My Cocker {please look at photos that was asked for}

[ellen271153]

Can anyone help i bought my Cocker Spaniel at 8 weeks and he is now six months as a Cocker Spaniel but have since been told by various people including a ver that they think he is a working Cocker. I have attached picture for you to look at if anyone one has a view of what he is let me know.
also does anyone else have problems with their Cocker. I have been going to obediance classes with him but he still barks and snaps at me when i give commands. he also barks and growls and jump up all the time when i try to get him to do anything.
I have tried to put a picture on but i cannot see how to do it
many thanks Rose

[elaine.e]

Hello and welcome to COL

This link http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=15703.0 tells you how to post a photo. it will ne nice to see a picture of your boy and that will help in being able to tell you if he's a working or show type Cocker. I'm guessing that you were unaware that there are 2 types and your puppy's breeder didn't tell you? Is your puppy Kennel Club registered? The names on his pedigree will give give clues if any of his ancestors came from well known show breeders or worker breeders.

It sounds like he is your first Cocker? They are a lively, inquisitive, intelligent breed, generally busy and needing to have things to do to keep them occupied. Cocker puppies can be very hard work, but they're also very rewarding, although it often doesn't seem like that during the puppy and teenage months . Don't worry, there will be lots of good advice and reassurance from other puppy owners on here

With regard to his behaviour, it may help if you give an idea of what sort of training you do with him, how much exercise he has, and, if he's left on his own while you're working for instance, does he have anyone to spend some time with him or anything to keep him occupied?

[MIN]

hi Rose
 as Elaine says try to post a photo. Until then, a quick guide. Workers heads are flat between the ears. A show type head is raised between the ears
this is our Gemma, a worker

[Robbie34]

This Henry.  He's a show type Cocker.

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Another show head here




Untitled by dipsydoodlenoodle, on Flickr

[Murphys Law]

This is Murphy and he is a bit of both.

[butterflywings21]

Another show head here




Untitled by dipsydoodlenoodle, on Flickr

Sorry to jump on the thread but he's  ...Do you hand strip his head??

[Fluff]

And another worker here



Off topic, but I want to steal Murphy 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Another show head here




Untitled by dipsydoodlenoodle, on Flickr

Sorry to jump on the thread but he's  ...Do you hand strip his head??

I do, I strip it, but leave it long, rather than stripping it short (he looked like a thug).

[Murphys Law]

And another worker here



Off topic, but I want to steal Murphy 

You can't steal him but after the day we have had I will happily work out a swap deal for the lovely Daisy

[Fluff]

And another worker here



Off topic, but I want to steal Murphy 

You can't steal him but after the day we have had I will happily work out a swap deal for the lovely Daisy

After the day we've had, I might just accept!   

[ellen271153]

thank you for all your messages Alfie goes training once a week for obedience training, he is my first cocker, I got Alfie for my 60th birthday, and love him to bits but thought long and hard before getting him, and I didn't know there were different types of cockers, I had a black lab who died of old age so years ago, myself and my husband are home with Alfie all day, (my husband is wheelchair bound) we have young grandchildren who see Alfie quite a lot (my granddaughter see's him most days) My daughter has a jack Russell 1yrs old so we go over the field every day for about 1hr where they play and run about together off the lead, we have done this since Alfie was twelve weeks old and they love each other, but Alfie also has 4-5 other walks per day each on lasting approximately 20-30 mins this is with just me and Alfie some times my husband comes as well, I will try ans put some photo;s of Alfie tomorrow,

[HBP]

Others may possibly disagree but that sounds like a lot of walks in one day! Is he bitey and snappy at certain times of the day? Perhaps he's overtired? X

[elaine.e]

Others may possibly disagree but that sounds like a lot of walks in one day! Is he bitey and snappy at certain times of the day? Perhaps he's overtired? X

I agree. That really does sound like a lot of exercise for a 6 month old puppy, even more so when he was younger. The trouble with puppies is that they will often carry on running, playing, fooling around even when already tired. They don't know when to stop and yes, they can become overtired and overstimulated and lose all self control.

If he was mine I'd cut back on his exercise and see if that helped to calm him down. Have you heard of the 5 minute "rule"? Many people believe that puppies should only be walked for 5 minutes for each month of their life. So when he was 3 months that would have been 15 minutes per walk and now at 6 months 30 minutes per walk. You can do more than one walk per day, and if the walk is mainly off lead and on grass it can be a bit longer as the puppy is likely to have more chance to rest or sniff or be quiet in between bursts of playing, so there isn't as much strain on his developing joints as there is with on lead walking or on a hard surface.

[Fluff]

I agree too, it does sound like a bit much for a six-month pup. When Daisy was younger and got over-tired, she would have zoomies and be quite hard to manage. It sounds strange, but cutting down her exercise a bit actually did calm her down!

Also playing with another dog is very tiriing, Daisy is always much tired after chasing another dog than a normal potter about offlead, so if he's doing an hour of solid play with his pal every day, he probably doesn't need much more exercise.