Is a cocker any less a cocker if it is an unusual color?  Does the color of the dog make it somehow less fit to show in conformation, obedience, agility; less fit to be a therapy dog, a service dog, or couch potato?  Believe it or not, some say the answer is yes to those questions!  Cockers come in a rainbow of colors, some acceptable, some less so.  The acceptable colors, which are divided into the three Varieties, are ASCOB (Any Solid Color Other than Black) which includes buff, brown, and brown & tan; Blacks, which include solid black and black & tan; and Parti-Color, which include red & white, black & white, brown & white, and those with tan points.  Currently allowed in the parti variety are the roans, which can also include tan points.  There are several reputable breeders who are grounded in the genetic knowledge needed to take on the enormous and most times thankless task of breeding superior quality in not only the acceptable colors of the cocker spaniel, but also the more exotic, less acceptable colors, such as sable, sable & white, roan, roan & tan, blue, blue & white; most of which in the past were allowed in the conformation ring in the United States, and have completed several championships, but currently are banned from the show ring.  These questions merit asking again:  Is a cocker any less a cocker if it is an unusual color?  Does the color of the dog make it somehow less fit?