Bocker Information & Dog Breed Facts

The Bocker is a designer dog breed, which emerged most likely during the last 30 years, in North America. The trend of creating new hybrid breeds began around the middle of the 20^th century, in North America and in Canada, mixing purebred dogs with each other, with the intention of creating new breeds. These designer dogs gained popularity instantly because they usually inherited the best and most desirable qualities and traits of the parent breeds while eliminating most of the hereditary health issues. Unfortunately, this popularity does not mean, that we are certain about every single detail about these designer breed’s ancestry and the intention which led the breeder to create these dogs.

The Bocker, also known as the Beagle Spaniel, or Beaker, is a result of cross-breeding the Beagle and the Cocker Spaniel with each other. Even though the first official mating between the parent breeds happened during the 1990s, it is possible that Beagle and Cocker Spaniel mixes were in existence even before that, through natural mating. In order to have a better understanding of the reasons and motives why breeders wanted to mix these two breeds, we should look at the two-parent breed’s histories. Both the Beagle and the Cocker Spaniel are older breeds, and consequently have an extensive history, moreover, both of the parent breeds are recognized and registered with the major kennel clubs and organizations.

The Spaniel’s ancestry goes back to the early 14^th century, to Spain, however, the Cocker Spaniel is thought to be originated from the early 19^th century. As Spaniel breeds split and bred to be very specifically focused on various talents, and traits, the Cocker Spaniel also made its way to full homogeneity and consistency. It is believed that the breed was finalized in the United States of America, where the Cocker Spaniel was bred for the purpose of flushing and retrieving smaller game, like birds. Their name was also derived from the word woodcock, standing for a cocker, which is a type of bird, the breed was especially good hunting at. Furthermore, there are two separate, recognized types of Cocker Spaniel, but when creating the Bocker, breeders used both of the variants. On the other side, the Beagle is considered to be one of the oldest breeds, for the reason that it is believed that the breed can trace its origins back to the 1300s, and was used since the middle of the 14^th century in England. Initially, the breed was developed and used solely for the purpose of hunting rabbits and other smaller games. The Beagle was brought to the United States of America very early, in 1642, and was accepted among the firsts into the AKC (American Kennel Club) in 1885.

Mixing the Cocker Spaniel and the Beagle has created the Bocker, which came out as an easy-going, sweet, and relaxed hybrid breed. The Bocker makes a great family companion, because of their cuteness, even temperament, and intelligence. For the reason that most of the Bocker specimens are first-generation ones, meaning that they are 50-50 percent of each of the breeds in the mix. Consequently, Bocker puppies will inherit from both of the parent breeds, making it impossible to predict their overall physical attributes and personality traits. Because of the above-mentioned reason, breeders did not manage to homogenize the Bocker yet, thus there is no breed standard available at the moment. Resembling many other hybrid breeds, the Bocker is not recognized by any of the major kennel clubs, but it is registered with the American Canine Hybrid Club, Designer Dogs Kennel Club, Dog Registry of America, Inc., International Designer Canine Registry.