Hello. Just to introduce myself and my new puppy Maisy.
I've had dogs forever, Jack Russells, Labradors, Collie cross spaniel, German Shepherds, but never a Cocker Spaniel. Goodness, how different, but in a good way! Maisy is 11 weeks old and from working stock. I can't believe how quickly and eager she can learn. We got her at 9 weeks and within 24 hours of her arriving she was sitting when asked, and doesn't seem to mind having a lead loosely around her neck when in the house (to get her used to it, advised by someone who trains and works with spaniels - although theirs are kept in kennels outside). She gets plenty of praise when she does something right, which she loves.
Her housetraining is coming on well generally, although have the odd accident when I am not paying attention to her 'asking' to go out. She doesn't give much notice, but we go into the garden when she wakes up and to play for a while. She does 'pee' on command mostly, and we are working on the pooping on command, again bit hit and miss. She tries to help clean up when she pees by mistake in the kitchen which is really comical although painful with the needle teeth when she tries to get the tissue!
I have tried to put her in her crate, but she really does cry and get upset. She paws at the door to get out. She has slept in it a few nights, but I found that she gets so distressed she messes in it. I have never had a dog crate trained, but I would like to be able to put her in without her getting distressed. It is a huge crate so it's plenty big enough for when she's fully grown. Any suggestions on how to deal with this, would be really appreciated.
She's not going to be left for long periods of time as I'm lucky enough to be at home most of the day. And I am soooo looking forward to going for long walks etc when she's big enough.
Looking forward to spending time on this forum! Thanks in advance.
