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Offline SteveCole

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First ever puppy... a few questions
« on: November 01, 2017, 09:05:14 AM »
Hi all,

Our cocker spaniel puppy (Bailey) is our first-ever dog. He's 10 weeks old and settling into his new home well. We love the little chap. But, as a newbie to raising a puppy I have a few questions I'd really appreciate your help with. We get so much advice, but this is mainly from people who don't have cockers. I'd love some 'first-hand' advice.

1. Biting - I understand we should expect a degree of biting in the early days. So far we've been saying a firm 'no' and if it persists (it usually does) we give him a time out in his pen. After 5-minuites (ish) we let him out. Often he starts again, and again. This morning I put him in his pen about 10 times on succession. He just wouldn't stop. Any advice?

2. Hyper - we wanted a loving family dog, but an active dog that we could take for long walks and even, in time, running with us. However, Bailey often has hyper spells which can last 20-minutes of so. Again, we expected this. But, this morning it last around 2-hours (the morning after his 2nd injections). I'm assuming this is normal but is there anything we can do?

3. Just up - Bailey is constantly jumping up at our sofa. We tell him 'down' but it rarely makes a difference. We've tried giving him a treat when he sits, which works great but it seems to encourage him to do it again. It makes me think he knows that if he jumps up, we tell him to sit and then give him a treat. Am I right?

4. We leave him from 8.30am - 12pm and 1pm - 3pm. The morning is fine as he goes to sleep when we leave, but he's a nightmare when I leave at 1pm - howling, crying etc. Will he soon get into this routine?

I think that's it. We will be starting puppy training classes in two weeks so I am sure we'll get a few answers but I'd really appreciate advice from fellow owners.

Thanks in advance,

Steve

Offline Leo0106

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Re: First ever puppy... a few questions
« Reply #1 on: November 01, 2017, 10:43:20 AM »
Hi Steve,
Welcome to puppy parenthood!

I won't be able to help too much as I am a first time owner myself, our pup is a year old on Sunday and we have been through all the trials you appear to be going through.

Biting- you sound like you're doing the right thing. It's really difficult but ensuring you stop all play etc when he bites is a good way to make him realise it's not ok, we never had much success with yelping or saying ouch so we just used to get up and walk out the room so he knew that biting would stop all fun.

Hyper- you're completely Right, pups love to be active and on the go, we have always found that Leo becomes over hyper and unmanageable if he is overtired. He goes into overdrive and often needs to be put in his bed in another room for a while to have a sleep. We have also always found that mental stimulation is really important. Starting basics like sit and lie and stay will make his brain work really hard and tires him out.

Jumping up- well..  we never wanted Leo on the sofa and he's currently curled up next to me on the sofa... we failed in that aspect however, ignorance for this is a really effective way of tackling this. If he jumps up and you start talking to him, telling him to get down and then treating him, he will soon learn that jumpig up gives him the attention he wants. You may want to try completely ignoring him if he jumps up, maybe walk out of the room, when he jumps down off of his own accord, give him loads of praise and fuss and then enforce the command by saying something like 'good down!!' So he learns that 'down is good.

Finally the howling, I was always so concerned that Leo would develop desperation anxiety so bought a puppy cam that connects to my phone. More for my reassurance ofcourse but the minute I close the front door he always stopped crying.
Maybe try leaving him with a really high value treat or treatfinding you and don't make goodbyes a big thing.  We don't say goodbye to Leo but make sure greetings are really fun.


I hope this helps slightly. I'm not expert and I'm sure you will get some more great advice but hopefully this will give you some good ideas too.

Becca

Offline bmthmark

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Re: First ever puppy... a few questions
« Reply #2 on: November 01, 2017, 11:14:14 AM »
Hi Steve

Congratulations on your new pup.
I have a 1 year old cocker spaniel (Jett) and can totally relate to the questions you asked and I can assure you most people have been through the same as you.
It may seem hard/stressful now but I can assure you it does get easier as they get older.

1. Biting - you are doing doing exactly what I did. The other thing I did was if I felt it was too much I would ignore him completely. I also made sure he had a toy to bite. He eventually learnt that he was not going to get anywhere if he continued to bite hard. When he now plays with me now he know what is accepatble.

2. Hyper - this is completely normal, they seem to get a build up of energy. Once you start walking him he will use this energy up and the hyper sessions will be shorter. Mine always has a mad moment after he wakes up.

3. Jumping on sofa - this is a rule in our house. Jett is not allowed on the sofa, it took him ages to understand this. We just kept saying 'Off' and after a couple of months he understood that he has his own bed.

4. Its good that you are getting in to a routine leaving him. This was my biggest hurdle as mine hated it and would cry and howl. He is fine now but I have to leave him with a nice treat. He now associates me leaving with something nice. I also try and leave when he is calm and will not say bye or anything before I go, I try to not make a big deal of it. When I return I don't go over the top and I try to stay calm like nothing has happened.
At 10 weeks old I struggled to leave mine more than 30 minutes without problems. So I had to gradually leave mine for 5 minutes at a time. He is fine now and to be honest I think it does him good as it gives him rest time, which he definately needs.

As mentioned rest time is a key thing for these little pups, they don't like to rest but they definitely need it.

Hows the toilet training coming along?


Good luck and enjoy your puppy.

Mark

Offline SteveCole

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Re: First ever puppy... a few questions
« Reply #3 on: November 01, 2017, 01:23:37 PM »
Thanks both. It's good to hear that I'm not alone and I'm on the right track with my actions thus far. I've just been home at lunch and he seems loads better. Phew.

The toilet training is going great. We get the odd wee accident but pretty much every 'no. 2' is outside. We take him out every hour (sometimes more) and certainly after a decent drink or his food. He recognises the word 'treat' so whenever he goes to the toilet outside he gets a treat. It seems to be working!

When he's in his pen at night, or during the day, we have a training mat which he uses well also.

He is ravenous though. I've never seen anything devour food like Bailey. He gets around 120gr of food per day, spread over 3 meals plus a few treats. He'd eat double that (maybe more!) if we let him!

Offline David Morgan

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Re: First ever puppy... a few questions
« Reply #4 on: November 01, 2017, 03:01:14 PM »
Hi there,

we have two nine year olds and a 6 month old puppy.

Biting - puppies bite. They grow out of it too. Saying "ouch" worked for us, along with always being ready to substitute a toy for a sensitive finger. Mason stopped biting for a while, but now mouths at hands and fingers, very gently. He works out his teething frustrations of toys and plastic bottles.

Hyper - they do calm down. It may take two years, but they do calm down. Make sure he gets as much exercise as he can tolerate without health risks (5 mins per month of age). They are an active breed and you will need to help them burn off excess energy.

Sofa - I cannot imagine not being able to cuddle up with a spaniel. Are you really sure you don't want Bailey up with you?

As for food, they are growing really fast and need lots of food. Mason is now on the same as his big brother at 200g a day, despite being smaller and getting less exercise. He must have gained 6kg or more in the four months we have had him and all that weight had to come from somewhere. In my experience, cockers are greedy little dogs and you will need to watch this. Ours will eat until they are ready to explode; given a chance.

Offline RobinRed

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Re: First ever puppy... a few questions
« Reply #5 on: November 01, 2017, 07:26:58 PM »
Hi
I'm on my second cocker puppy with Harry but its 13 years since Missi was a pup so I'd forgotten everything. I think I've read the majority of puppy threads on here now and the help given is invaluable.  My experience of Harry so far:
1. Biting. It hurts and he's got very sharp teeth! In the early days I certainly cried from sore hands at least once.  I read on here that often it's worse when they're tired so now he goes to bed (he sleeps in a crate) whenever he starts and when he wakes up again he's like an angel. He also has a tough soft toy which we pop in his mouth when we know it's not tiredness, we started doing this at about 10 weeks and now he uses it to help himself settle.
2. Hyper. Yes he is  >:D, I read on here that he might be worse when he's tired and he is - so off for another nap and when he wakes up he's like an angel (again)
3. Sofa - sorry I'm guilty - two cockers on my sofa.
4. Sorry to hear you're having trouble leaving Bailey in the afternoon. Harry gets left twice in the day too and at lunchtime I concentrate on training and scent games as I read on here that brain games are more tiring than lead walking, my plan is to tire Harry out mentally so he sleeps soundly. . I do always leave the radio on though and that might help too.

I think the best bit of advice I had from COL early on was that pups need 16 hours sleep a day and I try to stick to that. Harry's having his evening nap now and will be up again at 8pm before bedtime at 10pm. Once we started keeping an eye on his sleep his behaviour improved considerably and he seemed much happier and more settled.

I hope this helps.

Good luck!




Offline Rowan Liver Roan

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Re: First ever puppy... a few questions
« Reply #6 on: November 04, 2017, 03:49:26 PM »
I don't have a puppy as Rowan is now 6, but what a difference as a puppy to our previous golden retrievers. She really was a minx and a constant biter. The only reassurance I can offer is that the adult cocker is exactly the kind of dog you've said you want so stick with it. Once you've survived past 11 months it's a breeze and happy ever after 😂
Proud to be owned by a cocker spaniel.