Phew - 48 hours since Humphrey arrived!

[SuzieT]

Hello all kind souls who welcomed me to COL - Humphrey. our 8-week blue roan, came home on Saturday and I have only now just had time to turn on the PC!  Having grown up kids,I had forgotten how babylike puppyhood can be.  He's adorable though - looking rather more like a lop eared rabbit than cocker at the moment!

Was worried about car ride home but all OK - seemed to get caught at every light/train crossing though and to me it seemed sooo slow!  He then seemed fine when we got home - ate a little, had a wee on the newspaper and then slept!  Toiletting went downhill after that though, but have been putting him out every hour and praising like some wailing banshee - neighbours think I've lost it, but I think we are beginning to start to get the hang of it. 

Crate went down like a lead balloon - think the step in is too high to be welcoming?  He will go in but only to pull everything out!   Have now made a little raised step and keep putting little treats in so hopefully it will seem more like home.  He is sleeping quite well in a box in the bedroom with a scarf that was kept in his mum's and siblings' box - just a couple of whimpers before he goes to sleep, but am sure it will be a different story when I start to move the bed out!

Went to vets today for his injection and worming - he was very good; I seem to have lost all faculties though - anyone else experienced this?  Cannot string two words together and everything that is said to me goes in one ear and straight out the other!  Could possibly be something to do with the 4 am, 6 am and 8 am garden excursions, pehaps! I am glad it is better weather now because this in the winter would be BAD!  Actually, the early mornings are lovely and I had no idea I had so many birds in the garden! 

The wee boy loves the garden (and shoes/slippers) - sniffs everywhere and takes a nibble out of everything he passes (including the brick wall and stone paving?!!!!!). I have to pull him away from the ivy though because I think I read on hear it was poisonous - will also search the forum for other plant baddies.  Caught him chewing on a little stone that I managed to retrieve - is this normal and surely must be dangerous? 

He's eating well so far - on Ped.Ch. and turkey mince with weetabix and water in the morning, but gradually moving over to Burns little by little.  I will have to buy some different bowls I think though - currently his ears float in the water when he drinks!  Does everyone have this with the ears or do I have a small dumbo? 

I will try and post a photo soon when I learn how to do it!

xx   

[Saffie]

LOL if a cocker doesnt get food or water on its ears while it is eating or drink then it is a proper cocker!!!

Just one word of advice regarding stones and anything in the garden, try and distract them from doing it rather than making a big song and dance over them chewing things as they soon think it is a game and only do it as they get a reaction from you. If Humphrey does start to nip at plants which every cocker does I am sure then take a toy out with you and before they start on the chewing jsut wave the toy about or bang it on the floor and that way they are less likely to be pruning your plants.

Saffie is very good at pruning and if I had the time over I would not be so intent on taking every last item out of her mouth and making a song and dance about it as she does see it as a game. They will chew at stuff in the garden but I think that they have to eat alot for it to be toxic to them but someone will know more I am sure. Relax and enjoy your little boy as very soon he will be grow up and no longer a cute squiddy puppy. I got Saffie 7 weeks ago and life will never be the same again and there will be tears trust me but I am sure you will be as happy as the many hundreds who have a cocker in their lives.

Remember take deep breaths and relax.

[Anita]

Sounds like the little man is settling in well!!!! Libby was a big stone chewer - I was worried at first thinging she would eat them but she never did. She also chewed the stone steps. She grew out of it eventually!

Keep us posted on the progress.

[Lumi]

Hi there. Our pup's 14 weeks so quite new to all this too.
Dylan chews lots of stones but spits them out. We used to try and get them off him and if he drops it near me I'll stand on it and distract him but otherwise he goes tearing off with it. It's an annoying (and sometimes worrying) habit, particularly when he throws his head right back. 
He's attacked pretty much all of the plants - some worse than others - and adores empty snail shells, which the vet said is fine as long as they're empty.
As for crate training, we went down the play pen route for indoors and a crate for the car. In the play pen there is room for his bed, a wee training mat which we put down each night but he hasn't used for over a fortnight, and his water, so we never got up/get up to him in the night.
Our breeder gave us Pedigree puppy but we have him on Burns now and he does well on it. He was very hyperactive on the pedigree puppy.
We bought him a proper spaniel bowl to drink from. Very cute.

have fun!

[DennyK]

Suzie

He sounds like he's adjusted brilliantly - hope to see him soon too, in Windsor - PM me if you'd like to meet up.

You're right - the toilet training in the winter was awful.  I kept layers of clothes and wellies by the back door but often would be in my PJs underneath, but always bloody freezing!  Didn't stop Paddy from legging it round the garden for ten minutes at a time, though

the stone chewing is something Pads still does - never swallows, just gnaws.  I used it as an opportunity to teach "leave" and "drop" commands - swap the stone for a treat while saying whichever word you choose.  The two things our garden lady told us to avoid like the plague were the berries off yew trees and any part of the foxglove plant.  The others, like Saffie said, tend to require quite large quantities to be ingested but you're right - ivy is one of the poisonous ones if eaten in large quantities, I believe.

Welcome to Humphrey - and get those piccies up soon!

Denise

[JaneB]

Hi

Dodge too is an avid stone chewer, it really worried me at first, but I think now it's like an odd kind of chewing gum for him!
We only tell him off when he brings them indoors, which isn't very often now.

[debbie321]

Post Puppy Depression!  That's what I swear I suffered from!  It will get better    Ben had me in tears for the first few weeks - I was so worried about him but he survived and will be 1 in about 3 weeks    Ben also chews stones but he does spit them out (unless they are bits of brick and then I hear him crunch them)  Nibbling and biting everything was Bens idea of heaven - still is to an extent!  Pedigree puppy was like feeding my toddler daughter blue smarties ... hyper!  If your pup is the same then change his diet gradually to an additive free food.

[Annette]

Buddy was a gravel/pebble chewer too, but stopped at some stage, don't know when. I just realised one day that he hadn't done it for a while!

Still, at 17 months old, he passionately chews all his toys and any bits of stick he manages to get hold of. He's never chewed anything of ours though, so we figure if he enjoys it, why not? (Apart from the stick dangers obviously). Our garden is a barren, concrete (and gravel and pebble) desert, so we don't have many issues with plants. He seems to have stopped grazing from the planters.

Humphrey sounds like he's settling really well.

Are you in Berkshire too? (Do you ever listen to Nikki on BBC radio Berks? She has a cocker called Humphrey too! If you ever phone in and mention that you have a cocker she is guaranteed to call you back!!!)

If the above hasn't made you think I'm completely weird, perhaps we ought to get together for a Berks meet up one day, we seem to be increasing in numbers! It would be lovely.

[ali]

it really does sound like you are doing really well. i think it was about a fortnight before i was able to sit down at a computer after barkley touched down in my life. 

personally, i agree with advice from saffie about not making a fuss about pups picking up things you'd prefer they wouldn't. we've quickly realised that, when left to his own devices, barkley walks around, pulling off petals and picking things up, but quickly loses interest and never actually eats anything... unless we show the slightest interest or intent to stop him, then it's a mad dash around the garden and the object stays in his mouth much longer than we'd like. i too was particularly worried about some ivy in the garden but after tugging it about for a few days he lost interest completely.

good luck with everything!

[SuzieT]

Thanks for all your advice about the gravel - much appreciated!  Watched him closely yesterday and yes he does drop them after a while - I had visions of a tummy full of stones! 

Had one of those mornings today - first of many to come I think!  Humphrey woke at 4 am and we went out for a quick wee.  Then woke at 6.30 and cried again for another little one.  As soon as we came back in (myself desperate for the loo!) he went again on the carpet at one end of the hall - then whilst I was clearing up that, he then had diarrhoea at the other end!  All this with me in a sleep-deprived trance!  He then enjoyed a wonderful play session and is now fast asleep on my feet!   

I think the diarrhoea is probably the gradual change from PC to Burns - perhaps I overdid it a bit yesterday and added too much at one go.  Also, his eyes are really red today (the normal white part) could this be all the foraging in the garden and grass?  He seems OK and not bothered by it (is not scratching or anything), but it just makes him look more sad than normal!

Interested to hear about BBC Berkshire's Humphrey - will definitely tune in! 

Great that there are other COL people in Berkshire and yes, would love to meet up when all vaccs are done. 

xx



 

[Lumi]

Dyl's eyes go a bit red when he's really pooped and needs to sleep (but fights it  ).
As for the Burns, we switched from pedigree puppy to burns but were over-feeding the burns for a few days as it didn't look like much at all and this (combined with a different type of wormer, we think) gave him the squits. he's fine now, with the right amount