Wish we had never bought new puppy.

[Babyroobs]

Bought a new puppy 4 months ago, he's now 6 months. I feel like it's the biggest mistake ever. Him and my 6 year old dog still don't get on, there's a lot of fighting and jealousy. I have developed a bad back and struggling to walk them together, puppy is strong and just pulls constantly, so having to do four separate walks a day, although other family members do help. I try to keep him out of certain rooms but he just throws himself at doors and manages to get them open, when shut in the Kitchen for a short time he whines and scratches woodwork. He has pulled wallpaper off 2 rooms in the past week, caused £200 worth of damage to trainers and coats etc ( despite reminding teenagers not to leave shoes where he can get them ). He constantly whines to go out and no sooner has he come in but wants to go out again- I can't not let him out in case he wants to wee. I am constantly up and down. Tried to have a one hour lie in this morning after dh had left as I have been on nightshifts over the weekend but even then I couldn't as he was whining and scratching the kitchen door. Our other dog is miserable, I am miserable, just don't know what to do.

I have two Springer spaniels and yes they try to knit me up when i walk them on the lead

I use a gencon lead which is different to a halti as it's self regulating.
They will still pull a bit with a halti but not at all with the gencon

You definitely need to start going to dog training classes. It gives your dog a chance to socialise and will teach you and your dog things like how to walk on a lead without pulling.

It would be best to start with if just 1 or two people walk the dog and make sure you are using the same commands. Otherwise the dog will get very confused. Not sure it is a good idea for your children to walk him unless you are totally sure they are giving the correct commands and not just letting the dog get away with pulling, crossing side etc.

You should stick to a harness. If a dog that pulls has a collar and lead the collar can cause damage to the dog's throat. There is a harness that takes a double lead and that really helps with the pulling.

To try and make sure my dog did not suffer separation anxiety I would go out the front door, close it behind me and then just stand and listen. I started at literally 1 minute and just kept building the time. I never leave him for more than 4 hours and then not that often but he is fine and my neighbour says he doesn't make a sound.

You need to crate train him so that when you go out or you need to do something which means you can watch him he can go in there and you know he is safe and cannot cause any damage. I crate trained my dog as I could not make my open plan house completely safe. I fully intended getting rid of the crate once he was a year old. He is 5 now and loves his crate. He sleeps in it more than anywhere else. I don't have the heart to get rid even though it takes up lots of space (he is quite a big dog).

I think you'll find most actually recommend a harness like the Dog Games Perfect Fit so the dog doesn't injure themselves while learning.

This has been an interesting read as I was convinced that with getting a second dog, the puppy experience itself would be easier than with the first as the older dog would help train the puppy - yes I'm a fool!! This is just from experience of one family I know but I admit I took this as fact.

Sorry to hear what a rough time you're having. My girl is 3 now and although we still have to keep certain shoes out of reach, on the whole she's a little calmer. She is pretty highly strung though.

I don't agree that formal training is necessary in all cases. Some of it isn't worth the time/money. I went to 2 different puppy training courses, and a puppy socialisation course very early on. Other than being able to sit/stay I don't think we got very far at all.

Admittedly we didn't do the Dogs trust training, just some local ones.

I'll just add though that the second course we did was much better than the first, and we'd have probably advanced a lot further if we hadn't spent 8 weeks on the first course which was on the whole a waste of time I felt. We also have quite a bit of experience of having dogs in the family and I'd read up on the latest training methods, if that wasn't the case then maybe formal training would be absolutely essential.

steppemum he started to learn to hunt at the gun dog training but he can be lazy so he sometimes finds the ball and then drops it because as far as he is concerned he did what I asked to 'find' it but then won't bring it back. Outside when there are lots of scents he sometimes needs help locating balls and you can teach them to go left or right with whistles (I am no where near doing that as still a real novice but I help him out by pointing my hand towards the general direction and we have a command to say your very close so get your nose down and find the ball)

Sorry OP for derailing the thread a bit

user100987 I agree that general training courses were not much use but could help the OP with general calming and obedience techniques as well as managing two dogs together. The gun dog training and agility courses though are worth every penny.

This says it all really

Oh that's interesting bitey - he always goes where I point (eg when you come to a cross orads he looks to me and I point and off he goes)

I have never met another dog who understood pointing, didn't realise it was because he was a spaniel!

A lot of dog breeds can understand hand gestures. They are very good at reading human body language.

I feel for you. I’m a first timer and pretty much hating it! Different situation as I have a chronic illness and didn’t realise what dog ownership was truly like but I agree a crate is necessary for this pup and focus on learning how to crate train for now. Our pup has weekly classes but the pace is slow so I make a point of watching training videos and doing it myself , 2 or 3 short sessions a day tires pup as much as her walks!
You need a break. I can sense you do want this work out, by you’re exhausted. Get some temporary support by way of a pet sitter or walker and take some time out (even to go for a good bath and a nap!). Combined with getting pup into a crate (also useful for when you don’t want to be climbed over) will give you some physical space too.
Good luck!!

Thanks for the pic Surfer - that is so true and the puppy in the picture looks just like my little one. He is snoring on the sofa at the moment after lots of exercise on the park and snuggled within a few cm of my other dog so maybe there is hope . To get him to nap I tend to sit on the sofa with a blanket wrapped round me then he snuggles in and falls asleep. Then older dog climbs on my lap and settled down. Then I carefully try to slide older dog off and sneak away to get stuff done ( or sneak on Mumsnet).

Spaniels are insane. Working spaniels are particularly insane. And working COCKER spaniels are the pick of the bunch.

Huge big yes to everyone saying that the harness is contributing to the pulling.

With spaniels, you have to understand what drives them - the urge to work (hunt) and the desperate desire to please their human. Without this, they'd be a nightmare. But even the best trained working ones are like coiled springs. You see the labs sitting placidly on their pegs, and the spaniels just itching to be given a command and GO!

I'd work on house manners yourself. Why does he have to be in a separate room to you when you're trying to sleep? Is it because he messes the house, or won't settle/destroys things?

And I'd take him to proper training classes for the rest. They don't have to be gundog ones. Basic dog manners will keep his brain busy for now, and you can decide how far you want to take it. Don't worry that a dog walker will confuse him. It won't. Someone else letting him run off the puppy will help immeasurably.

I have a 3-year old working springer spaniel. She doesn't need a lead, walks to heel perfectly off it. There is hope.

LilCamper both my dogs understand hand gestures. It's a really good idea to teach them to your dog in tandem with vocal/whistle cues, as it really gets them to focus on you. I have an older dog that tends to wander out of earshot, but if he happens to look back and sees my arms outstretched, he comes tanking back toward me. Flat palm up means sit. Clenched fist down toward the ground, lie down.

Hand gestures are a fab idea, especially looking ahead (seems silly with a pup i know!). One of ours is stone deaf, has been from about 5...hand signals even for basics rock!

"To the person who mentioned dogs breaking their necks with halti harness's and retractable leads"

Halti do make harnesses, but usually when people say halti, they mean the headcollar.

Retractable leads should only be used with rear clipping harnesses, to spread the jolt if they reach the end.

You definitely need to have some sort of formal training... even with things like them fighting over your lap, they shouldn't think it's up to anyone but you who decides that...and no, not in a dominance pack leader way, but they're like children, if there's no clear boundaries, they'll do what they want.

With one dog doing what it wants you might not have many issues, but when you've got two - yes, you're going to struggle.

tabulah - thanks for clarifying . Ours is a rear clipping harness, so hopefully we are safe.

Cauliflower - he's in a separate room to sleep because my older dog sleeps on our bed and puppy sleeps downstairs because they don't get on. if the two dogs got on better then yes he would be allowed in our room too.

Your new pup will be high drive and high intelligence but will also be keen for human interaction more than anything, and to please you.

My wcs pulls like a train on a lead but I've trained her to walk to heel offlead. The minute she has a lead on she pulls.

Get the pup focused on a game, mine loves a ball.

The separation anxiety is worrying though, that can be a sign the pups weren't socialised enough when young. Were they kept in a shed?

Anyway, yes to training and he's probably love agility/flyball but will have to be a bit older before joints are ready.

If you still feel unable to cope in a few months then contact Spaniel Aid who will have a list of people waiting for a dog like yours.

Thunder shirt for separation anxiety, puppy classes and constantly correcting the dogs behaviour when it's doing something it shouldn't be. It will get easier. One of dogs still chews and he's 16 months. It does get easier.

There are games you can buy for the pup to keep his mind going, they're about £18 a pets at home.

Get to training classes ASAP, for starters.

I can't see if you've said you use a retractable lead?... but if you do you might well be making the pulling worse.

I do sometimes use one so I'm not against them, but there can be a bit of an issue because they're basically rewarded for pulling.

When I use mine, I leave the house with a normal lead on and swap it over when I'm where he'd be offlead if he got offlead, makes it much easier to be able to go, right, now you can go.

We have a 6 month cocker spaniel. They are hard work. I agree - more training! Ours is training to become a hearing dog, so every command also has a hand signal (recipient may not have speech). She can do any command with either voice or hand or combination. They are very intelligent dogs. Teach the dog the names of objects and he will learn to fetch them for you. They live to please so do all sorts of training, tricks and that. When ours is getting a little boisterous I do 'wait' training as it calms her down. I put three treats on the floor in front of her and she basically wait still until I give her the treats one by one. She loves this game. Exercising their brains is just as important as walks. We also do a lot of off lead with her. They can also be trained not to pull.

I have a sixth month old pup. She just never stops.i feel your pain. Fortunately our older dog puts up with her. I remember feeling like this when the other dog was her age too...it does get better.

I also think try the crate and formal
Puppy training classes.

Just wanted to say, hats off to all of you brave (or is that crazy?) enough to bring a puppy home!! I flat out refuse to have small pups anymore because they are such hard work. Usually my older dogs have at somepoint in their life had a lead on 😂