Most dog breeds were developed for some sort of sporting use. Over the years however, most of the sporting breeds, have become more popular as house pets. You can make just about any dog a good house pet... but not any house pet a good hunting dog. Heck just look at what has happened to Goldens. I've shown people pictures of Dutch retrieving ducks and hunting with me and even from seasoned hunters gotten, "You mean you can duck hunt with a Golden?" No kidding Sherlock! Thats what they were bred for in the first place! Its just that over the years more and more people have accepted them as great family dogs, which they are, so some of the dogs with great hunting bloodlines are getting a bit harder to come by. Same thing with Labradors... maybe even more so, though there are a lot more folks breeding hunting labs.... but there are also a lot more mutt labs running around too.

Cockers are great because they are small. Most of them are bred these days for house pets, but I am sure that someone is still hunting them. If you dog has the nose and the drive... heck man let 'er hunt!