CockersOnline Forum
Cocker Specific Discussion => Puppies => Topic started by: SandyT on March 29, 2017, 10:42:00 PM
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So I've made it through almost two weeks with our Cocker Spaniel puppy! I meant to wrote sooner but have just been too tired ;). We bought a crate straight away and put soft blankets and cuddly toys inside. I also rubbed a small blanket on the mother dog for her scent and put that in the crate too. By the end of the first week she was going into the crate on her own to sleep at night, once she's asleep we do latch the crate door.
My hubby has been on night duty, sleeping on the sofa next to the crate. She's down to having to go outside just once during the night, usually early morning about 3-4 am.
I tried putting down puppy pads but she chews them immediately, same with newspaper - she shreds it up so we quickly gave up that idea and just take her outside.
I've been taking her outside at least once an hour, more often if she looks like she's smelling around too much. I have her poos timed fairly well but the wees are totally inconsistent so as often as I take her there are still accidents. Sometimes there might only be 15 minutes between wees. Tonite after sitting with her outside for 20 minutes she wee'd on the kitchen floor immediately after bringing her inside so she obviously doesn't understand yet! So that was a bit frustrating.
We also have a big problem with her play biting right now, especially with our 8 year old son. We are trying the method of giving her a toy to play with or giving her a disapproving "no" but neither are really working.
She has also created what I call her "chewing corner". This is where she grabs things and takes them to chew. So when a sock or shoe, or for example today one of the coasters was missing off the coffee table, we check the "chewing corner" and can usually find it there. This little girl is awfully fast, I feel like I watch her like a hawk but somehow she is still able to sneak naughty things she shouldn't have into the chewing corner!
I had flower plants coming up in the garden but they've all disappeared now, Stella has taken care of all my plants :( (I guess I'd rather plant new ones that I can be sure are dog friendly anyway.)
So does this all sound pretty typical for a cocker spaniel puppy in the first weeks?? >:D
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Hi! - yes, I'd say its all absolutely typical and you have a normal healthy and happy puppy! Its sounds like you're doing well - don't worry too much about the house training bit, that will come but even when they understand what they have to do, they don't have control of their bladders, so you can expect accidents for a little while yet probably - at least wirh summer on the way now, it makes things a little easier ;).
The biting is also normal but obviously you need to be consistent there too but it sounds like you've got it all under control. When Humphrey used to get a bit too wild, I found that just standing up with arms folded and my back to him helped to calm things down a little, or simply time out - I used to put him outside the room (with no comment and no eye contact) and shut the door for 5 minutes - being ignored is often more effective than a "No".
Looking forward to more updates and pictures!!
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Yep what you described is exactly what I went through in the first 2 weeks. I really didn't expect it to be so hard, but I promise it gets 100 times easier as they get older.
The hardest bit was watching him trying to judge if he is sniffing for the toilet. Then it was a case of grabbing him and taking him out. We picked the worst time ever as it was over the winter period so the weather wasn't very kind to us.
My pup did the same with training pads, he would literally shred them. My advice would be to not bother with them and continue to do what you are doing. She will get there soon. But there will always the odd accident. If she does go inside just try and take her out asap, even if she is just starting to go. Also make sure you clean it up with some special cleaning stuff (sorry I forgot the name) as the smell can attract them to go in the same place.
With regards to the biting, when she does this ignore her and she will soon realise that when she does this she gets no attention.
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It took us four weeks to get Henry mostly toilet trained with the odd accident for another month after that. So you're still in the early days.
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You've trained a human very well to sleep on the sofa! My puppies have always learnt to cope with one puddle in the night and me getting up early to pop them out ,have a cuppa,and go back to bed!
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You've trained a human very well to sleep on the sofa! My puppies have always learnt to cope with one puddle in the night and me getting up early to pop them out ,have a cuppa,and go back to bed!
Sames [emoji1360]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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We used diluted white vinegar to mop the accidents. We didn't use puppy pads, but got up in the night, and also took him outside every hour, and used a clicker when he performed along with the words ,wee wee,, and he soon got the idea. You're doing fine ;)
Lesley and Dylan
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Tolls suddenly got the idea on Saturday, and he turned 14 weeks on Monday. He was clueless until that point, and it suddenly clicked. Oddly, Poppy clicked too the day before she turned 14 weeks!
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Tolls suddenly got the idea on Saturday, and he turned 14 weeks on Monday. He was clueless until that point, and it suddenly clicked. Oddly, Poppy clicked too the day before she turned 14 weeks!
Be warned I thought my lovely pup had the right idea and was doing everything fine at home. Until I went to my mothers house (which is spotless) and my lovely pup decided to run straight in and leave a lovely smelly present on her nice new rug!! :005: little monster >:D
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Good to know it's all normal so far! :lol2:
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All absolutely normal! Ozzy was the worst 'cockerdile' ever - I despaired of him ever growing out of it, but he did! I found that after all his baby teeth came out and he had his adult teeth, most of the biting stopped - he'd still do it on occasion, but as the new teeth weren't so needle-sharp it didn't seem so bad!