How Am I Doing?

[Lol & Jasper]

Hi there
I'm new to the board and just would like a bit of reassurance that I'm not doing everything completely wrong! I have a beautiful Springer Spaniel. He is 6 1/2 months old and my first dog. My circumstances previously have not been appropriate for having a dog (worked full time so out of the house for 10 hours a day)and I've waited a long time to get him. I now work from home just in the mornings so I have plenty of time to give him. We (me & hubby) have had him since he was 10 weeks old.

His day to day routine is walk in the morning then home for breakfast (mainly dry food with a bit of chicken) he then sleeps most of the morning while I'm working. When he's awake he's got various toys to keep him occupied until I finish at 1pm. We have a bit of a play in house or garden he will do almost anything for a tennis ball. A bit of training (sit, down, paw etc). He has another walk later in the afternoon and his tea around 7:00pm. He settles down around 9pm while we are watching TV and goes to bed in the kitchen at around midnight when we go up to bed (after he has been out to toilet). He then sleeps until around 6am (what's a lie in?) when one of us will get up and let him out for the loo. He then usually will settle again for about an hour before his morning walk. What's the recommended walking time for his age?

His major problem is tugging like hell on the lead. Which I've been trying to stop for ages (about 4 months) I stand still and say ah ah, at this point he usual sits down and then off we go again doing this about 20 times. I've tried offering treats but he doesn't seem that bothered about them out of the house. Does it usually take this long? I have heard that Springers do pull a lot but obviously want to stop this as one day he will be stonger than me. I've tried a Halti - he just lay on his back, refused to move and pulled it of his nose. He wears a harness as we were both worried about his neck/throat. Sometimes it seems he's got it and then the next time he's as bad again.

Along the lines of a previous thread on here re Obedience Classes, he has been going for 4 weeks. I am a little concerned as I feel they are a bit old fashioned (pack leadership and other old chestnuts) but this week was heel work and again they insist on a collar. I was not happy at the way this was shown "flick the collar" and I quote from lesson notes "He will also learn that when he is out in front he gets a correction. Tight jerked lead, cross tone, no. An unpleasant experience of being moved firmly to the right position" This has rang MAJOR alarm bells with me and I want some confirmation that I'm not being neurotic. I think I already know the answer! This was the first week that I have felt concern as previously it was just sit, down, stand, leave it using treats.

Any help/advice is welcome as I have said he is my first dog and I want to do the best I can for him. Any more info you need let me know but I'll end there for fear of boring you all!

[eddy]

Just wandering where you're from? Sounds awfully familiar lol From what i have read you're doing everything really well, and dedicating a lot of time to your dog.

Re: the lead chewing, consitency and a positive reward for when he isnt chewing it, wether its a treat, some praise or even a squeak of a toy, what ever works, as long as dog knows that he has done the right thing. At my obiedience class if dog was chewing lead, yank it out of the dogs mouth with a stern 'NO' was reccomended, lol not how i would do it, but hey ho its not me running the class! The stopping when he chews is a good thing, he isnt getting what he wants, which is to walk, and move onward. Id also go as far as if/when he chews it, stop the walk completely, take him back indoors and remove the lead (leave his harness on as its time consuming) then, start the walk again.

Thanks - Eddy

[Lol & Jasper]

Hi Eddy

I live in Cornwall. It was your post that prompted me to post!

I think you've misunderstood me he pulls on his lead he doesn't chew it. He seems to have got over that!

[Mattie]

Hi there
I'm new to the board and just would like a bit of reassurance that I'm not doing everything completely wrong! I have a beautiful Springer Spaniel. He is 6 1/2 months old and my first dog. My circumstances previously have not been appropriate for having a dog (worked full time so out of the house for 10 hours a day)and I've waited a long time to get him. I now work from home just in the mornings so I have plenty of time to give him. We (me & hubby) have had him since he was 10 weeks old.

You have a nutty Springer who is just going into his teenage hooligan stage, good luck.

If you go to viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1981 it will tell you what to expect from your puppy at various stages in his puppyhood, he is now going into his second fear period as well as being a teenage hooligan.

His day to day routine is walk in the morning then home for breakfast (mainly dry food with a bit of chicken) he then sleeps most of the morning while I'm working. When he's awake he's got various toys to keep him occupied until I finish at 1pm. We have a bit of a play in house or garden he will do almost anything for a tennis ball. A bit of training (sit, down, paw etc). He has another walk later in the afternoon and his tea around 7:00pm. He settles down around 9pm while we are watching TV and goes to bed in the kitchen at around midnight when we go up to bed (after he has been out to toilet). He then sleeps until around 6am (what's a lie in?) when one of us will get up and let him out for the loo. He then usually will settle again for about an hour before his morning walk. What's the recommended walking time for his age?

Normal walking time for puppies is 5 minutes for every month of their lives, some breeds do need more, others less, Springers are active dogs so you can give a little more. He is also getting exercise in his normal day with playing. You can play mind games with him which will exercise his brain and help tire him out.

His major problem is tugging like hell on the lead. Which I've been trying to stop for ages (about 4 months) I stand still and say ah ah, at this point he usual sits down and then off we go again doing this about 20 times. I've tried offering treats but he doesn't seem that bothered about them out of the house. Does it usually take this long? I have heard that Springers do pull a lot but obviously want to stop this as one day he will be stonger than me. I've tried a Halti - he just lay on his back, refused to move and pulled it of his nose. He wears a harness as we were both worried about his neck/throat. Sometimes it seems he's got it and then the next time he's as bad again.

Have a look at viewtopic.php?f=20&t=858, it does work, little and often is better, several 5 to 10 minute sessions daily and he will get it. Instead of his walks being taking him for so far, these can replace his walks because he will be getting exercised as well just walking up and down the same piece of ground. What isn't in there is you can use your voice to encourage him to turn with you, I usually say "This way", I find it very useful for when my dogs are off the lead and going in the wrong direction, I just say that and they come running after and past me.

Along the lines of a previous thread on here re Obedience Classes, he has been going for 4 weeks. I am a little concerned as I feel they are a bit old fashioned (pack leadership and other old chestnuts) but this week was heel work and again they insist on a collar. I was not happy at the way this was shown "flick the collar" and I quote from lesson notes "He will also learn that when he is out in front he gets a correction. Tight jerked lead, cross tone, no. An unpleasant experience of being moved firmly to the right position" This has rang MAJOR alarm bells with me and I want some confirmation that I'm not being neurotic. I think I already know the answer! This was the first week that I have felt concern as previously it was just sit, down, stand, leave it using treats.

You have been going for 4 weeks and there is no improvement, that says it isn't working and you are right, always follow your instincts, they are usually right as they are this time. Dogs learn better by being put in a position to do what we want then reward them than by being corrected. Dogs don't understand corrections so they are useless.

Any help/advice is welcome as I have said he is my first dog and I want to do the best I can for him. Any more info you need let me know but I'll end there for fear of boring you all!

I would say you are doing well, you don't mention socialisation for your pup, are these puppy classes he goes to? Personally I find there are very few puppy classes that are run properly, most is a free for all for the pups were they don't learn anything with a bit of old fashioned training put in. This type of puppy class does more harm than good, pups are better with good mannered adult dogs who teach them to be a dog.

Ask as many questions as you want, it is why we are here.

[eddy]

Hi Eddy

I live in Cornwall. It was your post that prompted me to post!

I think you've misunderstood me he pulls on his lead he doesn't chew it. He seems to have got over that!

Cornwall, a bit far from me lol, glad you could relate to my story! Its quite surprising at how often this could/does happen!
Sorry for the misunderstanding, but im sure you'll get great advice here either way!

Keep up the good work!

[Mattie]

For dogs that chew leads, all you need to do is get a lead with a chain on the end, dogs don't like chewing chains

[emmabeth]

For pulling on the lead, you need to make it super simple to get right and super hard to get wrong, for both of you.

The first thing to do is increase your chances of success and decrease chance of failure - that means make the walks a length you can stick to without getting frustrated or letting the method slip.

10 minutes is about right, and before you go 'omg thats not enough time to walk the dog', you can do more shorter walks per day, and you will be asking your dog to concentrate on you for the whole ten minutes whichi s much harder work!

So, for ten minutes, starting the second you get the lead out (not the second you shut the front door!!!), you insist on calm and attention on you. Sit nicely for the lead on (or drop the lead and walk away), sit nicely for the door being opened (or the door is shut you drop the lead and walk away), exit the house nicely (or you turn around and go back in and drop the lead and walk away)...

You may have several abortive attempts but stick with it, once the penny drops it tends to stick!

Once you get out, hold the lead across your body, handle in one hand, lead across body to the other hand, gather up any slack with this hand and then down to the dog, you need enough room that the dog can CHOOSE to be in front, beside or behind by about a foot or two, this is about encouraging him to make the right choice, not forcing him with a tight leash.

Now, brisk march, forwards, really good pace, no dawdling along. Look down to your dog - is he beside you - i like to be able to see my dogs head and just the front part of his shoulders roughly in line with my leg,thats the position I aim for. The position you choose is entirely up to you, the point is the dog maintains that position on a slack leash.

Now, as he steps ahead out of that position but WELL before he puts any tension down the leash, you (in one swift movement!!!) let go of the leash with the slack in it, nearest the dog. You still have the leash in your other hand. About turn, and march the other way. With some dogs its better to say 'ah ah' or similar and others its better not to, entirely depends on your dog and you dont want to upset him but some dogs are far too reliant on being warned/told and then wont watch. Others might be horrified by such brusque, rude behaviour from you.

Keep doing this - forget GOING anywhere, you are going to be marching up and down the pavement by your house for ten minutes, several times a day. Keep in mind you MUST drop-turn-march (the dropping of the slack is so you dont yank him off his feet) BEFORE he puts tension on the lead.

The reason for doing it for only ten minutes is its hard work for both of you - if you try to go to a particular destination or set route you WILL get really annoyed at how long its takingand you will inevitably allow him to pull at some point and the more times that happens the more he learns its WORTH doing.

Once you get the hang of this and it seems the message is setting in, you can vary the pace, vary the direction and start aiming to get around a route (not all of it but in the direction of somewhere intesresting or in a place with more distractions) and you can also start to make the walks a little longer.

The other benefit of breaking it down into ten minute chunks and thus more easily achieving success is this. If you do 1 hours walk and he pulls, and you battle/argue with him for half of it, thats half an hour of annoyance and half an hour of him also leanring he can ignore you. If you do six ten minute walks, thats SIX successful walks SIX times learning the right thing.. instead of ONE walk learning the wrong things!

[Lol & Jasper]

I have started to do the mini walks as suggested so we will see how I go. I'll keep you updated.

Mattie re socialisation as soon as we got him (he was fully vaccinated) we took him out to lots of diffirent place so he could experience new things. I had hoped that the classes would be a source of good socialisation but the dogs are not allowed to greet/sniff each other, in fact this is actively discouraged. One dog was criticised for being too dog orientated (he was 5 months old). Is this usual? It wasn't just puppies it was dogs of all ages. We have got to know a few dogs that he likes to say hello to while we are out and about. I have encouraged this I must say. Is that wrong? I'd never let him approach a dog without asking the owner first. I just wanted him to be friendly. To be honest I do think he is a little bit over friendly, he thinks everyone wants to be his friend (dog & human) and I know that is not always the case. What is the best way to let him say hello without him getting over excited? He starts off great so I do try to get him to move on after a quick sniff before he gets too bouncy!

Look forward to hearing from you all.

[Beau&Luke'sMomn]

You and your Springer are very lucky. Luke is our Springer and he LOVES to play fetch with the tennis ball. We use a launcher and he would play until he dropped if we let him. Beau, our Brittany knows how to pace himself a lot better.

Both our dogs pull on the lead. We use Gentle Leaders and those have worked really well for us. I am sorry that has not worked so well for your fur baby.

Luke was the last one left in his litter and we think it was because he has a very needy personality. He is all over everyone, but has learned to sit when anyone comes in and that helps to keep him from jumping on everyone (me included). We did clicker training to train this behavior.

You are absolutely right on about the "trainer." Keep up the great work.

[Mattie]

Mattie re socialisation as soon as we got him (he was fully vaccinated) we took him out to lots of diffirent place so he could experience new things.

That is what you should do with puppies, the more good experiences outside the better.

I had hoped that the classes would be a source of good socialisation but the dogs are not allowed to greet/sniff each other, in fact this is actively discouraged. One dog was criticised for being too dog orientated (he was 5 months old). Is this usual?

It is usual for puppies to be like this, not usual for them to be discouraged, if this continues he won''t feel safe with other dogs and start to be reactive which you don't want.

It wasn't just puppies it was dogs of all ages. We have got to know a few dogs that he likes to say hello to while we are out and about. I have encouraged this I must say. Is that wrong? I'd never let him approach a dog without asking the owner first. I just wanted him to be friendly.

Mixing with adult dogs that he gets on with is very good, if he steps out of line they will tell him, some dogs won't so be prepared to step in and stop him if the other dog is looking unhappy. Always ask the other owner if he can approach their dog, they dog may not like pups or other dogs and may attack him. Be careful of some owners who are in denial with their dogs as well, they say they are friendly when they are not. Watch the other dog's body language, that will tell you more.

To be honest I do think he is a little bit over friendly, he thinks everyone wants to be his friend (dog & human) and I know that is not always the case. What is the best way to let him say hello without him getting over excited? He starts off great so I do try to get him to move on after a quick sniff before he gets too bouncy!

Look forward to hearing from you all.

He is a nutty Springer puppy, that is how they are, my Staffy is like this as well, I just have to watch him and step in at times. You are on the right track, stick with it but don't take him back to those classes, they may do him more harm than good. Good mannered adult dogs will do him a lot more good and you can train him yourself with the information on here. Clicker training is really good for nutty Springers.