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Welcoming Theo working cocker spaniel puppy....

Gill CC

Gill CC

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Hello,

We have recently taken ownership / adopted a beautiful chocolate brown working cocker spaniel puppy called Theo. He is currently 10 weeks 2 days old.

We are trying to train him and he can now sit on command which is wonderful. The only real issue we have which is concerning me is the barking. I know he is a puppy and very excitable but he barks for attention even though someone is with him virtually all the time and I don't want to develop separation anxiety.

Does anyone have any good advice about teaching your puppy that barking will not work?

Thanks
 
I think I would focus on avoiding separation anxiety first, and also learning to settle down quietly. If you preempt his needs before he barks, you'll avoid getting into the situation where he needs something (attention, company, a ball thrown...) and won't stop barking till he gets it, while you're waiting in vain for him to stop barking before you do what he wants.

So, for avoiding SA - for now, let him follow you around as much as he wants. This helps him to feel secure, and not anxious that you're going to disappear. When he is nicely settled, maybe in a lovely sunny spot and/or chewing on a bone/stuffed Kong/whatever, step out of the room and come back in. You want it to be no big deal at all to him. Progress to leaving the room for longer, always aiming to return before he gets at all concerned. Also work on things like putting on shoes, picking up keys, and walking to/opening the front door - this is all preparatory for when you need to leave him (you may already be leaving him - if this is going well, great, if not, we may be able to help).

Make sure that whenever he is quiet, such as when he's relaxing on his bed, you don't just ignore him - reward him simply for 'good settle'. There's a Kikopup video for teaching a dog to relax here:

Don't expect too much too soon - he is a baby still, and it will take a long time for him to learn to control his natural impulses and inbuilt behaviours (like barking) even if he knows they're not appreciated and won't get him what he wants. There's a video on developing impulse control here:

If you're worried about the neighbours complaining about his barking, I'd get them onside now - take chocolates/flowers round, apologise for any noise he might make, and assure them you are working on it. Though to be honest, some dogs are simply barkier than others and you wouldn't want to stop it completely, just like you wouldn't want to stop a child from laughing.
 
Hello! Lucky you- we've had spaniels all our married life- one show, two workers and now a show x worker. They are wonderful dogs. But they do have strong personalities. One of our past cockers was very vocal- and our current one is too, so individual traits do come out. With our present yappy boy we make sure never to reward barking. Turn away and break eye-contact. Give attention when quiet. Only give a treat when quiet. It takes time and patience. And robust ear drums. It's a bit soon to think he may have SA...then again they are called Velcro-dogs! Do all that's advised- but he's such a baby and they're such a sensitive breed, take it slow and enjoy. I'm very envious. Never had a choccy-wocker!
 
merlina said:
Hello! Lucky you- we've had spaniels all our married life- one show, two workers and now a show x worker. They are wonderful dogs. But they do have strong personalities. One of our past cockers was very vocal- and our current one is too, so individual traits do come out. With our present yappy boy we make sure never to reward barking. Turn away and break eye-contact. Give attention when quiet. Only give a treat when quiet. It takes time and patience. And robust ear drums. It's a bit soon to think he may have SA...then again they are called Velcro-dogs! Do all that's advised- but he's such a baby and they're such a sensitive breed, take it slow and enjoy. I'm very envious. Never had a choccy-wocker!
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Thank you so much for your commments. Theo is a really beautiful boy and yes a strong character already. We are doing the no eye contact and rewarding good behaviour so we will continue. We are all taking it in turn to look after him to spread the affection around. My daughters, husband and I love him to bits.
 
I'm sure it's going to be such fun having him! Picture?
 
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I don't do spaniels but Awwwwwwww!!!
 
I would make an effort to interact with him every single time he is quiet. It is so easy to give a huge sigh when they start to play with a toy or take a nap and leave them to it. This is exactly the time to interact! A quiet dog gets attention while the noisy one gets ignored (assuming all needs have first been met). You might want to put some yellow stickies on the computer or the tv to remind you to reward this quiet behaviour as it is very easy to miss it in our busy live :)
 
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