Big milestone for Ivy

[sophie.ivy]

I just wanted to share a big first in Ivy's young life - she stopped wiggling and trying to get a fuss long enough to fall asleep at the pub!! I know it may not seem like much, but for her (and us) it's huge progress!

She has always struggled with settling outside of her crate and it took many attempts, a lot of patience, and many pillows and soft furnishings hidden in cupboards, for her to settle and sleep with us on the sofa. She's a very 'buzzy' girl and comes from a long line of working dogs and trialers (an excellent choice for our first cocker... )

Now, at 24 weeks, she managed a kip on a pub floor
She even stayed sleeping whilst we ate lunch and the waiter had to step over her to put our drinks down! 

I wanted to share this in case any one else is feeling like we did and thought their restless, high energy puppy would never be able to settle down in public. She is still a nutcase, but I'm starting to see signs of her calming down (well, calm for a cocker anyway).

Here she is doing an impression of a good girl:
   

And on the walk that must have done the trick (wasn't long, but lots of new sights and smells):

[vixen]

Well done Ivy 
I know exactly how you feel.  My girl has just turned 6 months and if she manages to walk past a stranger without launching herself at them, I feel great.
I usually take Maisie for a walk prior to visiting a pub and give her an antler  to help her settle but she hasn’t managed to go to sleep yet.
The other week I met my sister for a drink without taking Maisie for a walk before hand (sister doesn’t do dog walks ) and Maisie was horrendous.  I felt embarrassed by her antics as she was constantly climbing up and down and even started barking at another dog.  Had to cut short the pub visit and sister was smugly telling me that we shouldn’t have taken her  . However, just before I put Maisie back in the car, I took her for a small walk and she immediately pooed and weed.  I felt so bad that her misbehaviour was because she needed to toilet and I had ignored her.
Well done Ivy for being a little star at the pub - Mum must keep the habit up though as you could forget what to do 

[bizzylizzy]

Now, at 24 weeks, she managed a kip on a pub floor

  on what other forum could you write something like that without raising eyebrows?? 
Only us cocker lot appreciate what a step forward that is!
Well done Ivy!! 

[ejp]

Now, at 24 weeks, she managed a kip on a pub floor

  on what other forum could you write something like that without raising eyebrows?? 
Only us cocker lot appreciate what a step forward that is!
Well done Ivy!! 

So true! 

[MIN]

well done, marvellous isn't it  when things show signs of progress    .our wcs gemma is 564 weeks old and still launches herself at all-comers  but is showing signs of letting us have a quiet pint or two 

[sophie.ivy]

I did think as I was writing 'is this a silly thing to post about?!' but I knew other cocker owners would understand!!

Vixen - same! Any child she walks past without trying to launch herself at to lick their face is a win.

I'm learning there's definitely a sweet spot where she's tired enough to settle, but not too tired. We went for a walk and playdate with a labradoodle at the weekend and then back to their house for a cuppa, which was a bit too much for her. She ignored the bed and antler I gave her and just spent the whole time finding and proudly showing us all the things our friend hadn't picked up or had swept under cabinets - wasn't embarrassing at all...

[dave w]

Hugo is about the same age and is a menace to settle but is slowly getting better. most of the time we have to force him to have a sleep by putting him in his cage which is never complains about. evenings are still tricky he has about an hour around 9pm where he wont settle and tears around like a loon and then he is ok for the rest of the night.

[cazza]

Well done Ivy 

Ash has never slept on the pub floor yet  but then she wasn’t allowed in due to lockdown to get used to it and we used to sit in the garden and as it was totally enclosed she was off lead and played with the pub dog

Since we are now allowed in we are trying to get her to settle, so totally understand how proud you must feel 

[sophie.ivy]

Ivy spends most of her sleeping time in her pen too Dave, she can be zooming around causing chaos and as soon as we put her in the pen she goes to her bed and lies down. It's good they can settle down so nicely in there and we can get some peace every now and then!

Settling and switching off seems to have been our biggest hurdle so far, and something I wasn't expecting to be honest. All the cockers I knew had absolutely no problems snuggling up on a sofa of an evening or having a snooze wherever we went, but they were all adults and I realise now I should have spent some time with the pups to get a better idea of what we were in for!

That sounds like a dream afternoon Cazza - wine in hand, watching the dogs play in a safe pub garden

[cazza]

That sounds like a dream afternoon Cazza - wine in hand, watching the dogs play in a safe pub garden

It was great in the summer and autumn but would be Baltic now