gamechef Posted January 13, 2011 Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 (edited) As the title suggests..i got my new cocker coming on wednesday ....he,s a liver and white boy, 8 wks, and from great proven working lines. this will be my first worker , although i do have my shadow, lakeland who is gun shy.... i got her when she was nine months and she was a bag of nerves then...she has got much better, loves to push stuff up out of the fields and hedges...but the minute my gun is out of the slip she is under the van, wanting to go home. Anyway, i,m a great believer that the best way to learn is by the mistakes/experience of others, so my question is .... what would you do different, what help/advice do you have for a novice what are the most important things i can do to ensure that i get on the right tracks from the word go..? i suppose i am no different from anyone else...all the great intentions,got the books,dvd, and read this site backwards...its those bits no one tells you....thats what i am after. cheers Daz Edited January 13, 2011 by gamechef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbuster Posted January 13, 2011 Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 As the title suggests..i got my new cocker coming on wednesday ....he,s a liver and white boy, 8 wks, and from great proven working lines. this will be my first worker , although i do have my shadow, lakeland who is gun shy.... i got her when she was nine months and she was a bag of nerves then...she has got much better, loves to push stuff up out of the fields and hedges...but the minute my gun is out of the slip she is under the van, wanting to go home. Anyway, i,m a great believer that the best way to learn is by the mistakes/experience of others, so my question is .... what would you do different, what help/advice do you have for a novice what are the most important things i can do to ensure that i get on the right tracks from the word go..? i suppose i am no different from anyone else...all the great intentions,got the books,dvd, and read this site backwards...its those bits no one tells you....thats what i am after. cheers Daz Dont introduce him too young to the gun going off, its ok to go playing/training with him with the gun with you so he gets accostumed to the sight of it, but dont fire it untill he's at least 8/9 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul@Ribchester Posted January 13, 2011 Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 Dont introduce him too young to the gun going off, its ok to go playing/training with him with the gun with you so he gets accostumed to the sight of it, but dont fire it untill he's at least 8/9 months. I started my Lab off with balloons, she loved chasing then popping them. I started by only blowing them up a bit and as she got more confident with the bang when it popped blowing them up more, I think she associated the bang with fun... Good luck. Paul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamechef Posted January 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 thanks fb...i plan to give him a thorough grounding before he gets anywhere near the sound of a shotty...but like you say,i will definately introduce him to the sight of it from an early age... i had a strange idea of setting my old sxs up as a catapult contraption and firing his favourite retrieve toy of the end of it...like a dummy launcher...just to get him to love the sight of the shotty... what do you think ? Daz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WGD Posted January 13, 2011 Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 thanks fb...i plan to give him a thorough grounding before he gets anywhere near the sound of a shotty...but like you say,i will definately introduce him to the sight of it from an early age... i had a strange idea of setting my old sxs up as a catapult contraption and firing his favourite retrieve toy of the end of it...like a dummy launcher...just to get him to love the sight of the shotty... what do you think ? Daz Great idea Daz. Are you looking for general advice or advice specific to introduction to the gun? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbuster Posted January 13, 2011 Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 thanks fb...i plan to give him a thorough grounding before he gets anywhere near the sound of a shotty...but like you say,i will definately introduce him to the sight of it from an early age... i had a strange idea of setting my old sxs up as a catapult contraption and firing his favourite retrieve toy of the end of it...like a dummy launcher...just to get him to love the sight of the shotty... what do you think ? Daz Could work i suppose Like the balloon idea though. With the weather being so cold during the last couple of weeks my new pup has been in the house instead of the kennel. I've got two nuts kids that make so much of a racket that i reckon a 12 bore going off will be like childs play to it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamechef Posted January 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 general advice WGD..whatever you got for me mate would be most appreciated... FB....i know where your coming from...mine spend most of their time coming thru the ceiling....vol 11... that is another concern is how to manage the whole thing with my kids and the dog and bad habits being taught, as mine will be living in doors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Posted January 13, 2011 Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 I really like the idea of the balloon popping to get him used to the noise, think I might steal that when the time comes. Have fun with him, I bet you can't wait! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamechef Posted January 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 5 days 15hrs and 24 minutes..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WGD Posted January 13, 2011 Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 general advice WGD..whatever you got for me mate would be most appreciated... FB....i know where your coming from...mine spend most of their time coming thru the ceiling....vol 11... that is another concern is how to manage the whole thing with my kids and the dog and bad habits being taught, as mine will be living in doors? How old are your kids mate? It helps if they are old enough to understand: 1. Do not chase the pup. 2. Do not play tug of war with the pup. 3. Do not constantly call/command the pup. 4. Do not throw things for the pup. If you can get your kids to abide by this more or less there is a good chance your dog will turn out just fine IMO. Get the pup a crate so it has somewhere to go to relax and you have somewhere to put it when you need to relax. As far as young spaniels are concerned, I would suggest conditioning a desire to retrieve prior to hunting kicking in and keeping the dog close when it is "free hunting" as a pup, not by constant recall but by conditioning that being close to you = a reward, probably a find of some kind be that a tennis ball, a treat in the grass, whatever. How close depends on the dog, some are bold as brass and some can be sticky, that's for you to judge when you get the dog. Just a few of my thoughts, hopefully of some use. Best of luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamechef Posted January 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 WGD...my kids are a good age...10,8,6...and are quite good with dads rules...cos i letthem think that they thought them up first... when the kids are at school the pup will be allowed out at my wifes discretion and for regular pees, but will be kenelled(indoors)when the kids are home,until i get back from work and can supervise proceedings...at least thats the plan. the free hunting stuff is something i will look into more..buy i am gonna do my best to build up the retrieve bit , by keeping it interesting and varied fot the pup. thanks for your thoughts...dont hesitate with more.. Daz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
activeviii Posted January 14, 2011 Report Share Posted January 14, 2011 I have found that cocker will choose who they want to work for, i have been lucky with mine as they all have been bought for the wife but they all come to me.lol. do not be heavy handed or to hard on a cocker as it will sulk and not do bu66er all for you. you can not tell a cocker what to do, you have to trick it into thinking its what he wants to do. judging by what you said about your kids rules, you'll be fine with that bit. no loud bangs that can damage hearing, their hearing is not developed enough until at least 9 mths of age. i take night to game fairs so they can hear the bangs but from a great distance, because there is so much going on with other dogs and people walking around i find its a good destination for them. keep training fun and short but you will find that if the dog is in the house with you then you will more short sessions rather than two medium ones if the dog was outside. do not get frustrated if the dogs not moving on as fast as you want as they seam to take it all in and one day it will just all come together and you'll think 'how the **** did he know that' and always aim to finshing a train session on a good note. i like to give mine a few minutes of quite time after trains so that they take it into the head and not forget by doing something else straight after like smell food or chase the kids. there is a couple of good books out there and some dvds. best of luck and welcome to the mad house of cockers, one is never enough. all the best Phil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamechef Posted January 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2011 thanks phil....great tips... i am hoping to do a bit of a diary on here...with successes and failures , that way i can rob you all of your knowledge before i make any long term errors cheers Daz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monster1971 Posted January 14, 2011 Report Share Posted January 14, 2011 good idea i think i will keep an eye on this one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WGD Posted January 14, 2011 Report Share Posted January 14, 2011 Good idea Daz, see if you can get a mod to lock a thread so only you can post on it to get some continuity - comments could be given on other thread/s? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamechef Posted January 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2011 whos best to speak too WGD? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WGD Posted January 14, 2011 Report Share Posted January 14, 2011 Prob Teal in the first instance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Posted January 15, 2011 Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 Just a thought, get your ground rules sorted from day one, and stick to them. It's a lot easier than changing what he can and can't do after he's been doing it for a long time! We first said Jack could be on the sofa and upstairs, but not on the bed. That has now changed to not allowed on the sofa or upstairs at all, and it's hard work drilling that into him now! Not long to go now till u get him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamechef Posted January 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 Dont remind me Gareth...thats all i can think about,does that make me a sad *** or what?lol but, for the basic house rules,we already have a bitch here.so a lot of those will be sorted by her and the way she is allowed to behave.we already do the no upstairs and no sofa bit...but we learnt that the hard way..a few years back she started to get comfy on the sofa, and it was so gradual that we didnt notice for a while and when i did i had to put my foot down with her, which we(me and my dog) fell out about for a while...but we are best mate s again now we do have a very steady routine in our house,which obviously surrounds the kids,so having one dog in that routine will make the transition that much easier for the pup and family(apart from all the peeing and so on!) we are also at the stage where, i have some free time, the kids are that much older, abit more independent and hopefully will get stuck in to the rules and training with me,especially my boys, they already help out with cleaning rabbits ,the occasional shooting trip and so on. they dont know about the pup yet ..so wednesday will be a good day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Posted January 16, 2011 Report Share Posted January 16, 2011 You will have to get a few pics up after he arrives so we can all see him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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