Overwhelmed

[Namechanged454]

I've got a 4 month old cocker spaniel and my god I feel overwhelmed! I think the new puppy bubble has popped so I've lost some patience. It feels like she's constantly crated because if she's not, I have to have eyes on her alllllll the time because she will chew/destroy anything and everything she finds. I've got two children so there's always something of theirs laying around no matter how much I ask them to make sure their stuff stays upstairs. She's started peeing in her crate again after being fully trained which is obviously frustrating... especially now it's colder so I can't get through washing as quickly. We spend alot of time in the garden with her so she can run off some energy but no matter how much we play....she would rather chew the garden bench or dig holes/eat random shit she finds in said holes. And don't get me started on the biting! Everyone warned me about puppy biting but my god it's constant - and it hurts!
Dont even want answers or advice I just needed to rant before I go to work 🤣

She sounds bored to me. How many walks does she have? I have a 4 month old ACD and I read the “5 minutes per month of age” line trotted out on here and in my experience it’s just simply not enough. The odd day we do only do a couple of 20 minute walks are the days he’s bored and starts chewing.

We have to do at least an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon for him to be tired enough not to go mental and destroy the place. Off lead in an enclosed park where he can actually run works best for us.

What do you mean by “constantly crated”? How long does she spend in her crate? I’m also surprised she hasn’t outgrown the biting yet, DDog really only gets mouthy now if he’s excited because we are going somewhere. Honestly all of this is reading like she doesn’t get enough exercise, doesn’t have enough time spent with her humans to learn not to mouth, and is constantly shut in a crate. :(

Try upping wearing her out more and you’ll probably find you have a different dog.

She sounds bored and totally understimulated and shutting her in her crate is going to make that worse. She’s a working breed - she’ll need stuff to do!

I'm with the above poster about that 5 minute rule. I would hate my dogs to get joint/ leg problems in older age so avoided constant ball throwing, jumping in and out of the car and stairs etc to be sensible but not convinced by that 'rule'. Neither is my vet.
Anyway whether you follow it or not as your dog gets older and you can do more with them it'll get better. We all get overwhelmed sometimes and my puppy wasn't even a bother. Hang in there!

She is a working breed, do breed appropriate training ie gundog training to tire her mentally. Seriously though what did you expect? Puppy stage lasts months not weeks, you wouldn't expect a human toddler to magically grow up at 1 Yr old would you? Put time in training and you will get a great family dog.

Op I hear you. People very quickly forget what hard work, how exhausting and time consuming puppies are.

Despite posts above puppies are bitey for up to and possibly longer than 6 months. It takes that long for all the teeth to come in so that is very normal but agree really painful!

Maybe scatter feeding her food and getting her used to kongs would help to give you a bit of peace when you have to be doing other things. Some dogs prefer a puppy pen with their crate placed in it, so they can move about a bit but not get too over stimulated.

I also ignore the 5 minute rule and let my puppies free exercise so they can determine the amount they need. No ball throwing or running up and down stairs or slipping on floors though.

Get her used to hunting for her ball , so hide it rather than throw it and send her off to search for it. She will love this and it is knackering but calming for dogs.

never too early if you have a young puppy. This too will pass.......(eventually!)

I also ignore the 5 minute rule and let my puppies free exercise so they can determine the amount they need. No ball throwing or running up and down stairs or slipping on floors though.

The five minute rule doesn't relate to any sort of exercise or play at home. It's a useful guideline to avoid people taking young puppies on long walks where they will often keep going even if too tired. It also makes people think about mental exercise for their pups rather than just physical exercise.

The problem with letting a cocker free run is that they will run all day, they were bred to be put working in the field all day so don't 'tire' in the same way a non-workjng breed will.
More important to teach them where the off switch is and get them to settle in between walks.

Did you do your research on the breed before getting one, they need brain training jobs as well as exercise or else they will be bored and will chew things. I’m afraid if you do not have the time to do this, you will experience problems. Go back to basics with toilet training, taking puppy out once an hour, at 4 months you really need to spend more time in getting this right. The cocker spaniels we know get are adults and get around 4 hours of exercise each day.

The problem with letting a cocker free run is that they will run all day, they were bred to be put working in the field all day so don't 'tire' in the same way a non-workjng breed will.
More important to teach them where the off switch is and get them to settle in between walks.

Not sure I said they should run free all day Just said that the 5 minute rule is outdated and incorrect.

Free exercise is a term to describe exercise that is monitored but if the dog tires (which you will see if you are a tuned in owner) they exercise stops. As opposed to people putting their dog on a lead and walking them regardless even if the dog is knackered.

I have 3 wcs They are working dogs - detection dogs but as puppies they were given exercise as they needed it and off course were taught to chill.

Regulated chill out sessions are vital but they also need physical and mental exercise hence the sniffing and scenting. That is what wcs live to do

Why all the passive aggressive posts directed at the OP?

They were just having a rant. Every puppy owner at some point will wonder what they hell they have done and question the relentlessness of it all.

A puppy does not have to be bored to chew things.......

4 hours exercise a day............

This thread is becoming bonkers

I have collies, wcs, all working dogs - none of them get 4 hours a day regular exercise.

They might some days but not on a regular basis .

I would be struck off if I worked my wcs for that amount of time a day.

I know you don't want answers or advice, but you've got one bored WCS on your hands there, who's being set up to fail.

Is she a working cocker or show as they are very different. I’ve got a show and he was a nightmare puppy, very bitey and would eat anything and everything given the chance.

What worked for us were plenty of games to occupy his mind. Hide & seek, treats in egg boxes and toilet roll centres, short training sessions, a bit of sniffer dog training. He’d get very overwrought with too much exercise and would get bitey and destructive.

Time out in his playpen was useful with just a couple of things to chew when he was being a pain or I needed to do something.

He’s nearly 12 now and still full on at times, I have to read his body language and anticipate his mood. It’s like having a permanent toddler!

Yes I know, I work my WCS. You might know what free run is but I bet most people would read that as unlimited exercise which as you know for cockers could be all day. Again the majority of owners aren't tuned into their dogs/can't read dog body language etc. I think the rule is a good guideline for newby owners as it helps prevent over exercise which can lead to over stimulation and a more hyper puppy.

Did you not know what to expect? What do you mean by " constantly crated" ?

OP you could try giving them a long lasting chew, like a chew root. It is fully digestible and will last a very long time. It has no nutritional value so it won't interfere with any special diet you have your four legged friend on.

Dogs love to chew, it releases hormone and can help with anxiety and increase their mood.

You could also try a Kong or treat ball, to keep their mind stimulated as well!

My thinking is, if they are going to chew, give them their own chew instead of your personal belongings.

Good luck

Have you got a good dog trainer for support and guidance? Everybody should have one IMO.

(and please avoid like the plague anybody who would have you use a shock or prong collar).

How long is ‘constantly crated’ ?

I think the responses saying your pup sounds bored are a bit silly. The pup is 4 months old and it sounds exactly like a 4 month old puppy. If anything, I’d say it’s probably not getting enough sleep.
If it helps, mine is 1 and has finally calmed a bit. The biting didn’t completely stop until around 8 months. She’ll also still chew clothes left laying around.

Just got home from work and reading through all the comments so il try and reply to some/most. I wrote this thread this morning while I was in a bit of a ranty mood - I used the word constantly when refering to crating her but I promise she's not always locked in there. We tried a play pen but the little rascal jumped/climbed out of it by day 3 🤣 thankfully we had a puppy cam so I got back to the house before she destroyed it... so back to just a crate now. I'm on a WCS Facebook group and was advised to enforce rest/naps by using the crate and that's why she gets put back in there often as she won't actively take herself to nap. Her crate is her off switch and she will then sleep. Puppies need alot of sleep and I think that's why it seems like she's in there alot.

Thanks so much for the nicer comments! The passive agressive ones weren't needed when all I wanted was to rant. Parents are allowed to rant about their toddlers driving them up the wall without judgement. I do know that it's normal for puppies to drive owners mad and I think you wait so long for them to get to 8weeks old to bring them home, the excitement really builds and then reality hits soon after 🤣. I knew what to expect, I've had a dog before (a cocker aswell!) But I've never had one from a puppy. I did do my research and we've put effort into training. She's got licky mats, snuffle mat (I think they're called - to hide treats in), kongs, bull horn, pizzles, balls, teddies...she has rabbit ears, cow ears etc. We really do try and keep her occupied and not bored. As for exercise - she is out in the garden alot where we play, she can run around...she gets a 20min walk with a dog walker every day and then we take her out for about half an hour in an evening. Maybe I'll up the evening walk. Thanks everyone :)

Rather than upping the exercise you need to mentally tire her out.

my spaniel could run for hours but actually 20mins of training, scent work or similar and she’s shattered. Upping the exercise just means you have a fitter dog 😅

Bitey… I sympathise ours was the same…. You need chew toys and all of them and rotate them. split antlers, coffee branch, olive branch, camal scalp, sheeps horns, nyla bones. Easier said than done when you have kids but try and keep the areas where pup is calm so they aren’t over stimulated.

Teaching pup to settle outside the crate would be useful too but takes time. If she’s peeing in the crate I’d say (kindly) you are missing the signs she needs to go or she’s not going out regularly enough. So perhaps only put her in crate after she’s had a wee. Our pup went through phases of peeing loads to going ages between with no really changes I could see as to why she might do that.

i really like pippa mattisons total recall book and jo Lauren’s force free gun dog training & mission control by Jane Arden have some great tips and training

also i promise once the first season is out the way and they hit their first birthday it gets better (but between now and then you’ll notice it getting easier too)

Also I meant to add, you might be over stimulating her with all the things you have, bit like the kids the more you do the more they expect

Well OP you have a bored dog and an over stimulated dog that is quite an achievement.

(or you could just have a bog standard puppy doing normal puppy behaviours!)