3 , ▁the ▁co cker ▁span iel ▁ranked ▁ 2 9 th ▁the ▁American ▁Kenn el ▁Club ▁registration ▁statistics ▁of ▁historical ▁compar isons ▁and ▁notable ▁tr ends . ▁ ▁The ▁bre ed ▁is ▁the ▁smallest ▁of ▁the ▁sport ing ▁dogs ▁recognized ▁by ▁the ▁A K C , ▁and ▁its ▁distinct ly ▁sh aped ▁head ▁makes ▁it ▁immediately ▁recogn izable . ▁In ▁addition , ▁there ▁are ▁some ▁marked ▁differences ▁between ▁it ▁and ▁its ▁English ▁relative . ▁It ▁is ▁a ▁happy ▁bre ed ▁with ▁average ▁working ▁intelligence , ▁although ▁by ▁being ▁b red ▁to ▁a ▁show ▁standard ▁it ▁is ▁no ▁longer ▁an ▁ideal ▁working ▁dog . ▁M embers ▁of ▁the ▁bre ed ▁suffer ▁from ▁a ▁wide ▁variety ▁of ▁health ▁a il ments ▁including ▁problems ▁with ▁their ▁hearts , ▁eyes ▁and ▁ears . ▁ ▁History ▁▁ ▁The ▁word ▁sp any ell ▁is ▁thought ▁to ▁date ▁from ▁the ▁late ▁ 1 2 th ▁century ▁when ▁it ▁was ▁used ▁to ▁name ▁a ▁type ▁of ▁dog ▁imported ▁into ▁England ▁from ▁Spain , ▁with ▁the ▁span ▁part ▁of ▁the ▁word ▁referring ▁to ▁the ▁country ▁of ▁origin . ▁Records ▁from ▁the ▁mid - 1 4 th ▁century ▁show ▁that ▁select ive ▁bre eding ▁was ▁already ▁in ▁place , ▁with ▁the ▁bre ed ▁being ▁separated ▁into ▁two ▁distinct ▁types , ▁called ▁water ▁span iels ▁and ▁land ▁span iels . ▁By ▁ 1 8 0 1 , ▁the ▁smaller ▁variety ▁of ▁land ▁span iel ▁was ▁called ▁the ▁C ocker ▁or ▁C ock ing ▁Span iel , ▁so ▁named ▁for ▁its ▁use ▁in ▁fl