10/30/2026
We’ve decided not to show for the time being. There have been so many negatives that come from the show world and it’s not worth adding negatives to life when life can already be hard.
Our main priority is health, no matter how pretty a dog might look in the show ring. Genetic testing should be a priority, even if it’s not a “requirement” for the breed. We don’t believe dogs should be bred blindly. This is how the breed dies off and how we run into genetic issues. We’ve seen too many show dog lines pass after 5-6 years due to genetic issues that could’ve been avoided in the lineage. While genetic testing is not an official diagnosis to genetic issues, it’s a great start. We want healthy dogs and longevity for the breed.
We’ve tried adding show dogs from GCH and CH parents, even offspring from fancy Westminster dogs or dogs that have shown in 30+ shows and have placed every time. Unfortunately, their health testing came back with genetic issues due to lack of genetic testing in the lineages. This pushed us to remove those dogs from our program before ever producing offspring, as we won’t breed dogs that have genetic issues. We do still have offspring from GCH/CH parents, but those parents were imports.
This is what has pushed us to import more. We started with an imported stud and will continue to have imported dogs within our breeding program. Our import lines have always been clear of genetic issues along with being a great example of the breed with their full coats and a rounded dome-shaped head. We absolutely adore our imports and feel they pass on great temperament, health and structure to our puppies. They also do a bit of showing before they come to us😉
Color traits are also important to understand. This helps us choose each pairing of parents. Again, we don’t believe dogs should be bred blindly. There may be colors in our breeding program that all ACS breeders/owners don’t all agree with, but after deeply researching those specific genetics for 3+ years, and studying overall genetics for 13+ years, we are comfortable and knowledgeable with the color traits we choose to breed here.
This doesn’t mean we won’t show in the future - that is if things get better and more positive in the show world. We’ve seen so many people fall away from showing because of the old school mentality of “if your dog isn’t titled….” and the mentality of being mightier than thou. It is cold.
Dog events and conformation should be inviting. I have seen positivity in other breeds, and have even been approached at dog shows asking if my kids want to come meet their dogs (I thought this was so sweet). This is the kind of environment we love to see. But we have yet to see that in American Cocker Spaniels, so until then, we will focus on other areas of our breeding program to create a solid foundation of our lines.
Thank you for all the support! We truly appreciate it all🐾
