Author Topic: Hello, newbie here and would LOVE some advice! :)  (Read 1566 times)

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Offline LittlePepperL

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Hello, newbie here and would LOVE some advice! :)
« on: August 03, 2021, 02:23:16 PM »
Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum and new to being a Cocker Spaniel owner and just looking for a bit of friendly advice please!

I should probably start by saying I am obsessed with dogs (aren't we all). I have had dogs in my family all my life (3 black labs, 1 border terrier and 1 wirehaired miniature dachshund) and when me and my partner decided that we were ready to get a dog of our own I was over the moon and began my research.

I also have horses and we plan on having a family in years to come so we wanted a family dog that could also quite easily come to the stables too. Anyway to cut a long story short, we ended up bringing Pepper home two weeks ago. She is 13 weeks old, a mix of red and golden in colour and just absolutely adorable and so unbelievably smart - our perfect girl.

I also want to say that I want to do the best by her, I want her to be happy and I also want to keep her (and us) safe.

We started her training from day one and she knows a variety of 'commands' already as I want to make sure I keep her both mentally and physically stimulated. She is semi-crate trained. At night, we put a pen round her crate and she sleeps downstairs but still wakes us twice in the night for the toilet and then usually at 6am she wakes us up for cuddles. So I go down let her out and we have a nap on the sofa until about 7am. She will go in her crate throughout the day to play with her toys and nap. She hasn't toileted indoors for a while now although I know we cannot yet say she is house trained.

Anyway, I had been looking into some online training for her and came across a video that said Cockers are notorious resource guarders. I had never read this whilst researching the breed so I started looking into it further and I'm now worried that she is starting to show some traits of this and that I have been too soft and given her too much freedom from the get go. When we play or whilst trying to teach her fetch, she will take the toy and either run into her crate or outside, she doesn't show a lot of interest in playing with us. She steals socks or slippers (it doesn't really bother us to be honest) but occasionally we have taken them off of her if she has stolen shoes that we have accidentally left where she can reach. However, I'm sure most puppies do this.

I have started teaching her 'leave it' which she has picked up really well but 'drop' isn't going so well as she doesn't really like giving things up. She is happy for me to touch her toys but isn't so happy to let me actually have it. We had been allowing her on the sofa with us however, she told my partner off last night when he tried to get her down to go to the toilet and bed but we are putting this down to her being over-tired. She isn't allowed on the sofa for the time being though.

She really is the most loving little thing, she absolutely loves people her whole body wags when she sees people on the street and goes mad when she sees me or my partner. She does nip occasionally (I think by mistake) but we yelp 'ouch' and then leave the room for a minute and go back in and resume playing.

We had been taking her upstairs but this is usually when she likes to steal bathroom mats or shoes and then we end up chasing her to get them back. So I will be taking her upstairs on a lead and practicing 'leave it' for a while. I have read that you should take their toys away and only allow them to play with toys when they are with you but then I have also read that you shouldn't challenge them if they have something either ask them to 'leave it' or distract them with something else.

Sorry, I've waffled but I just need some advice - am I worrying over nothing, am I being too soft? Any other tips and advice welcome.

Thanks so much!

Offline LittlePepperL

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Re: Hello, newbie here and would LOVE some advice! :)
« Reply #1 on: August 03, 2021, 02:40:37 PM »
Sorry forgot to say! We are currently hand feeding her, we had been putting her food down in a bowl and hand feeding occasionally but now she is being completely hand fed and treats from our hand.

We also brought an antler for her to teethe on (she has other chew toys too but this is her fav) and she is happy for us to hold that while she chews on it (as I don't really want to leave her unaccompanied with it).

Offline MrsFlintstone

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Re: Hello, newbie here and would LOVE some advice! :)
« Reply #2 on: August 03, 2021, 03:02:35 PM »
Hi LittlePepperL

Pepper sounds absolutely adorable! I'm a new cocker owner too but my lass is now 6 months old. I can't say we have had any issues with resource guarding, she is a bit of tea leaf but it's easy to get stolen items back with a bit of distraction and she has never shown any aggression.

All dogs are different and with all the training hours you are putting in I'm sure Pepper will turn into a perfect companion  :

Offline LittlePepperL

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Re: Hello, newbie here and would LOVE some advice! :)
« Reply #3 on: August 03, 2021, 03:10:42 PM »
Hi Mrs Flintstone!

Thanks so much for your response, it makes me feel better to know that you haven't experienced any issues and hopefully we won't either. I don't know if I'm now just looking for issues and things that would be classed as normal puppy behaviour I am now thinking OMG she is resource guarding etc.

At the end of the day I believe they are just babies and they need us to positively show them what's right.

Offline bizzylizzy

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Re: Hello, newbie here and would LOVE some advice! :)
« Reply #4 on: August 03, 2021, 03:51:04 PM »
Hi and welcome to COL and also to the wonderful world of cockers! I‘d also had other dogs before fulfilling my dream of owning being  owned by a cocker and found the help and advice here invaluable.
It sounds as if you‘ve got yourselves well organized, I think its a great idea to start off with a good idea of what you intend to allow and tolerate and what not, lots of problems can be avoided by setting out the rules early on.
Socks do indeed seem to be a cocker thing  :lol2:, and most of us on here probably have an above average number of odd socks remaining in the sock drawer!! :005:  Resource guarding is another topic which comes up regularly on here although in varying degrees, my dog Humphrey (6), guards particular toys and balls but its manageable, and unless its anything which poses a danger, I usually just ignore him. I have trained a „leave“ and „drop“ command and that has proved very useful, but I‘ve learned not be confrontational as that does make the situation worse, cockers are generally very sensitive in my experience and respond best to positive training, -„ Ignore the behaviour  you don’t want, offer an alternative and praise for good behaviour“  is the best advice I ever had and will go a long way in training.   Others on here have experienced more serious problems with guarding however and I‘m sure someone will be along soon who can give you more detailed advice.
Best of luck, look forward to hearing more!
Jayne & Humphrey


Offline phoenix

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Re: Hello, newbie here and would LOVE some advice! :)
« Reply #5 on: August 13, 2021, 06:15:28 PM »
I agree with Bizzy Lizzy.  Your pup sounds completely normal .  You  are doing great.
Extreme resource guarding as a problem in some cockers like mine,  is unmistakeable. They snarl and  look like they want to attack.  He needed massive input, and was otherwise a fantastic dog. I know you’ve read it up, and the first way to react is to ignore them, and avoid eye contact.  A young normal pup will respond to swapping and distraction by other games.
Have fun!
RIP Marti  the EPI springer age 12,  and beloved black cocker Bobby, 8 yrs old, too soon, from PLN.
Now owned by TInker, tiny hairy grey poodle/terrier rescue from Greece and Jack, local rescue,   scruffy ginger terrier mutt.

Offline Archie bean

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Re: Hello, newbie here and would LOVE some advice! :)
« Reply #6 on: August 13, 2021, 08:38:16 PM »
I agree that it doesn’t sound like she is displaying signs of guarding. Just typical cocker puppy behaviour. I have a resource guarder and I knew IMMEDIATELY that I had a serious problem on my hands. If he stole anything  he was very aggressive with it if I went anywhere near him. Even at 10 -12 weeks old he would growl and lunge at me. It was totally different behaviour to any normal, cheeky puppy thieving that my previous cockers had.
Keep doing what you are doing - sounds like it’s going great.

Offline cazza

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Re: Hello, newbie here and would LOVE some advice! :)
« Reply #7 on: August 14, 2021, 10:09:50 AM »
Hi and welcome you have been given great info / advice from everyone

I just want to put my two penny worth in though - please don’t chase him to get a slipper sock off him as he will then think this is a great game and it can also have an affect on recall training
Try and swap the item say for his antler

He sounds like a normal puppy to me

At 13weeks old my pup was put to bed at 10pm - put out at 1pm for a wee ( no interaction bar ‘let’s go wee wee’ out and praised when performed and straight back to bed) then out again at 4am

We gradually moved the 4am back by 30min if dry for 2nights until we got to 2am then we moved the 1pm to 1.30am so just up once - then slowly moved that back

Now she is 6 months and disappears off to bed with OH at 9pm / 9.30pm  :shades: I call her down when I am ready to go to bed (about 10pm) put her out and she sleeps through until 6 / 6.30am

Sounds a lot doesn’t it, but it worked for us (also I must add until she was going through the night I didn’t get up to her at all  :shades:     as I had a child back from uni due to lockdown etc and you know what that age group are like - they sleep the opposite hours to us  :005:  but tat was my plan of action even without the uni student being home )

Wishing you all the best and look forward to hearing how you wee man progresses  :luv: