The only thing I have against the Cocker breed is their size. I personally like a larger breed dog for hunting. In your circumstances I would go after a larger longer leggeddog with lots of natural talent. Perhaps a German Shorthair or English Pointer. You could look into a English Springer Spaniel if you like the Spaniel breed. They are larger and a natural at finding birds for the most part. I liked the breed a lot when I owned them. And they are great companions. I never considered my Springers hard to train. And what a grousedog.

I bought this little purebred springer pup for $10.00 from a breeder. It was the runt of the litter and he was just aboutto put it down just aswe arrived. She had perfect markings but was so tiny... I offered him a ten spot and he said, no papers and no guarantee... which was fine with me. She grew up a little smaller then the other Springers we had but she was such a sweet heart (probably because we babied her as a pup) and would hunt her heart out for you.

Well, I will not be gettinga bird dog for a while now. I rescued a Redbone Hound from a family a couple of weeks ago. He is 9 months old. I am not sure that I will be able to use him for chasing lions, but he is a quiet dog, and I didn't have the heart to say no. As it is, we get about 1 mile per day of walking and as much time as I can to train him. He was not trained well in basic obedience, so we shall see how it goes.

Thanks for the replies.