Hi, I've been lurking for a while working up the courage to jump in and say hello.
I've never owned a dog before so it's a completely new world to me and my family - I don't feel we quite belong to this doggy world yet, but we are trying! I'm married with two adult boys who live with us, and I'm taking a break from work for a few weeks to settle in our new addition, Archie, a choc and tan 9 week old who has been with us 2 weeks (already I've learnt from this forum and other articles that he shouldn't be away from his mum that young ... but it's done now.) It's a very steep learning curve MUCH harder than I ever imagined.... On the positive side Archie sleeps through the night, loves his crate and has already learnt some good manners for some of the time - sitting when asked, taking food/treats gently and mouthing rather than biting when being held, being cute and affectionate and tail-waggy as he shares the kitchen with us. His toileting is going okay, he often manages to go when he's in the garden (a coincidence more than anything, as I take him out at regular times). He's not allowed anywhere other than the kitchen and hall indoors at the moment and we keep him company most of the time he's awake. On the negative side - and here's where my insecurity and venting starts - he has completely manic sessions at random times each day where he growls and barks and bites at ankles, hands, clothes, anything in his path. He snarls and races round and round completely oblivious to anything else and can't be interrupted. He hasn't had his final jabs yet so I can only take him into the garden on a (retracting) lead where he dashes around eating moss and twigs - so I spend a lot of garden time trying to keep twigs and ivy out of his mouth. I take him out in the street up to our local park (in my arms) each day to get used to seeing traffic and other people. I do try to keep him occupied at home when he's awake, encouraging his toys, or with very basic clicker training and treats indoors, letting him tug at ropes, chewing a baby Kong etc. and I chat away to him as he sits either in his crate or on his blanket on the floor with a chew toy or whatever. He plays for half an hour/an hour or so, then sleeps for a couple of hours, and so on with that pattern throughout the day until about 11 at night and he often sleeps through to 6am - I assume he's getting a reasonable balance of wake time and sleep time, altho I sometimes think he gets overtired, red-eyed and crabby. My younger son (age 22) spends time with Archie playing, trotting up and down the garden trying to distract him from twigs etc., but when my older son tries to interact, Archie goes straight into hyper mode and this son gets so disappointed and actually quite frightened of our growing ball of fur and teeth! I know two weeks is no time at all, but I'm tired and disheartened by the constant demands of looking after him - watching out for toileting signs to whisk him into the garden (or cleaning up if I miss a cue), distracting him from furniture chewing, stopping him from biting my ankles, my knees, my bottom, whatever bit of me is nearest to him when he's in bitey mood, keeping him occupied with toys, encouraging my husband and sons to be patient with him. But the more I read on this forum about 'cocker spaniel energy'
, the more I wonder if I will have to completely focus my life on accommodating a manic creature who demands constant time and attention which will get worse through his adolescence, and then when he's an adult he'll still be manic because he's a cocker and "cockers are bonkers". As I started typing this, Archie was racing round the kitchen snapping away and snarling. He's now at my feet as I type, looking up at me like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. I should have called him Dr Jekyll. Next time I post I'll try to be nicer, sorry.
