Pound for pound, the American cocker spaniel is the toughest gun dog out there -- and it's making a comeback.

Lady was her name and, with big eyes and honey brown tresses, she was the cocker spaniel that entered American consciousness in 1955. Her owner: Walt Disney. She was the co-star in animation film Lady and the Tramp, and whether the Disney crew knew it or not, they were glamorizing a breed that had already reached a height of popularity no other breed has matched since.

The American cocker spaniel held the number one spot for A.K.C. registrations from 1936 to 1952. Later they were at the top of the list from 1983 to 1990 for a total of 23 years as America's most popular purebred.

The popularity of the breed translated into many things over the years: because of their undeniable cute looks they excelled in the show ring and were bred likewise. The popularity meant market demand, and the American cocker breed became associated with unscrupulous puppy mills that bred cockers with little regard for conformation, health concerns or hunting abilities.

Among bird hunters, the prevailing sentiment was that American cockers were diminished as sporting breed because of the emphasis of being a home companion and a show ring star. In his book, A Rough Shooting Dog, Charles Fergus wrote, "The American cocker was once a superior grouse and woodcock dog. Today it is a pop-eyed lap pet with a penchant for pissing on the carpet." This sorry sentence is a biased cheap shot on American cockers in an otherwise brilliant memoir of upland hunting.

The American cocker spaniel has a long history as a hunting dog, and while they have been looked upon as an over popularized house pet, handfuls of bird hunters across the United States continue to train and bred the American cocker for their field abilities.

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Copyright © James Card.