Help and advice needed for our new boy

[BuryFCA1]

Hi all, great to be here. I am a new poster and new owner of an adorable 10 month old golden cocker who is so loveable but we have never had dogs before and need some advice wth a few things. This will probably be a lengthy post but I appreciate any help. We have only had our boy for 2 months.

1. He is obsessed with food. He is ot aggressive though he has tried to steal food from us in his first few days with us. We have taught him to sit for treats and before being fed and he eats his meals at the same time as us as if we eat and he does not eat the he whines/cries very loudly and doesnt stop even when we ignore him and sometimes tries to get to us and steal our food. When we are out walking if he is off the lead then he sometimes tries to climb in to bns wherehe can smell food. His eyes glaze over when we open cupboards in the kitchen and produce food. Is this generally normal behaviour? Or would you expect that he has been starved or had to fight for his food n his previous home or as a puppy? Or even that he has been spoilt at his previous home and expects food all the time?

We give him recommended portions of dry food and the odd treat. We dont really know much about his previous home other than he was with a family who got him to replace a deceased dog and it didnt work out.

2. he loves chasing sheep. I lost him for about 25 minutes once in the Lake district and was on the verge of tears thinking I would have to phone my wife and tell her I had lost hm after he saw a sheep and was offthe lead and chased it. He returned 20-25 mins later and  had no idea what he had done with the sheep. We encourage him to chase birds in the local park as he will never catch one and its fun for him and tires him out. Is this good practice? I am frightened to death of letting him off the lead in places I dont know in case he chases sheep again so obvously I keep him on the lead but will he grow out of chasing sheep? And why does he chase sheep? Does he want to eat them, play with them or just nosy?

3. every day he has a giggle ball and kong with treats and soft spread in them to play wth but we dont want him getting bored. What inventive things can we use or do with these to keep some variety in his life?

4. He has mild separatio anxiety and whines/cries when we leave a room or his sight. It doesnt last long and has massively improved over time with a lot of work spent on him with it. Why does he do this and will it keep improving and stop over time?

5. How much regular exercise should he have daily for his age? He normally gets 10 mins wak first thing in the morning. Half an hour to an hour at lunchtime and half an hour to an hour in the evening with plenty of off the lead running. Is is also true that the fitter a dog is the more exercise they need or they get bored and destructive or is that a myth?

6. We are unsure if he is a show cocker or working cocker. We have studied the criteria closely and just caot be 100% sure. If anyone has managed to read this far in to my ong and probably oring post then frst of all, thanks, secondly could I email you a picture and you help us determine if he is show cocker or working cocker

Thanks in advance

[PennyB]

6. We are unsure if he is a show cocker or working cocker. We have studied the criteria closely and just caot be 100% sure. If anyone has managed to read this far in to my ong and probably oring post then frst of all, thanks, secondly could I email you a picture and you help us determine if he is show cocker or working cocker

Where did you get him from and did he have any papers with him as that will usually determine which

[Pearly]

Firstly, congratulations on taking on your boy - in my limited experience, dogs that are rehomed are because there is a reason and the food issue may well be your lads reason 

Secondly, congratulations on joining this forum - you'll get lots of friendly, helpful advise from seasoned cocker spaniel owners who are more than likely going through, or have gone through similar themselves!

Short answers to your questions as I'm on lunch break:

1 some cockers can be food motivated.  Be strong, don't give in to those spaniel eyes and with time he will start to settle....having said that, this may be due to his insecurities, as you've touched on in your post.  If it's a behaviour that really concerns you I would suggest seeking help and guidance from a Beaviourist (positive reward only) as they will evaluate him in your own surroundings which is something we can't do through the medium of the Internet 

2 yes, totally normal behaviour for a dog with a high prey-drive.  It leads me to think the answer to question 6 may be that he is a worker or a mix as my show type doesn't even chase her own tail...the wcs pup on the other hand will chase a leaf in the breeze!  You should consisder taking him to training (gun dog or other) to teach him some steadiness and stop at distance, he needs to learn that although you are out walking there are boundaries and he needs to come back when told.  Taking him to training will also increase the bond he has with you plus help win question 4 for which cockers are notorious - a trade off for being such loyal and affectionate dogs 

3 I think others on here will have better experience than I have 

5 the recommended physical exercise for a dog is 5 minutes for every month of age 2-3 times a day.  Dogs tend to like routines so I think the myth has some foundation but is less about fitness and more about "at 5.30 he expects to go out for an hour and a half walk".  I mix the training / walking sessions up for my two.  The show type (age 4.5) isn't well at the moment and grounded until we know what's wrong but the pup will be out for 20-30 minutes obedience training this evening, andthat's all, today! She's now 7 months old but will be mentally shattered after sitting, staying, stopping at distance and walking at heel.  She did do a longer walk, with breaks, on Saturday and with that in mind I'm letting her recover (plus I have other commitments today).  Tomorrow will be some scent training and more obedience, again for 20-30 minutes.  I'm finding keeping her mentally active is far better than just walking or physical exercise, takes less time to do and can be done indoors if wet outside 

Good luck with your boy - would be good to have some photos 

Jayne, Pearl and Coral

[elaine.e]

Hello and welcome to COL, and don't worry about your post being long 

To answer some of your points (I'll give them the same numbers that you have):

1. It's possible that he was spoiled by his previous owners and given treats, food off their plates, scraps when they were preparing food etc. and that has made him food obsessed. Having said that, it's a bit of a Cocker trait anyway, although your boy sounds a bit extreme. I think I'd persevere in ignoring the whining etc. (easier said than done, I know) and hope that he eventually realises it's getting him nowhere. Is he up to date with his worming and does he look a good size and shape, not skinny? What do you feed him? Some foods just don't seem to satisfy some dogs, so it would be worth considering a different food to see if that helped.

2. Don't give him any more opportunities to chase sheep, ever. I know you didn't anticipate it happening that first time, but TBH you're lucky he wasn't either shot by a farmer or that you haven't had the police round. Not sure if you realise this, but farmers are entitled to shoot dogs that are chasing or threatening their livestock. Your dog could have attacked, even killed the sheep he chased, and at the  least will have caused it a great deal of stress and if it was in lamb it may have aborted the lamb. They don't grow out of it, so please make sure he never has the opportunity to do it again. He might not be as lucky next time. Lecture over, but please, please take note of it

Personally I wouldn't encourage dogs to chase birds either. I'm sure he has fun, but while he's doing it he's out of control and it's probably increasing his chase and hunt drive.

4. Sounds like you're doing well with the separation anxiety. He's only been with you for a short while and is still adjusting, so I'm sure he has times when he feels a bit anxious. If it's improving then hopefully he will continue to do so. Dogs are social animals and generally don't like being alone for too long. Cockers are usually very people oriented and can suffer from separation problems more than some other breeds.

5. The usual rule of thumb for puppy walks is 5 minutes per month of age, so around 50 minutes or so at a time is fine. That can be done more than once a day and the amount of exercise you're giving him sounds OK to me. I'm a horse owner and know that with horses you want them to be fit for what you're doing with them, but not too fit. For instance a child's pony doesn't need to be as fit as a racehorse! So you do steady work to get the horse to the level of fitness that you want and then try to maintain it there. I believe it's much the same for dogs. Unless you're working a dog I think it needs to be fit enough to do the amount of walking that suits it's age and lifestyle, but if you keep on increasing exercise it will keep on needing that amount or may become bored and frustrated. Mental stimulation in the form of training and games can be just as tiring and can leave the dog feeling in need of a sleep or period of relaxation.

[elaine.e]

If you can post a photo of him I'm sure we'll be able to tell if he's a worker or show type, although if he's a mix of the two it might be more tricky but it will be nice to see photos of him anyway

Have a read of this link about how to post photos on here http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=15703.0

[elaine.e]

Just to say, I've removed your identical post on another board because this is the right place for it

[MIN]

you have your handsfull  with " nameless" spangle.
 I too have stood in a field crying my eyes out wondering what to say to OH when I go home dogless. But then truth be known we all have. Rest assured that there is no problem/ incident in the world created by a cocker that someone on here has not experienced. Remember as part of the " family" you are never alone  Welcome home

[BuryFCA1]

Thanks for all of your help everyone. In answer to the question above we have tried all sorts of dry food and now have him on a diet of dry food and some moist meat. I will try and get some pics uploaded

[Patp]

Welcome.  I have a cocker that will round up sheep/ goats / chickens at any opportunity.

She disappeared on a COL walk once when I wasnt quick enough to get her on the lead.  Although my heart was in my mouth, she did a perfect job moving them into the next field, and when we got round the corner I half expected one to be standing alone in a pen!

Still working on overcoming her chase drive!

[Helen]

Hi and welcome - a lot has been covered but in answer to your question - You ask if you should let your dog chase birds.  The answer, emphatically imho, is no.

Is there a gundog trainer near you?  I would really recommend contacting one.

Also I think there is too much emphasis on keeping cockers busy and often overstimulating them and not enough on teaching them down time.  He needs to learn how to relax and I would be starting off slowly with a kong maybe and 10 mins quiet time where he's not interacting - you can be in the room but not paying him attention - and build that up. 

For all those that have sheep chasers - the cold hard truth is that you're very lucky a farmer hasn't appeared and shot them.  That's the reality.  I would do anything to keep dogs under control around stock, it's not worth risking their lives.  If that means a long lead on walks where there could be sheep, so be it 

[rubybella]

Couldn't agree more with the comment about keeping cockers, particularly working, busy and overstimulating them.

I have a wcs. She gets 1 walk a day for between 1-1.5 hrs, which is 95% off lead. The walk is spent free running, retrieving balls, swimming and a bit of training. The rest of the day is spent sleeping or pottering around, following me outside in the garden or more sleeping. She doesn't bug me to do more and is a very content dog. She could easily tolerate more/longer walks, but I don't want her to be on the go all the time.

Don't be fooled into thinking cockers need to be kept busy for hours on end, they don't.

Also, don't actively encourage your dog to chase birds, it won't be useful in the long run and will just encourage high prey drive.

[BobnDot]

Just a few suggestions from a working cocker owner, who has a show cocker as well 

You may wish to consider getting a crate for your cocker and encouraging him to use it as a den for his down time. Covering it with a blanket often helps to provide a dark and safe environment that he'll hopefully learn to recognise as his place.

To get mine to calm down I use a "Chill" command reinforced by spreading out my arms, palms down and fingers splayed, and moving them towards the floor. Don't use the command forcefully but use a quiet voice and spread the word out "Chiiiiiiillllll" while encouraging him to lie down, rewarding him with a gentle stroking and quiet "Good boy".
If needs be get down on the floor with him at first and encourage him to lie alongside you using gentle petting to keep him there. This one to one contact is very important and best carried out in a nice quiet environment when there are no noises or other distractions about.

As others have said, it's absolutely vital that he's not allowed to chase sheep or other animals and I would also advise going to a professional trainer, ideally APDT registered, ( http://www.apdt.co.uk ) to get him started on a solid recall. In the meantime I'd suggest the use of a long training lead to keep him under control.

Bob.

[Pearly]

There is already some great advice on this thread 

I also use a settle command with my dogs, in my case it's the word "snoozie" which originates from pressing that button on the radio alarm clock and asking Pearl to go back to sleep.  Both dogs know the command, which means "lie down, be calm, go to sleep or settle" great for use after COL meets in the pub 

Another tip to consider is to train your boy to wait at doors, gates, styles or narrow entrances/exits until you go through first and then release him to follow.  Nothing to do with the out dated dominance theory but just plain manners, reduction in stress when attempting to leave the house with an over excited cocker and safety when out.  It takes persistence and a solid sit/stop which does come with time but everyone in the house has to do this with him so he receives a a consistent command.  The biggest benefit is that if you are walking across fields he will learn to wait before heading through a gate, to let you pop his lead on, before checking if the next field has any livestock.  At the very least, that moments doubt/hesitation may make the difference between recalling him or having a dog that isn't under control chasing livestock/birds.