I can't believe how quick time flies. So thought I would update you lovely people on our progress.
Last December we welcomed a lovely 10 week old cocker spaniel to join our family
.
We named him Jett and this was him when we got him:
As you can see he is absolutely gorgeous and everyone who met him instantly fell in love with him.
Over the Christmas period (luckily I had lots of time off work) I spent all days and nights with him and we really did get that special bond.
I was literally a walking zombie at times as I really wanted to get the house training sorted asap, so I was up pretty much every other hour teaching him where to go etc.
That was probably the toughest time and I must admit I was not prepared for it, I thought I was but I really wasn't. I have young children but having a puppy is much harder.
Unfortunately due to tiredness and me being grumpy I really did think to myself what have I let myself in for, how will I ever cope with this and full time work. But with help from my wife and kids we battled through the hard times.
Like any new puppy we had lots of problems:
Not sleeping at night
Destroying every toy in sight
Chasing the cat
Stealing socks
Eats tissues
He had a week of eating wallpaper!!
Running off on a walk!
Pooing on my mothers brand new rug!
Destroying the garden
Digging the brand new carpet (I know I was mad to get new carpet)
Pulling on the lead
However with all the faults and issues we have had, after 10 months I finally can see what a wonderful cocker spaniel we have
. No matter what mood we are in, he will always welcome us home with his whole body wagging
. He is follows me everywhere and most of the time will do as he is told. He does have his moments but everything he does is harmless and he just likes to have fun (he is a puppy after all).
He now sleeps through completely through the night 10pm until 7am, he still destroys toys (he is a puppy), he loves the cat and is very gentle with him (the cat may think different), he still steals socks (he just loves them), he has stopped eatting tissues and has not destroyed anymore wall paper, he sticks by me on walks, he has not had any toilet accidents for probably 4 months now and he has a bell by the back door that he knocks when he wants to go, he has destroyed most of the garden so nothing left to destroy, he has not dug at the carpet again. Finally we are still in lead training which is a very slow process but he will get there
.
So my message to all the people out there with new puppies is, I know you are probably going through a tough time but stick with it be strong and firm and all will work out fine. Definitely get your puppy in to puppy classes as its a great start for them.
Every morning I spend 20 minutes with him doing training which he absolutely loves, his head pops up when I say the word 'Training' as he knows fun and treats are about to arrive. When I say training its only basic stuff like find, sitting, waiting, down, fetch etc and we always end with him giving paw to me. The reason for me doing this is because I want to keep reminding him the commands as its easy for both of us to forget them.
I also take him gun dog training every 2 weeks but this is only mainly for obedience. I'm not actually going to 'work' him. He is doing really well at the training, he can stay for 2 minutes (whilst I walk away) and is very good at finding the dummies and bringing them back to me, just trying to work on him holding on to them for a bit longer. He does have his moments as he loves playing with the other dogs but this is all part of his learning/growing and I think socialising him with other dogs is key.
This is Jett now
:
Oh and just to prove Jett gets on with the cat. Jett gave up his bed for his best mate
:
Thank you to all the advice given to me on this forum, i'm not sure I would of been able to do it without your help - thank you.
