Puppy Blues

[Sarah.H]

Oh those little cockerdiles 

I can remember about 20 years ago when I had my very own cocker puppy as a birthday present. And I was sat in one room crying and hugging our other cocker Sandy while my little Pepper was shut in another room having a bit of a tantrum 

Charlie was more of a barker than a biter but in the mornings when four adults were all trying to get breakfasts and packed lunches sorted he used to swing from one set of pyjamas to another  .

And Millie was 18 months when I rescued her so no puppy biting but a whole bunch of other problems instead!

[Hannahc7]

As someone who has just arrived at 14 week mark I can tell you it gets better really soon! As everyone has said it is completely natural to cry and pull your hair out in those first weeks, just make sure you have a bottle of wine and ice cream available at all times 
Maggie was terrible with biting, but we preserved! The things that worked the best for us was when playing when she bites just freeze or stand up until she stops then continue playing then if she is completely manic cocker have a small (preferably empty) room or hall you can shut her in just for 1 minute to calm down. The crate was a life saver as well. Sometimes she would just be exhausted and get very mouthy but would just refuse to go to sleep so we just put her in there with a kong and she would pass out.
With positive training methods it is hard to see that it is working, especially with the biting, but honestly perservere and be consistent, it takes longer to sink in than punishment techniques but results in a much deeper understanding for the dog and prevents any other problems occurring.
My OH really struggled not to get angry with her when she did something wrong or ran off with his work shoes ( ) but I told him to take a pillow go into another room and tell it off!  sounds silly but he said it works just to get the frustrations out!
It also gets so much easier when you can take her out for walks! Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[Sarah.H]

As someone who has just arrived at 14 week mark I can tell you it gets better really soon! As everyone has said it is completely natural to cry and pull your hair out in those first weeks, just make sure you have a bottle of wine and ice cream available at all times 
Maggie was terrible with biting, but we preserved! The things that worked the best for us was when playing when she bites just freeze or stand up until she stops then continue playing then if she is completely manic cocker have a small (preferably empty) room or hall you can shut her in just for 1 minute to calm down. The crate was a life saver as well. Sometimes she would just be exhausted and get very mouthy but would just refuse to go to sleep so we just put her in there with a kong and she would pass out.
With positive training methods it is hard to see that it is working, especially with the biting, but honestly perservere and be consistent, it takes longer to sink in than punishment techniques but results in a much deeper understanding for the dog and prevents any other problems occurring.
My OH really struggled not to get angry with her when she did something wrong or ran off with his work shoes ( ) but I told him to take a pillow go into another room and tell it off!  sounds silly but he said it works just to get the frustrations out!
It also gets so much easier when you can take her out for walks! Good luck and let us know how it goes.

What a great post! I know I see friends with their dogs that they have used harsh methods with. Yes they are 'well behaved' but they also flinch and cower away from you!

[JeffD]

As someone who has just arrived at 14 week mark I can tell you it gets better really soon! As everyone has said it is completely natural to cry and pull your hair out in those first weeks, just make sure you have a bottle of wine and ice cream available at all times 
Maggie was terrible with biting, but we preserved! The things that worked the best for us was when playing when she bites just freeze or stand up until she stops then continue playing then if she is completely manic cocker have a small (preferably empty) room or hall you can shut her in just for 1 minute to calm down. The crate was a life saver as well. Sometimes she would just be exhausted and get very mouthy but would just refuse to go to sleep so we just put her in there with a kong and she would pass out.
With positive training methods it is hard to see that it is working, especially with the biting, but honestly perservere and be consistent, it takes longer to sink in than punishment techniques but results in a much deeper understanding for the dog and prevents any other problems occurring.
My OH really struggled not to get angry with her when she did something wrong or ran off with his work shoes ( ) but I told him to take a pillow go into another room and tell it off!  sounds silly but he said it works just to get the frustrations out!
It also gets so much easier when you can take her out for walks! Good luck and let us know how it goes.

What a great post! I know I see friends with their dogs that they have used harsh methods with. Yes they are 'well behaved' but they also flinch and cower away from you!

Harsh methods may well work on a soft dog but you do end up with the dog flinching and cowering as stated, harsh methods on a hard dog just makes the dog harder. Teal is what I would call a hard dog 

I am not soft with Teal when we are training and my voice can get a bit deep and on occasion a bit loud when the little angel is giving me the finger but I keep this to an absolute minimum or she will just become accustomed to it and it will have no effect where as praise will always be welcome and lasts for ever.

This is the problem with the NO command and No Biting command when used on pups as you tend to use it every few minutes, pup can even begin to think it means start biting.
Its the same as calling your dog to heel whilst its pulling, the dog associates pulling with the word heel, the heel word should only be used when the dog is at heel along with some praise.
All these traps are so easy to fall into I have trained a good few dogs and I fell into the NO trap with Teal.

Teal has been taught the leave it command now and this works 75% of the time, the command is only given once and if it fails I use distraction. If she is having one of her toddler tantrum moments then she gets a treat in the crate for a time out.   

[abzy0309]

Thank you all so much for your fantastic advise..... I have notice a great improvement already. I think me calming down and walking away is having a positive effect as its so hard not go get frustrated at them. Great idea about telling a pillow off..... 

[QuaCKeReD]

Hi,

Not sure I understand the 'treat in the cage' idea?

We want to use cage for sleeping in, for first year anyway, and understood that we shouldnt then be putting puppy in cage as 'punishment' - is this going to be contrary to the 'treat in cage' idea?

[lettie10]

The general idea is to make the crate a happy place for your pup to be so no, it is not used as a punishment more of a little time-out and chill area.  The treats (or what ever you use i.e. kongs etc) are to occupy/entertain your pup whilst in the crate so you get a few mins respite and your pup will learn to settle him/herself in the crate whilst associating it with a nice place to be.

Personally I only did this when the biting got really out of hand and I NEVER told off my pup just put her in the crate without saying a word but with something for her to "do" in there.  Just a minute or two to start with is plenty and your pup will soon learn that biting = no more play.  You may even find that if your pup is over tired/stimulated then a couple of mins in the crate and they nod off for a much needed nap

[hilhames]

I read all this advice about 'freezing' or walking away etc but Chloe (9 weeks) just bites me all the time she is near me when awake -  I am considered a toy I think although she is a different dog when sleepy, just curling up and licking my feet. I am using the 'pain' yelp and believe me, its usually genuine - I say a sharp 'no' as well.  I have a week and a bit till can go to training and start with walks - any further advice?  Turning my back is awful, she just nips the back of my legs.  Am wearing thick jeans in spite of the heat, but that isn't the solution obviously. I can't put her in her crate 100 times a day....although I do when its bad.  She can be two totally different dogs.  She has bitten several times hard enough to draw blood which is when I feel really upset.  I keep her busy, use kongs etc. She is in a regular routine for naps and eating anc cannot do enough to please with regard to house training - we have very few accidents.  I use a play pen as well which helps although sometimes she gets angry with this.   I feel , when I am tired , that am a failure and have the dog from hell!  Nights are not brilliant but that is another story!

[Qwerty]

Dont despair with the biting. I cant believe it now but when we got our first cocker we thought we had got an aggressive dog and there must be something wrong with her!  She bit more than our collie and yorkie pup. We would enjoy maybe 5 minutes of play before all she wanted to do was bite or hang off our clothes. She drew blood from hands too! trying to be strict and saying no firmly just made her worse and she would argue with us! I spoke to a behavourist who said she shouldnt be doing that and we were so worried for a time. Guess what? She turned into the loveliest, gentlest, friendliest, sweetnatured dog who I never heard growl as an adult.  She just outgrew the biting in time - no special strategy needed other than ignoring it as best we could.  We have our second cocker now and knew what to expect. She isnt quite so bitey and wierdly enough for a time I actually worried this meant she wouldnt turn into such a loveable dog as our last one!

[golden girl]

I have been through this as well the hanging from clothes the washing line and biting my bum one day my hubby came home from work and I burst into tears and said what have we done of course it didn't last long we love her dearly she is now 18 weeks old still  a little cling on at times but so much better we cant help but love them

[hilhames]

thank you all, I have got to the point of being scared of my own dog!  I think I am just going to take her out every single day twice a day if pos in my arms (she had a queue of people in Chelmsford Town Centre today waiting to stroke her) and pop her into pen when it all gets too much. I am on my own with Chloe next week and that's what is now freaking me out - think it will be better after first training class on Thursday week.  But Chloe starts biting me as soon as out of crate I am just a big toy to her.  I so want the joy of playing with her but minus the biting.  I try to give her a toy immediately and then a different one as soon as she drops it and  goes for me . I  praise her for taking a toy, but after have done that a couple of times she is wise to my wiles and just pushes toy out of the way!  But lots of people say this behaviour stops around 4 months - only nine weeks to go.  She is now in bed- probably planning her tricks for tomorrow!

[abzy0309]

Hilhames the best piece of advice that I have took from my thread is that there is usual a reason that is making them more bitey....I didn't even think about it before but is has made 100% of a difference with Reggie. His space is in the utility and I can shut his in there for a couple of minutes.... I try ignoring him first, or offering him something else, if that doesn't work I pick him up for time out.

When I go back he's either calmed down or been in his bed and not wanted to come back out so he was obviously just very tired. The first could of days it seems liked I did it 50 times, but we got there.

[hilhames]

yes, I  am trying this now although am putting in pen with no toys.  The crate is in a room I cant leave him in - we don't have a utility room.  I know what you are saying, when you say done it 50 times!  Chloe does do it all the time tho, even when first woken so its not just tiredness.

[abzy0309]

Chloe does do it all the time tho, even when first woken so its not just tiredness.

Reggie does it a lot too, it's not always tiredness but from what people are saying there is sometimes a reason ie tiredness, hunger, being bored. One think I've found help is playing fetch, I started this as soon as we had him at 9 weeks and they are so clever and pick it up straight away, this wears him out too.

Other than that there are called Cockerdiles for a reason and everyone assures me it will pass 

[Jonest]

  I am not sure if I should be concerned, my pup is 6 and a half months and still biting and barking at us. Some days she has more time out than time in !!! She loves her walks and playing ball but I am now wondering if she should have outgrown the biting as someone mentioned earlier that they outgrow it at 4 months .