About a Cocker Spaniel Puppy

Blondie

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#1
Hello Everybody! I'm obviously new here, and I'm glad I found these forums! I've got a question, and I'd like someone to answer me please!! We got a new puppy about 3 days ago, he's 1 month old. He's always sleeping during the day, but not at night! He cries all night!! If we go see him he wants to play and NOT sleep. What can we do? It breaks our heart to hear him crying, he can't ignore him :( Someone please help us!
 
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#2
Shiva got her clock turned around for awhile. She wanted to nap - make that crash - during the day, then turned into a whirlwind about 9:00 p.m.! It was a killer. We had to wake her up, only allowing her small catnaps in the afternoon and evening until we were ready to go to bed. It only took a few days to get things turned around. Puppies do need lots of sleep, so you'll need to use good judgment about letting him have some good naps during the day, just cut them back in the evening.

In the meantime, give him something to chew on when you put him to bed at night, and make sure he's got plenty of soft blanketing and maybe a small stuffed toy (NOT one that squeaks!)(g) in his bed that he can cuddle up with. At one month old, he's still very, very young. Most breeders that I've talked to or dealt with don't usually release puppies until 6 weeks, so you've really got a baby. Are you giving him any puppy milk replacer along with his chow? It might help him sleep at night, too. And remember, at this age, he's not going to be able to "hold it" all night long unless he's extremely unusual, so a little warm milk at bedtime shouldn't interfere with his house training.
 
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#3
Hi Blondie,
Welcome to Chazhound Dog Forums!

Renees's suggestions are great and might just tame your night owl.
I always just make sure my dogs don't sleep in the daytime
if they ever get restless at night... Dogs love to sleep...

Chazhound
 

Blondie

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#4
Thank you very much for all of your replies! You've been so kind! Yes, definitely we know that the puppy's just too young, he might be 6 weeks old actually but still a baby! We were thinking of moving his bed into our room at night to make him feel secure, but we're scared he won't want to move to his "bedroom" later if he gets accustomed to sleeping with us. Last night, we tried the t-shirt thing, he's got toys and a soft blanket and one of those flavoured bones to bite. He only woke up once last night, at 3! He's usually very playful during the day, and yes I've read and heard that puppies need to take naps very often, I just hope he's not getting any depression for crying so much at night :(
 

Blondie

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Thank you so much Serena! So you think ignoring him is the best thing to do? Even if it breaks our heart? :( I've never had a dog, and knowing he's a baby... I think we're just weak owners, haha! Another question, should we get his tail cut? Is he too old for that, I mean he might be 6 weeks old.
 

Brattina88

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#6
I have a Cocker Spaniel ;) so if you ever need help I know what you're going through, because my Maddie went through the same thing. A ticking clock worked wonders for Maddie. I thought it was a dumb idea, but its not!
Where did you get your puppy? I was just wondering because it sounds like your not sure of his age... There is no medical/health reason to get his tail docked. It is purely for looks, so I'd say no. Its suposed to be done withen three days of the birth here... It would be too tramatic I'm thinking. HTH!
 

Blondie

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#7
Thanks Serena and Brattina! It's great to know you've got a Cocker Spaniel too ;) So your pup cried like every night? This one's like a watch: he wakes up and cries at 1, 3 and 5 in the morning! Last night we tried the tshirt thing and he just woke up at 2, but nobody went seeing him so he cried and cried until nearly 3, it was exasperating :(
We got the dog from this person, she was the breeder, and well until just now I found out by talking to her on the phone that the puppy was born on January 2nd. So he's going to be 2 years old soon. Okay, I didn't want to have his tail docked, and now I won't! I love it when he moves it, while he's ecstatic! And I think he started to like it too, because he occassionally chases it! Thanks for your advice, I really want to do this the right thing and coming to the forum and talking to you people makes me feel better! You know so much about dogs! :)
 

Brattina88

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#9
Serena said:
Brattina, I'm glad someone new the proper age to dock. I will have to politely disagree with the docking and cropping process being strictly cosmetic though, while that seems to be the reason now the origninal reason these procedure were performed is to prevent harm to the animal in it's line of work.

For the working dog enthusiast there are reasons to perform docking and cropping in their breeds, and their not related to cosmetic reasons.
I have to say that I agree with this, and after reading my post I would like to say that it is not always cosmetic. If your actually going to hunt a wagging tail might scare the birds away... or whatever the reason, but I asumed that the pup is just going to be a pet, and its a too late to dock anyways. :p Now days it usually is just comsmetic, though. So I stand corrected ;)
Maddie cried only for the first couple of days. It was hard not to baby her especailly because she was the runt of the litter, but we pulled it off. You can't let them get away with stuff now that you wouldn't want your full grown dog to do! Try wrapping the t-shirt around a ticking clock. I got my ticking clock from the dollar store (because all we have is digital lol) I'm glad I could help! :D
 

Blondie

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#10
Hello Serena and Brattina! Thanks to your excellent suggestions, the pup doesn't cry at night anymore! I think the t-shirt and ticking clock worked wonders! We had to ignore his cries, yes but after three days of ignoring him :( he finally stopped crying! He's barked a few times and it's hilarious because he seems to get angry with his rubber ball while playing with it, hehe. He sleeps a lot during the day, as well. And likes biting! Do you guys know when that stops, too? If it ever does.... Now we're having a little trouble potty-training him, because at night he goes to the bathroom on the newspapers in his room, but during the day he goes everywhere in the house! Unfortunately, none of us at home can be watching him 24/7 because of the many things we have to do, although he's NEVER home alone. I can only hope he learns? I don't want to be mean and punish him every time he goes somewhere he's not supposed to, but I of course congratulate him when I see him going where he's got to go! Do I make sense? :( And Brattina, is it true that this kind of dogs (Cocker Spaniels) are difficult to keep at home because they're really hyper when they grow up?
 

Blondie

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#11
Serena! ;) Thanks a LOT for your valuable advice! Yes, actually he was ignored yesterday because his biting's becoming more and more often. And he bites hard! We had to "scold" him and he cried once and went to his bedroom by himself. After that we tried to play with him again and he insists on biting. I think my dad's creating bad habits in the puppy, by letting him bite his shoelaces and pulling the other end, so the puppy now wants to do that with everybody and he loves biting hands and arms and everything he can find! I'll do what you say and will let you know ;) By the way I wanted to add a photo of the puppy but I don't know how to do that, I'll find out and will let you know if you want to take a look at the little devil :D
 
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#13
I have a cocker!!!! His name is Luke. I'm so glad so many people have cockers! We can tell our breed stories together, YAY!
 

Blondie

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Hello Serena and the others. Thanks for your valuable advice. As a matter of fact I think he's getting it, that he's not supposed to bite but sometimes when we yelp NO! he goes away crying and gets in his bed. We've been progressing with the potty training thing, today we went outside in the morning as soon as he woke up and then like at 4 in the afternoon after his naps and he went outside! YAY! I seriously want to do this the right thing, he played for like an hour with this big plastic ball, he tries to bite it but he can't because it's hard, so he growls and barks at it, I don't think if he'll get frustrated but he seems to like it, he runs and chases the big ball like crazy and besides he looks so funny hehe :p We'll have to go to the vet tomorrow, and I don't know if it's me, but I think he's grown a lot, I see him to be bigger every day! Again, thanks for all your valuable advice! It's worked wonders! :D
 

Brattina88

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#15
I LOVE THE PIC!!! So cute! :D
And Brattina, is it true that this kind of dogs (Cocker Spaniels) are difficult to keep at home because they're really hyper when they grow up?
No, this isn't true. Well, it may be in some cases, but you will probably hear a lot of stories about cockers like this. Because they were so popular for a while (some years ago, can't remember years off the top of my head) some were overbred and at times inbred, backyard bred ect. When the breeds popular, the health suffers, so submissive urination, aggression ... is a problem seen in the breed, that may not be as common as some people let you believe. I've heard lots of things that get me upset, people telling me there two cents about the breed, but don't get too upset like I did. A trainer warned me about "Cocker Rage" that really got me scared, and the vet won't administer shots unless I'm physically restraining her just because she's a cocker. Maddie has done NOTHING to deserve this prejudice treatment. It reminds me of how people see pit bulls and there head fills with ideas of how they think the breed is. The discrimination can be bad at times, I just wanted to warn you. I have never been so mad at people in my life, but when you talk about my dog you're crossing the line. :mad: lol
Its usually nothing too bad, but I'm sensitive at things like this about my dog, and I tend to get angry quick. I wish someone would've told me that people would say dumb things judging my dog, so that's why I'm telling you. ;)
 

Blondie

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#16
Well Brattina, you're also a life saver like Serena. So many people have been telling me to hold on to my seat, when Blondie grows up he'll be almost unbearable, that this person had a Cocker and had to give it away because they couldn't put up with him at home, so I was just so scared because God it's only 2 weeks since Blondie arrived and I so miss him when I'm out shopping or working, it's like he's been part of the family for ages and I'd seriously die if something even happens to him, let away having to give him away because he becomes unbearable. I know I can't talk much because he's only a baby and I don't know what he'll become, but he's so good up to now! I mean like a normal dog, he won't do things that can make people think he's got "Cocker Rage" :eek: God. And thanks for the advice. From now on I'll only assume those people who say mean things about my little baby are just envious because they don't have a precious Cocker pup and I do! Hahaha!!
 
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#17
You've got the right attitude! My best friend has a little black Cocker that showed up on her doorstep abused and hungry. If any Cocker had an excuse to be a brat it would be Carter. He's a jewel! Yes, he's got lots of energy, but he's got a whole basket of toys to play with. He drags them all over the house, "kills" some of them, and puts them back in his toy basket. He never makes a mess or pees in the house. Probably the cutest thing he does, though, is when Katie's not home and the phone rings over to the answering machine, he sits in front of it and "talks" and yowls the whole time her voice is giving the outgoing message. I actually heard it once by calling her number from the front porch on my cell. It was pitiful! Now, when I call her and get her answering machine, I just talk to Carter instead of leaving her a message! She says he sits in front of the machine and croons when she plays it back. I just love the little fellow. He's very protective of her and her daughter, but the only time he's openly aggressive is if he sees a man in any kind of law enforcement uniform or a patrol car. He just hates them. We figure someone who wore that type of uniform must be who abused him.

So you just keep right on believing in your little Blondie and don't let anyone discourage you.
 

Blondie

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#18
Those comments just made me feel so much better! Thank you everybody for your advice. Renee, that story is the loveliest thing I've heard! I didn't use to like dogs much, I admit it - but that's because I never owned one. Now, since the moment this pup crossed the door and became ours, he's got everybody's heart at home, everybody just loves him because he's adorable, quite clever and affectionate! But I noticed that, three people, on the same day, told us that "this puppy's so spoiled"... Spoiled? Well... he just loves getting attention and love, and so people say he's spoiled. I don't know if it's a good thing or not. I just thought I'd comment that. :p He was showered today and at first he thought it was playing, and kind of loved the warm water but then I guess he got bored and started running and crying... poor thing :( Next time he's going to give us a hard time I'm sure! One more thing.. Is 3 months old a good age to get him neutered? (I don't know if I spelled that right) The vet said, the younger the better... What kind of cares will he need after the surgery?
 
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#19
I don't know what other people necessarily mean when they comment that a dog is spoiled. Mine are spoiled. My friends' dogs and cats are spoiled. It just means we love them, pay attention to them, spend time with them and all those things. Our dogs are spoiled. They're beyond spoiled. They're still sweet, loving creatures; they don't whine or throw tantrums for attention, if that's what some people connect with being "spoiled." You love your little fellow, he loves you, he minds you (reasonably well!) and you enjoy each other. Who cares if someone thinks he's spoiled in a derogatory way? I think, though, that most people who are pet lovers mean it as a compliment. As for the people who aren't pet lovers, once again, who cares?
 

Blondie

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Exactly what I think! People think spoiling is just giving the pets everything they need, loving them to death, and giving them the attention they need/earn! I think the same thing happens with babies... children are "spoiled" when they're loved and rewarded a lot, I think. Most people don't understand what we feel for our pets, I think, because perhaps they don't even have one! I know this for experience... this lady I know LOVES dogs, and I used to think, isn't she too much?!?! But, I've got to admit she's one of my best advisors now (apart from you people here on the forum ;) ). And I understand her feelings now that I've got my puppy because I feel the same.

Thanks for telling me about what to do when he gets neutered. He'll be 3 months old by April 2nd and I think that's when we're going to take him because we'll be having holidays the following week and it's going to be just so appropriate to take care of the little guy then! Not allowing him to jump or run? Hmm... that sounds a little difficult to do with this mischievous puppy! But I'll have to try, then. :)

Then I was dumb enough, the first time I took him to this vet we ran into a very rude guy! (Insert angry face here) And he recommended us Pro Plan Puppy as the proper food. I was saying I was dumb because I didn't even ask if that was the best I could get for him, and now this new vet, who is extremely nice and sweet to him, recommended Eukaneba or Science Diet. What do you guys think?
 

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