First socialisation class

[Ldavies38]

Sorry to keep posting all the time Mae 12wk working cocker had her first encounter with other pups at the vets pup class. And she was so petrified and hid under the chairs. Then at the last minuite all the confidence came from noware she wanted to jump on all the pups frightening the tiny tiny ones. Her mouth was open and looked like she wanted to nibble them, but the girls said its just play. Then she did a poo on the weighing scales!!!! She was so overwhelmed with excitement I looked like I couldn't control her. She's a total gem at home. Oh god. She was the best looking dog there mind her tail was going crazy. I think she needs to be around bigger dogs to put her in her place a little. There was a little dog the size of my hand and if I put her in maes food bowl she would tuck right in!! Advice guys on ur first experience ??

[elaine.e]

I hate to say this, but I'm not a big fan of the sort of puppy socialisation classes that many vets run. Too many of them are like a free for all where timid puppies can become more fearful and the bouncy extroverts just learn that they can bounce all over the quieter or smaller puppies.

It's not so bad if the playing and activities are well monitored and controlled and some boundaries are set and if it's just a few puppies but otherwise I don't think the puppies learn much in the way of social skills.

Meeting sensible (and healthy) adult dogs can teach them a lot more in my opinion.

[JennyBee]

I hate to say this, but I'm not a big fan of the sort of puppy socialisation classes that many vets run. Too many of them are like a free for all where timid puppies can become more fearful and the bouncy extroverts just learn that they can bounce all over the quieter or smaller puppies.

It's not so bad if the playing and activities are well monitored and controlled and some boundaries are set and if it's just a few puppies but otherwise I don't think the puppies learn much in the way of social skills.

Meeting sensible (and healthy) adult dogs can teach them a lot more in my opinion.

I agree - the behaviourist that ran our puppy classes would never have allowed a free for all, a massive relief for Brodie as she was a very timid pup and I hate to think what effect it would have had on her

It's not just play, it can be very frightening to a timid pup and really dent their confidence. As Elaine says, socialisation with calmer adult dogs is much more important than a badly run puppy party (although well run ones are so worth it; I learnt so much from mine, the behaviourist was brilliant).

Mae sounds like a right little livewire .

[Archie bean]

I'd never been to a puppy party before taking Archie and to be honest, I will never go again. He was totally overwhelmed and became thoroughly hyper, overcompensating for his nervousness. The vet nurses made me feel utterly useless and, despite having previously had two cockers, I lost all my self confidence. Archie was a really difficult pup but instead of getting support I was just left feeling rubbish.

[Ldavies38]

I agree with u all actually. It was very controlled they were all on a lead and paired in stages . One more week its only a two week thing. But my next question is..... do I carry on to the normal puppy training classes where they learn the basics or find a gun dog trainer to learn one to one in the park who understands a gun dog and the puppy rules. Not to teach gun dog work yet she's too young but the basics heel recall etc?? Thanks all

[SophieBlueRoanLover]

My vet never held one, but there's so many pups and dogs around where I live that there's always some socialisation. Today my 14 month old dog met a 12 week staffie pup (his first ever staffie friend!). The owners had no idea what to expect in terms of what was play and what was appropriate, so hopefully I helped them a bit, as my old pup played with their young pup.  I'd suggest trying to introduce your puppy to some older puppies (maybe from 3 months-2 years old), so they can learn how to play with dogs that have already been-there-done-that recently.

I'm sure your pup will be fine - the first few experiences they have are all new to them and you, remember, so they - and you - don't know what to expect. Keep on with the socialisation, but not just with tiny pups - the older ones definitely teach them how to behave!

[elaine.e]

I agree with u all actually. It was very controlled they were all on a lead and paired in stages . One more week its only a two week thing. But my next question is..... do I carry on to the normal puppy training classes where they learn the basics or find a gun dog trainer to learn one to one in the park who understands a gun dog and the puppy rules. Not to teach gun dog work yet she's too young but the basics heel recall etc?? Thanks all

That sounds like a good socialisation class

I've always taken mine to puppy training classes, making sure the trainer uses positive training methods and isn't a Cesar Millan fan. But I've always had show type Cockers, not workers. Are you planning to work Mae? If so I think you might need to go down the route of a gundog trainer. There are plenty of people on here who work their Cockers so I expect some of them will see this and advise. If not, maybe start a new topic with a title asking the question about gundog training or ordinary training classes.

[Ldavies38]

Yes Elaine she will be worked xx

[Emilyoliver]

I have a worker puppy that I hope to work. I at least hope to get him (read 'me'  ) to a standard where we can enter a few working tests. We attended a few (3 I think) puppy classes just so he could learn to focus with other dogs around. The basics - 'watch', sit, recall - had already been started at home (and I also have 2 adult cockers at home for discipline/ socialisation). I bought a few spaniel training books to get an idea of what we will need later on and what would need teaching first off. General discipline can be learned at normal classes or at home/on walks. We had first gundog lesson at 4 months. Our club offers monthly group classes which are great. So to attempt to answer your question - no, you don't need to go to a gundog trainer straight away as the basics are similar for pet and working dogs (just make sure you are happy with the methods used).  My advice would be to make sure the basics are instilled as without a reliable recall and sit, not much further gundog training will be possible. A 1-2-1 might be more valuable once your pup has a longer attention span. And I found the spaniel training books invaluable. Hope that helps. Good luck and enjoy your puppy!

[Ldavies38]

Brilliant advice Emily x

[lindsmat]

Brandy had her first puppy training class last night.Have to say I was pretty exhausted when I got home lol lol. I  couldn't wait to get her there as she wants to play with everyone and every dog she meets when we are out walking so I thought this class is exactly what she needed. When we got there ( every dog was on leads) she got frightened as every dog started coming towards her to say hello. I thought I might have problems.But after 5 minutes when we were walking around doing heal walking ( this was extremely hard for brandy as she is just trying to get to the pup infront of her) she stopped being frightened and basically was trying to get to all the dogs there. I spent the whole hour with her pulling me round the hall trying to play with other dogs, I was exhausted lol lol But on the plus side, we had exercises on teaching her to leave un familiar objects, and doing socialization. The lady there gave me some good advice on how to train In garden to heel, and I know it will take a while as Brandy is so excitable ( everyone last night kept pointing this out to me) but I sure we will get there . this class for me was a positive thing and it felt like they knew what they were doing.

[Homebird]

My vet has offered puppy socialisation to me as he is worried about some puppies being frightened at other classes - there will only be 4 puppies at a time with the vet nurse so I will give it a try - it is in the daytime which suits me much better than evenings.

[BeeBoo]

Spaniels of all sizes to seem to be the most sociable and excitable in these gatherings, don't fear that it's only you with the ''puppy pulling to greet''; so many of us COLers had the ''class clown'' - class clown in the nicest possible way - in our puppy groups.

[lindsmat]

So glad its not just me and brandy then. cockers are such a friendly breed, she just wants to play with everyone and everything. I sure it will get better, they given me some advice that I didn't know.

[piph]

I learnt my lesson after taking Ozzy to puppy socialisation - it made him over-excited and he still is, to this day!  Puppy training classes also made him over-excited and were really a waste of time and money as he just wanted to play and that made getting him to concentrate all the more difficult.  Her is such a sociable dog, wanting to play with EVERY dog he meets, and their owners too, that it makes life difficult sometimes, if we take him with us to somewhere unfamiliar.  I'd go to puppy socialisation again, but I'd be much more cautious about letting a pup play with the other puppies, and make sure that his play was supervised more carefully.