Cotralian

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30-60 lbs
16-22"
​United States
Cocker Spaniel
Standard, Miniature or Toy Australian Shepherd

The Cotralian is a mix between the Cocker Spaniel and the Australian Shepherd. They are a medium to large size dog that has a playful and loving personality. These dogs tend to be great family pets, however they may not do as well around smaller children and pets, as they can be a bit aggressive towards them. Early socialization and lots of training will be needed for this breed, however, the good news is that they train easily and respond very well to consistency. The Cotralian takes on the appearance of both the Cocker Spaniel and the Australian Shepherd, being around 16 to 22 inches tall and weighing anywhere between 30 to 60 pounds. Their fur is usually medium in length and very soft with a wide range of colors to choose from; usually black, tan, brown, gray, red, silver, and white. These dogs prefer more mild temperatures as they don’t necessarily over heat or get cold easily. If you are looking for a companion animal that also makes a great exercise partner and adventure buddy, then the Cotralian may be the perfect dog for you.
purpose Purpose
​Companion
history Date of Origin
​Unknown
ancestry Ancestry
​Cocker Spaniel, Australian Shepherd

Cotralian Health

Average Size
Male Cotralian size stats
Height: 16-22 inches Weight: 30-60 lbs
Female Cotralian size stats
Height: 16-22 inches Weight: 30-60 lbs
Major Concerns
  • Deafness
  • Hip Dysplasia
Minor Concerns
  • Cardiomyopathy
  • Progressive Retinal Atrophy
  • Cataracts
  • Retinal Dysplasia
  • Glaucoma
  • Eye Abnormalities
  • Familial Nephropathy
  • Hepatitis
Occasional Diagnoses
  • Eye Problems
Occasional Tests
  • Eye Examination
  • Physical Examination
  • Urinalysis
  • Joint Fluid Sample

Cotralian Breed History

Because the Cotralian is a new hybrid breed that hasn’t had a lot of time to develop an origin story, we don’t know a lot about where he originated. Thankfully, we do have a lot of information about his parent breeds so that we can get an idea of what the Cotralian came from. For instance, the Cocker Spaniel has been around for centuries and has always been used as a hunting companion. This breed was especially good at hunting water fowl, such as the woodcock from which the Cocker Spaniel takes his name. While these dogs have always had some degree of popularity, that fame really sky rocketed after the Cocker Spaniel was featured as the main dog breed in Disney’s movie Lady and the Tramp in 1955. Because of this, unfortunately, the dogs began to be bred carelessly and quickly, resulting in a few bad temperaments that snuck into the breed. Ever since then, breeders have been working hard to fix those issues and restore the Cocker Spaniel to its full potential. These dogs are used in shows, as companion animals, and as hunters. The Australian Shepherd, despite his name, was actually first created in the western United States during the time of the Gold Rush (1840’s). The Aussie is a working dog at heart who was designed to heard cattle and other livestock. Intelligent, energetic, and loyal, this breed is ready and willing to work his hardest for his master. He is an easy breed to train and eager to please. The Australian Shepherd became really popular after World War II when there was a renewed interest in Western-style horseback riding. Everyone was really impressed with the beautiful and intelligent dogs that were working alongside the cowboys and the rest it history. The Breed was recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1993 and have been used as working, show, and companion dogs ever since. By combining these two parent breeds, you can expect that the Cotralian is an energetic, intelligent, loyal, and friendly dog that makes a great pet for those who are looking for a companion that likes to be active and adventurous, while still loving their owner unconditionally.

Cotralian Breed Appearance

As a hybrid breed, the Cotralian is going to combine different aspects from both parent breed’s appearances. While it is difficult to predict what each individual Cotralian will look like, even within the same litter, the typical Cotralian will be a larger sized dog with short to medium length hair that is very soft. Both the Cocker Spaniel and the Aussie are extremely attractive dogs, so it is easy to assume that the Cotralian is a very attractive breed as well. Their coats can come in a wide range of colors and tend to be in the same style against the body as the Australian Shepherd. The ears, however, are more like the Cocker Spaniel by lying loose against the head and full furred; slight waving in the coat may be visible. Bright and intelligent eyes rest in the Cotralian’s face and, just like the Australian Shepherd, can actually be a bright blue in rare cases. More often than not though, the eyes will be a dark brown or black color. The body of the Cotralian is sturdy and athletic, with a long tail that may have very slight feathering on the underneath. The Cotralian does best in mild to cooler temperatures, as their fur type (being longer) does tend to keep them on the warmer side.
Eye Color Possibilities
hazel Cotralian eyes
Hazel
brown Cotralian eyes
Brown
Nose Color Possibilities
black Cotralian nose
Black
brown Cotralian nose
Brown
Coat Color Possibilities
white Cotralian coat
White
black Cotralian coat
Black
brown Cotralian coat
Brown
gray Cotralian coat
Gray
red Cotralian coat
Red
silver Cotralian coat
Silver
Coat Length
coat
Short Medium Long
Coat Density
coat density
pin
Sparse Normal Dense
Coat Texture
coat texture
Cotralian wavy coat texture
Straight Wiry Wavy Curly Corded

Cotralian Breed Maintenance

The Cotralian is a moderate maintenance dog. While there isn’t a lot to the grooming routine, both of his parent breeds shed seasonally so weekly grooming will be required. Brush your Cotralian a couple times a week with a metal comb and rake brush in order to remove any loose fur and dirt that may be lying on the body. This will keep the hair healthy, clean, and shiny. Bathing only needs to occur once every month or whenever your dog gets especially dirty. Be sure to thoroughly dry your dog’s ears after bathing or swimming. Because the Cotralian has folded over ears, moisture can get trapped inside and cause ear infections. By drying the ears, you can avoid any infection issues. Besides bathing and brushing, be sure to clip the nails of the paws every few weeks or whenever you hear the nails clicking against the floor. This will keep the feet healthy and snag free.

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Brushes for Cotralian
Pin Brush
Pin Brush
Slicker Brush
Slicker Brush
Nail Clipper
Nail Clipper
Brushing Frequency
fur daily fur weekly fur monthly
Cotralian requires weekly brushing
Daily Weekly Monthly

Cotralian Temperament

This breed of dog definitely is not for the beginner dog owner. While the Cotralian is very loyal and loving, he also is very intelligent; meaning that a firm hand in training will be needed in order for the dog to know who is boss. On top of this, the Cotralian can have a tendency to be a bit aggressive towards small children and smaller pets. This is most likely due to the hunting and herding instincts of his ancestors. While this issue may be fixed with early socialization and a lot of training, it would be best for this hybrid breed to be in a home with older children and larger pets. Besides that, the Cotralian is a sweet, loyal, and playful dog that enjoys spending lots of time with his owner; whether that is playing or working. This is a breed that will not bark unless needed and he may bark at strangers since his trust must be earned. Because of this, the Cotralian is a great dog to have around any neighbors, as he won’t be a nuisance with never ending bark sessions.

Cotralian Activity Requirements

Because the Cotralian has work dogs as his parent breeds, you can expect that he will need 1 to 1 ½ hours of physical and mental activity to keep him happy. Some activities that work great for tiring out your dog would be a long walk, a jog, a bike ride, training, and playing fetch in the yard or at a park. It is important to spend a lot of time training your Cotralian so that no aggression or bad manners can be developed. On top of this, training is a big part of keeping your dog tired mentally so that he doesn’t get bored. The Cotralian is a very loveable dog and will like to cuddle, but he definitely needs to get his exercise in a couple times a day. If you do so, your dog will be able to grow and mature in a responsible way by putting his energy into productive use.
Activity Level
low activity medium activity high activity
Low Medium High
Rec. Walk Mileage Per Week
12 miles
walk mileage
Minutes of Activity Per Day
90 minutes
activity minutes

Similar Maintenance Breeds to Cotralian

Similarly Sized Breeds to Cotralian

Cotralian Food Consumption

Cups Per Day
3 cups
cup per day cost cup per day cost cup per day cost
Daily Cost
$1.50 - $1.90
food bowls daily cost
Monthly Cost
$39.00 - $52.00
food bag monthly cost
author-img

Written by Loreziel Ortega

Published: 10/19/2017, edited: 12/17/2021

More articles by Loreziel Ortega

Cotralian Owner Experiences

Chopper
1 Year
4 People
House & Yard
Health
Grooming
Friendliness
Energy
Trainability
Pastimes
❤️ We love our dog! I have 3 kids & he fits in to our household perfectly!
2 years, 9 months ago
Rustic
2 Months
5 People
Apartment
Health
Grooming
Friendliness
Energy
Trainability
Pastimes
He is a high spirited little puppy who loves to play
2 years, 10 months ago
LOOKING TO ADOPT
6 Weeks
2 People
House & Yard
Health
Grooming
Friendliness
Energy
Trainability
Pastimes
I CURRENTLY OWN A 5 YR OLD AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD. WE LOST HER SISTER, AN 18 YR OLD AMERICAN BULLDOG, THIS PAST DECEMBER AND IT IS BECOMING VERY EVIDENT THAT MY REESE NEEDS A PLAYMATE. SHE IS THE MOST AFFECTIONATE AND NON-AGGRESSIVE DOG I HAVE EVER HAD. WE ARE LOOKING FOR A COTRALIAN PUPPY AND CANNOT LOCATE ONE ANYWHERE. IF ANYONE HERE CAN HELP, PLEASE CONTACT ME AT INDYTINA68@GMAIL.COM
3 years, 3 months ago
Audrey
3 Years
3 People
House & Yard
Health
Grooming
Friendliness
Energy
Trainability
Pastimes
My daughter moved back home with Audrey when she was still under a year old. I never had a puppy before so it was love at first site. I stole her for myself but my daughter does not know this yet. The name Audrey suits her. She has a Classic Beauty" with her black and white fur just like Audrey Hepburn.
6 years, 10 months ago
Pepper
12 Weeks
3 People
House & Yard
Health
Grooming
Friendliness
Energy
Trainability
Pastimes
Fetch
Walk
Run
Frisbee
Got Pepper when she was 8-1/2 weeks. She is now 12 weeks and almost 6 lbs heavier (14.2 lbs). We think she is adorable. Ours has a bobbed tail, large front paws, and Cocker ears and perhaps nose, but the rest is all Blue Merle, Black/Tan/White Aussie! Likes to nip at your legs, but a skirt bottle helps there. Still house breaking, and she loves to walk/run twice a day. Plays fine with 4 y.o. Granddaughter who tire each other running. Wonderful playful attitude, but loves to lay on cool tile floor when too busy to entertain. Great dog so far.
6 years, 10 months ago
KODA
16 Months
1 People
House
Health
Grooming
Friendliness
Energy
Trainability
Pastimes
She was 15 months old, not abused but neglected, !iving outside with access to a garage. No training or veterinarian care. No manners, pulled on the leash, counter surfer, no obedience. She would sit on command for a treat, and go outside to do her business. I got her all her shots and I'd chipped and sent her off to a 2week boot camp. When I got her back she would walk nicely on the leash, sit, and kennel most of the time. I have added stay and come and trained the other commands with good success and she and I are much happier.
6 years, 10 months ago
Bella
6 Years
6 People
House
Health
Grooming
Friendliness
Energy
Trainability
Pastimes
Running
We have 2 other dogs a Chihuahua and a min pin. Our cotralian gets along very well with both. In fact she puts up with the Chihuahua who thinks she is the head dog.
6 years, 9 months ago
Rocket
10 Weeks
4 People
House & Yard
Health
Grooming
Friendliness
Energy
Trainability
Pastimes
Not a whole lot now, I have only had him for two days! But, our other dog is a cocker springer spaniel mix and she was a breeze to train.
6 years, 7 months ago
Tyson
20 Weeks
2 People
House & Yard
Health
Grooming
Friendliness
Energy
Trainability
Pastimes
Fetch
Playing at the park
Running
Walking
He is so friendly, cuddly, and loving! Does very well with our two 4 year old cats. Has a lot of energy but always knows when to settle down!
5 years, 5 months ago
Iris
5 Months
2 People
House & Yard
Health
Grooming
Friendliness
Energy
Trainability
Pastimes
Walk
cuddle
Train
We love Iris! She’s sweet and adorable, and super photogenic. She is very eager to please and constantly wants to do good. If you don’t praise her, she gets this super sad look. Almost always, she’s wagging her tail. Though she barks more than we would like, she’s still learning and truly a great companion to our 1 Puggle Male, and 2 cats, one male one female.
5 years, 5 months ago
Winnie
1 Year
1 People
Apartment
Health
Grooming
Friendliness
Energy
Trainability
Pastimes
Fetch
Cuddles
I got Winnie when I was just a sophomore in college, I had never had a dog before so I was terrified. Winnie was extremely easy to train from potty training, kennel training, and even tricks. She does get an attitude sometimes that is spontaneous at times, she can be ugly to other dogs occasionally but she also has many dog friends that she has a great time with and gets along with well. Winnie loves absolutely everyone and always wants to play with everyone she meets. When it's just me and her she likes to play with her thousands of toys she has (because I spoil her) but she also LOVES to cuddle with me which is my favorite thing about her.
5 years, 4 months ago
Oz
6 Months
2 People
House & Yard
Health
Grooming
Friendliness
Energy
Trainability
Pastimes
Walking
Frisbee
We got Oz at four months, and his previous owner said he was a bit skittish He is great with all dogs and kids, but he does not like to be approached by any adult other than us, and will growl at people who come to visit. Any tips?l
4 years, 11 months ago
Luna
14 Months
8 People
House
Health
Grooming
Friendliness
Energy
Trainability
Pastimes
I have a question that I cant find any answers to online. My dog Luna is healthy and very active. She LOVES to run and play, but with the amount of exercise she gets, she doesn't eat a lot. Barley even finishes one cup a day. Sometimes she doesn't even eat anything. Could anyone help??
4 years, 5 months ago
Spencer
14 Years
7 People
House & Yard
Health
Grooming
Friendliness
Energy
Trainability
Pastimes
Great dog. Lots of tricks. Lives a long time
4 years, 3 months ago
Twyla
9 Weeks
2 People
Apartment
Health
Grooming
Friendliness
Energy
Trainability
Pastimes
we just got her but she is SO SWEET :) she is almost fully house and crate trained, she is responding well to training and she’s the sweetest little thing
4 years, 1 month ago
Sparta
10 Years
2 People
House & Yard
Health
Grooming
Friendliness
Energy
Trainability
Pastimes
Careful with little kids, with new grand kid we need to be in the same room.
4 years ago
Bruno
1 Year
5 People
House & Yard
Health
Grooming
Friendliness
Energy
Trainability
Pastimes
Smart and very easily trainable. Just two ten minute sessions a day till 15 weeks old and this breed is well on their way to providing you with loyalty, help and companionship. My male is a black tipped sable Cotralian with a black noise, feathered tail and brown eyes. His legs and ears have similar grooming and characteristics to his cocker spaniel half while his back fur and over length, height and size is his Australian Shepherd half. Bruno is just over 1 year old and has an extremely high vocabulary. He is fully trained and has 100% understanding with words and/or hand signals with the following: sit, stay, lay, roll, bang, kennel, inside, outside, up, down, off, here, ball, bell trained, fetch, drop, leave, get, wake, bone, ball, food/eat, drink/water, speak, knows our entire households names and will preform tasks in sentence format. Example is I have a 14 year old Cocker Spaniel named Harley. He is over 85% deaf and when I let Bruno out from his kennel I often ask him to “go get Harley”. He 100% does this every single time. I also often ask Bruno to go “wake up the kids” He successfully wakes up two of three kids each morning. If kept lower, Bruno will also “go get momma water” 90% of the time I ask. Keep in mind Bruno is just over one year old. I am extremely impressed and proud of my time spent with him on training. My only complains that we continue to work on are “hush” he barks at everything and everyone. My kids are young teenagers and I can see how the hearding instinct may be a problem with younger kids.Thankfully as my kids are older this is not a factor for us unless they initiate the “play time” for these instincts to kick in. Once introduced Bruno is accepting of anyone who enters our home but the barking and territorial aspects need to be improved at first contact. Overall if you have time and want a dog that is loyal and works hard to please you by it’s intelligence this is the breed for you.
3 years, 10 months ago
CoCo
16 Years
3 People
House & Yard
Health
Grooming
Friendliness
Energy
Trainability
Pastimes
Walking;
Unfortunately, CoCo just crossed the rainbow bridge on Monday, May 24. We adopted her from a shelter in 2006 and she was about one year old. She was a wonderful companion and the descriptions in this article fit her to a tee! We knew she had Aussie but did not know she was an actual breed until yesterday!! Everyone always asked what breed she was and we would say cocker/aussie mix because of her markings and behaviour! She definitely had the herding instinct and would chase our son's friends (when they were about 6 years old) around the house, nipping at their heels. She was a wonderful companion and we miss her dearly - but now that we know her breed, we will definitely be adding another "CoCo" to our family in the near future. Thank you for letting me share our memory and love for CoCo!
3 years, 6 months ago
Cookie
7 Years
5 People
House & Yard
Health
Grooming
Friendliness
Energy
Trainability
Pastimes
Catch treats
training
Walk
Well I’ve been around this cotralian it’s whole life
3 years, 6 months ago
Animal Expert Question Icon
Question - Other
Question

Hello, my female cocker spaniel had recently (unintentionally) mated with an Australian Shephard. Because of the size difference in breeds I want to know how dangerous this could be for her? She is 30 lbs and he is 55 lbs.

Answer
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