Cocker puppy on the way
Discussion
I've got this handsome chap arriving in 2 weeks time, what are peoples thoughts on the whole cage or no cage way of bringing up a puppy? Most people seem to advocate a cage however we also have 2 kittens (will be 13 weeks old) and wonder if he might get upset if he's locked away in his cage at night and they are sleeping in a cozy bed and free to roam around. The other thing making me err on the side of no cage that whenever we had dogs as a kid or my parents have had them they have never used a cage and all turned out to be nice, well behaved dogs.
If you did a poll it would likely come in at 50:50.
I didn't use one when our boy was a pup, partly because we didn't have room at the time for an ugly cage.
He's turned out fine, well-behaved might be a bit strong as he's only 2 now.
He could go off to bed in my office if he chose but prefer to be with us most of the time.
Maybe if you have children the pup might like somewhere to go for some peace?
I didn't use one when our boy was a pup, partly because we didn't have room at the time for an ugly cage.
He's turned out fine, well-behaved might be a bit strong as he's only 2 now.
He could go off to bed in my office if he chose but prefer to be with us most of the time.
Maybe if you have children the pup might like somewhere to go for some peace?
Have a read about crate training
We used a crate with 2 doors and you can buy wire panels so our cocker had a bed and a little run in the corner of the kitchen. Helped contain overnight accidents but TBF he was very easy to toilet train. If you feed them in their run, it's their space, they want to avoid fouling it.
They love having their own little den and if he's getting the right stimulation it's good for him to have somewhere to go when he's tired, has enough. Makes them easy to manage going away as crate can transfer into car and holiday accommodation.
Just make sure kids leave him alone when he's in there and don't ever use it as a punishment.
ETA - cockers have a habit of looking 'upset' - ignore it or he'll be ruling the roost in no time
We used a crate with 2 doors and you can buy wire panels so our cocker had a bed and a little run in the corner of the kitchen. Helped contain overnight accidents but TBF he was very easy to toilet train. If you feed them in their run, it's their space, they want to avoid fouling it.
They love having their own little den and if he's getting the right stimulation it's good for him to have somewhere to go when he's tired, has enough. Makes them easy to manage going away as crate can transfer into car and holiday accommodation.
Just make sure kids leave him alone when he's in there and don't ever use it as a punishment.
ETA - cockers have a habit of looking 'upset' - ignore it or he'll be ruling the roost in no time
Edited by oddman on Saturday 19th August 17:34
He is gorgeous, are to going to work him?
We never crated our working cocker, he ate the kitchen lol
Our current rescue sprocker has had 3 or 4 pairs of shoes & he IS crated, he loves it like our old one did when we finally got one for our Westie.
Part of the reason we crate our two is because we aslo have 2 cats, it allows them to come in & out at night without being bothered by the dogs. The smallest cat used to sleep on top of the old (smaller) crate!
Use them properly (not for punishment) & the dogs love the security of them.
We never crated our working cocker, he ate the kitchen lol
Our current rescue sprocker has had 3 or 4 pairs of shoes & he IS crated, he loves it like our old one did when we finally got one for our Westie.
Part of the reason we crate our two is because we aslo have 2 cats, it allows them to come in & out at night without being bothered by the dogs. The smallest cat used to sleep on top of the old (smaller) crate!
Use them properly (not for punishment) & the dogs love the security of them.
That's a great photo of your pup Dan. Sounds like there is a real mix of opinions however very little negative about the crate so think we'll go ahead and try it and hope he doesn't dislike it like your pup Ray.
We do have 2 kids as well, not that young at 8 and 10 but at least if he goes into his crate we can make a rule that they are not allowed to disturb him so at least he has that space to himself. If we can keep the kittens out is another matter then again they sleep about 18 hours a day anyway!
Can't wait to get him home and part of the family.
We do have 2 kids as well, not that young at 8 and 10 but at least if he goes into his crate we can make a rule that they are not allowed to disturb him so at least he has that space to himself. If we can keep the kittens out is another matter then again they sleep about 18 hours a day anyway!
Can't wait to get him home and part of the family.
LordHaveMurci said:
He is gorgeous, are to going to work him?
We never crated our working cocker, he ate the kitchen lol
Our current rescue sprocker has had 3 or 4 pairs of shoes & he IS crated, he loves it like our old one did when we finally got one for our Westie.
Part of the reason we crate our two is because we aslo have 2 cats, it allows them to come in & out at night without being bothered by the dogs. The smallest cat used to sleep on top of the old (smaller) crate!
Use them properly (not for punishment) & the dogs love the security of them.
Not going to work him but plan to have him well trained and stimulated and take him on lots of walks and runs. Me and my son both run so once he's older plan to take him with us and hopefully tire him out a bit. Think you're meant to wait until they are at least one before giving them to much exercise.We never crated our working cocker, he ate the kitchen lol
Our current rescue sprocker has had 3 or 4 pairs of shoes & he IS crated, he loves it like our old one did when we finally got one for our Westie.
Part of the reason we crate our two is because we aslo have 2 cats, it allows them to come in & out at night without being bothered by the dogs. The smallest cat used to sleep on top of the old (smaller) crate!
Use them properly (not for punishment) & the dogs love the security of them.
I really hope he doesn't go eating any of our furniture, we've only just finished the extension part of the house we're living in and everything's new!! I can find many old pairs of trainers for him however!!
cerbfan said:
LordHaveMurci said:
He is gorgeous, are to going to work him?
We never crated our working cocker, he ate the kitchen lol
Our current rescue sprocker has had 3 or 4 pairs of shoes & he IS crated, he loves it like our old one did when we finally got one for our Westie.
Part of the reason we crate our two is because we aslo have 2 cats, it allows them to come in & out at night without being bothered by the dogs. The smallest cat used to sleep on top of the old (smaller) crate!
Use them properly (not for punishment) & the dogs love the security of them.
Not going to work him but plan to have him well trained and stimulated and take him on lots of walks and runs. Me and my son both run so once he's older plan to take him with us and hopefully tire him out a bit. Think you're meant to wait until they are at least one before giving them to much exercise.We never crated our working cocker, he ate the kitchen lol
Our current rescue sprocker has had 3 or 4 pairs of shoes & he IS crated, he loves it like our old one did when we finally got one for our Westie.
Part of the reason we crate our two is because we aslo have 2 cats, it allows them to come in & out at night without being bothered by the dogs. The smallest cat used to sleep on top of the old (smaller) crate!
Use them properly (not for punishment) & the dogs love the security of them.
I really hope he doesn't go eating any of our furniture, we've only just finished the extension part of the house we're living in and everything's new!! I can find many old pairs of trainers for him however!!
|https://thumbsnap.com/Jx2XDJZU[/url]Congratulations! He looks very much like our Alfie who is 11 now.[url] He loved his crate when he was a pup but we haven't used it for many years now. With regard to the chewing, I would suggest you get him his own chew-toys that he knows he's allowed to chew. If you give him old trainers he'll think ALL trainers are fair game and you'll find that he'll chew any shoes he can find! Good luck!
cerbfan said:
Not going to work him but plan to have him well trained and stimulated and take him on lots of walks and runs
If your dog is from a working line then read up on training a working spaniel. The fundamentals are having him sit whilst you can walk about and then to stop on voice, hand command and whistle. If he's a decent dog, it's not hard - cockers are learning machines (which has plusses and minuses)Most of us who work our dogs for shooting spend 18 months to 2 years of training before they go shooting. Most of this is work with tennis balls and dummies and there's no reason why you can't take a dog this far without wanting to work the dog. Once you take them shooting it's all downhill after that as they get their own ideas!
They love it. A well trained dog gets more freedom
oddman said:
If your dog is from a working line then read up on training a working spaniel. The fundamentals are having him sit whilst you can walk about and then to stop on voice, hand command and whistle. If he's a decent dog, it's not hard - cockers are learning machines (which has plusses and minuses)
Most of us who work our dogs for shooting spend 18 months to 2 years of training before they go shooting. Most of this is work with tennis balls and dummies and there's no reason why you can't take a dog this far without wanting to work the dog. Once you take them shooting it's all downhill after that as they get their own ideas!
They love it. A well trained dog gets more freedom
Have to agree with this, our rescue sprocker isn't going to be worked but he'll be trained toma similar standard that my old working cocker was, he did work in his younger days. Most of us who work our dogs for shooting spend 18 months to 2 years of training before they go shooting. Most of this is work with tennis balls and dummies and there's no reason why you can't take a dog this far without wanting to work the dog. Once you take them shooting it's all downhill after that as they get their own ideas!
They love it. A well trained dog gets more freedom
Agree totally with trainers comment above too, a really bad idea letting them chew any!
Cheers for all the advice, especially on the chew toys and not giving him old trainers, definitely don't want him to start chewing our good shoes..
He is from the working dog line so I will try and train him up as though he would be used as a gun dog as has been said sure he'd appreciate it as it keeps him stimulated and can be fully trusted off the lead so would end up having more freedom.
What are people's thoughts on diet as well, I'm thinking about using a raw food diet as I've been reading good things about these as its the closest thing to a natural diet and is not full of all the cereal fillers and rubbish that you get in both dry and wet dog food. I've been looking at Nature's menu and the like, also thinking about transitioning the kittens onto the same as well.
He is from the working dog line so I will try and train him up as though he would be used as a gun dog as has been said sure he'd appreciate it as it keeps him stimulated and can be fully trusted off the lead so would end up having more freedom.
What are people's thoughts on diet as well, I'm thinking about using a raw food diet as I've been reading good things about these as its the closest thing to a natural diet and is not full of all the cereal fillers and rubbish that you get in both dry and wet dog food. I've been looking at Nature's menu and the like, also thinking about transitioning the kittens onto the same as well.
You'll find people who feed a raw diet are quite evangelical about it. As you say, it's probably as close to what they'd eat in the wild but it's important to get the right balance. We haven't tried it 100% although our dogs often get chicken wings etc as treats and they love it. They used to be on Eukanuba but we moved on to Eden http://edenpetfoods.com/products/dog-food/eden-80-... it doesn't have all the fillers and stuff that you mention and is easy to feed. It's not cheap but you don't feed as much and they both seem to thrive on it.
Another working cocker owner here.
Looks very much like mine did at that age. However, the white moustache has now turned into a grey muzzle.
Lots of good advice being given here. Ours had a crate from day one. We had two kittens and an adult cat in the home. No problems there
He also used to travel in the crate in the back of the van
Good luck and keep the photos coming.
Looks very much like mine did at that age. However, the white moustache has now turned into a grey muzzle.
Lots of good advice being given here. Ours had a crate from day one. We had two kittens and an adult cat in the home. No problems there
He also used to travel in the crate in the back of the van
Good luck and keep the photos coming.
Our Sprocker was on a raw diet when we rescued him at 12mths, he looked good on it to be fair but I wasn't keen & neither was our Vet so we feed him the same as the last spaniel & our Westie which is Burns fish & brown rice.
It's not the very best out there but I'm not spending the extra for Orijen when Burns is plenty good enough!
It's not the very best out there but I'm not spending the extra for Orijen when Burns is plenty good enough!
Our WCS was nine months old when we had her so missed out on the early training (as did she first owners spoilt her rotten but had no discipline at all).
By the time we tried crate training it was too late but she has found her own "safe spots" like under the coffee table in the lounge if she wants to be left alone which probably is much like the point of having a crate (have you watched the recent BBC2 programme about puppies?).
We feed Poppy on Millies Wolfheart https://www.millieswolfheart.co.uk/ seem to have a sensible logic to what they make and I like the fact they are a small family run company who are on the end of the phone if you want advice.
Pup looks so cute waiting for more pics.
Also Working Cocker Spaniels are the best dogs group on facebook are good for advice and cute dog pictures, and be prepared to have odd socks for the next few months!
By the time we tried crate training it was too late but she has found her own "safe spots" like under the coffee table in the lounge if she wants to be left alone which probably is much like the point of having a crate (have you watched the recent BBC2 programme about puppies?).
We feed Poppy on Millies Wolfheart https://www.millieswolfheart.co.uk/ seem to have a sensible logic to what they make and I like the fact they are a small family run company who are on the end of the phone if you want advice.
Pup looks so cute waiting for more pics.
Also Working Cocker Spaniels are the best dogs group on facebook are good for advice and cute dog pictures, and be prepared to have odd socks for the next few months!
Edited by HelenT on Sunday 20th August 22:33
You don't realise what you have done do you? It's all down hill here from now on.
It will lure you into a false sense of security looking cute and all that. It will give you those big spaniel eyes that make you just melt then before you know it it will be bouncing off the furniture and ripping round the house like a mad thing. Your sock draw will become depleted at a alarmingly rapid rate as it takes them out of it so it can carry them around. You think cats can be bad for hunting a killing? Well a cocker spaniel can put most cats to shame. Or is that just mine?
Back on topic, we never crated/caged ours as she just wasn't into it at all. She was fine hanging out in the living room though we do have wood floors so any mess was easy to clean up. But in all fairness she always let you know when she wanted out, mainly by barking...woof ..... woof.....woof.... and so on till you got out of bed to let her out.
As for training, well a cocker can learn something new pretty quickly and forget it just as fast, if not faster. We trained ours to quarter (handy of you want to tire them out plus it's a cocker, they love to hunt) , sit (there is no stay, just sit till your told to move) and do a lot of blind retrieves with her (directional, left, right, back that sort of thing) . She loves retrieving especially if she feels like you are part of team.
Two good books are
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Training-Working-Spaniel-...
And
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Training-Spaniels-Joe-Irv...
Though the bottom one is more old fashioned in terms of training methods.
Another good source is the whapley gun dog website. Has some good articles.
Also check out gundogtrainingforum.co.uk
BTW You wear a cocker you don't own one.
Forgot to mention, we never gave ours any toys whatsoever, well not really but she knew that anything we gave her had to be returned to us and was not her to keep. This kind of helped in her knowing not to chew our stuff. We also feed RAW from the get go so when she was teething there was always a bone she could chew on. If you do deciede to feed RAW kind of go with this
10% bone
10% offal (Liver, Kidney, any organ really though heart counts as muscle meat) - we some times give ours veg as well stuff like Kale and spinach
80% Meat.
And to top it all off a dollop of natural yoghurt. Lovely!
Some usefull info here
http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/raw-feeding-p...
It will lure you into a false sense of security looking cute and all that. It will give you those big spaniel eyes that make you just melt then before you know it it will be bouncing off the furniture and ripping round the house like a mad thing. Your sock draw will become depleted at a alarmingly rapid rate as it takes them out of it so it can carry them around. You think cats can be bad for hunting a killing? Well a cocker spaniel can put most cats to shame. Or is that just mine?
Back on topic, we never crated/caged ours as she just wasn't into it at all. She was fine hanging out in the living room though we do have wood floors so any mess was easy to clean up. But in all fairness she always let you know when she wanted out, mainly by barking...woof ..... woof.....woof.... and so on till you got out of bed to let her out.
As for training, well a cocker can learn something new pretty quickly and forget it just as fast, if not faster. We trained ours to quarter (handy of you want to tire them out plus it's a cocker, they love to hunt) , sit (there is no stay, just sit till your told to move) and do a lot of blind retrieves with her (directional, left, right, back that sort of thing) . She loves retrieving especially if she feels like you are part of team.
Two good books are
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Training-Working-Spaniel-...
And
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Training-Spaniels-Joe-Irv...
Though the bottom one is more old fashioned in terms of training methods.
Another good source is the whapley gun dog website. Has some good articles.
Also check out gundogtrainingforum.co.uk
BTW You wear a cocker you don't own one.
Forgot to mention, we never gave ours any toys whatsoever, well not really but she knew that anything we gave her had to be returned to us and was not her to keep. This kind of helped in her knowing not to chew our stuff. We also feed RAW from the get go so when she was teething there was always a bone she could chew on. If you do deciede to feed RAW kind of go with this
10% bone
10% offal (Liver, Kidney, any organ really though heart counts as muscle meat) - we some times give ours veg as well stuff like Kale and spinach
80% Meat.
And to top it all off a dollop of natural yoghurt. Lovely!
Some usefull info here
http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/raw-feeding-p...
Edited by Never you mind on Wednesday 23 August 13:26
Edited by Never you mind on Wednesday 23 August 13:50
Edited by Never you mind on Wednesday 23 August 13:52
Thanks again for all the advice, its great and I'm taking note. I've ordered a crate and also ordered some food samples from Millie's Wolfheart after speaking to them for both the puppy and the kittens. Decided against raw feeding as to many scare stories about Ecoli and nutrient deficiencies if you get it wrong at all even though loads of people seem to do it successfully.
Also ordered the training book you recommended 'Never you mind' so can hopefully start off on the right foot and not get him into any bad habits...
Back onshore on the 30th and then picking him up the day after, can't wait....
Photos to follow then.
Also do they generally like swimming?
Also ordered the training book you recommended 'Never you mind' so can hopefully start off on the right foot and not get him into any bad habits...
Back onshore on the 30th and then picking him up the day after, can't wait....
Photos to follow then.
Also do they generally like swimming?
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