CockersOnline Forum
Cocker Specific Discussion => Puppies => Topic started by: ellen271153 on February 23, 2014, 04:06:23 PM
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Can anyone help i bought my Cocker Spaniel at 8 weeks and he is now six months as a Cocker Spaniel but have since been told by various people including a ver that they think he is a working Cocker. I have attached picture for you to look at if anyone one has a view of what he is let me know.
also does anyone else have problems with their Cocker. I have been going to obediance classes with him but he still barks and snaps at me when i give commands. he also barks and growls and jump up all the time when i try to get him to do anything.
I have tried to put a picture on but i cannot see how to do it
many thanks Rose
(http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p402/rosetoms/P1010135_zps19ac5bd1.jpg) (http://s346.photobucket.com/user/rosetoms/media/P1010135_zps19ac5bd1.jpg.html)
(http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p402/rosetoms/P1010138_zpscca37151.jpg) (http://s346.photobucket.com/user/rosetoms/media/P1010138_zpscca37151.jpg.html)
(http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p402/rosetoms/P1010137_zps631f14ea.jpg) (http://s346.photobucket.com/user/rosetoms/media/P1010137_zps631f14ea.jpg.html)
(http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p402/rosetoms/P1010136_zps3bd11e46.jpg) (http://s346.photobucket.com/user/rosetoms/media/P1010136_zps3bd11e46.jpg.html)
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Hello and welcome to COL :D
This link http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=15703.0 tells you how to post a photo. it will ne nice to see a picture of your boy and that will help in being able to tell you if he's a working or show type Cocker. I'm guessing that you were unaware that there are 2 types and your puppy's breeder didn't tell you? Is your puppy Kennel Club registered? The names on his pedigree will give give clues if any of his ancestors came from well known show breeders or worker breeders.
It sounds like he is your first Cocker? They are a lively, inquisitive, intelligent breed, generally busy and needing to have things to do to keep them occupied. Cocker puppies can be very hard work, but they're also very rewarding, although it often doesn't seem like that during the puppy and teenage months :lol2:. Don't worry, there will be lots of good advice and reassurance from other puppy owners on here :blink:
With regard to his behaviour, it may help if you give an idea of what sort of training you do with him, how much exercise he has, and, if he's left on his own while you're working for instance, does he have anyone to spend some time with him or anything to keep him occupied?
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hi Rose
as Elaine says try to post a photo. Until then, a quick guide. Workers heads are flat between the ears. A show type head is raised between the ears
this is our Gemma, a worker
(http://i1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh589/lentonlo/DSCF0202_zpsbf564688.jpg) (http://s1253.photobucket.com/user/lentonlo/media/DSCF0202_zpsbf564688.jpg.html)
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This Henry. He's a show type Cocker.
(http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w231/Robbie34_photo/IMG_2120.jpg) (http://s177.photobucket.com/user/Robbie34_photo/media/IMG_2120.jpg.html)
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Another show head here
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7301/12276488115_97c22b57da.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dipsydoodlenoodle/12276488115/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dipsydoodlenoodle/12276488115/) by dipsydoodlenoodle (http://www.flickr.com/people/dipsydoodlenoodle/), on Flickr
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This is Murphy and he is a bit of both.
(http://i759.photobucket.com/albums/xx239/Lin3ar/20131230_110604.jpg) (http://s759.photobucket.com/user/Lin3ar/media/20131230_110604.jpg.html)
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Another show head here
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7301/12276488115_97c22b57da.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dipsydoodlenoodle/12276488115/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dipsydoodlenoodle/12276488115/) by dipsydoodlenoodle (http://www.flickr.com/people/dipsydoodlenoodle/), on Flickr
Sorry to jump on the thread but he's :luv: :luv:...Do you hand strip his head??
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And another worker here :)
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t31/q80/s720x720/1891491_10153813322915697_1333073741_o.jpg)
Off topic, but I want to steal Murphy :luv:
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Another show head here
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7301/12276488115_97c22b57da.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dipsydoodlenoodle/12276488115/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dipsydoodlenoodle/12276488115/) by dipsydoodlenoodle (http://www.flickr.com/people/dipsydoodlenoodle/), on Flickr
Sorry to jump on the thread but he's :luv: :luv:...Do you hand strip his head??
I do, I strip it, but leave it long, rather than stripping it short (he looked like a thug). :005:
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And another worker here :)
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t31/q80/s720x720/1891491_10153813322915697_1333073741_o.jpg)
Off topic, but I want to steal Murphy :luv:
You can't steal him but after the day we have had I will happily work out a swap deal for the lovely Daisy :005:
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And another worker here :)
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t31/q80/s720x720/1891491_10153813322915697_1333073741_o.jpg)
Off topic, but I want to steal Murphy :luv:
You can't steal him but after the day we have had I will happily work out a swap deal for the lovely Daisy :005:
After the day we've had, I might just accept! :005: :005:
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thank you for all your messages Alfie goes training once a week for obedience training, he is my first cocker, I got Alfie for my 60th birthday, and love him to bits but thought long and hard before getting him, and I didn't know there were different types of cockers, I had a black lab who died of old age so years ago, myself and my husband are home with Alfie all day, (my husband is wheelchair bound) we have young grandchildren who see Alfie quite a lot (my granddaughter see's him most days) My daughter has a jack Russell 1yrs old so we go over the field every day for about 1hr where they play and run about together off the lead, we have done this since Alfie was twelve weeks old and they love each other, but Alfie also has 4-5 other walks per day each on lasting approximately 20-30 mins this is with just me and Alfie some times my husband comes as well, I will try ans put some photo;s of Alfie tomorrow,
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Others may possibly disagree but that sounds like a lot of walks in one day! Is he bitey and snappy at certain times of the day? Perhaps he's overtired? X
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Others may possibly disagree but that sounds like a lot of walks in one day! Is he bitey and snappy at certain times of the day? Perhaps he's overtired? X
I agree. That really does sound like a lot of exercise for a 6 month old puppy, even more so when he was younger. The trouble with puppies is that they will often carry on running, playing, fooling around even when already tired. They don't know when to stop and yes, they can become overtired and overstimulated and lose all self control.
If he was mine I'd cut back on his exercise and see if that helped to calm him down. Have you heard of the 5 minute "rule"? Many people believe that puppies should only be walked for 5 minutes for each month of their life. So when he was 3 months that would have been 15 minutes per walk and now at 6 months 30 minutes per walk. You can do more than one walk per day, and if the walk is mainly off lead and on grass it can be a bit longer as the puppy is likely to have more chance to rest or sniff or be quiet in between bursts of playing, so there isn't as much strain on his developing joints as there is with on lead walking or on a hard surface.
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I agree too, it does sound like a bit much for a six-month pup. When Daisy was younger and got over-tired, she would have zoomies and be quite hard to manage. It sounds strange, but cutting down her exercise a bit actually did calm her down!
Also playing with another dog is very tiriing, Daisy is always much tired after chasing another dog than a normal potter about offlead, so if he's doing an hour of solid play with his pal every day, he probably doesn't need much more exercise.
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here is the photo of Alfie http://s346.photobucket.com/user/rosetoms/library/
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Alphie looks at least part worker to me, especially in body shape.
He is lovely whatever he is.
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He's gorgeous :luv: He's quite fluffy for a worker, so not sure!
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He is just gorgeous, He looks a bit of both to me, part worker, part show.
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He's lovely, very much like Minstrel (a bit of both) :luv:
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Hes handsome, I think a bit of both too.
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Alfie looks like part show/worker to me too :luv: but he is still an adorable cocker x x x
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I think part of each. I see show cocker in him (but i need to see him on a bigger screen, I'll do that when I'm home).
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thank you for all your messages/replies but can any tell if they are having the same problems as me, Alfie has been going to obedience classes since he has been twelve weeks old, and is really good at class lessons, but at home when I ask him sit stay etc he barks at me and nips me, even when I play ball games never tug he goes to nip me all the time, and at other times he is jumping up at me and if I tell the command off (as from the training class) he often barks and even growls at me,the class instructor has told me to turn my back on him and stop the play but this makes no difference he just starts running what I call loopy through the house and if I try to stop him he growls and trys to go for me so I have to hold him down on the floor until he calms down, but this is a worry as I have young grand children so if anyone can help I am willing to try any thing as I love Alfie
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I really wouldn't advise holding him down, that's quite threatening to a dog.
As I and others have said, I think at least part of your problem is overtiredness. He is getting too much exercise for his age. I would think about cutting him down to 2 or 3 walks a day.
Does he have a crate or a pen you can put him in for time out when he gets nippy and loopy?
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Have you considered the advice about reducing his exercise to see if that helps him to calm down?
My first thoughts on your last post was that you shouldn't be holding him down on the floor to stop him, even if you're doing it gently. It's a very confrontational thing to do and good trainers don't recommend it (apart from the misguided Cesar Millan fans who still think that using force is the way to go). If Alfie is being held down he will be feeling very frustrated and might become more growly and nippy. Could you try distracting him with a toy or a chew instead and turn the session into something enjoyable for him?
Many young Cockers have moments of running round the house madly, the zoomies, often in the evening just when they're owners want to settle down and have a bit of peace and quiet. Even my 9 year old Cocker still has his moments of silliness. If he's not doing any damage or harm when he has the zoomies try letting him just get on with it as he'll probably stop after a few minutes. Or you could teach him some hide and seek games that will use up some mental energy and will be rewarding for him when he finds the treats that you've hidden.
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I really wouldn't advise holding him down, that's quite threatening to a dog.
As I and others have said, I think at least part of your problem is overtiredness. He is getting too much exercise for his age. I would think about cutting him down to 2 or 3 walks a day.
Does he have a crate or a pen you can put him in for time out when he gets nippy and loopy?
I agree.
Murphy was over tired and behaved in a similar manner. I thought he had too much energy so walked him more which just makes things worse. When we realised he was over tired, we started putting him in his crate upstairs to sleep for an hour or two after walks and he improved dramatically.
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Is Alfie food motivated? This link has some ideas for mental enrichment games, which can really help to keep a dog busy for a while, and having to use his brain will help to tire and relax him. The last bit of the video shows a dog with a Kong, most pet shops sell them, and if you fed Alfie some of his daily food in it, he'd be using his brain for something rewarding http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1bTPuhVHY0
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thank you for all your help and I will try less walks and more rest, the holding down was what the class instructor showed me to do so alfie didn't bite me, but I don't like doing it, and won't do it. and as for his loopy bit I usually just let him run it out of his system until he calms down, he is no problem in the evenings he just settles down next to until bedtime, I will let you all know how it is going in a few days time but thank you to you for your help xx
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I agree that he looks like a bit of both, he's gorgeous. :luv:
I also agree with all the advice you have been given here regarding exercise and training. If the class instructor advised the holding down, then I would strongly suggest you look foe a different class that uses positive reward based methods.
You might also find these threads useful, if you haven't already read them.
http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=64170.0
http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=64171.0
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Henry was a complete nightmare at six months. He too was going to obedience classes, that included a lot of shouting at him! This made him worse. He seemed to react to the shouting. So we stopped going. Over the following few months he slowly improved.....He is great with people now, always happy and waggy tailed. Still can be cheeky though, stealing things, zoomies etc.
You've also got to remember he is an adolescence, and will have his difficult moments, they will slowly improve ;)
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Charlie is a 6 month working cocker
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l1/savs74/IMG_0408_zps72184755.jpg) (http://s92.photobucket.com/user/savs74/media/IMG_0408_zps72184755.jpg.html)
He is a handful in other ways, he doesn't overly bite, unless he really is over tired. He is really hard to train because he is so excited all of the time, we have been going through various trainers and I am still searching for the right one :'( I too have just realised he is getting over tired, this is not because he is walked too much as he only has a 30 minute walk at lunch time but more because he is not put to bed much during the day and therefore doesn't sleep properly, if I move he moves etc..
I feel we are really behind with his training but looking on here everyone faces different problems, if it is not one thing it is another and they will get past it with perseverance. Charlie has limited recall so I am scared taking him for a walk, this week he has been back on lead. He also persists to chase the cat and the cat will not tell him off, this frustrates me and I have to have eyes in the back of my head >:D
The last trainer we had in (not a nice trainer, I didn't ask enough questions before inviting her to my house!) called Charlie a delinquent!!, this was Friday and I had an emotional weekend. This week I have decided to put everything in the past and start on a new note.
Sorry, I am going away from your post but just wanted to show you that you are not alone and as experiences show on here, with perseverance (and wine) it will get better ;)
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Id try and look at when hes biting you, is there a pattern? Does it happen after a particular walk? Could it be he doesnt respect you? Does he do the same with your husband/ friends etc? Is it when he seems tired to you? Is he hungry?
Dogs are the best teachers at the end of the day- watch him like a hawk and listen to what hes trying to tell you. I agree try a different trainer- too many trainers these days call themselves professionals and actually have not much experience or any qualifications etc. Treating aggression with aggression is never going to work.
Good luck though and dont give up :)