Cocker spaniel puppy

[Sunny06]

This will be my first dog-I WFH with a garden and have plenty of love to give to my new puppy. I have done lots of research but I do still feel nervous! Do you have any tips to offer me?

it will be a very energetic dog

Book the first few weeks off as a/l when you bring puppy home. DH and I did alternate weeks to bond with puppy and help her settle in. It was hard work but worth it.

They are very hard work ( especially working ones).

Agree with this. If you have visions of getting on with your wfh job while your puppy pootles around quietly, have a rethink. You'll be having to take it out every 20-30 min for toileting and it'll be into everything. Would recommend crate training (read up on how to do this properly)

Our cocker is 15 and still has the energy of a puppy. Be warned!

Is he/she a show cocker or working cocker?

When we got ours it was the last few weeks of the summer holidays so I had plenty of hands to help and get her out regularly. We use the downstairs cloakroom/etc as ‘her’ room and somewhere she could feel totally safe in when she was little. She still sleeps there every night now. Puppy will prob bark all night for the first few at least - I put a heated bean bag under a blanket in her bed and popped the radio on low vol to keep her company. Have you read any training books etc - always useful to have a plan!!

Don’t be tempted to walk them too much whilst they are young, their bones need time to develop.
Get a pup sized bag (you can buy bags specifically for this purpose) and take them, as early as you can, to experience as many places/sounds/situations as you can.
Cocker pups can be very trying but are fantastic dogs-good luck!

Our black cocker puppy was just lovely from the minute we got him. He was lively in spurts but then slept a lot. He needs a walk each day, loves water, loves country paths, loves other dogs and loves us!
He’s 9 now - still active and interested in everything but also loves a good cuddle on the sofa. Good Luck.

Spaniels are all sorts of bonkers.

Be aware that puppy ownership and WFH don't always go hand in hand - I assume you've booked a good 2-3 weeks off to settle them in and get a routine going?

I have working spaniels. I find them really easy, they just need the right amount, and right kind, of stimulation. Bloody lovely dogs, can't go wrong with a span.

Just remember that the nippy bitey phase won’t last forever (although it might feel like it at the time). And they’re like toddlers - they need their naps.

Apart from the bitey phase, my cocker’s been wonderful - they’re such a lovely breed.

Do not use puppy pads, just be available to toilet at all times !

Cockers are my dog of choice. I adore them.

However, remember that mental stimulation is more important the physical exercise.

As a puppy they do tend to be very nippy. Pick a way you are planning training that out of them and be consistent. Too many people jump for technique to technique if it doesn’t work within a few days.

More than likely they will be a Velcro dog. Not always but often. Training them to be alone for very small periods as puppies will really help in the long run. But start off with small periods, very small when they are young.

Prepare to never pee alone again 😂

It will get better! 🤣

We brought a nine week old terrier pup home in October. I had two weeks off to settle her in while OH got ahead with work. He mostly WFH and I work a few minutes walk from home. I have semi flexible hours.

It was tough to begin with. He didn't get much work done so caught up when I got home. I used to come home for an hour at lunch to give him a break. Luckily both employers were very supportive of puppy disruption and care arrangements when he had to go into the office for odd meetings and I often work extra unpaid so I was able to take a lot of TOIL.

At 5 months it got much better. At 8 months it's fairly easy most of the time but there are the odd moments!

Toilet training is just the half of it really. It's keeping them out of everything. Our pup has never destroyed anything she shouldn't or chewed as we were on her all the time. One of us 24/7 so no bad habits could be established. Biting. So much biting. From sleeping puppy to shark puppy. You have to drop everything and play. Training - we focused on rewarding the good stuff but she also goes to a training class once a week (I help run a dog training club).

To begin with pup had to be on a lap. All the time. So he would work with her sitting on him. Laying up him some days. She frequently featured in team briefs! She gradually got more confident so we gave her a bed on the floor by his feet. Now she sleeps wherever she likes, often in another room. We didn't force anything just let her grow up naturally.

Obviously lots of people don't do this. But you have one chance to raise a happy, confident, well adjusted puppy who will hopefully grow into a confident, happy, well adjusted buddy.

You really can't leave them at all in the early days. Cocker spaniels are very people orientated dogs so do need extra support learning to be ok on their own. So you need to factor that in for quite a few weeks/months yet.

It's tough but it's worth it. Initially we said 'never again' but as we are seeing the lovely dog she is growing into it's become a 'maybe if we can't rescue'.

Looking here for tips as we get ours in a few weeks. We lost our 14 year old recently and she was the best. Hard work as a pup but a very loving and loyal. She was bonkers until the day she died.

The best thing we taught our pup was a positive interrupter. So we said her name, gave a treat. Name treat. Name treat. Repeat 2947338 times until when you say her name she looks at you, or trots to you. That meant that every time she was chewing or biting something she shouldn't then we said her name in a happy voice and she trotted off to do something else or we gave her something more appropriate if she went back to it.

For toilet training we didn't bother with any pads inside, we went straight to taking her to the spot on the garden we wanted her to go in. We also set an alarm to take her out during the night until she was able to last the night without needing a wee. Some people have told us this was overkill but it worked for us and she got toilet training very quickly. I also hated the thought of her getting distressed in the night if she needed a wee.

We did the same. We crated in our bedroom beside the bed and set an alarm at 3 am for a week, then moved it back 15 minutes a night. She went through by the time we got to 6 am. Now she will happily sleep until we wake in her open crate by the bed. She has learnt nothing fun happens until the treat dispensers wake up!

Another tip is don't feed/walk/play for 15 - 20 minutes after you wake up. That stops them anticipating it when they wake and they get earlier and earlier. We just have a wee and then mooch, empty the dishwasher, give the cat a cuddle etc until it's time for breakfast. Getting up is BORING.

"Another tip is don't feed/walk/play for 15 - 20 minutes after you wake up. That stops them anticipating it when they wake and they get earlier and earlier. We just have a wee and then mooch, empty the dishwasher, give the cat a cuddle etc until it's time for breakfast. Getting up is BORING."

Completely agree with this. We get up, have a cup of tea and then take ours out for her first walk and then she has her breakfast. She then hasn't associated waking up with food time.

Can concur with the above, we had a beautiful red cocker spaniel who we lost to old age 18 months ago, and he was a bloody nightmare as a puppy. Anecdotally red cockers are particularly difficult. He was so much fun though! Enjoy!

Recall can be taught from the moment you bring her home, easily.

Puppies are fed 4 times a day, are usually greedy, and it's the perfect way to cement your recall command with zero effort. Every single time you feed them, make sure they're a little distance away then as you put the bowl on the floor say '(Pups name) come'. Gradually increase the distance. 4 times a day of this teaches them their recall command super fast, with the ultimate reward for them for listening.

We did this with every meal from 8 weeks old and within days pups reliability to the recall command was solid, even from a different room. Then it was easy to move it to the garden and then elsewhere offlead, with treats instead of meals.

Our pup is 10 months now (we have a springer) and she has the best recall of any dog I know, she's totally bombproof. When she hears the recall command, it's like a robot takes her over and she'll turn on a pin and return instantly even if mid squirrel chase. I keep waiting for the horrific teenage stage everyone warned me of from 6 months where they stop listening but it hasn't happened so far!

I read the tip of using meal times to cement the recall command as babies on here somewhere and it's the best thing we ever did. I'm very grateful to whoever posted it a few months ago!

Agree, they are amazing dogs. Did find ours hard work up until about 18 months though !

Start recall training from the minute he/she is home. Spaniels are usually very food motivated, but more importantly highly intelligent, which we found made ours very easy to train (and for him to train us, lol).

If you use a crate, make sure they know it is a safe space/resting area/den, NOT a punishment. We started with the door fastened when the crate was needed, by a few months we had progressed to the door open and our pup willingly went in to sleep, and by 12 months it was totally gone, replaced with a standard bed. We still have a crate for travelling, and it is stored in the garage. Ddog makes a beeline for it when he is in the garage and loves to just lay in it watching DH or I.

Routine - ours knew early on what to expect and when, and thrives on it. He knows when ''chill'' time is and is happy to do so, but is a typical bonkers cocker spaniel when appropriate.

You cannot wish for a more loving, funny, intelligent breed - very responsive and you will get out what you put in. Embrace the bonkers and enjoy every minute! Ours makes me laugh every day without fail. He is currently sitting on my knee like a toddler, and in 30 mins or so will be nagging to go to bed...wee, biscuit, told ''bedtime'', shut in kitchen and out for the count until 7am.

Best dogs ever ❤