SpanielBlog.com

Did we ever not have a cocker spaniel puppy?  It is amazing how quickly they wriggle into your hearts and lives.  I can’t imagine life without him now.

It’s also amazing how quickly they grow!  We didn’t actually measure him but he doesn’t fit on Hannah’s lap any more – and he used to.  He only just fits on mine!  But he is still the snuggliest puppy in the world and will get as much of his body onto whatever lap is closest.  Failing a lap, any foot will do!

Training wise – he is pretty good at ‘Sit’ now, and always has to sit for his food (partly for obedience and partly to show he is not top dog and has to ‘work’ for it.  He will usually come when he is called if I call him, and often for Steve and sometimes for the kids.  That definitely needs work!  I have become an avid viewer of Caesar Milan’s “The Dog Whisperer” and pick up a lot of tips from him.  Purdy also watches, usually with his head on one side, and I hope all that calm assertive energy is makng a difference…

We took Purdy to an agricultural show yesterday. which was great puppy socialisation for him, not least because so many people kept coming over to pet him (I did feel as if I was carrying around a main attraction!).  He also encountered pigs, sheep, goats, horses, chickens, tractors and a golden eagle… all from the safety of our arms as he can’t actually go on the floor until fully innoculated.  He was totally unbothered by everything and eventually fell asleep to the sound of the brass band. 

One of my favourite things was going in to see a dog grooming demonstration and discovering the the ‘models’ were two blue roan cocker spaniels – a glimpse as to what Purdy will be like when he’s fully grown.  They were absolutely gorgeous dogs and he was delighted to meet them (which he did, as they were fully innoculated).  We were also quite relieved to see that they weren’t too big, as looking at Purdy’s enormous paws at the moment we were a bit concerned that he was going to grow to great dane proportions!

Anyway, he is cuddled up on my feet, fast asleep, and I’m pleased because it’s thundering outside and he hasn’t even noticed.  And I am off because ‘The Dog Whisperer’ is about to come on!

Young puppies and cars are not a good combination, I have decided.   He is not sick or anything, has never wee-ed or worse in my car, and the crate fits nicely on the back seat with him in it.  It’s just that where-ever we go he whines, wimpers and even barks at me (the only time he ever barks at all!) It is incredibly distracting, and I know my husband will not put up with it when we go on long journeys (neither will I!)  It’s not as bad when I have one of the children with me to keep him company in the back, but travelling on my own with him is not fun.

So we are doing as many short car journeys as we can around town, just to get him used to it.  I am also trying, whenever possible, to ensure that there is a treat for him at the other end.  Today we went to see his cocker spaniel friend, Woody, which he enjoyed (more than Woody!) and tomorrow I will take him to pick the kids up from school.  As he can’t go for walks until he is fully innoculated, this is the best I can offer him, but I think the howling is improving already.  Having the radio on while I drive also helps.  (It drowns him out if it doesn’t calm him down!)

We had a bit of a panic today, finding a small, hard lump at the side of his tummy near his genitals.  It seems to have appeared overnight, but it doesn’t seem to be worrying him at all.  My first thought was to rush him to the vet, but having done a bit of research online, I suspect it is probably either a cyst, or possibly a little hernia (which are very common in puppies and easily sorted)  It may also be an insect bite – although I’d have thought he would be scratching if it was.  Anyway, we are due to see the vet next week for innoculations, so unless it gets any bigger or starts to bother him, I think I will wait until then.

We can’t believe we have had Purdy for a whole week.  It feels as if he has always been with us, trotting in between our legs as we walk, pouncing at our shoelaces and wagging his whole back end as if his tail alone just doesn’t do the job!  The family is in total agreement that a cocker spaniel puppy is exactly the right dog for us.  Especially this one!

We had a thunderstorm this morning. One of those enormous, right over your head, is the roof coming off? type ones with torrential rain and the works.  Great socialisation… not so great when we have to leave him to go to Church.  In fact he didn’t seem bothered at all by it, especially when he got fed bits of chicken just as it was at its worst.  In the end Steve stayed home with him until the worst was over, then he had two whole hours on his own.  I think he slept for most of the time: he had his ccrate, in his puppy pen with lots of toys (and newspaper!) But he certainly let us know when we got back that he was not happy about it, behaving the worst he has all week, and ‘biting’ at clothes and hands to the point where he had to be put back into his crate until he calmed down.

He did, of course, clam down, and spent a happy half hour playing fetch (which he is getting really good at) until he suddenly zonked again, in the way only a young puppy can.  House-training took a step backwards (not that it has taken many forward) because he really did not want to go out in the rain and it has rained all day.  I evidently need to read him the chapter in my book that says spaniels like water!

Anyway, one week on and he has his paws firmly under the table and has settled in really well.  Time to up the training a bit: hopefully by this time next week we will have progressed with the house-training (although I don’t think he really has much physical control yet), with sitting for more than a nano-second, and with not biting at clothes and skin.

It is vital that young puppies be well socialised if they are to grow up into confident, friendly adult dogs.  Obviously they cannot go out on ground level until they have had all their inoculations, but they can and should be carried places and given as many different experiences as possible as young as possible before the fear factor kicks in.

This in mind, we have been taking Purdy out and about as much as possible; sitting on the front wall with him to watch the traffic go by (he liked the dustbin lorry – he got treats when that came along!)  He also came to cast his vote in the European Elections, where he was made a great fuss of, and has visited the pet shop to buy a spaniel bowl (great buy!  His ears don’t get wet every time he drinks now!!).  Most new experiences he is entirely unbothered by.  He didn’t want to get too close to the piano for a while (that may just have been my daughter’s playing )but when he realised that everyone else was staying close to it and coming to no harm he trotted in from the hall and cuddled up on my feet keeping one eye on it just in case.

Today we took Purdy to meet another cocker spaniel – Woody – who belongs to some good friends of ours and who Purdy could potentially be seeing a lot of in the future.  (Woody is completely up to date with his inoculations and is a very friendly, quite submissive dog).  Purdy seemed delighted to see another of his kind, and followed his new hero round like a little shadow, running valiantly to keep up!  Woody sniffed at him a bit then decided he wasn’t really worth bothering too much about yet and largely ignored him.

Went well then!

No crying in the night… or if there was we didn’t hear him!  I am really amazed – I expected at least two or  three sleepless nights!  Dream puppy!

We went to see our vet today for  complete health check.  He is a brilliant vet, and understands dogs well.  Purdy has a clean bill of health and will go back in three weeks for his next inoculations (he had his first just before he came to us at seven weeks).  It was great socialisation too- the receptionists disappeared with him and he was passed around and cuddled by everyone.

Puppy training seems to have taken a jump forward!  I was told that cocker spaniels are easy to train, but he got the idea of ‘sit’ after just a few goes (holding a treat above his nose so his backside hits the floor automatically) and we instigated ‘sitting’ for food at teatime. (Just to show who’s top dog!).  He is also responding to his name if there is nothing more interesting happening.  More work to do there!  I am spending a few minutes training a couple of times a day.  After he has just woken up seems a good time.  He concentrates pretty well but isn’t as easily distracted.

For a future agility champion     Purdy is incredibly clumsy! He kind of runs a long and forgets that his back legs belong to him, which leads to a kind of swaying, crablike gait, then his body goes faster than his front legs and he ends up on his nose.  Steps are also a bit of a challenge: he seems to jump up without jumping forward enough,  which inevitably leads to a bumped chin, but he just  looks mildly surprised and has another go.  He enjoyed a water fight with the kids today, running around with them, being tripped up and generally getting in the way.  He also spent a happy half hour attacking an empty milk carton and a further twenty minute chewing up a toilet roll.

So why did we buy all those expensive toys?

Amazingly, for  such a young puppy Purdy didn’t cry too much in the night!  We heard him a few times but hardened our hearts and put the duvet over our heads.  He was happy to see my daughter at 6am and was straight out to play on the patio

Purdy is definitely finding his feet very quickly.  He spent today pottering around the patio, rolling in the marjoram bush and playing with the kids (and the kids’ friends).  He is a real family puppy, happy to see everyone, brilliant with the kids and wants to be fully involved in everything going on.  Today he ‘helped’ to put up a gazebo, carrying little poles around and chewing big ones, sitting on the canopy and generally getting in the way!  He also slept a lot, and has got the idea quickly that his crate is his space and will climb in there when he needs to crash… that is if there isn’t a lap to curl up on: he is a very snuggly puppy – probably because he had such a good start in life and so much handling early on

Housetraining is going slowly, which is to be expected because he has little physical control at this stage.  Eventually we want him to poop in one particular place and preferably when we tell him to!  This being the goal, when he does poop outside we are giving the command ‘busy, busy’ and praising him up afterwards.  He only poops two or three times a day and we haven’t had any accidents inside yet.  He is weeing everywhere though. If it happens in the house we say ‘no’ and put him out.  If he wees inside (and he is confined to the kitchen at the moment) I have a bucket of Detol and a mop standing by.

Puppy training in general… can never start too early but no huge expectations.  We are teaching Purdy his name by repeating it often when we speak to him or call him.  We are also establishing the rule that he must have four paws on the floor to get attention.  It is a difficult one to uphold, especially with visitors, because he is small and very cute and his jumping up is also kinda cute… but it won’t be when he is a full grown cocker spaniel, so we need to establish that one now.

Our seven week old cocker spaniel puppy came home with us last Sunday.  He sat on a towel on my son’s knee for the ten minute journey home, and seeing as it wasonly the second car journey of his life, he didn’t seem at all bothered!  As soon as we got home we went outside (as the books say, so he can toilet).  Nothing happened!  But it was a sunny day so we watched him exploring the patio and the children showed him the entire contents of his toybox while he wagged his tail gratefully and tried to bite their fingers.

He didn’t have much appetite for tea, which is unsurprising, considering how new everything is to him, but he liked his crate from the start, probably because it is lined with a blanket smelling strongly of his mum.  After about an hour he started whining, so we put him in there, leaving the door open to the kitchen, and he snuggled up and fell asleep.

Much of what I have read about new puppies suggests using baby gates across doors so puppy can’t have the run of the whole house.  I gave my baby gates away six years ago and have no intention of spending that much money again!  We measured our doors and went to the local DIY shop where we had sheets of hardboard cut into the right sizes for our doors and 45cm high (high enough to keep puppy in until he is housetrained and low enough for my children to step over). It doesn’t look ever so pretty, but they are easy to move and do the job cheaply!

Perdy is a very snuggly puppy.  We have made the decision not to allow him on the furniture, so we are spending a lot of time sittinig on the floor!  He will climb on whichever lap is available. Otherwise a foot will do.  He had a lot of  positive handling in his first seven weeks and we are obviously reaping the benefits of that.

Bedtime  I’m not sure how much sleep we will get tonight!  We have had him about seven hours and we are all besotted already.