Cocker Spaniel - advice needed

[Elli123]

I feel that my life has been taken over by my spaniel. I loved her dearly but is just a bit too much😂
she has no off switch. Despite an hours walk in the morning, a further 2 hour walk with the dog walker (all off lead) over lunch and several hours spent throwing balls in the garden she still wants more. The time commitment is unsustainable whilst working, looking after kids etc etc. she also follows me everywhere so find trying to do certain things really challenging.

what does everyone’s dog (if similar working breed) do during the day when they’re not sleeping or walking/ playing? Mine quite literally never just does nothing. I’ve tried ignoring her periodically( just continues to pester, looks what she can pinch to get a reaction), I’ve also tried every possible piece of enrichment ( lockers, puzzle toys etc) but all take, like 5 minutes then she’s looking for something else to do! I then end up feeling sorry for her looking bored and take her out again.

i would also be interested how long others walk their dogs? At the weekend she’s about 4 hours (over 2 walks) plus garden time with the ball.

shes amazing but just way too full on and i am well aware that she’s very spoilt! Shes my first dog (got her as a puppy), and yes I now appreciate working breeds can be full on but I am also aware that plenty of busy families have spaniels and can’t possibly commit the same time as I am doing.

she did go to puppy class and has basic obedience.

please help me regain my sanity 😱 (rehoming is not an option here).

How old is she?
Have you taught her to settle?

Spaniels need brain work rather than increasing the exercise. Oursonly have 2 30-40 minute walks but sleep most of the day. 10 minutes sniffing round the garden a couple of times a day is az good as a walk but we do get a lot of wildlife in the garden to go e it interest.

She needs to learn to settle!

Rest is important too

I know crates are marmite, but I'm once your dog is happy in their crate, they have a safe space. Pop her in there with a frozen Kong

You might say you don't have time to train her to use a crate (assuming she's not crate trained?) but use some of that two hour morning walk time to train her 🙂

What is she doing? Mine would be at my feet if at home but generally settled

Agree with above poster. Mine did like the sanctuary of her crate. I put a light blanket over "the roof" to take away the cage look

How old is your dog?
I had similar issues with my cookerpoo, she has an insane amount of nervous energy!
Things that helped to settle her down are lots of brain games. That's sniffing out treats or toys in house & garden, teaching her tricks and going regularly to formal dog training classes (Agility & Obedience) . Make sure there is "downtime" after activities by teaching a ssettle in any spot pointed at (start with her bed, ..)
command is a lifesaver.

Fellow spaniel owner here! Most important thing I was taught was you can't wear a spaniel out- you need to teach them to be calm and settled in the house. Look into 'Dog Training And Advice' on Facebook, or their book. The Guide 'The Lounge is for Lounging'
And as PP have said- they need mental stimulation so look into scent work.
Good luck!

Less is more with a spaniel. She needs much less exercise and stimulation and you need to teach her to settle in her bed for naps and in the evening. My one year old cocker spaniel follows this routine every day:
8am in the garden for pee/poo
Breakfast
She snoozes in bed while I have breakfast. She plays a bit either with a toy or with my much older dog
long walk through the woods, on the beach. A good hour including plenty of spaniel tearing around stuff, running with other dogs. Training to reinforce recall as well.
Home
Lunch and sleep in her bed all afternoon, or follows me and watches whatever I'm doing in between snoozing.
Garden for wee.
Tea.
She plays with the other dog or with her toys or I play a game with her for ten minutes .
She sleeps in her bed while I eat an early dinner
Short walk around the block
She settles on her bed for the evening.
Last wee and she sleeps all night.
Sometimes if she's had a more stimulating day, such as been out most of the day or we've had visitors, she will struggle to settle in the evening. When this happend I put her lead on her and tether it so she has to stay in her bed, whereupon she immediately flops down and goes to sleep

Friend of mine with a spaniel does scent work and obedience training for brain work to try and tire him out. Also uses a snuffle mat.

My friend has a cockerpoo who is also full of energy. He goes to doggie day care twice a week which is basically a huge field with other dogs tearing around and lots of sniffing and ball throwing. In summer they have a swimming pool! He adores going but is a very sociable dog and mixes well which is obviously important. The centre often posts videos on our local FB and there appear to be quite a few spaniels in the videos.

Thank you for the quick replies. To answer some questions-

She’s two and a half.

she is crate trained and sleeps really well in her crate at night but never put her in during the day. She will get some sleep during the day, maybe an hour late morning and another 40 mins in afternoon (if I don’t move) but other than that, she needs ‘entertained’ the rest of the time. I also do lots of games during the day , finding treats in the garden etc but it’s all so time consuming. She doesn’t live a licki mat or a king. Food/ treats are less valuable than charging around with balls etc for her.

she really never mastered the settle 😤. She looks bored/ depressed, I then feel sorry for her and take her out. It’s like she can’t do nothing.

i just need to somehow spend a bit less time doing things with her as it quite literally has taken over my life.

I've learnt that dogs do what we ask of them, not the other way round. Your dog thinks you want to spend all day playing. She needs to understand that you want her to settle and sleep when in the house. I would say 'go bed Ellidog' and lead her to her bed. 'Sleepies Ellidog'. If she doesn't settle, tether her. She will sleep. My dog's bed is near a very heavy table, so I used to tie her lead around the table leg. It sounds harsh but works like a dream. She now knows 'Go bed' and I don't have to tether her. Otherwise how can you ever get anything done with your say? I'm an artist and she has to lay down and be quiet when I'm working. And she enjoys the down time.

I can think of two things that might help.

1. What training do you do with her? I mean this gently, but a lot of people seem to think ‘finding treats’ or ‘puzzle feeders’ etc are a good substitute /option for stimulating a dogs brain. And that’s not wrong. BUT they also involve food = energy (at a very basic level) and they often overstimulate as the dog gets frustrated etc. A far better idea is to do training sessions, every day, with your dog to teach them new tricks to really get them thinking.
2. You know your dog needs to switch or, but you let her out the crate anyway because she looks sad? You’re not doing her any favours…

She's having too much leg work. She needs brain work. Something that does both is ideal (agility, rally etc). Or some kind of nose work.

The more you walk them the more they need. My working terrier is the same age and she has 45 mins to an hour walk and then lazes around most of the day with a few sessions of play. She does agility once a week and rally once a week plus 5 mins here and there daily of other training, body conditioning etc.

Spaniels ARE busy dogs and need a lot of input. They are needy because they have been bred to hang on our every word unlike terriers. So it is something you will need to live with to a point.

My dog isn't a working breed but she's not been out for a walk since last Thursday morning! (She's had surgery with a two week recovery time.)

I think I feel like your spaniel, OP! I'm desperate to get out and do something fun, now. Doggo is just sleeping and snoring.

Honestly I think I would have more crate time for her during the day. As long as she is happy there she probably just needs to learn to switch off and relax a bit more. Give her a kong with a bit of frozen pate in it to help her settle and then go to sleep. As she gets older she will learn to settle herself more and go to her own bed but at the moment she needs direction from you on this.

By the time she is 5 she might be a bit calmer!

With my cocker spaniel, especially when he was young, I would take 2 balls out with me and stand at the edge of a wood overlooking a more open space. I would throw the first ball into the open space so that he could run for it and when his back was turned and he couldn't see me I would thrown the 2nd ball deep into the dense forest area. When he returned with the first he was sent to find the 2nd using scent work. That way he got a good mix of physical and mental stimulation. Half an hour of that was very effective.

This is intense. I think you might be walking her too much and increasing her stamina. Mine gets 1.5 hours per day, sometimes an hour. I know it’s hard but I think you need to be firm with her. My dog gets hyped in tge eve and I play with her a bit but then make it clear enough is enough and time to sit down. Yours is young, so you may see an improvement. Doggy daycare could exhaust her and give you a break.

Can you recommend any sites for the training? I think my dog would benefit from this too. 4yo Border. Sometimes gets bored

Mine needs a good hour and some crazy time, but does mostly lounge around and sleep during my working hours (I'm based at home and she's in my office). But she's a show type -- is yours a working cocker?

We do scent work, agility etc too at weekends, though I'll stomp out the odd trail for her during a walk and get her to sniff ecstatically for a bit.

I can recommend a book that has good, clear instructions: 101 Dog Tricks by Kyra Sundance.

www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/products/101-dog-tricks-book-kyra-sundance-9781592533251?sku=GOR002360074&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIncSX3vqIiwMV-5tQBh3XxAfEEAQYASABEgJhwfD_BwE

I'm going to try that, *suggestionsplease1 *(if we can find more than one ball she hasn't chewed to pieces)

So by training, I literally just mean high level obedience!

So things like ‘flying downs’ (I.e going from a run to a down without the sit) or differentiating between ‘paw’ and ‘shake’ or ‘back’ (them leaning to back up). You can also teach them to respond to hand signals - one of mine knows ‘back’ is a shooing motion. Some are hard to learn but it does tire them! YouTube has some very good videos 😀

Sounds great. My border sleeps a lot in day (sorry OP) but she does get restless and I think it is mental energy rather than physical

Working cocker spaniel here. Got her as a rescue at 9 months and I don't knownif she's just grateful of the warm home, but she does sleep a lot. We've only done 1hr a day walks, with longer ones at the weekend (she also climbed old manor coniston and snowdon quite happily). I wonder too if shes got used to the level of exercise? I do trick training mostly for my entertainment but she thrives off the relational stuff.

I would try giving her way, way, way less stimulation.

My cocker is hyper and our behaviourist said no balls as they're too exciting.

Sniffy walks relax them, balls wind them up.

We also stopped the dog walker so just one hour sniffy walk in the morning, a bit of enrichment during the day, and another half hour walk later on.

Mine also benefits from being left completely alone. to chill for a few hours a day. No stimulation at all.