The most well-known Spaniel species are the English Spaniel and the American Cocker Spaniel, although there are still many species existing in the group of hunting spaniels.
The fur of the English Cocker Spaniel is silky, straight, smooth, with characteristic flags along the bottom line of the body and at the limbs, as well as on the tail. This species needs trimming, and trimming is the most successful if done by hand. Practically the entire body is trimmed, with the exception of the flags, and merging is done with thinning scissors. The parts that are to be trimmed the skull head, the outer sides of the ears, the neck, the line of the back until the center of the chest, the front edge of the front legs, the outside of the rear legs up to the hock, the upper edge of the tail part. The neck is shaved or the hairs are shortened with thinning scissors. The hairs are also shaved on the top third of the ears and the sides of the skull as well. The flag of the front chest is adjusted with scissors, the same way as the flag-like hairs of the bottom line of the tail. The paws are formed like the round shape of cat paws. When shaving the hairs of the ears' attention has to be paid that it should be proportional to the body. When grooming the hairs of the English Cocker attention has to be paid to retain the natural appearance. It is not necessary to bath it, however, if bathing cannot be avoided you should select a shampoo that is appropriate for the hair. In the case of show dogs, great attention has to be given in addition to brushing the flags thoroughly, to disentanglement as well. The American Cocker Spaniel has a far more sophisticated look, thanks to the sculpture like the shaping of the hair. Regular hair disentanglement, combing is unavoidable, a task that has to be done with weekly regularity. The hair is trimmed on the back and at the neck. The hairs of the short tail are also removed: they trim its top, shave its bottom, while in the case of a long tail they leave a flag at the bottom. The ears have to be cut outside and also inside at the top third section. The hair is shaved on the neck, at the sides of the skull and on the face-nose section. The hairs of the head are very characteristic: at the top of the skull above the eyes, they leave a so-called flattened topknot. They merge the long skirt, the flags always with the trimmed parts, and this task is done with scissors. After shaving the paws and the sole pads the characteristic form of the feet is made with scissors along the legs upwards by forming the shape of a bell. The American Cocker Spaniel is nice if it is bathed, of course, this is especially important when the dog is prepared for a show.