Our Cosmic Autumn Rebellion (Adolescent Support Group)

[MonCoubousMonTourmalet]

Okay folks, let's head into late summer/autumn.

@SpanielsGalore 🤣🤣🤣 at least she didn’t steal anything from them this time!

@Bupster how are you and Bill doing? I was thinking about you earlier.

Vinny is 17 months old today!! Can you believe it 😮

I am really trying to get back into the routine of consistently training again as I lost my way a bit due to various reasons I won’t go in to.

We‘ve just done some good retrieving of the rabbit ball (although delivery not so good!), and fab stop/sit and recall with the whistle. Then practicing walking to heel on the lead all the way home which went very well too. He did fuck off into the bushes and wouldn’t come back for 5 minutes in between this but i am ignoring that part. I’ve decided to mostly focus on on-lead heel, whistle stop/sit and recall as I think they are the main things I want him to be really solid on at the moment. All the other bits like retrieving and hunting can come along slowly.

@Nella68 how is midge?

@YorkshireFelix Happy 17 month day, Vinny!

We’re ok. I’m just a bit despondent with recall. In a couple of weeks he’s gone from being pretty reliable and I thought we had it cracked, to nose down trail following. I might as well not be there!

That’s good about the stop, sit and wait. I’ve been wondering about a rabbit ball but I fear that he would be very reluctant to give it back and would scarper with it.

We met a couple of puppies today (at different times), one was 5 months and the other 6 months. I was a bit concerned that M might bounce all over them but he gave them both a sniff and moved on. I was really pleased that it looks like he is beginning to recognise his size.

@Bupster Too bloody clever for her own good! Little sod.

I was standing in the kitchen and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a white flash dashing outside. Thinking it might be N, I rushed to the door. Nope. It was K with 8 foot of toilet roll trailing behind her. FFS. 🤦‍♀️

@YorkshireFelix Happy 17 month day, V. 🎂
It's always worth picking your battles. I'd be happy with loose lead walking, a stop whistle and 95% recall, with the odd fuck off for 5 minutes thrown in. Perfection is for robots. 😁

@SpanielsGalore Midge is nice but dim. He doesn’t even realise he could push the kitchen door open if he wanted to. He just stands there.

@Nella68 oh that is frustrating. It’s happened with us a few times recently where everything is going very well and then all of a sudden goes backwards again, and it can really knock your confidence. How old is he now? I just have to keep telling myself that if we’re consistent enough with training then once we’re over the teenage stage hopefully he will bloom into an angel dog (possibly unlikely but I have hope!!).

I bought the rabbit ball months and months ago when he was much younger, but I had to stash it away in the cupboard as it sent V absolutely loopy. He would run away with it and I’d have to prize it out of his mouth as there was NOTHING he would give it up for. Since he finds canvas dummies etc extremely boring, I thought I’d try it again to get him to engage with me more on a walk after some advice from @brushingbootsand it worked really well. He did want to keep hold of it at first but I had some really high value treats and he eventually started dropping it for a treat. I only do a few retrieves with it then put it away to keep it exciting for him. I want to start doing some hunting games with it but his sit isn’t solid enough yet to resist the temptation of the rabbit ball so we’re working on it 😄

Hi all, can I ask which thread a 12 month old cocker spaniel would fit in on please? (Adolescent/adult?)

Hi
It's entirely your preference. You'll be very welcome on either thread and there are plenty of spaniel people on both. Quite a few of us are on both as well as puppy thread.

That's very good news, thank you!

I'm not feeling the love with mine tonight. He's taken to peeing upstairs at around the same time each night, tonight he chose my bed 😡

Hi. I'd expect a 12 month old cocker to be in the midst of adolescence.

My 13 month old cocker has just started leaping up to try and snatch food out of people's hands. Little shit! She's never done it before and doesn't beg at the table, so lord knows why she's started it today. And for a tiny little thing, she can leap blooming high. Or I'm short. Or both.

They do surprise you don't they! I've lurked on these threads before and know that you are an experienced owner, so can I ask your opinion on neutering please? I'm really conflicted and, although if I did get it done it would be further in the future, I cannot decide!

@SoMentallyDrained 12 month old cockers are absolute twats!! I feel your pain. Is he marking rather than a proper pee? I’m assuming you can’t pre-empt it and take him out for a wee just before that time to solve the problem if so. Is there a way to restrict access to upstairs at least?

Full on wee! Whether we take him out before hand or not. He's doing it downstairs occasionally too, I don't know where it's come from because he knows how to ring the bell to go outside and has always been brilliant at it. Little twat, you're right!

I have a baby gate but may need to move it to the bottom as last night's wee was on the stairs 🙄

@SoMentallyDrained Sorry. I missed the night time indoor wee yesterday. If it's only once a night, I wouldn't think it would be medical. Is he happy to go out still in the evenings? He hasn't been scared by fireworks or anything, so doesn't like going out in the dark? Or it's probably just hormonal.
Can you restrict him to the room you are in, so you can see him about to wee and get him outside? And reward/praise him for going outside.

Re neutering - it's a very personal decision. I have had three males and they were all neutered for different reasons. Two were done around 15 months old; one for behavioural reasons (it made no difference) and the other because I got a bitch and didn't want to risk puppies. The third was about 3 years old, I think. I hadn't planned to have him neutered, but he started running off after in season bitches, pining in the home and humping his brother. A friend had hers neutered, because he was one of the unlucky dogs that was constantly picked on by other dogs because he was entire.
I think I'd wait until 18 months old and fully mature to decide if I got another male. Part of me feels, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. But I'd have to look into the up to date research on health benefits to decide.
Sorry. That's no help at all. 😂
I currently have three bitches. The foster dog will be spayed at the end of the month. My 4 year old was recently spayed after her third season as she had pyometra. She had medical issues preventing an earlier spay. Puppy had her first season last month. So I have two months to decide whether to let her have a second season or spay her now.

You're so kind @SpanielsGalorethank you for taking the time to reply.

Yes, containing him will be the next step I think, he's such a devil though, he does 'walking wees' so we don't see it coming 😁 back to basics I suppose for adolescence. I don't remember it being this hard!

Yes, totally agree re the uncertainty of neutering, I am leaning towards 'if it isn't broken don't fix it'. I learned yesterday that their coat can change after neutering too, which I wasn't aware of (first spaniel, so may be why I didn't know!)

@SoMentallyDrained it sounds like going back to basics is a good idea, as well as restricting access. Good cleaning solution too!
It must be very frustrating, but a little concentrated time now will pay off long term.
Midge disgraced himself at my in-laws last year- he cocked his leg on their newly decorated wall. After that I took him out every half an hour or so, and even more often if he was sniffing. Fortunately there were no more incidents. It did make me realise that dogs aren’t very good at generalising so if we go anywhere new I’ll go right back to basics for the first day or so.

@SoMentallyDrained I meant to add about neutering.

We’re planning to wait until M is 2. He doesn’t hump and seems to be quite confident but he has been a target for being attacked by off lead dogs. The main reason to get him done is to increase the options we have for dog boarding. Most places won’t take intact males. I’m leaning towards chemical castration to see if it affects his temperament or not.

@Nella68oh no how embarrassing 🙈 would have to be freshly decorated!

Yes, chemical castration is very tempting to get an idea!

You're all so very helpful, thank you!

I wasn't going to chip in @SoMentallyDrained because I don't have a spaniel and our dogs have all slept in the kitchen. We don't crate but we restrict to downstairs only because of their size.

But I will give my thoughts on neutering. Though, I'm an outlier as always 🙄
We've had 4 intact males.
With a bitch there are some benefits with regard to hormones, risk of pyometra and there are some theories about likelihood of mammary tumours also. With a male there is less to be gained from neutering and more potential negatives.
You mention changes to the coat, there is also the weight issue post neutering, potential for increased anxiety and male neuters becoming reactive/defensive towards other dogs. With a giant dog we were not willing to risk that so we opted not to neuter.
We never had issues with other dogs attacking them once they were adolescent/adult, no humping problems, no scent marking indoors even when a visiting dog (sister-in-laws collie cross) peed all over our kitchen 😡

At the moment we're considering a male as a companion for Brie. My cousin's daughter is a vet and when I asked her advice about whether to neuter boy or girl she said definitely girl, but not until she has turned two years, s liely late summer next year but only if we get a male pup.

With regard to the toileting, a full wee is a different matter from scent marking/territorial behaviour anyway, so it's not really relative to the neutering thing. Our first bitch was unreliable with wees for much of her life and I know it's a bit of a nightmare to deal with. As others have said, it may be a case of going back to basics and hoping that you can train it out of him to some extent.

Good luck anyway x

Thank you @Aubrielle I really appreciate any and all options. Our last dog wasn't neutered until well into adulthood, for scent marking, and it didn't help in the slightest. But with this one there's no actual reason to, so speaking to other owners is really helpful. And as I've seen myself, even if there was a reason to, there's no guarantee that it will help!

Thanks @SoMentallyDrained Obviously having a giant breed, a lot of our training and home routine is very different so I'm never sure if my experiences count for much, but it's still sometimes good to get different perspectives 😊

@SoMentallyDrained I’m in the club of don’t neuter unless there’s a medical need. I understand if you’d want to do it for boarding purposes too as @Nella68 says as it’s difficult to find anywhere that would take an entire male. My boy won’t be done unless we have to for medical reasons. Also he’s such a nervous nelly that he needs all the help he can get! Our trainer said if he was in a pack of dogs he would be at the bottom of the hierarchy 🥲

@YorkshireFelix we live in a very dog dense area and have come across a few bitches in season recently. Poor old Midge doesn’t know what to do with himself- he whines and just wants to follow the bitch. It makes him quite unsettled for a few hours afterwards. It’ll be interesting to see how he responds to chemical castration. I’m very reluctant to go straight for castration as once they’re off they can’t be put back on!

@YorkshireFelixthank you, really appreciate your opinion!

Last night I took him out at the 'usual weeing time' and he did the longest wee outside that I've ever seen, and he didn't do any upstairs- delighted!

Then I woke up this morning and he'd done one on the bedroom carpet 😡

Is he weeing more than normal @SoMentallyDrained ? I mean, have you had him vet checked for a UTI or diabetes? If it's big wees there could be a physical cause. Generally if it's marking territory (i.e.an age thing) it won't be a full wee.

I did mention it to the vet but they weren't concerned as it was at a certain time of the day, not all day. Diabetes was my first thought. Might be worth checking again.