Anyone feel like a puppy support thread?

[MightyMug]

Our puppy is fourteen weeks now - it's still a bit three steps forward, one hundred and sixteen steps backwards! Anyone else finding this?

Everything going really well....apart from, very unsettled at night and our cat is very sad. The cat stays upstairs or outside. The puppy barked at her today and she hissed. I was hoping she would stand up for herself a little more. I guess we are only on day 4 today. The crying and sometimes barking happens during the night. I am happy to ignore but my DD woke up then DH and he went down to him. I normally go down just once at 3am and then up at 6.30. Is it a just a time will tell kind of thing?

Pippin pup is 20 weeks now & it's been so up & down. I want to say it gets easier, but that's a lie! The nipping stage is a nightmare. However, despite her moments she is turning into quite a sweet, dopey dog.

She hates being left in her crate in the day though. So DH has been taking her to work with him & we've got her doggy daycare 1 day per week.

Just wanted to send a re assuring message to all you puppy owners. My springer has just turned one and he is taking a turn for the easier.

He used to get up in the morning and go around the upstairs looking for things to get , chew, get into. He no longer does this. He jumps in the bed and goes back to sleep. In fact he doesn't get off the bed until I make him.

I used to have to go outside with him in the morning to make sure he went to the loo... Didn't eat up the entire garden. He now looks outside and then up at me as if to say 'are you mad women' and goes back to lying on the sofa.

He is much calmer on walks now. Not everything that moves needs to be eating, chased or generally got to. In fact the last month it's been hard to get him off the sofa to go out.

He is just generally calmer , doesn't react to everything so much. Lies down and sleeps all evening and is not happy to be put outside to go to the last loo.

I can fold up the washing /ironing now without it being a puppy jumping game.

He is just generally more calmer and less puppy. He still has his moments. But I keep training him ( inside and outside ) and he walks so much better in the lead.

Keep going. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Hi everyone. New to this board, as we have just welcomed a puppy to our family - gorgeous bouncy 8 week old working cocker spaniel called Roscoe.

Have to say I am feeling a mixture of emotions over our new addition - delighted with him and everything he is and is learning, but getting increasingly fed up with the reactions of people when I say what he is. You would think we have taken on the devil dog. ''ohh, a spaniel (face clouds over). You will have your hands full/they are too much work/they are extremely bouncy/they need exercising all day, every day'' etc etc. After 10 days or so of this, it is starting to put a real downer on my initial joy and beginning to get under my skin!

We have had a dog previously (retriever) who sadly had to be pts at 11 after a stroke, and have spent the last 12 months thinking carefully and researching our new pup's breed. We are well aware of what we are letting ourselves in for, and that this dog is an entirely different kettle of fish. I have a friend who has 2 working cockers and she is a mine of tips and info. Most of the people who have been negative have not had a spaniel themselves, nor it seems do they know anyone who has - but I am also getting a lot of comparisons with springers. Think a lot of people assume a spaniel is a spaniel.

Could anyone who has a wcs (or has had one or more in the past) give me some sort of reassurance that we have not just signed up for 50 shades of hell, and that actually, provided we are responsible and meet his needs exercise/stimulation wise etc, we might actually be ok?!

p.s. springermum - didnt read your post before I typed mine...I hope I will be typing a similar one to yours in 10 months time! A positive spaniel story - even though I realise they are different flavours, lol!!

Hi. Spaniels are amazing. But honestly don't listen to what people say. I don't walk mine for hours and hours as they don't need it. Just because they can go for hours doesn't mean they should.

The brain is the key for spaniels.

He gets about 45 mins in the morning. I vary this. Sometimes just walking round the village. Sometimes I go for a walk down the riverside. On a Tuesday I go to my mums. We walk about ten mins to a nice coffee place and he sits and looks out the window for an hr. We walk back. With that and 45 mins in the evening he is fine. But as I said I brain is the key. Get him using his nose. I do scent games with him in the afternoon. I always give him dinner in s way he has to use his brain to eat it. I promise you his 45 mins in the morning and the evening are fine. He is not bouncing off the walls. In fact waking them miles just makes then fitter and fitter and you will end up with an overly fit dog.

I found actually when I stopped waking him for miles and miles everyday he was much calmer.

Just wait. They are amazing dogs.

I meant to say look on you tube or google scent games for dogs and start them even at this age. Ten mins if these and my raffles is tired.

A simple one I used when he was little was to put treats it his food in a towel and fold it up. Watch them trying to find it is fun. It just a box from the recycling. Out food inside and seal it up. Fab times

If you think about it. When they go to the fields they are not charging around all the time. They are waiting to be told to flush out birds.

A good scent place I go is the riverside. The ducks and swans are in the water during the day but at night they must walk along the bank as in the morning my springer can take over 20mins to do a walk which should take five. His nose is down and he is sniffing away. It's also good at teaching him impulse control around birds etc. He is not let off the lead while we are there. And we sometimes just sit and look at the birds. He went from wanting to get them to happily sitting watching them swim.

Springers are so much fun.

Springermum - thank you so much. A lot of what you have said, as well as being very reassuring, makes sense thinking about it away from the new puppy anxiety!

Very interesting what you say about can/should. DH maintains that dogs accept and adapt to the routine that they are offered, and our lifestyle and surroundings have a lot of parallels to what you have described. We are a very short distance away from a riverbank and a lovely wooded area, as well as a couple of large fields frequented by dogwalkers.

He is already demonstrating his amazing sense of smell, lol - will have a look into the scent games asap.

We are absolutely delighted with him so far. Apart from being gorgeous, he seems very bright - is quickly picking up all the simple stuff eg sit, drop (toy from a retrieve) is fab on a night - 7 hours from the off, no soiling in his crate...housetraining is hit and miss, but then very early days. It is ME who needs some training...on ignoring the naysayers haha!!

Oh I know how u feel. But when my behaviourist came to help us ( he is a nervous dog ) she said the same. A dog has to fit into the house. His behaviour massively improved when I stopped running him for hrs. We still go to the woods but he gets 20mins off lead and then back on. When he gets back from these he is just as tired and maybe even more so when he was running for hours. It makes him slow down and just sniff the surrounding area. He loves it.

Swimming is a good way to tire then out. Mine is scared of the water and have yet to get him in but I know others say that swimming tired there dog out no end. I just wish I could get raffles in the water instead of barking at it.

I personally love springers. Had one when I was growing up. My mums springer got 20mins in the morning and the same at night and he was not an overly excited dog. I just wish I had listened to her when I got mine and was walking for miles.

Raffles is currently sleeping on my bed ... I got the lead out to see if he wanted a short sniffing walk in the sunshine and the lead was ignored and he is now snoring. Lol

I did my up most to keep him as calm as I could when he was little and that was good. He doesn't wee when people come in ( my mums springer did and I know they are known for it.

Hope so BigBut. Ours has switched to intermittent barking at bedtime/after he has gone out midway through the night rather than constant barking. I am hoping it's a chink of hope for the future.

DS (4y) and the cat have both been guilty of waking him up in the middle of the night. Luckily DS has not been woken by the pup yet and the neighbours said they haven't heard the pup (we live in a semi-detached). I was really panicking about that.

Cat has sat on the sofa glaring at the pup and in the house, the pup doesn't seem too bothered by him but then pup did chase cat when they saw each other outside.

Our little bundle of joy, is 9 months, and driving me crazy. I hatch wicked plans, to leave tied up outside the co op ,and run away.....

We had a good night! Yay! Yesterday I spent time sitting with him whilst he sat in his crate with a nice chew treat to convince him his crate is nice. He still prefers the sofa to sleep on during the day. I gave him his last food and drink 2-3 hours before bed, had a wee and poo and then went to bed with Kong with peanut butter! Not a peep until 4am when I let him out for a wee then straight back bed until 6.45. Feeling very proud! Now to sort the cat out.......

This is making me broody for a second dog (really want a cocker or a whippet) and mines not even 6 months yet! I've promised myself I'll wait till Buddy is 2 and not a twat more sensible.

We've hit puppy puberty, everything is humpable and yesterday he cocked his leg on one if the kids toys in the bloody living room! Two weeks and it's goodbye love spuds.

He still chews anything left on the floor which I'm using as an incentive to get the kids to put toys away and now barks if he thinks any one he doesn't know might be in the vicinity of his house.

Apart from that he's awesome though.

cant believe how much...err...waste product such a little body can hold! within a couple of hours this morning he has emptied himself both ways 3/4 times each, hit and miss with the puppy pads, once outside. I am thinking this could take a while to get to grips with...

Friend came for a visit last night. Has just had one of her cockers pts sadly. Is thinking in the future maybe getting 2 from the same litter, either wcs or springers...insanity surely!!

mummyflood Apparently it's not a good idea to get 2 from the same litter as the puppies bond so much with each other, there is less attention left to bond with you. Typically one or both of then becomes difficult to train.

I was tempted to get the sister of ours when we saw them both together at the fosterer's house but she advised against it.

And yes little puppies can produce massive poonamis many times a day...mine seems to produce more waste than he eats.... I think it's all the twigs he chews!

Loving reading about all these pups , I'd love a whippet but my current dog doesn't 'get' other dogs so we are a single dog household , just a couple of things I wouldn't use pads indoors as it's very confusing for the dog and also please ensure that the pup / dog has access to water at all times including overnight / in the crate if you are using one .

This crate training is confusing. All the training articles and books I have read say not to leave food or water in the crate. My pup will only stay in crate over night and odd hour here and there during the day. He has access to plenty of fresh water at all other times. Fingers crossed for another good night tonight!

I've read one book that says leave out water in the crate and another that says don't. We've been leaving it out.

I think the pup is sleeping better but still a lot of complaining! He slept in til 6.30 this morning, which was very good!

I don't put water in the crate but he's only in there over night now. When he was being house trained he only ever went in for an hour but if he was left any longer he had a pen that lasted 3 days till he worked out an Escape plan with water etc in it.

Ours was the same Nner, I let him out for a wee at 4am then up at 6.30. Does your pup go through till 6.30? From when? X

Great hearing about all the progress being made. Our 12wk old is a cocker x labrador. Fab on sit, no pooing inside since day 1 and does signal to go out for a wee 90% of the time. Does mean we are out in the garden every 10-15 mind though. Very keen on digging, tearing apart plants and chewing stones in the garden though - chwing some half plastic bottles we'd used as cloches have helped distract him fron the more destructive garden behaviours. His worst habit is still jumping up at our 13yo labrador though and joining him in bed thereby chasing him out. Only water spray broke the jumping up and ear chewing but we have progressed to a firm no and brandishing the bottle working 90% of the time.

Best night yet. Day 6! Slept from 11.30 till 6 am! A wee on the rug though in the morning X