Mental stimulation for a working cocker

[Nick London]

Hi

My beautiful six month working cocker is with me all day, every day.

We go to the park at least three times a day and he gets the chance to play with lots of dogs and meet people.

I just wonder what I can do to keep him mentally stimulated at home? We play games (hiding toys etc) and train, but I sometimes wonder if he's bored..?

Any ideas appreciated.

Nick

[mum2milly]

Hi Nick, are there any clubs/classes near you that you could attend? Obedience, for example?
We've been to our class since Milly was a pup, & it really helps to exercise the old grey matter - she's always pooped when we get home! 

Jo & Milly x

[baxterboy]

we play hide the treat and have extended this into the garden. baxter (who is show type) has to know how many treats and use his nose to find them. he normally seems quite fulfilled after 2 sessions. our next stage is for him to find the chicken but leave the sausage - that hasn't gone to plan so far

[Nick London]

Thanks, you two.

We've been to puppy classes and a six week training course.

How do you start 'hide the treat?'. I presume by letting him smell it and closing the door and getting him to seek them out?

I can't imagine getting Barney to find the chicken but leave the sausage! Both would disappear in seconds!

[baxterboy]

if we're inside - we take him out of the room, let him smell the treat and then count the number out to him making sure he sees them all (sometimes his counting is a bit rubbish).

we then make him WAIT outside and hide the treats around the room - easy places to start before making them a bit harder like under a slipper. on the command ' GO FIND' he starts off at 200mph and hunts them out. we give him praise when he finds each treat.

[Colin]

Hi Nick and welcome to the forum - I think I know you and Barney from the 2&4 gallery/cafe in Islington. (Apologies if I've got the wrong person.)

[Nicola]

Have you thought about doing some gundog training with him? Even if you never actually work him on a shoot most working Cockers really do thrive when allowed to use their natural instincts. You can start doing some stuff yourself like teaching him to hunt and retrieve or you can go to a professional trainer and/or join a gundog training club, The Gundog Club is a good place to start looking...

http://www.thegundogclub.co.uk/Training/index.html

[Karma]

There are a whole range of things you can do...

As Nicola says, you can do Gundog training even if you have no intention of working your dog...
Clicker training a range of tricks (and obedience commands) is also great at tiring out your dog.

Formal obedience training can also be fun - as can agility once your dog is old enough...

[Nick London]

Thanks for the advice.

Someone also mentioned the NOBS website for fields sports, so I'll do some research.

And, yes, hello Colin!

Nick

[ginnygirl]

Good luck with the advice Nick....I'm paying attention too as I'm picking up Ginny on 3 oct, who is a working Cocker, she will be 8 weeks old. I want to be well prepared for her joining our family. Julie

[Nick London]

Hi Julie

If this is your first dog as an adult (as mine was), it's a bit of a minefield!

However, as I said in a previous thread, the best advice the breeder gave us was 'Get him out and about early'.

She made the point that far more dogs die through being sent to dogs homes because of behavioural problems, than puppies die through picking up diseases. Guide Dogs for the Blind let their puppies out really early (6 weeks) and we all know how good they are.

I had Barney out with me from 8 weeks. We'd have gentle trips on a bus to a cafe, and he met nice dogs of friends. A drive round in the car, and a short walk to the postoffice etc. Nothing over an hour, really, but he got used to meeting people and dogs and getting used to his surroundings (noisy London).

Also - handle him, too. Hold his paws, fold back his ears, touch his mouth so he gets used to it. It will pay dividends when  you have to take him to a vet or take something nasty out of his mouth on a walk.

Every dog I've met that was kept indoors until the second jabs has been yappy.

Let me know how it goes!

Nick

[Harveypops]

In the house we either do clicker training or Harvey's numero uno game- 'WHERE'SBLANKIE???'

Blankie is a mankie half chewed puppy blanket that he's had from day one. I make him do a lie down wait whilst I run around the house like a five year old looking for somewhere to hide blankie. I then go back to him and then say 'where's blankie', and off he goes like a mad man around the house.

It's a great game as it practices a good solid wait and get's him using his brin, plus, most importantly TIRES HIM OUT!!! 

[Linz13]

We play hide the toy, Murphy loves it - Maddi thinks it's a frightful waste of energy 

The mental stimulation tires him jsust as much as real life exercise 

[SkyeSue]

I save all sorts of cartons and fill them with Chloe's normal food from time to time, and hide them around the house. She loves it. It reinforces her sit and stay outside the room whilst I hide the cartons, and then she enoys sniffing around and finding them. You can use treats, but I tend to keep treats for recall and retrieves and rewards when I'm clicker training. I would love to have Chloe professionally trained for shoots, but not possible within a 100 mile radius of here, so I find as many books/articles and posts on COL that can give me ideas as to how keep Chloe stimulated.  We're not doing too bad so far 

[ginnygirl]

Thanks Nick, I had a dog for 12 years, a yorkie who had a lovely temperament and its taken me 7 years to make a decision about getting another dog. I did a number of on line questionaires about what type of dog would fit my lifestyle and a cocker kept being suggested. I had fond memories from childhood of a neighbours cocker who was lovely so I did a bit of research on the breed and here I am dying for the day she comes home! I do need to be out for part of the day which is why Ive dithered about whether to have another dog. I had a good chat with other dog owners and  the breeder on how to manage this. This forum is great for getting advice specifically for this breed, I'd be happy to keep in touch and swap advice! Julie