
Our now retired red girl named Sparkle is shown here with her second litter from Max. From left to right is a black and white, a Sable and white, a blue Merle tri, a black and tan, a solid Blue Merle and tan, and a solid Blue Merle.
Zelda is out of Max and a retired silvery buff girl named Darlin, and Zelda herself is now retired from breeding and living with her family in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. Zelda was about four months old in this picture, and she looks like a brown or chocolate dog, but she is a black based Sable-Merle. We think that Zelda has just spectacular looking Sable-Merle markings, and she was one of the quietest and sweetest dogs that we have ever owned.
And this is a picture of Zelda all grown up, showing her coat grown out. Once her coat was long, she did not look like a Merle anymore.
Foster is a solid black boy from our now retired silvery buff girl named Darlin. Foster and Zelda are from the same litter, and they live together with their family in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
ZuZu is a littermate to Zelda and Foster, and he is a Blue Merle and white dog. ZuZu is retired from breeding, and he lives with his family in Old Town, Florida.
Sassy is a very small Blue Merle and white girl with two blue eyes who lives with her family in Sarasota, Florida. She is a full sister to both Zelda and ZuZu, and is out of Max and a silvery buff girl named Darlin. This little girl has two blue eyes, and what a thick coat she has!
Sassy has a beautifully marked and very full coat. We kept Sassy here until she was eight months old, but as she only weighed 12 pounds at that age, we finally placed her as a pet, as we thought that she was just too small to breed to a regularly sized Cocker.
Frankie is a stunningly marked solid Sable-Merle boy with two blue eyes, shown at about three months old. Frankie is out of our now retired girl named Sparkle, and he lives with his family in Ocala, Florida.
Zack is a solid Merle with terrier tan markings, and his silver Merle coloring is the lightest Merle that we have ever had. Zack lives with his family in Titusville, Florida.
Miss Scarlett is a beautiful black and tan girl, with minimal tan points, from our now retired red girl named Sparkle. Scarlett lives with her family in Charleston, South Carolina.
Miss Scarlett has a beautiful body and a wonderful stance.
Suwannee, pictured at the right, is a solid chocolate Sable from Max and our retired solid red girl named Sparkle, and Suwannee is a full brother to both Zadda and Zack. Max throws all colors and shades of Sable, depending on who is he is bred with. But in our experience breeding to red dogs brings up the darkest shades of Sable dilution, so we always have red dogs to breed for the darker shades of Sable. However, we think that Max is carrying some lighter shades of the Chinchilla gene also, so he will throw both light and dark Sables, depending on who he is bred with. Max has even thrown some "blue sables." Suwannee lives with his family in Destin, Florida.
Mr. Darcy, pictured at the left, is also a solid chocolate Sable from Max, but he is from our retired silvery buff girl named Darlin, and he has a slightly lighter shade of chocolate Sable undercoat than Suwannee does. Mr. Darcy also has lighter eyes. We now think that the Chinchilla gene, which affects the shades of buff, also affects shades of Sable dilution. And chocolate itself is simply a dilution of black, with the melanocytes in the hair shafts, which give the hair its color, being slightly smaller than in black dogs, and arranged differently, so that light is reflected differently in chocolate dogs than in black dogs. Mr. Darcy lives with his family in Winter Park, Florida.
Aidan is out of our now retired red girl named Sparkle, and she is a "Blue Sable" and white, in that she has a grey Sable undercoat rather than a red Sable diluted coat. Aidan has a fabulous little body, and she can run very fast! We still own Aidan, but she will probably be the next girl that we retire, sometime in 2008. Aidan had had a very nice litter with our red and white Beau early in 2006, and we will probably repeat this breeding sometime in 2007.
Zieara was our pick of her litter, and she was a beautiful Blue Merle tri girl. But she was killed by a coral snake bite at eight months old. Raising dogs can be very heartbreaking at times, and losing this beautiful little girl has been very difficult for us. Zieara only weighed 11 pounds at the time that she died, and although we had gone to great lenghts to try to protect our dogs from the wildlife that surrounds us, we never thought about the dangers of an almost pencil thin, 15 inch long, beautifully colored little snake.
Zicchino is from Max and our retired silvery Buff girl named Darlin, and he is one of our breeding males. Zecchino is rather small, weighing 17 pounds at two years old, and he has just a tremendous coat, which we keep rather short now, as it is impossible to keep groomed without daily combing. We are planning on breeding Zecchino for the first time in 2007.
Zecchino's markings are very similar to those of a Calico cat, or a Japanese brindle rabbit, or an African wild dog! He has Merle markings on his face and near his tail, and he has both black spots and blue Sable spots on his back, which if you look closely are actually arranged in bands which are interrupted by his white spotting. In the above picture of his back, his head is to the right, and his tail is to the left.
Banks is a black and white dog, but his one blue eye and his partly pink "butterfly nose" show that he is also a Merle. Banks is Zecchino's littermate, and he lives with his family in Orlando, Florida
Izzy is also a black and white dog, and his one blue eye also shows that he is a Merle. Izzy is Banks' and Zecchino's littermate, and he lives with his family in Leesburg, Florida.
Fiona is a black and white girl from Max and our now retired silvery buff girl named Darlin. She lives with her littermate, Mr. Darcy, in Winter Park, Florida.
Dixie is a solid Merle girl with beautiful white markings. This girl is spectacular looking, and she lives with her family in Parrish, Florida. Dixie is a littermate of Aidan and Zieara, and is out of our retired red girl named Sparkle.
Pippin is a black and tan boy who is a littermate to Dixie, out of our retired red girl named Sparkle. We love his spotted chin! Pippin has "smoked tan points" which are thought to be Shaded Sable limited to the tan pointed areas on the dog. Pippin lives with his littermate named Zack with their family in Titusville, Florida.
Smokie is a solid black girl with a "blue" or grey tint to her coat, and she might be a minimal solid Sable. Smokie is from our retired red girl named Sparkle, and she lives with her family in Canyon Country, California.
Hunter is a solid Sable with a black mask who lives with his family in Palm Coast, Florida.
Gracie is another beautiful black tri girl, from our first litter from Max and our chocolate tri roan girl named Suzy Q. Gracie lives with her family in Orlando, Florida, and she is taking obedience training, and her owner hopes to eventually have Gracie be trained as a therapy dog.
Trevor is a Sable and white boy from Suzy Q's first litter from Max, shown at about nine weeks old, and he is a littermate to Gracie. Trevor lives with his family in Sumpterville, Florida.
Rommey is another black tri girl from Max and Suzy Q, shown at 8 weeks old. Rommey lives with her family in Villa Rica, Florida.
Leyza is our pick of the litter from Suzy Q's and Max's first litter. She is a beautiful Sable-Merle and white girl with one blue eye and one brown eye, and she will eventually be bred to our red and white male named Beau. Like many of Max's pups, Leyza is both very sweet and very lively--and sometimes very vocal--and very smart and very pretty to look at. We love her.
As you can see Max throws a wide variety of types, sizes, colors and markings in his puppies, dependent on who he is bred to, and we believe that this proves that he has a very wide gene pool, despite some inbreeding and linebreeding quite a few generations back, once one gets into his show lines.
When this writer's Mother was breeding Cockers, back in the 1940's and 1950's, it was thought that a breeder was lucky to get one very "typy" puppy that actually met the standard out of every litter, due to desired genetic diversity. But now that breeding has become so restrictive, due to both animal rights influence and legislative efforts against breeding, it seems that every serious breeder now wants to breed every puppy in a litter to be a perfect example of the breed standard. But this is not possible, because in order to breed "cookie-cutter" puppies that all look alike, one has to inbreed or linebreed for type, thus losing healthy genetic diversity.
But Spaniels have pretty much been purebred for over 700 years, and they have always had a wide divergence in type, from the tiny toy court Spaniels to the heavy hunting Clumber Spaniels--yet they were all Spaniels at heart. So we will resist the pressure to make our puppies all look alike, and we find joy in the fact that each puppy is an individual that is to be cherished for its individuality, while it is also prized for being a Cocker Spaniel.
The above picture of a rather shaggy looking Max was taken in late January of 2007, and for his age Max is a vigorous and active dog, and we look forward to having litters from him for quite some time. Our specific future breeding plans for Max in 2007 include one repeat breeding with our chocolate tri roan girl named Suzy Q, and a first breeding with our solid chocolate Sable girl named Abby. And we are bringing up a very pretty red and white girl for Max, probably for breeding in late 2007. We have named this red and white girl Dolly, in honor of her granddam, and she and Max should throw all parti litters, with hopefully some deep mahogany red parti Sables, but there will be no buffs or reds in this litter, as Max does not carry the buff allele.
We hope that you have enjoyed this tour of some of Max's puppies, and hopefully we will be adding more pups in the future.
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