English Cocker Spaniels come in a huge variety of colours. Murphy is "Blue Roan & Tan". Blue roan is the most common colour in North America, but solid red, solid black and red/orange roan are all pretty common around here (ie: I've seen at least one dog with those colours here in North Vancouver). Murphy appears to be the only blue roan and tan on the North Shore, and maybe in all of Vancouver. Ann Jackson, the dog trainer, had never seen one like him here in the city, and neither has his groomer. Update 2003 - another blue roan and tan is found!

Here are some examples of the different cocker colours:

Blue Roan	Blue Roan and Tan	Black and White
Solid Black	Black and Tan	Tri Colour
Solid Red	Red Roan	Red and White
Considered to be the same as Solid Red. Solid Orange	Orange Roan	Orange and White
Apparently this exists, but no one has photos of one! Solid Lemon	Lemon Roan	I found photos of one, but it looked exactly like the Orange and White above. Red, Orange and Lemon are shades of the same colour. Lemon and White
Solid Liver	Liver and Tan	Liver White and Tan
Liver Roan	Liver Roan and Tan	Liver and White
	Sable - Comes in the many permutations of colours (black, liver, red) seen above, with the sable pattern overlaid.