Overexcited new puppy! Any advice welcome!

[Beaker]

Hi all,

I've just got a little black cocker spaniel puppy, he is just over 10 weeks old now and we have had him for about 10 days now so still very early days. He is adorable, but the last few days have been a bit of a nightmare and we are starting to wonder what an earth we have done!! So I thought I would join this forum to get a bit of moral support and advice! I know puppies are hard work and energetic, but I don't remember my parents dogs ever being like this as puppies. I did lots of reading up beforehand to know how to settle him in, start crating, toilet training, etc etc and he has been to 1 puppy training class already. Toilet training is going ok, he does go outside most of the time as I take him out regularly but also still quite a few accidents but I know it all takes time.

Main problems are that when I have him out he gets so over excited and bites my hands and feet all the time even though I try to encourage him to play with his toys. I say No firmly, and have tried Tssht noise, turning away, walking away etc but he just seems to get more worked up. Not quite sure how to handle this, as if I then put him in his crate for quiet time he gets himself really worked up scraping the bottom of the crate and rattling the door. He was pretty good at being in his crate at night to begin with, but now whines more and more when I put him in and it is really bad if I put him in his crate during the day for short periods of time. He does settle down after about 5-10 mins. I've been putting treats, toys, kong etc in the crate with him but he completely ignores them and all he focuses on is that he is shut in the crate and I'm not there. Arghh! Hopefully things will get better, especially once we can take him out for walks which we can as of this weekend. He was very docile when we first got him, almost to the point where I was a bit worried that he was so shy and quiet. But he came out his shell after going to a puppy training, and meeting a couple of my friends young dogs. I wonder whether this is him starting to test the boundaries a bit now that he is growing in confidence?

I'd be really glad to hear some other peoples experiences of the first few weeks/months with their cocker spaniel puppy and how they dealt with an over excited puppy. I'm sure all this is normal, but I'd just like some hope that it will get better  at some point as right now my husband and I are pretty stressed out and not enjoying our new puppy as much as I would like to!!

thank you!!

[Murphys Law]

Your experiences sound exactly like mine. My little fella is 12 weeks old (we have had him sfor10 days or so) and behaves just like describe. I followed this advice

http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=64171.0

I give Murphy a couple of loud 'NO's' and if he is still biting he goes off to the garden for a couple of minutes. I let him back in and if he carries on he straight back in the garden. He doesn't like this at all.

It took him a couple of days but he is beginning to work out that no means no. I don't need to put him outside any more. Just carrying him to the patio doors can often put the message across.

From reading plenty on here, I don't think what you are experiencing is anything out of the ordinary when it comes to cocker puppys.

[HBP]

We have had our pup for 6 weeks now and no book could prepare us for the reality of a Cocker pup!! I felt sure we had done more research than the average puppy owner, but there's nothing like the real thing! The first few weeks are stressful and there are times when you think WHY did we do this!? Especially with the biting! But it honestly does get better. Just be firm and consistent and stick to your guns. There's nothing that can wind you up faster than an unruly puppy but try and keep your cool and you'll get there. There's some amazing advice on here too. Much better than any i could give, but just wanted to reply as we were in same boat as you not 3 weeks ago. And some days still are!! Good luck xx

[Murphys Law]

Well I spoke too soon.

In the last hour Murphy has managed to draw blood on my thumb and give my wife a nasty nip on the leg. Just when things were going well.

Oh well, back to the drawing board

[lesley3165]

Stick with it, meg is now nearly 9 months old and we went through exactly what you are going through now. I promise it does get better. I found they go through stages of behaviour each lasting about 6-8 weeks . We're going through the chewing stage and it's driving me crazy but then so did each of the other stages!! Guess I'm just a crazy cocker owner!! Wouldn't swap her for the world though!!

[Pearly]

All completely normal I'm afraid    

Pearl is now 2.5 years and there are days when I miss the cockerdile moments, the fly past attempts at nipping my bottom if I'm ignoring her and having to chase to get shoes/socks/slippers/underwear back

Whilst it may seem hard work at the moment, they grow up so quickly and you'll look back and wonder what the problem was!

This is a great forum, full of lots of advice and support - most if not all of what you are going through we've all experienced....

Welcome to COL  

Jayne and Pearl

[MIN]

All completely normal I'm afraid    

Pearl is now 2.5 years and there are days when I miss the cockerdile moments, the fly past attempts at nipping my bottom if I'm ignoring her and having to chase to get shoes/socks/slippers/underwear back

Whilst it may seem hard work at the moment, they grow up so quickly and you'll look back and wonder what the problem was!

This is a great forum, full of lots of advice and support - most if not all of what you are going through we've all experienced....

Welcome to COL  

Jayne and Pearl

so true, been there, done that,  all we mere humans can do is grin and hang on in there, there is light at the end of the cockerdiles 

[abzy0309]

Welcome to COL 

All completely normal... 

Seriously though it is very tough at times and I really struggled. I even asked my husband to take Reggie back  . I put lots of posts asking for help and got some brilliant advice. It's a great forum and if anything keeps you sane.

The one, best piece of advice I have got is that alcohol helps a lot!

Ps it does get better!

[Beaker]

Thank you all for your words of support and advice! I was amazed to see so many responses so quickly. A stranger actually told me about this forum last week when i was carrying my pup out and about, she has cocker spaniels and recommended it and im so glad ive discovered it! It's nice to know I'm going through what everyone else is or has gone through. Wine definitely helps - have worked that one out! I'll try the tip to put him outside when he nips. One silver lining is that he's very good at night, very little whining when he goes in his crate and he sleeps through until about 5am when I take him out and straight back in.

Love the cockerdile phrase, it definitely feels like that at the moment haha!

Thanks again, I'll definitely be making the most of the forum and getting as much advice as possible 

[Archie bean]

Thank you all for your words of support and advice! I was amazed to see so many responses so quickly. A stranger actually told me about this forum last week when i was carrying my pup out and about, she has cocker spaniels and recommended it and im so glad ive discovered it! It's nice to know I'm going through what everyone else is or has gone through. Wine definitely helps - have worked that one out! I'll try the tip to put him outside when he nips. One silver lining is that he's very good at night, very little whining when he goes in his crate and he sleeps through until about 5am when I take him out and straight back in.

Love the cockerdile phrase, it definitely feels like that at the moment haha!

Thanks again, I'll definitely be making the most of the forum and getting as much advice as possible 

It doesn't have to be actually outside, just out of the room with the door closed.  Only for 30 secs or so too. Just enough to give them the message that biting means they lose your company. Even the worst of the worst (my Archie  ) improve in time.

[*Marie*]

Oh yes I remember those early days with bracken on day four after a lot of nipping & biting I thought to myself what have I done, he was endlessly playing havoc with those baby teeth he was a  in disguise! Think it was more to the fact we had a Goldie before who was very calm & placid so it was a shock to the system after a month of having him I got used to being active move running around after him lol! Bracken is now 13 months and very gentle & calm----ish Hee!

[maddy74]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

I know exactly what you are going through. Willow is nearly 3 now but despite loads of research her puppyhood was a very stressful time.

There were more bad days than good days to start with and i was often in tears as she was like the duracell bunny in terms of energy levels. The puppy biting and having to have eyes everywhere was the worst. Then when she slept i found myself tip toing around her like a baby as the peace and quiet was bliss. 

It does get easier i promise. You have had some sound advice. Keep up the good work it will all be worth it in the end.

[Ldavies38]

Dispite puppyhood being hard sometimes.... I found a chunk of fur taken out of my expensive slippers yest !!
Cockers I find the happiest most content dogs. When u see them in the park no matter the age. They are beaming with excitement. Mine is 5 1/2 months now. Once the toilet trainning is totally mastered u feel like u don't need to watch them so much. How are u getting on nigh times in the crate?? And what is your routine??

[Murphys Law]

Thank you all for your words of support and advice! I was amazed to see so many responses so quickly. A stranger actually told me about this forum last week when i was carrying my pup out and about, she has cocker spaniels and recommended it and im so glad ive discovered it! It's nice to know I'm going through what everyone else is or has gone through. Wine definitely helps - have worked that one out! I'll try the tip to put him outside when he nips. One silver lining is that he's very good at night, very little whining when he goes in his crate and he sleeps through until about 5am when I take him out and straight back in.

Love the cockerdile phrase, it definitely feels like that at the moment haha!

Thanks again, I'll definitely be making the most of the forum and getting as much advice as possible  

It doesn't have to be actually outside, just out of the room with the door closed.   Only for 30 secs or so too. Just enough to give them the message that biting means they lose your company. Even the worst of the worst (my Archie  ) improve in time.

The hard part is shutting the door before the little darlings manage to get back in. Sometimes it is the full comedy 'That will teach you' shut the door only to turn around and find the puppy back in the room, sitting there planning his next attack. 

[wendall]

Welcome to COL, we`ve all been there No one has mentioned that its very important to post a picture of the new addition so we can get puppy broody...