In much need of a four legged friend

[busterdan]

Hi there and welcome... I am new here as well and can only speak of my experience of having a 7 month old Cocker....

I must admit reading this thread and clearly the very good advise being offered would have made me think twice about getting a Cocker.... but despite a little bit of research the option of the dog was there and when we saw him we couldn't resist!!!

So then... yes he is very active... he normally has two walks a day, each of at least 1km's but often longer.... you'll be surprised once you get going around the streets how the distance racks up and it doesn't take very long either... and once in open space and off the lead they are easily run twice as far as you as they dart back and forth  At weekends he usually gets a much longer run as we have more time....for use it must be at least 2-3 miles for him it must be nearly double that.

He wee's and poo's then has a drink and generally settles down... until the kids start to tease him.... he is very good with them.... fortunately, but generally during the day is always on his feet around the house.  We have a reasonable size garden so he is out there often and again this helps him burnoff all that energy.

Sometimes he is left on his own during the day for up to around 6 hours, once or twice a week.... he is very pleased to see us, but we haven't noticed no problems with him.

From an early age we caged him overnight and he wasn't too happy about that but he soon got used to it.... now we let him sleep in his basket in our bedroom and he is very content with that..... frankly so are we... it's lovely and reassuring knowing he's there with us.  The downside is that at night is the one times when he will yelp and howl if he is now left on his own, for example in the kitchen (despite their better eyesight, perhaps they get scared of the dark like kids) 

We have no issues with him at all really... except he picks up everything in sight and if it is remotely edible he will eat it.

Maybe we have been lucky... but if you think you could run a similar schedule as us then I can't see any reason why a Cocker would not be fine for you.

[Karma]

Have just posted a similar reply to a thread in the "Puppies" section, but the jist is as follows...

1) Yes, Cockers can be hard work, but they are very good pets if you are willing/able to give them the attention and exercise they need.
2) We both work, and Honey is sometimes left up to about 5 hours (not often, but it does happen).  We discussed our lifestyle with the breeder, and she directed our choice slightly, as she knew the personalities of her pups.  We gradually got her used to being left from the very first week (Starting at 10 minutes and building up). 
3) I walk Honey every morning, then may need to head off to work.  Someone will visit her at lunch for food and a good play (either me or a friend, who had volunteered to do this before we got her). She will then get another walk in the evening.  This is supplemented by lots of play and training.  I find she gets more irritated if I don't leave her for a couple of hours...
4) If you do your reseach and are honest about the time/money you can devote to your dog, and still feel confident you can meet their needs, then go for it... I wouldn't change Honey for anything!!!

 

[mfarrar]

Thanks thats very helpful, could I ask you what age did you have your cocker from?

[Karma]

We got Honey as a pup at 8 weeks old.
She's still only 5 months, so we have a way to go before she grows up fully - but she is a fantastic personality and is fantastic with people and other dogs.... we are going through teething, which is driving us to distraction, but we still wouldn't change her for the world!!!

editted to add - looking at time stamps, your reply was probably directed to Busterdan, but I think our experiences seem fairly similar...

[Cayley]

Hello,

You'll find that two of the biggest issues when getting a dog are working and children, most reputable breeders will say an outright no if you work full time and or have children under 5 years old (some have a minimum of 7), some breeders will take each case on it's merit but try not be tempted to get a puppy or dog from someone that doesn't ask questions about your work. An older rescue would probably be more suitable but you may also find that most rescues won't home to people who work full time  .

[busterdan]

We had Ollie from the age of 9 weeks.... also he is fed twice daily about 7:30am and 5:00pm  He did seem to go off his food a bit during teething but it seems that he was being over fed.... now he gulps it all.

[mfarrar]

I was looking at puppies at 12 weeks and it said they would already be housetrained or sheet trained, I think that would help initially. I will be able to take atleast two weeks off for a settling in period then my partner could take leave after that so between us we should be able to manage a month or more of full attention. So when going back to work he/she would be 4 months old + and we would have plenty of time to have got the pup used to some seperation.

[Karma]

I think the key is being honest with a breeder, if you go for a pup.  One of the first things we said when enquiring with our breeder was "we do both work - is this a problem?" - mainly so we didn't waste her or our time, but also it showed we had considered that this wasn't ideal, but had come up with ways to meet our pup's needs in spite of this.

From many discussions on here,  don't think we could claim that Honey's breeder is one of the top-notch reputable breeders - she is half worker/half show, which I know is frowned upon.  However, she was very knowledgable, clearly cared for her animals and their offspring and gave us excellent advice.

We didn't know a lot about cocker breeding when we started looking, and I guess we could so easily have ended up with a poorly bred animal, but we were so lucky to find the person we found (despite the fact that many on here would not approve) - she keeps in touch, we were able to go and visit several times before bringing Honey home, all the dogs she had, as well as all the pups from the litter, seemed so happy and confident, she had obviously done a fantastic job - and she gave us good advice about which pup to choose (from very early on Honey was quite happy to play with her litter mates, but also happy to play alone.... a good sign for a pup that's going to be left alone later in life).  She was also virtually paper-trained....

We were prepared for the fact that we would probably be rejected by many breeders because of our work, but were willing to keep looking until we found one we were happy with who was also happy with us.  Fortunately our search didn't take long at all.
We did consider rescue, but none of the local rescues would consider us because of our work.

I would underline what others have said about not making do with a breeder you are not happy with just because they are happy to give you a pup - if you don't feel happy about the breeder, walk away, as you could end up with a very troubled pup, who would not be able to cope with time alone.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do! 

[busterdan]

When we got Ollie at 9 weeks he was for the most part house trained.... the main problem is pee'ing as they tend to stop and do that wherever they like.  Obviously it gets better and the pup makes fewer and fewer mistakes... the walking routine helps too... by about 3 - 4 months I'd say Ollie was completely house clean.

He also knows the drill "wee wee's".... and off he marches outside..... squats and then comes back in.... they are smart animals.

[Cob-Web]

I was looking at puppies at 12 weeks and it said they would already be housetrained or sheet trained, I think that would help initially.

Um, not necessarily    Most young dogs will become selectively house trained at first - when they go visiting or move into a new home, they have to learn that house training means not peeing in ANY house, not just their own 

[Sheryl]

I don't know how anyone can guarantee house trained at 12 weeks   Seems very young.

[*sammy*]

I don't know how anyone can guarantee house trained at 12 weeks   Seems very young.

very young indeed sams house trained now. he's 10 months i would say up unitl 7 1/2 8 months he was still very hit and miss. he'd be great for days then have a bad patch. now he's gone 6-7 weeks without a single accident

[mfarrar]

I think they may have meant trained to go on puppy pads or paper

[LesleyW]

Hi and welcome to COL! 

We have a 4 yr old working cocker girl called Bracken, we took her on back in July (she was a puppy farm ex-breeding girl).  Her temperament and behaviour has been second to none, and although we still have an occasional problem with puddles in the morning (specially if her routine is changed) I cant fault her. 

I also work, but 30 hours a week, which i do every day until 3pm then straight home to walkies!  She has a quick outing in the morning at breakfastime, a good long one in the late afternoon on my return from work, and a further one at bedtime.  We also have a garden she can run out in for a quick wee, when we are here.

It seems to work well for us all, and frankly, anything was better than what she had been putting up with (kennelled for 24/7).  She seems to fit in well with us, and is happy to be at home on her own between 0830 - 1500 (I did start off by popping home at lunchtime, but she was usually fast asleep!) although she is working strain, and she loves to get out and run, she is happy to be home and crashed in her basket/front of the fire etc...!  We all love her to bits here.

Hope this helps persuade you that slightly older dogs are worth a chance 

[Nicola]

Are cockers quite bad for being left on their own? What I read on the internet said the likelyhood of distress when left is low, I suppose it depends a lot on the individual dog.

My parents have had both king charles from young puppies, both work and have never had problems. They have both been very happy good natured dogs.

It depends on the dog, some are ok and some aren't. No dog will be ok with being left on its own without a long period of building it up and becoming accustomed to it first and no dog should be left alone for more than 4 hours at any one time. My dogs don't get distressed as such if I have to leave them as I have purposely got them used to being left for up to around 4 hours in case of unforeseen circumstances but even still I don't think it would be fair to them to do this every day.