When I was four, my parents got our first dog. She was a cross Labrador and something else, I don’t think we ever knew what really. From then, until the time I left home, we were never without a dog at home – we progressed to Dalmatians and Boxers after the first one, and I always assumed that when I had my own home I would have a dog myself.

When I left home I moved to London and had a full time job, so having a dog was not an option. I’m a firm believer that it’s cruel to leave a dog on his or her own all day.

I left work after having my first child, but as we were living in London, I still didn’t feel the time was right to have a dog. I always had visions of moving out to the country!!

In 1997 we moved out of the city, and I started thinking about getting a dog in 1999. Although I was back at work, I worked from home, so I thought the time was right. I originally considered a Boxer as I adore them but certain events happened so I didn’t get the Boxer I always thought I was going to!!

My friend had bought a Cocker Spaniel from someone who was moving to America in 2000. It wasn’t until a couple of weeks later she realised the dog was pregnant! Anyway, I agreed I’d have one of the pups. We only paid £150 for Jake, as opposed to the more normal £300 plus, but this was because my friend only sold her pups to people she knew and trusted and was not in the breeding game. We visited her on three occasions to see the puppies and chose Jake, because he weed all over me! We bought Jake home just before Christmas 2000.

Cocker spaniels are traditionally bred for their hunting capabilities. We, however, had been reliably informed, that they also made wonderful pets and were normally great with children. Cockers used to have their tales docked but as this practice is illegal now, you don’t see many of them with docked tails now.

Cockers are a medium sized breed, and are extremely happy little dogs. Jake’s tail is forever wagging, and he adores walks, but doesn’t mind if they are short or huge, long treks across the countryside.

The nice thing about Jake is that although he is a smallish dog, his bark is manly and he doesn’t yap or snap!

Jake was very quick to learn where to do his business. For the first couple of nights we had his basket in the utility room, in which my Dad rigged up a wooden sliding door so he couldn’t get out anywhere else. We put newspaper all over the floor to start with, but gradually cut this down. I soon realised that if I took Jake out about every half an hour or so we wouldn’t have any accidents, and he quickly realised that he had to do his smelly bits outside as well as his wees. We had the odd accident, but normally only if he had a full bladder and a visitor arrived!!

As soon as Jake was housetrained, he was allowed upstairs. He really does have the run of the house, which I know many people don’t agree with, but I believe if you have a dog, they are part of the family, not something to be shut away at night. He spends the night either on our bed, or wandering about downstairs, bugging the hell out of the cats if they are inside.

He is a fantastic little housedog, and barks madly if anyone comes to the door, particularly at night. Jake only has to hear a noise outside and he goes manic, however, this is not helpful when you have a visiting hedgehog and it goes on night after night!

We took Jake to basic dog training classes when he was small, partly to get him used to basic commands, such as sit and stay, and to come back when he was called, and partly because my neighbour runs the classes! I have to say he was fantastic. He picked things up very quickly and was an absolute diamond in the classes. He was very quick to learn the sit command and to stay and not come until he was called, but getting him to lay down was a bit more taxing!

Cockers (well any sort of spaniel really) are prone to ear infections, but Jake is now three and has only had one. We took him straight to the vets as his ears smelled terrible, and were given some antibiotics. We do have a wash for his ears, which I use occasionally. He detests it. I do clip round his ears regularly too and I think this helps to keep any yucky stuff away!

On the subject of clipping, Cockers do need to be clipped regularly. I always do Jake myself, as he doesn’t particularly like it and I couldn’t bear to take him to someone else and leave him, however good they were! Cockers have quite wavy fur on their ears and heads and if it is left to grow too long, they quickly resemble a cockerel!

Jake talks all the time. I am not sure if the same is true with other cocker spaniels, I certainly have not come across it, but you only have to speak to him and he makes a noise in his throat and talks back. I swear he thinks he is human. He is without doubt, the most friendly and loyal dog I have ever had. He is completely devoted to me and is never far away. At the moment he is laying behind the chair, but most often when I’m on the computer, he will be laying on top of my feet, under the desk. From the time I get up in the morning, until I go to bed, he knows where I am every minute of the day. The neighbours have told me when we go out he does cry for a while at times, which makes me feel terrible. When we go on holiday, he goes to stay with my friend who has four dogs of her own. However, her dogs are used for hunting and are kept outside. Not Jake…he has the run of her house and is even allowed on her leather suite, much to the amusement of her children. Incidentally, my friend’s husband assures me that Jake would make a very good gun dog, as he is so obedient and well behaved. As far as I am concerned, Jake is not for hire!

Jake is wonderful with the children, but doesn’t particularly like it if they fight. He will then circle around them, tail still wagging mind, but bark like crazy, not particularly helpful when you have two children who like to practice wrestling moves at least ten times a day.

One point I should mention. At the time I bought Jake, my ex-husband and I were in the process of splitting up, so for two years Jake was not used to a male presence in the house. He can sometimes shy away from large men because of this although he adores Steve now he is established. However, if Steve and I decide to have a kiss and cuddle, Jake will soon plonk himself between us, and want some affection.

As regards walking the word "Walkies" or Walk" is mentioned and Jake goes completely ballistic, and will get his lead from the utility room and bring it to whoever is doing the duty! Jake is also wonderful with other dogs whilst out walking. As we are close to fields, more often that not we don’t put his lead on. He keeps close to us and is not bothered by other dogs. However, he does love to play with them and bounces around like a maniac. He is not so good if we come across another dog and he is on the lead, as he seems to feel a bit threatened if they approach him. We have two large Golden Retrievers next door and a Dalmatian and he’s not the slightest bit daunted by their size, he sees them as his playmates and leaps all over them. He will also carry his lead, if we have taken it out, in his mouth on the last leg of the walk which is the road leading to our house.

One thing I must add about walking. Although Jake is wonderful with us, that includes the children, if my father or anyone else takes him out and lets him off, he is a little bugger and runs off for miles before he bothers to come back, leaving the walker in a state of complete panic. It is patently obvious that he knows exactly what he is doing!

Jake enjoys swimming in rivers, although it took him a couple of years before he would go in very deep. He preferred to paddle but on our last outing to the forest, he happily jumped in and swam around. He will fetch sticks which are thrown into the river, but if there are any swans around you could not get him into the river, even if you through a box of dog food in. He is petrified of them! Jake really has a love of water full stop, and will sit patiently beside the bath, until someone flicks bubbles at him whilst bathing. He thinks this is a great game.

The downside to taking Jake for walks is that he does have a fetish with foxes poo. Woe betides if we pass any or Jake gets a whiff of it in his nostrils, because he will then roll in it and smother himself with the stuff. For those of you who have never smelled foxes poo, I can safely assure you, it has to be the worst smelling poop I’ve ever had the misfortune to sniff.

If we are doing any jobs at the front of our house, Jake always comes out with us and never wanders off. He has in the past, but as he has got older, he knows how to behave and keeps close to us. If we wash the car, he likes to sit inside while it’s being hosed down and he also likes to jump in open car boots, a bit embarrassing if the car happens to be your neighbours who are packing up to go on holiday!

We have four cats and a rabbit and apart from one cat who is a miserable old bugger, Jake loves all of them. He has a great relationship with the cats, and they play together brilliantly, especially one of our younger ones, who rubs all round Jake as soon as he comes in. Jake is however a pain in the butt when we get the rabbit out in the morning. I tend to leave him in now, as he’s so pleased to see Marble when we let him out, he leaps all over him.

As regards feeding, Jake does have his preferences. He absolutely hates Tesco’s dog food, but prefers Bounce. He likes the meaty chunks in gravy, as opposed to the normal run of the mill dog food and likes some biscuits on top, although he does not have a preference when it comes to biscuits. We have never fed him scraps from the table, but it there is meat left over from dinner, he does get some in his bowl, after the meal. He is well behaved while we are eating, and will lie underneath the table, or close by.

Jake is a gentle dog and NEVER snaps or snatches when he is offered a treat or any food. He takes the offering very slowly and never closes his teeth around a hand!

Although I wouldn’t say Jake enjoys car journeys, he tolerates them. He has only ever been sick in the car once, and now loves to have his head stuck out of the window, with the wind blowing his ears backwards!! He knows normally that if he is going in the car, this means a good long walk at the end of the journey.

We do buy Jake treats, but he does not like anything doggie chocolatified. He prefers pig’s ears or chews and adores anything squeaky to play with. He has a huge collection of toys, and these can be found scattered in various places throughout the house and garden.

Although Jake still has his basket in the utility room, he hardly ever uses it. He prefers to be with me if I’m in and when I’m out at meetings, he lies on the front door mat and waits patiently!!! When we go out, we allow Jake to have the run of the house, as I can’t see the point of leaving a dog to guard the place if you lock it in a room!!!

Jake is a real family member and I can’t begin to think how I will feel when anything happens to him. He is such a character and is always there, with his wagging tail, wanting to play.

I seem to have gone on and on extolling Jake's good points. The only bad habit Jake has, is attacking the post, or anything that is posted through our letter box. I cannot explain this, because if open the door to the person, Jake's tail will wag incessantly, but he does not like mail coming through the letter box at all! I once had to get a replacement air ticket, because he had chewed it up! However, if I shout at him, he will then pick a piece of post up and bring it to me, rather than tearing it to pieces.

From my experience with Jake, I would thoroughly recommend Cockers as pets, particularly with children. However, I would advise anyone wanting a spaniel to do extensive research into the breed, as my review is based on Jake and not cocker spaniels in general.

If you decide to buy one, please be prepared for a mad animal, I sometimes think the reason Jake is so mad is because of the house he lives in!! He is a joy to have around and is never too tired to play and is the most affectionate dog I’ve ever had.

As a footnote to this I must just add a paragraph about something that happened very recently. I had been out to the shed to get the vegetables in to prepare for the night’s dinner. As I came back into the conservatory, I tripped over and badly twisted my ankle over. The pain was excruciating, I thought I’d broken it as a huge lump appeared immediately. I passed out (first time in my life I might add) and when I came round, Jake was crying and whining, and standing practically on top of me. After visiting the doctors, and being told it was probably a sprain but to go to Casualty if it got worse, Jack didn’t leave my side all day!!

Thanks for reading.