About a Cocker Spaniel Puppy

[Blondie]

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!

[Renee750il]

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.

[chazhound]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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!

[Blondie]

Whoops! Sorry! 2 months old I can't type today!

[Brattina88]

Originally Posted by Serena

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. 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!

[Blondie]

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?