Not coping

[Joules]

Oh yes, I remember this - I was frequently in tears or near to them when Coco was a pup    I often thought I had made a terrible mistake - it is very hard work and living on my own I had no one to take her off my hands for a moment, I really felt I disliked her at times.    Luckily I am quite pig headed and was never going to give my family the satisfaction of saying I couldn't cope with her so I persevered   Thank doG for COL though - it made me realise Coco was just a typical pup and there was nothing wrong with her. Nor was I doing anything wrong (despite my lack of experience) apart from getting myself stressed and wound up about it. 

Just have a stiff drink and a few more biccies - tomorrow is another day - you can start afresh.    Hopefully you get enough good days to compensate for the awful ones - when Coco was in her teenage phase it often didn't seem that way though.   I can honestly say that I love her far more now than I did when she was a pup  - we both took quite some time to get used to each other and to settle into a routine that worked for us.  I had to learn her limitations and how far I could trust her and not expect too much too soon.  She is still a little sod at times but is generally pretty easy to manage (or maybe she just has me trained now!  )

Stick with it, it will get better. 

[Top Barks]

Hope you have a better day tommorow.

[sophiew]

She's currently throwing her biscuit Squirrel around the room with gusto to get what's remaining of her dinner from it.... at least she's occupied!

Thanks everyone, I feel much better for sharing my problems, you're all fab! Tomorrow's a new day... 

[lisalh]

I can thoroughly recommend Red Wine for the 'puppy from hell' stage and if you look back through some of my earlier posts you can see I used an extraordinary amount of the stuff.. Funnily enough I was only saying today to my friend today (she has a spaniel cross 2 days younger than my boy!) that it is hard to believe they are the same dogs we cried so many frustrated tears over and now they are the sedate sensible older siblings of the brood we usually walk with.  Take heart there is light at the end of the tunnel- it is just a shame the soddin thing is so long some days

[blueroanlover]

Hi Sophie

You are not alone - it helps to know that because it helped me last week. We have only had our Blue Roan boy for two weeks but by god it feels like 2 years.

Constant playbiting and growling and barking (answering back when we try to stop him)... tried all the things people have advised us to do to stop it; but nothing works. It is impossible to walk away from him as he is hanging on to our ankles and legs - at the moment he is back in his crate and has gone to sleep.

Looks adorable when asleep but I have never had a pup like him.  And I can easily understand and empathise with anyone who said they don't or didn't like their pup.  But that is such a shame in my book - puppy hood should be enjoyed not endured.  I have enjoyed the puppyhood of all the other dogs I have had (not Cockers).  This one however, sends us to bed exhausted and in tears wondering whether we have made the biggest mistake of our life.

We dread getting up in the morning - if we go out we dread coming back to be with him.  Not good. So we end up feeling guilty that we feel like that.

I now its early days but he is so manic that we cannot do anything with him. He is 10 weeks. A baby.... but a nightmare.

I hope you carry on and CAN cope - good luck!

[Joules]

Hope all you new puppy owners have a better day today 

[sophiew]

Thank you everyone, nice to know others have been there too!

She slept until 8am (unheard of!) and I came down to make tea and gave her a Kong while I got myself ready. Then took her for a walk to my parents' house and she had a play with their terrier, then walked home via the field. Her lead walking was wonderful because I was concentrating just on her (wonder what the neighbours think but hey) and she sat at the roads and was generally a little angel.

Then we came home, and did some work on getting her used to my new rabbit that arrived (unplanned - but he's here now!) at the weekend, so did gradual introductions with him loose and her doing sits, downs, stands etc. and concentrating on me. It went really well, to the point that she can interact with him (he went for her though, her own fault for pushing him too far, no harm done!). Better than the lab, who can't understand why I've bought living food into the house! 

So far so good - I know it's only 10.30 so there's a lot of day left to go, but we're doing ok!

Fingers crossed

Sophie
x

[Poppypuppy09]

Hang on in there....I promise you it gets easier. Looks like you have started off well today   

[SandraD]

Good to hear you've had a better start to your day Sophie.  Fingers crossed today is going to be one of the good ones!

[MaggieR]

Sounds like a good day Will keep everything crossed it continues that way!!!

[Nicola]

I'm glad you've had a better day today, stick at it, it sounds like you're doing everything right and you'll get there

. Her lead walking was wonderful because I was concentrating just on her (wonder what the neighbours think but hey) and she sat at the roads and was generally a little angel.

Caoimhe's just turned a year old and even now if I'm out with her it's just me and her and I'm sure people think I'm mad because my focus is entirely on her. When I first got her at 5 months every time I took her out I was constantly running around with her bent over clapping my hands at her level to keep her attention, changing direction, talking to her, getting down on the ground with her, introducing the whistle, rolling tennis balls, producing treats randomly etc. I'd be exhausted after 10 minutes but it's definitely paid off. I encouraged her at that age to jump all over me, everything was a game and she loved it (and still does!). There are some photos of me making an eejit of myself working with her at that age on here http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=61372.0

[Emma xx]

Glad you're having a better day so far , im just having a minutes peace (Meg too!!) whilst Alfie kips in his crate . Hope the rest of the day goes as well xxx

[sophiew]

Happy puppy...



Happy me!

x

[hollyd443]

Is that a tube of super glue I can see in the background?





 

Seriously though, really pleased to hear you are having a better day today. The photo is a scene of absolute bliss!  She is definately a fire loving Roxy-ite! 

As Nic says, don't care what people think when you are training!! I had to retrain Mika's recall a few months back - nealt down in a muddy field with arms outstretched squealing "Meeekymeeekymeeekymika come" "what a clever little superstar, whose Mummy's little angel" etc at the top of my voice I did look a plum but it worked!  tehe My Mum is at pup training classes as I type with her Pap Pup so she'll be doing the same thing now no doubt! 

[Poppypuppy09]

Now that is one lovely pic    So glad you are having a better day today!