Getting a Cocker Spaniel puppy this week

[ConsternationStation]

After months of research, searching for the right breeder and finding a pup we finally get to bring our 8 week old Cocker Spaniel home this week. I'm so excited but I also feel like I've forgotten absolutely everything I've read!

Tell me the most important things about having a pup (and WCS) in that first week when you bring them home.

@Killingoffmyflowersonebyone Ive had to have my and fingers in all my dog’s mouths ( emergency) where something has got trapped hard between their carnassials- And once where a young Lurcher had a stuck piece of Oldskool hide chew in her throat- thankfully they allowed me access to their mouths to lever or pincer grab the stuck item out.

Hide chews thankfully aren’t a popular thing any more.

It’s Essential for a dog to let one handle their mouth without fuss.

However I once flicked a cat turd out of my current Whippet’s mouth - shecwas trying to gag it down before I could get to her ( in someone’s back garden ) gross.

I've never had any issues with our dogs, never ever had any guarding or aggression. I can move food bowls, take treats off them, toys etc if I chose too, but I really think messing with a pups food is unnecessary! I'd get a bit cross if someone tried taking my roast away 😂 😂. We have working spaniels and labs and not an issue here.

They do indeed follow like little lambs to heel naturally when little pups, off lead...
to the kitchen, the loo, the cupboard, the desk, the direct route between you and the front door...

You'll never walk alone!

And more to the point - perhaps it's an experience issue? For a very experienced owner as some are here they can sense where the line is better. For a first time pup owner who is perhaps not as experienced I would just suggest that they aren't quite as able to 'read' behaviour- it's no offence to anyone and is easily developed.

Re eating Cat shit- My Whippet ADORES a tasty cat treat.

She was wormed every three months ( from vets) but one summer passed a thrashing roundworm.

I since found out wormers only clear what is in the gut, there is no residual effect.

Vet said as she scavenges to worm her monthly- and thankfully I’ve not seen another roundworm.

It was all tangled up with grass that she’d eaten.

This pic was just after she’d passed the worm.

🤢

Aww congratulations OP!

Following as we're getting a border terrier boy in the new year! We've waited years to do this and I'm so excited. Also shitting it reminds me of late stages of first pregnancy!

Easy peasy puppy Squeezy book. Every time they go to nip (cs bite soooo much for the first year and a half!) hand over a teddy or a chew toy for them to bite/ hold.

make sure to leave on their own sporadically- they are soooooo clingy!

if you can master training and recall get on it as soon as you can, they don’t listen - it’s head down and run!!

get them used to brushing daily- my dog hates being brushed!!

cs are legends, and just so innocent and out for love but very very very very hard work too! Best of luck!

Some great advice here. Thanks. It's mostly stuff I've read over and over in the months we've been waiting to get a puppy but it's nice to see it all as a refresher just before we get her. I've had dogs before but this is my first puppy I'm fully responsible for and first WCS. I've had a JRT and king Charles spaniel before, both rescues.

@tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz it really does feel like the final stages of pregnancy before you bring baby home! I managed two babies. I can manage a puppy.... Right?! Border terriers are so cute!!

If it's worked for 9 puppies, you obviously ARE doing something right!

I was thinking about this thread when out and about today, and wanted to add, just remember that every interaction, every walk, is a chance for your puppy to learn something. Your puppy can learn that begging at table is rewarded with positive attention or with food... or that begging at table results in calm removal to crate or basket. It sounds daunting, and we're never completely consistent, but remembering that my puppy was learning all the time helped me to focus.

With my two dogs, I use every walk as a chance to train them or reinforce what they already know. We do something every time we go out, even if it's only a quick sit-stay, or a bunch of random recalls for no particular reason, or getting up on a tree stump to get a treat.

A very handy thing for a dog to know is a release command. You don't want your puppy running up to a bunch of random boys playing football, but you do want him to know that it's fine to run up to those boys playing football, who you know, who want to give him a fuss.

Mine's only half a cocker spaniel but lots of agreement with what's been said: I focused on recall (off lead as soon as possible and lots of fun, and loads of SUPER DUPER rewards - and work to a whistle as soon as you can); teaching a swap (cockers are going to nick things for the joy of it and can get resource-guardy if you take things from their mouths, though clearly everyone's mileage will vary; relatedly, see if you can identify a treasure for which they'll always swap - Bill will exchange pretty much anything for a clothes peg 🙄)

Not sure if anyone's talked about loose lead walking yet - when your spanner is dinky you might not mind them doing that swimming motion when they're excited to get somewhere. If they're a chonk, or half a lab like mine, it's a pain in the arse. It's the one thing I wish I'd done more of.

We're also going to look at gundog training in the New Year - not so much because he's struggling, but because I want him to be the happiest and most fulfilled that he can be. Watching him run off lead on the Common, being pure dog, is just the most joy I can imagine having on five hours' sleep in the rain - the more I can give him that joy the happier I'm going to be.

Enjoy!

Come on people where is all the tax???

so many Soaniels and no photos!! 🤬🤯😤😩

Cockerdor helping change the bed linen

I name changed to post on the Christmas board (don't ask 🤣) so this will out me to my adolescent thread friends but here's Vinny who is almost 6 months. Also when we first got him at 8 weeks 🥹

I think all dogs are different, we hand fed my spaniel and he has zero resource garden, I face he brings his animal chews to us for us to hold while he chews!

Haha @snoopysnoooper I thought it was you!

Compulsory spaniel tax enclosed. She’s the absolute best and I can’t imagine life without her. Will never have another breed now as every moment of her life is just pure joy. We spoil her rotten but crucially give her as close to a working home as she can have in a pet one. I have a million things to say about this, OP, most of which are probably in the puppy/adolescent threads here so head on over if you want to chat about gundog puppies. There’s quite a few of us.

I think all dogs are different, we hand fed my spaniel and he has zero resource garden, I face he brings his animal chews to us for us to hold while he chews!

I don't think handfeeding is a problem at all. We've hand fed our Springer entire meals when training and sometimes scatter feed on the lawn (when dry) which she loves. It's just the messing with food in their bowl and taking food away which I think is very unwise.

Clearly we all have our own way of doing things. "Messing with food in their bowl" has enabled me to be able to feed three adult dogs together. I also train them to eat lying down and not to bolt their food. All nine have had impeccable manners around food.

I do, however, see scatter feeding as very unwise because it encourages scavenging.

You’ve been lucky then Pyranean. It doesn’t mean it’s something others should do.

It's Pyrenean not Pyranean. They come from the Pyrenees.

Thank you Wilfie 😁

I feel that way about Whippets - They aren't ''Dogs'', they are cats in canine form, much as Burmese are dogs in a catsuit.

{Pic natural following that Pups do when young - {Large country park}

I can understand this. I'm another one breed person, 47 years with mine. I feel that when you are lucky enough to find a breed that perfectly suits your lifestyle and your personality, nothing else will ever do.

I do, however, see scatter feeding as very unwise because it encourages scavenging.

Agree. I also think using food based games (kongs, snuffle matts) are the root of all evil. Far too many people on mumsnet (literally daily) going on about how they use scatter feeding, snuffle matts, kongs etc for ‘enrichment’ or ‘to mentally tire their dogs out.’ And half the time they then wonder why their dog is manic.

Because giving your dog food which = energy, is definitely not going to make them over-excited, overly stimulated, and a general nightmare (particularly) when they are young. It’s the doggy equivalent of shoving chocolate down a child’s throat

One purchase I found very helpful was a set of hawkbells to go on my boy's collar when I started letting him off lead. It means that if they go hedge surfing (something cockers love) you can always hear them!

I could not agree more.

I was castigated by a dog trainer on another thread recently when I questioned the wisdom of hiding food in walls and undergrowth on a walk. I really don't want to encourage my puppy to think that picking up and eating food off the ground is acceptable or normal. I have heard of dogs being poisoned from picking something up in a park not far from here, and to me it's a risky thing to do. I was told, as on this thread, that I know absolutely nothing about dog training.

We've never used much food based training with any of our pups and we don't give a lot of treats. We've had very calm, well mannered dogs, they've never been hyper or whiny or overweight. Admittedly, mine is not a very high energy breed (although we do long walks and current pup gets a run on the dog field), so at home they are very content and quiet. I do occasionally give them a bit of cheese as a reward but we don't do stuffed Kongs or snuffle mats or twenty zillion treats and bones. They get their food in a bowl in the kitchen, not on the floor or flung all over the garden where there is danger from slugs and parasites...