31st December 2019 HAPPY NEW YEAR

DECEMBER 31ST 2019

Moving into 2020 tonight, heavens it seems like only months since the millennium.

We have tried to keep Oscar calm around loud noises, so we hope the fireworks tonight will not upset him.  We live near farmland where we can hear shooting in the fields and that isn't causing him any problems.  There are normally lots of fireworks as we also live near the beach and local towns put on some very loud and long firework displays.  Fingers crossed he will be ok.

We changed our minds about getting him castrated. We decided to leave it until he is a bit older.  it was advice from many people who said there was no need, or to leave it until he is a bit older.

Training wise he is doing well, his recall off the lead on the beach is excellent. He plays nicely with other dogs and comes back when I call him. He never roams too far from me.  He loves the beach, especially the sand dunes, he races up and down them and runs about like crazy on the beach and in the sea.

Our main problem is with his lead work, I thought we had got it sorted but it seems he has gone backwords with his lead training and he is pulling and lurching too much. We have tried several halters and  leads now.  The latest one was a Canni Collar, but it kept slipping off and he was obviously uncomfortable. Using a halter seems to make him pull more. The one we are using now is a half choke on a flat lead. But we will see what happens on Friday.

We are lucky to have Abbie from Wag and Walkies who has been walking Oscar a lot since I damaged my knee.  She has also tried several ways to train him to walk nicely on the lead and so far she is making some progress.

Wag and Walkies    https://www.facebook.com/wagandwalkieswithabbie/   

Let your pup join us at Wag and Walkies! 

Casual one off walks when required or regular walks available

This week we are taking him to Ruffside Gundogs Training in Consett. He has been highly recommended as the person to go to,  who trains cockers to walk gently on the lead.  I think this is probably the only thing we are struggling with. He is very strong and pulls like a train on the lead, he tries to chase seagulls and crows and we come back quite tired and aching.

Ruffside Gundogs
https://www.facebook.com/Ruffside-Gundogs-736046869844816/
Based in Consett he seems to have a very good reputation.  I  will write about the session next time.

16th December 2019 7 months old

 I am told that sitting on the back of chairs is normal for cockers.

 Tired after a long walk, but keeping an eye out just in case.

We think that he has reached his full size now, we hope so as we didn't expect him to reach this size. 

28th November 2019

We have had our second training class this week and its going well.  The coaches are very knowledgeable and understanding.

We are using Dog Trust Training School.

https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/help-advice/dog-school/newcastle/

We have learnt so much about how to teach Oscar its been invaluable and we hope to continue onto the next course if we pass this one.

Oscar is still biting jumping up and generally being a normal hyper Cocker Spaniel. There is another Cocker Spaniel on the course, same age and also a working cocker.  They have the same issues as we do, so its good to know we are not alone.

We invested in a no pull collar this week in the hope that we can get him to walk without tugging.

Its early days but we are starting to see a little improvement.

He still loves his hour on the field playing fetch with the ball.  He is very good at this.

 Collywell Bay

Watching the seagulls 

Its not often he is lying like this.

19 November 2019 Oscar is 6 months old.

I can't pretend that our lives haven't changed since Oscar came to live with us.
We didn't do our homework before hand and we ended up using our hearts and not our heads to choose a dog.

It was only later that we bought a handbook on the Cocker Spaniel that we found out Oscar is actually a Working Cocker.  Bred to work as a gun dog or farm dog. He is always on the go, and is so quiet you don't know he is about until he pinches something, running away and hoping you will play games with him.

Its easy enough to manage when its just once or twice, but when your ironing and suddenly the shirt that took ages to iron has disappeared and you need to start again.

Having said that, despite his energetic personality, he is a real star. He is learning the boundary's of what he can and cant do. He knows how to fetch a ball and drop it at your feet. He knows he does not get fed from our table and he knows when its bed time.

He is ready for bed around 10pm and will sleep quite happily until about 7am in his crate. The crate is comfy with cushion mattress,  and covered with a blanket to make him feel safe and cosy.  The crate is big enough for him to stretch out, stand up and move about.

One thing I regret is not putting his crate in the kitchen, instead he sleeps in our bedroom. I think it would have been easier to manage his separation anxiety which is a real problem.  I can't go into the shower without him howling at the door.

This is an oven mit, he puts his nose into it and then  pushes it round the kitchen, strange. 

 We bought a shaped bowl to keep his ears dry.





He has managed to get the hang of fetching the ball. As long as nothing distracts him he is very good.

Tonight is his first attendance at Dogs Trust training.

IT disaster

I am back on line after a 3 week disconnection. Hurrah, I have a mobile phone but its too small to mess about with.

So, I am busy typing away, went to look at the calendar which is in the same room. Next thing I hear is a clink and my freshly made coffee was seeping nicely into my drowning lap top.

I tried drying it out, spoke to my IT daughter who laughed and said sounds like a new one mam.

Anyway £180 later I have it back minus a lot of material, photos writing etc. Luckily most was backed up.

He is forgiven, I have nearly got into pushing the chair in when I leave the table, even for a second.

He attends regular puppy training, he is learning quite well. I am told he is actually a working cocker, needs lots of exercise, but very good at learning new things. 

1st October nearly 5 months old already

We have found Oscar to be a very busy little pup, always on the go and ready for anything.
He is very slick as well so we need to keep doors, drawers etc closed and our decorative items are getting higher and higher.

But he is great fun as well.  He loves to go on long walks, and we have found a park where we can book a field all to himself, its very secure and he can run all his energy off.  Its what he needs, but until he can come back safely and obey instructions he must stay on the lead most of the time.

We live on the coast and at least 2 dogs have fallen from the cliff top and died from their injuries.

Despite his energy and his odd moments of madness, his training is coming along quite well. He is walking very well on the lead, Although he does have times when he lunges at things, which can almost pull your arm out of the socket.

We have invested in a halti which means we have control from his chest as well as the harness round his shoulders. I am finding it very good, it seems a much softer way to get him to walk on the lead.
https://haltiwalkhappy.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIiKqHufn65AIVibTtCh2Vjw-pEAAYASAAEgLMA_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

We chose this one, which pulls from the front.

https://haltiwalkhappy.com/halti-no-pull-harness



There are a range of harnesses, we went into https://www.petsathome.com/?msclkid=b3781e16efe6159539fb4385d87181a8&gclid=COTJydn5-uQCFQmDhQodAV8E-A&gclsrc=ds
where you can take your dog in and there will be someone to help you try them.

Just chilling out at home, 

 
 long lie in the sun

By the river at Warkworth

23rd September 2019 He is 5 months old

Well its been a busy few weeks. Trying to get Oscar to walk nicely on the lead, and stop sinking his sharp teeth into my hands.

Gosh those teeth are so sharp, we have a cheer every time one drops out. We have been told to growl at him when he does this, some times it works some times it doesn't.

This is when he was waiting to go out for his walk. 

Such a snooty look.

Local Walks 

Northumberland Park North Shields

Walk along the river at Warkworth

Walk along the river at Warkworth

 

Town Centre Warkworth

 

Walk round Tynemouth Castle

 

Walk round Tynemouth Castle

 

Relaxing in the garden

Taking the best seat in the house

We have a dilemma whether to buy pet insurance, and should we take him to puppy classes. 

He seems to be learning quite well just now, and he hasn't had any mishaps. 

But its so expensive, we didn't do either with Ben and he turned out OK.

Pet Insurance from £12 a month to £35 a month

Puppy classes around £10 a session. 

Fearless puppy

22nd August 2019

Fearless puppy   

August 20th Vet check up and Vacine Day

VET CHECK UP AND VACCINATIONS 

Infectious Canine Hepatitis is a viral disease which affects the liver, kidneys, eyes and lungs of a dog.  It is spread by contact with saliva, urine, faeces, blood or nasal discharge of infected dogs. The urine of an infected dog can be infectious for up to a year, and the virus can survive in the environment for many months.

Signs can vary from slight fever to sudden death. Other signs include loss of appetite, pale gums, conjunctivitis, coughing, abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhoea.  The disease can develop very quickly and sadly there is no specific treatment; however vets will try and alleviate the signs and dogs can sometimes survive with intensive supportive treatment.

Canine Parvovirus
Distemper
Leptospirosis

and

Kennel Cough - a little squirt up the nose.
https://www.vets4pets.com/


Its been a very busy few days, Oscar has been very good, in fact better than we anticipated/ Apart from one or two accidents in the house he is pretty much going to the toilet outside.

We used the programme of taking him outside on an hourly basis to the same place in the garden and up to now its going very well.

At night he sleeps in his crate and seems reasonably happy to go inside and goes straight to sleep. He wakes around 5.30 am most mornings.  This is when I take him outside he has a wee and a poop and then he comes back in for his breakfast.  I will have to pause here and he has found something to chew that is not his.
So we are quite happy that all is going well, but it is obvious that he needs more exercise than he can get in the house.

Today is the first time Oscar has been outside, other than the garden.  He is due his 2nd round of vaccine and then after 1 week he can go out and mix with other dogs.  The car is all prepared with seat covers and safety harness

The car journey went well apart from Oscar wanting to see everything around him he was calm, and pretty laid back about the trip.

At the vet he behaved himself quite well. He got a full check over, weight, heart, lungs and tummy,  teeth and nail. His teeth look good and his weight is good.  His ears however are full of muck and something creeping around.  The vet cleared out his ears, they were so full of black yuk. Hopefully he will respond better when I call him. But I think he will still have selective deafness. I cleaned his ears out again on the evening and more black muck came out, something to watch for.

He slept all the way home in the car, the effects of the injections.

So we have 7 days and then he will be out in the wide world. We can't wait.

18th August 2019 1st day in new home

DAY ONE OF A NEW LIFE

It was late afternoon when we arrived home with Oscar, he behaved extremely well in the car, he didn't show any kind of concerns and no crying, he just wanted to see everything

and smell everything including of course Ben who had travelled in the car for several years..

In the house, he had a good sniff all over inside and in the garden, of course again he must have been smelling Ben, all over the place.

Oscar was known as Enzo when we got him. We were told Enzo is a type of Italian racing car and also a famous wrestler. It seemed unfair to rename him, but we didn't think he would mind if we made his new name a little more suited to his demeanour.

We had several suggestions for renaming him including Murphy, Sam, Henry, Oscar After some thought it was decided that it would be Oscar,  and now after two days he responds to his name very well,

We found a tennis ball of Bens' and Oscar had lots of fun with it.

He scoffed his tea down, we had measured out the recommended amount 40 grams,  it didn't look as if it was enough to us but that's what the instructions said.

Some 10 minutes later he went on a run all over the garden, we are sure it was an energy rush like the kids get when they drink pop. Sure enough since then he does the same after his meals.

The first night was pretty good he went straight to sleep in his crate and slept well only whimpering for a second through the night. He woke at 5.30 and was looking to go out and then looking for his breakfast,

He is managing to get the hang of going outside for his wees and poops, we are really pleased with him.  He sleeps in his crate overnight and has been going straight to sleep only waking at about 5.30 am.  We are hoping his sleeping time will increase over night, which I am sure it will. 

We are happy that he doesn't greed, and we are going to try and ensure this continues by not feeding him little bits and pieces of our biscuits and meals.  Today I tried to get him to eat a piece of carrot, as I thought this would be a good training treat but its still there, he doesn't seem to like it yet.

Sneaking upstairs when he thinks no one is looking

Hoping that food bag will empty into his bowl

Oscar  has had lots of visitors to meet him and has behaved very well with all of them, apart from a few nips with his sharp little teeth, but they all do that while they have their baby teeth. He is taking everythng in his stride and comes accros as very confident, friendly and laid back. 

FIRST VISIT TO THE VET next week.

We are booked in to see the Vet on Tuesday so only a couple of days.  We have a list of questions for her and one of them being what is the best kind of puppy food to give him, try to stop any energy rush, there is lots on the internet about how food additives can cause this..

He will  get his vaccinations so he should be able to go out later in the week.  We cant wait to take him on walks along the sea front and the beach.  

He won't be allowed off the lead for a couple of years until I fully trust his recall response. Its not so long ago that a 4 month old Labrador fell over the cliff top near us and died, it was tragic. 

Welcome to the world little man

MEET OSCAR HE IS ONLY 12 WEEKS OLD 

born 23rd May 2019

Oscar at 12 weeks old

At this moment in time. Oscar is sitting quietly at my feet, tucked slightly under my chair. Its windy outside, and it seems he doesn't like the wind very much or the way the doors rattle when  the windows are open. This reminds me so much of Ben our most beautiful, precious old friend who passed away in April this year after 13 wonderful years with him.  He was our gentle giant, our fun loving beautiful French Berger,  well,  OK,  I have missed out the parts where he often made us say bad words, or the times he pinched things and hid them in the garden but that's another story which can be read by following the link below.

https://adogcalledben.blogspot.com/

Its August 17th 2019 and Oscar has been with us only 3 days, We didn't plan on getting a Cocker Spaniel specifically he just came to us by the power of internet advertising.

We started initially looking for a rescue dog, one that wouldn't be too old, we didn't want to lose a good friend too soon after Ben passed away,  So our new dog needed to be under three years old.

There are so many rescue dogs out there all needing forever homes.
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals  /https://www.rspca.org.uk/  
 Dogs Trust   https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/
Blue Cross Rescue https://www.bluecross.org.uk/
Jerry Green https://www.jerrygreendogs.org.uk/adopt-a-dog

During our search we came across an advert for  a 12 week old Cocker Spaniel, looking to be rehomed.  

We called the advertiser who told us over the phone she had bought the pup just 4 days earlier,  when she got him back and into their house, her 8 year old cats just scattered, left the house and wouldn't come back.  Her daughters were distraught about the cats leaving and after a couple of days they made the decision that 'Enzo' as he was named by them would have to go. They advertised him online.

Events happened so quickly after that telephone conversation. We tried to take a clinical approach to visiting him so, we took along (our daughter) Katherine who has a lot of knowledge and experience of dogs.  Our plan was to check everything out first and then make some contact with the dog and decide if everything was in order. 

Well what happened when we went in the house?   this stunning little brown puppy sauntered over to us, with his huge feet that sounded like he had carpet slippers on when  he walked. His  tail was far to long for him, his Eyes could  melt any heart and he had ears that he could fly with.  We just fell in love with him. He snuggled up beside me on the settee, Katherine, who was to be fairly neutral and clinical about things  said "ah he is just gorgeous" .  I think we had made a decision within seconds of meeting him.

After some chatting and checking over the paperwork it wasn't long before he was in the car and on his way to his new home.

As well as the main rescue centres there are  individual breed organisations such as   

The Cocker and English Springer Spaniel Rescue    https://www.caessr.org.uk/ 

Cairn Terrier Relief Fund https://www.cairn-rescue.co.uk/

So going through this kind of organisation is a safer way, you can get to know about the dog before you make the decision to rehome him.