Cocker Specific Discussion > Puppies

New and a bit overwhelmed!

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Katrina:
Thanks cazza!  We try to supervise him all the time he's out of his crate and I don't chase him... I'm working on the kids not chasing him. They just forget and wander after him and so he thinks it's a game    :-\  Most things are away in the rooms he is allowed in and in the garden. In a busy household, it's more often things that are accidentally left out rather than kept in that place.

I'm trying the 'drop' or 'give' when he does mange to find something he shouldn't have. It's usually silly stuff - my eldest had a friend round today who took her socks off... treasure to Oscar!! He really wanted it, but did give it up for a tiny piece of ham.

I totally agree with the overtired comment. We have had a brilliant day today - a couple of really good walks and he's responding really well to sit, stay and lie down; he's so responsive after some sleep! He's been super cuddly and settled most of the day and then got very excited to see a new face in the house - he played nicely for 10 mins and then got a bit nippy again, so back in the crate to chill out. But then this evening he just went wild! After an hour of trying to help him settle with us in the living room, I've popped him back in his crate and he's out for the count. His behaviour definitely deteriorates when he's overtired. I really need to make sure he's getting enough rest!  If someone can tell me how to explain to a cocker he needs to sleep; that would be great  :lol2:  ;)

The clicker arrived today  :D I've been "loading" it by clicking with every treat. And we've been playing brain games with him - he loves to find which hand has the treat. The brush is a total fail though  :lol2: he would very much like to eat it! We'll see what happens once the clicker is established.

Making him snuffle for his food works well too, tea time has been like that for a few days and he seems calmer after it.

I'm feeling much more positive than this time last week. He's a lovely addition to the family, although I know we have a lot of work ahead of us. But I feel like I understand him a bit better!

Thanks all!! It's so lovely of you to take the time to share your experience xx

phoenix:
What a lovely thread!    So positive
 
Puppies leave you in tears some days,  but the rewards are worth it.    My advice is to train the humans , which is much harder.  Now schools back, you can get peace and quiet.
Enjoy every day, they grow so fast
Xx

Mrs Moo:
Hi Katrina,
I am new too, with a 15 week old girl, it's a baptism of fire isn't it  :luv:.   I hear you 100%!
Puppy may be overtired from not being rested consistently enough during the day, thus driving you all a bit batty for attention.  If you google it there are tables online showing how much sleep they need and t's a lot at this age, I can't remember but up there in the high teens (number of sleep hours advised), even though they are all fired up.
From reading your post, the real concern is giving you all a bit of a break and establishing a more balanced routine.  If you can try to keep to a rough schedule of crating it may help a bit e.g. have really set times during the day when you crate, come hell or high water, perhaps cooking/mealtime, school home-time, i.e. when it's busier.  An hour here or there are what works for your schedule and busy household.  Getting puppy used to calming time on own in a quiet spot is a good thing, a definite skill for them to learn.  Ours grumbles for the olympics at first, lol, but now settles after a minute and takes a nap.  She has learned  that I will return and is becoming used to it. 
You could try a beef trachea as a crating aid (sounds grim but is essentially a dried hollowed out chew-stick type treat which has health and dental benefits) is something we introduced at 14 weeks - puppies from 12 weeks can chew on them without issue -  you will find them online.  It looks like a battered old opaque rubber windpipe. Ours will happily spend 20 mins chowing down on that in her crate, and now actually prefers a quiet spot to get stuck in and indulge.  We reserve it for crating time so that she associates it with time to chill. You could try one, you never know, your puppy might also find them as irresistible as ours? When crating during the day, I also close curtains and put on radio 4 down low, lol - sounds bonkers but it creates a relaxing atmosphere away from the human motorway  :005: that is our kitchen area.
Only very recently we have noticed a big change in behaviour, really quite startling - puppy has gone from bonkers cockerdile needy mode to much calmer, dare I say it, more mature mode.  I am so grateful that the posters on here were right - puppy will start to calm.  I now believe it, so keep the faith.
It sounds like you are doing so many great things with your puppy, I empathise with the sheer constantness of it all and exhaustion of early days, but I'm sure you will start to turn a corner soon.  Best of Luck  :D

Katrina:
Hi Mrs Moo!

Thanks so much for your ideas. I really appreciate them!

Yes he's definitely overtired! Today he's wild in the evening and just can't settle - he reminds me of my son when he was a screaming, overtired toddler!

I can find lots of information about maximum crate times at once and about how much sleep puppies should get. I cant find how long it's fair to crate him in total over 24 hours... he only consistently settles in his crate, but I don't want him to spend hours in the crate overall. So I grapple with guilt that he's not resting vs guilt that he's crated.   >:(

None of this is helped as he has eaten something that has disagreed with him and he's had a dodgy tummy. We've been avoiding treats and he's been on chicken/rice so I'm finding it difficult to do training with him. So many "brain games" are also food based so I think he's under-stimulated too. So without training... he's making up his own "jobs" to keep himself busy (chewing his lead is #1)

I feel like we're really messing this up today :(

Katrina:
Hi all - I wanted to just check in and say thanks to you all for your advice! I keep coming back to this thread to check that I'm following as much as I can...

We now have a solid sit, stay, lie down, off and come in quiet areas without distractions.

Next steps are building this up in other places and adding in some loose lead practise at home along with leave/take it.

We also need to desensitise to the car, hairdryer and brush.

We're beginning to feel like we're making some progress. He sits when the kids enter a room until they sit down - they feed him and do some of the walks with him. He does still get jumpy and occasionally nippy, but much less now than a couple of weeks ago.

I just wanted to update you all since you took the time to respond  :luv:

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