Puppy just pulled my curtain rail down

[springerspanielpuppy]

Really need some advice on my puppy. 7 month Springer, he does come from working stock and he is a chewer. He needs to have something in his mouth all of the time and it has to be tough, like an antler or bone.

He’s just swung on the curtains and pulled the rail off the wall, he did this while I emptied the dishwasher so it was maybe a minute, it’s not like I left him alone, he’s in his crate now very quiet. I’ve had a Springer puppy before but this dog is a different nature. I see other owners posting things like this and laughing about typical puppy behaviour but his antics are wearing me out he needs an eye on him 24/7.

I would like help to stop it, I’ve thought of taking him to the vet to see if his teeth are ok but others tell me oh it will pass he’s from working lines what do you expect.

He finished his favoured antler a couple of days ago and seems to have been looking for trouble ever since. Any words of advice?

My springer is working lines too. If you don't provide a substitute for 6-7 hours working on a shoot he will find his own. I did advanced gundog training with mine through the local gundog club. I have always had Labs but the springer was an absolute dream to train

Thanks, do you have suggestions if we don’t have the option of gun club training? He can be pretty chilled when he’s got something to chew, he does scent work but I don’t want to over exercise him while he is a puppy.

He needs to work. Working type spaniels rarely make good pets unless they have a job to do, unfortunately. As PP said, if you don't work them, they do go self-employed which generally means causing havoc.

He's a bit young for agility but scent work or man trailing are both good options.

For now I would go for the prevention method. If you can't supervise him, either have him tethered to you or in his crate. The more he practices this behaviour and gets enjoyment from it, the harder it will be to break the habit.

Working line spaniels need a job to do otherwise they find it themselves. However saying that it is up to you to train the 'off switch' in the house as they cam struggle to find it themselves. We have had working Springers previously and now have a WCS. We have trained all of ours to settle and chill in the house, they go bonkers outside but inside they are calm. They settle because they have the mental stimulation of working and training outside of the house.
Highly recommend gundog training and then also read The Pet Gundog puppy book by Lez Graham.

He may be a bit young but let gundog training could be a huge help, agility would be excellent too, even proper obedience training.
How much mental stimulation is he getting? Chewing is quite relaxing for them but does he have access to a range of toys, does he do any trick training etc? Are his walks varied?

The Pet Gundog by Lez Graham

@whataboutsecondbreakfast thank you, he does scent work, I’ve never heard of man trailing? I have been using preventive methods, he’s either in my eyeline or I’m playing with him, he’s out on a lead or in his crate. But if I turn my back or get distracted he is so quick and will grab anything with his mouth.

@twistyizzy he is quite calm he rests quite a lot, he’s not a hyper puppy, though we are still working on the jumping up when he first sees someone. He has time out in his crate and sometimes puts himself in there. He wasn’t running daft but he’s grabbed the curtain and swung on it or tried to run off with them like a blanket.

@Lastqueenofscotland2 he has destroyed so many toys even kong toys and tuff toys. He is food driven so is scatter fed, stuffed kong, lick mats etc.

We do some tricks with him, but I think we need to do more and more obedience. He is quickly bored, at 10 weeks he lay on his back and emptied the kibble from his kong into his mouth like a bottle and at 12 weeks he threw his snuffle mat in the air to get the kibble rather than sniff it out.

Outdoors we scatter feed him in the garden or hide treats and balls and my DH takes him to a local field off lead and he sniffs his ball out, he loves it especially in the dark. I walk him on a long lead where he sniffs about local dog areas or the beach. We should look at more variety perhaps.

@villainousbroodmare im going to need to read this as that’s twice it’s been recommended.

We are looking for more training for him I think Im going to have to look harder for some gun dog training. Our other Springer lived until he was 15 and if we are going to enjoy this one we can’t spoil it by getting it wrong in these early months. I had forgotten how much hard work a puppy is.

I appreciate your ideas and any advice is very welcome.

It's a brilliant book, even if you never intend to work him.
I think the other thing with him in general is to try to make sure he never ever gets to go AWOL after rabbits etc on a walk - young springers are notorious hunters and it's nearly impossible to make yourself more exciting than rummaging in bushes after rabbits or birds.

Our springer is nearly 2 now and he’s our second springer from a working line. He loves having a job and using his brain as PP have said. We do scent training with him, there is a trainer who’s been teaching us and he absolutely loves it. As long as he gets a good off lead walk and some brain work every day, he’s calm and settled as anything in the house. We also save any cardboard boxes and he enjoys ripping them up. Another little job for him.

Have you got more chews?
with a spaniel you need more chews and all different kinds of chews
olive branch/ coffee branch split antler, camel scalp and lots of other things

you need to keep him in eye sight at this age even 30seconds and they’ll be finding trouble

easy peazy puppy squeezy is good for obedience basics too

Even if he destroys them in a day he needs toys or he will find other things to be toys… ie your house

@Theluggage15 he has scent work and off lead most days, some days just a long lead walk and perhaps not enough scent work for him. He loves cardboard (and paper, if the toilet door is left open he will go for the loo roll) but I have not been allowing him to have cardboard as I thought it would encourage him to be destructive?

@Ginandtoner he has a lot of chews coffee sticks, olive wood, split antler, he also has coconut rolls and stuffed bones but he can not tolerate a lot of chews as he gets diarrhoea. He will have a frozen carrot and a frozen ring he’s had sine he was a few months old but has refused all of his chews for a couple of weeks in favour of a fallow antler and refused them all today. You are so right about keeping an eye on him he is so quick.

@Lastqueenofscotland2 could you suggest some toys, he loves his balls and anything that can be stuffed with food but tug toys, any thing with rope, fur or stitching he destroys. It’s an expensive hobby he has there.

He has been happily snoozing about this afternoon next to me, like a different dog. I’ve snoozed with him after this mornings shenanigans. He curls up with us every evening after dinner, he sleeps all night in his crate no bother. But I really need to learn how to manage him better.

Thanks for listening I feel he’s my only topic of conversation lately.

We have used a coffee wood, buffalo horn, brought back Nylabones, and had hundreds of chewed up soft toys with our working cocker pup.

I keep a bag of chopped up carrots in the freezer, and give him one of those in the evening whilst we are eating which tends to sooth him - they also aren’t bad or full of e-numbers.

I also second scent work! We play find it with toys, and did a scent class at our local dog training class last night which our pup absolutely loved. He’s been sniffing out his pot of rosemary today and just 15-20 minutes of scent work tires him out for ages, and it’s not too much effort either.

Also on the toys, we don’t allow anything with stuffing anymore, we use the rubber toys instead such as:

www.wilko.com/wilko-farmyard-pig-dog-toy/p/0471958?gclid=CjwKCAiAh9qdBhAOEiwAvxIokxIdexg7RRkWk46SG-c-WnlGKrqdoa6TVsxpD9dONPSMzzyyusCutBoCvK4QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

They don’t get chewed at all (they do make a bloody racket whilst

If he likes balls, impulse training and retrieves are good ways to play too. Make him wait before going after them, and also hide them in long grass and make sure he sniffs them out rather than the high energy throwing and chasing.

They are an utter pain in the arse at that age! (I promise it gets better when they hit around 1)

@springerspanielpuppy have a look at man-trailing. It's relatively new I think but it's becoming more and more popular - it's basically getting your dog to use their nose to find people hidden in undergrowth or woods or warehouses etc.

Really interesting and not intense on the joints either.

When you say scent work are you sending him off to find specific scents or is it just sniffy walks?

Pup definitely sounds understimulated, mine pulled the curtain rail off (also a spanner) but to be fair to him it was hanging off and it was fireworks that scared him and he got tangled up!

Spaniels need 2 off lead walks per day. Mine have always had 1-1 and a half hours first thing in the morning ie 5am at the yard when I do the horses, just roaming free. Then a lunchtime walk of approx 45 mins which is our 'training walk", mainly off lead but where we do the gundog training ie basic obedience, walk to heel, retrieves etc.
1 on lead walk is not sufficient for a working breed.

My springer is now 14 months and we had a big blip around 7 months! Manically chewing/easily hyped up, I think it was the last of his teething and once he got to 8 months he calmed right down. He does still love a chew and needs variety so I rotate toys and chews on a daily basis. Nothing with stuffing or a squeaker as they get destroyed in minutes……..

I’d also make sure he has off lead exercise everyday - nothing replaces this as a release of energy for my boy!! Again I vary our walks everyday too as he’d get bored of it was the same trail everyday. At 7 months I think we were doing 45 mins off lead twice a day. At his age now he gets about 1.5 hours in the morning and 45mins to an hour in the afternoon.

Sniffer dog training has also been great for us - he loves it and it’s the best mental stimulation I’ve found for tiring him out. We’ve done 3 levels of courses now as you can start any age. It’s very different to just a game of find it as it’s all about them being able to calm and steady themselves with their indication and not just grab the item excitedly. But really anything that helps to calm and steady a springer is always your friend 😂

Best toys we’ve found are Chuckit ones - so far they’ve been indestructible

He definitely needs a job. Mine are working dogs and they definitely have an off switch - but they need to use their brains. I would recommend very much gundog training, it is what they are bred to do and you don't need to actually go out shooting if you don't want. There is a fb group called the ladies working dog group which is brilliant and friendly. Have a look at working spaniels on YouTube - it'll give you an idea of how they naturally work. If you want more info then do pm me.

Sorry that I disappeared I have been poorly all weekend and offline. Thanks for the replies and advice.

@Handsfullofholes his evening walks are off lead in a farm field and his ball is hidden in long grass, bushes etc and as its dark he loves this playtime. But the idea of sniffing for herbs or anything other than food or toys has never occurred to me, thanks I'm going to try this in the garden (its quite large).

@whataboutsecondbreakfast do people really do this for the public, lie about in fields and sheds?

@GuyFawkesDay his evening walk is specific scents in a field off lead with my husband and I scatter feed him in the garden once a day. We live semi rural so his walks with me are about 50 minutes in either the morning or afternoon on a long lead over local fields, grassy arears where other dogs walk where he is generally having a good sniff but not specific, I occasionally take him into the woods on a long lead. He doesn't have walks around the block type of walks though.

@DominoRules it gives me hope that this could be a blip, I varied his walk quite a bit this morning after reading your post, he does have some variety but I have got in the habit of probably the same 3 routes. He has a chuck it ball but he chewed the chuck it bumper tug toy in 2 days.

@OrlandointheWilderness thank you I really need to do more research around training in the local area. He is a lovely dog I would hate to spoil his nature by neglecting his needs. I thought our previous springer was hard work until I met this one.

@springerspanielpuppy yes, absolutely!

The people hiding will normally be family members of other man-trailers, or dog trainers and handlers rather than random strangers though

😂oh dear I had visions of locals volunteering to hide and be found. As part of an organised group of course, not just randomly lying around hoping some daft springer would happen to notice them 🤔