Blue roan English Cocker Spaniel

Looking at a show ring full of English Cockers at a large show
is a delightful visual experience.

Deyette

What a treat for the eye, since a veritable rainbow of colors is possible in this breed. Several colors can be found even in the same litter.

Solid (or self) colors include black, red and liver. The red can vary in depth of color from a light sandy gold to a deep almost Irish setter red.

Black and liver can both have tan "points" (eyebrows, muzzle, front of legs, on all four feet and beneath the tail). These are called 'black and tan' and 'liver and tan.'

Burica

Roth

Parti (multi) color English cockers come in a kaleidoscope of colors, the most common of which is blue roan. If you have a hard time picturing what "roan" means, imagine a spoonful of cinnamon and sugar mixed together (very close to the color of an 'orange roan' English cocker) or salt and pepper
(very close to the 'blue roan' coloring).

You may also hear someone say that a particular dog has "heavy ticking." No,
they don't mean he's a time bomb or a clock ticking off the minutes, nor do they mean he's "ticked off" about something :-) Ticking in English cockers
refers to the tiny speckles or freckles that appear on many open marked
(lots of white showing amidst larger patches of color) dogs.

Parti colors come either open marked, ticked, or roaned with white appearing
in a lovely combination with any of the solid colors mentioned above: red, black or liver. It's very confusing, but in solid colors, the "red" is called just that. Red. If it's combined with white, it's called "orange" or "lemon" depending upon the depth of the red shade. Red roan is an AKC accepted color, but few dogs are registered as such. It becomes a breeder's option to decide as to what color their dog will be registered: orange roan, lemon roan or red roan. They're all very much alike, the main difference being the color of pigmentation around the eyes and nose. . .in a lemon roan the pigment is liver instead of black. In...