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60 free American Cocker Spaniel trivia questions with answers — nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This American Cocker Spaniel trivia quiz is dedicated to the US breed, the smallest of the AKC's sporting dogs and for 18 years the most popular dog in America. Questions cover the Mayflower spaniel, Captain of 1878, the oldest breed club in the country, Obo II and his pregnant mother's crossing, the 1920s divergence from the English type, the UK's 1970 recognition and Aramingo Argonaught. The standard gets its due too: height limits, ASCOB and parti-colour classes, buff coats, feathering and the 'Merry Cocker' temperament. The famous dogs fill the rest: My Own Brucie's back-to-back Westminster wins and $15,000 offers, Carmor's Rise and Shine, the 2017 Crufts win, Nixon's Checkers speech and Tricia's puppy, Truman's unwanted Feller, Lady and the Tramp from Barbara Luddy to CinemaScope and Tony's spaghetti, and Dogday of Poppy Playtime. For the older British cousin and its Crufts record, see our separate English Cocker Spaniel quiz. Questions run from easy to expert with the difficulty shown on each one, and every answer was checked against a reference page and carries its citation.
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Q 01Within the United States, what is this breed usually called?
Just 'Cocker Spaniel'
Elsewhere in the world it takes the 'American' prefix to distinguish it from its older English cousin.
Q 02The American Cocker Spaniel holds what distinction among the sporting breeds recognised by the AKC?
It is the smallest
Its distinctly domed head makes it immediately recognisable.
Q 03The first spaniel in America is said to have arrived aboard which ship in 1620?
The Mayflower
It was another 258 years before the AKC registered its first Cocker Spaniel.
Q 04What was the first Cocker Spaniel recorded in America, registered with the AKC in 1878, called?
Captain
The American Cocker Spaniel Club followed in 1881 and is now the oldest breed club in the United States.
Q 05The American Spaniel Club, formed in 1881, holds what distinction?
Oldest US breed organisation for dogs
Its first task, writing a standard to separate the Cocker from other land spaniels, took until 1905.
Q 06What was the name of the pregnant dam shipped to America who whelped Ch. Obo II, father of the American Cocker Spaniel?
Ch. Chloe II
His sire, Ch. Obo, is regarded as the father of the English Cocker.
Q 07How tall was Ch. Obo II, the foundation sire of the American Cocker?
Only 10 inches
With his long body he looked little like the modern breed, but he was a hugely popular sire.
Q 08By which decade had the American and English types of Cocker become noticeably different?
The 1920s
American Cockers had smaller muzzles, softer coats and lighter frames; breeders restricted crossing the two in 1935.
Q 09In which year did the UK Kennel Club recognise the American Cocker Spaniel as a separate breed?
1970
The AKC had recognised the English type as separate back in 1946.
Q 10The first American Cocker registered with the UK Kennel Club, born in 1956, was named what?
Aramingo Argonaught
Two judges had to confirm he was an American and not an English Cocker before he could be shown.
Q 11How did most of the first American Cockers arrive in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s?
With US service personnel
Others came with embassy staff and returning business people; there were only about 100 UK registrations between 1966 and 1968.
Q 12For how many years in total has the American Cocker been the most popular breed in the United States?
18
It reigned through the 1940s and 1950s and again in the 1980s.
Q 13Which breed knocked the Cocker Spaniel off the top of the US popularity list in 1952?
Beagle
The Cocker regained the number one spot in 1983 and held it until 1990.
Q 21Where did the American Cocker Spaniel rank in AKC registrations in 2024?
32nd
It had been 15th as recently as 2005.
Q 22Which senator's 1952 TV address became the Checkers speech, after his family's Cocker Spaniel?
Richard Nixon
Nixon vowed to keep the black-and-white puppy 'regardless of what they say about it', and stayed on Eisenhower's ticket.
Q 23Who named the family's Cocker Spaniel Checkers?
Six-year-old Tricia
The puppy had been shipped by rail from Texas by a travelling salesman who read that the girls longed for a dog.
Q 14How many times has the American Cocker Spaniel won Best in Show at Westminster?
Four
The wins came in 1921, 1940, 1941 and 1954.
Q 15Which American Cocker won Best in Show at Westminster in both 1940 and 1941?
Ch. My Own Brucie
Obituaries called him the most photographed dog in the world.
Q 16The owner of the 1940-41 Westminster winner turned down offers of how much for the dog?
Up to $15,000
Herman Mellenthin refused several bids, including $10,000 and $15,000, at the height of the Depression era.
Q 17The 1940-41 double Westminster winner was the youngest son of which sire of 36 champions?
Red Brucie
That sire was considered the father of the modern Cocker, an example of the 'popular sire effect'.
Q 18What killed the 1940-41 Westminster champion in 1943 at the age of eight?
A kidney and liver ailment
His obituary made the front pages of the New York Times and the Montreal Gazette.
Q 19Which dog won the American Cocker's fourth Westminster Best in Show, in 1954?
Ch. Carmor's Rise and Shine
The breed's most recent top prize came at Crufts in 2017.
Q 20In which year did an American Cocker Spaniel first win Best in Show at Crufts?
2017
Afterglow Miami Ink's 2017 win was the breed's first Best in Show at Crufts.
Q 24The Checkers speech borrowed its dog anecdote from which earlier president's talk?
Roosevelt's Fala remarks
Roosevelt had mocked claims that he sent a destroyer to fetch his Scottie, exactly eight years earlier to the day.
Q 25About how many Americans saw or heard the Checkers speech?
60 million
It was the largest television audience to that time and brought a flood of supportive telegrams.
Q 26A buff-coloured Cocker named Feller caused a minor scandal for which president, who gave the unwanted gift away to a White House physician?
Harry S. Truman
Rutherford B. Hayes had a parti-colour Cocker called Dot, and Bill Clinton had Zeke as governor of Arkansas.
Q 27The breed standard disqualifies a male American Cocker Spaniel taller than what?
15.5 inches
Females are limited to 14.5 inches, and dogs weigh around 24 to 30 pounds.
Q 28The AKC judges American Cockers in three colour classes: black, parti-colour and which one?
ASCOB
ASCOB covers everything from light cream to dark red; merle is not recognised at all.
Q 29Which shade, common in the American Cocker, is not seen in the English breed at all?
Buff
Roan colours run the other way, being much rarer in the American variety.
Q 30The medium-long silky fur hanging from an American Cocker's legs and belly is called what?
Feathering
The long, low-set ears carry the same silky coat.