It's only taken 5.5 years

BiteyShark · 2022-04-16T07:26:52+00:00

I think my WCS has finally calmed down. People told me they grow up around 2 years of age but that was a lie [hmm]. Yes he is still nuts compared to other breeds but he does seem a lot calmer recently for a spaniel [grin] Still a bit cheeky which is lovely but more settled at night and just seems content generally. I think he has finally grown up. Sorry mad puppy spaniel owners for the bearer of bad news [wink]

wetotter · 16/04/2022 08:34

So yours settled really rapidly then!

Original poster

BiteyShark · 16/04/2022 08:38

@wetotter

So yours settled really rapidly then!

laughs because yes I do see other spaniels out and when I ask how old they are because they look like crazy puppies I am always shocked to find they are in double figures

OP posts:

Runningslow · 16/04/2022 08:39

Has he calmed down by normal dog standards, or just by WCS standards?

Original poster

BiteyShark · 16/04/2022 08:40

@Runningslow

Has he calmed down by normal dog standards, or just by WCS standards?

Just WCS standards unfortunately

OP posts:

Brownsauce83 · 16/04/2022 08:41

Does this mean they stop pulling on the lead? I took mine to a loose lead walking workshop recently. All dogs there were spaniels

Original poster

BiteyShark · 16/04/2022 08:45

@Brownsauce83

Does this mean they stop pulling on the lead? I took mine to a loose lead walking workshop recently. All dogs there were spaniels

Ah we still have some of that but that is because I gave up training loose lead as we only do a short distance before he is off lead. But even that has improved recently.

I don't know whether it's a coincidence but I have noticed a lot more greying around his nose recently so showing his age a bit.

OP posts:

grosgirl · 16/04/2022 08:47

The biggest issue we're having with our WCS at the moment is that she has almost zero recall. She's okay if there is absolutely nothing else going on but as soon as there is another person/ dog/ butterfly/ interesting looking tree, she won't come back when called.

Any tips? I really don't want to keep her on the lead at all times. She is only 5 months old.

toomuchlaundry · 16/04/2022 08:53

We have a different type of spaniel, everyone we meet assumes he is a puppy, he is 8 years old. Wouldn’t have him any other way though

Original poster

BiteyShark · 16/04/2022 08:54

@grosgirl

The biggest issue we're having with our WCS at the moment is that she has almost zero recall. She's okay if there is absolutely nothing else going on but as soon as there is another person/ dog/ butterfly/ interesting looking tree, she won't come back when called.

Any tips? I really don't want to keep her on the lead at all times. She is only 5 months old.

Ah recall was AWFUL for us. We had it early on as we had trained to a whistle from day one but as soon as he hit 6 months ish it went. Peak shitness for recall was 8-9 months of age and he drove me to tears and

.

My tip is get a good gun dog trainer. They told me to stop walking as a normal dog owner. Instead hunt with him so retrieve and find dummies or balls. This really helped as he suddenly found me to be fun but for several years we ended up hunting more than walking when out. I also did months of walking off in the opposite direction (in open safe spaces) so he stopped thinking I would wait or follow him which now means he always checks to see where I am so he doesn't lose me.

It's only now he is much older do I walk normally with him as he hunts out abandoned balls in the forest beside me as I know he checks in and comes back when called.

OP posts:

Original poster

BiteyShark · 16/04/2022 08:55

@toomuchlaundry

We have a different type of spaniel, everyone we meet assumes he is a puppy, he is 8 years old. Wouldn’t have him any other way though

What kind?

I do think all spaniels are great. And yes they just seem to be eternal puppies

OP posts:

MightyMeerkat · 16/04/2022 11:52

Can I ask how you hunted with him? I have a 10 month old sprocker spaniel. I am very boring to her out of the house and she legs it as soon as she's off lead. She will recall when she feels like it and will sometimes follow if I walk off. She loves her ball but generally just runs off with it after a few throws. And she is not interested in treats outside the house. Thanks.

Hugasauras · 16/04/2022 11:59

Eight years old and still waiting She is a dream offlead though. Total Recall book is what we used when she was a puppy. Really recommend it.

Hugasauras · 16/04/2022 12:01

@Brownsauce83

Does this mean they stop pulling on the lead? I took mine to a loose lead walking workshop recently. All dogs there were spaniels

I have never seen a WCS walking nicely on a lead. I'm sure some exist but there are loads of working cockers round here and they are immediately identifiable by their spinning, pulling, and random bouncing at the end of the lead

Original poster

BiteyShark · 16/04/2022 12:12

@MightyMeerkat

Can I ask how you hunted with him? I have a 10 month old sprocker spaniel. I am very boring to her out of the house and she legs it as soon as she's off lead. She will recall when she feels like it and will sometimes follow if I walk off. She loves her ball but generally just runs off with it after a few throws. And she is not interested in treats outside the house. Thanks.

I used to adapt a few things we did at gun dog training (we didn't do formal training for long as we were both rubbish but it gave us enough info to work with his instincts).

I always had two balls so he never kept hold of one as his prize as he would then drop the other wanting the one I was holding.

His favourite was to get him to sit and stay and then walk around into long grass and drop a ball sneakily behind my back then walk back and give him the 'find it' command. Often he would get confused with my scent and not be able to locate the ball so we used to use arm signals to show which way to go or a command which meant the ball was really close to him. This was great fun because he needed me to 'hunt with him' to locate it.

Sometimes I would do this with two balls so he got the thrill of hunting for the second as soon as he found the first.

Other times when out with DH we would both do this at the same time which drove him potty because he couldn't watch both of us to try and work out where we had dropped the ball.

You can practice at home but they are really smart and it didn't take long for him to work out what pointing left or right meant nor what the command meant for 'get your nose down the ball is really close by'.

OP posts:

Original poster

BiteyShark · 16/04/2022 12:13

@Hugasauras

Eight years old and still waiting

She is a dream offlead though. Total Recall book is what we used when she was a puppy. Really recommend it.

Maybe yours is a late starter

OP posts:

Chasingsquirrels · 16/04/2022 12:15

@wetotter

So yours settled really rapidly then!

🤣🤣 that's what I was thinking.

I didn't think spaniels calmed down, they just die mad.

HappyThursdays · 16/04/2022 12:19

Ahhh glad to hear he is doing well!

I took Happy out early this morning. There were only spaniel owners out walking when I went out (before 7am). We greeted each other and laughed. Other dogs and their owners did turn up but only much later!

Chasingsquirrels · 16/04/2022 12:22

The left & right thing is interesting.
We used to do agility and was told to teach the dog left and right. I would say mine (show cocker) is probably 90% consistent with his response to a direction command.

Original poster

BiteyShark · 16/04/2022 12:36

@HappyThursdays

Ahhh glad to hear he is doing well!

I took Happy out early this morning. There were only spaniel owners out walking when I went out (before 7am). We greeted each other and laughed. Other dogs and their owners did turn up but only much later!

Same here saw quite a few spaniels out. I like how they don't really interact much as they are too busy hunting with their noses on the floor to bother each other

OP posts:

Original poster

BiteyShark · 16/04/2022 12:38

@Chasingsquirrels

The left & right thing is interesting. We used to do agility and was told to teach the dog left and right. I would say mine (show cocker) is probably 90% consistent with his response to a direction command.

Our brief stint at agility was almost as bad as our GD training

He used to get frustrated when I got it wrong then go off to find a scent as it was in a farmer field

OP posts:

Runningslow · 16/04/2022 13:04

Similar experience with agility here. Gave up when I spent a whole session trying to stop him chasing the crows in the next field. Better now, but still wouldn’t be good enough for agility.

Original poster

BiteyShark · 16/04/2022 13:14

@Runningslow

Similar experience with agility here. Gave up when I spent a whole session trying to stop him chasing the crows in the next field. Better now, but still wouldn’t be good enough for agility.

The only training he really liked and we were half decent at was scentwork but we had to stop going due to logistics.

Unless it involves his nose I think he just finds it boring.

OP posts:

Chasingsquirrels · 16/04/2022 14:23

We gave up on agility because his recall is non-existent and I also go fed up of spending more time trying to retrieve him the running the course, which is a shame because when he DID do it he clearly enjoyed it - but rolling in horse poo in the next field, chasing crows, jumping in the stream etc were all clearly more enticing.

There was a couple of wcs there which were TOTALLY on point with their trainer the whole time.

grosgirl · 16/04/2022 20:04

That's so helpful @BiteyShark - thank you!

Spacedebret · 16/04/2022 20:11

I am an excellent dog trainer. Have had loads of dogs and often rescues with issues. I have transformed some big crazy hounds but never ever got my cocker spaniel to walk on a relaxed lead.