# Frustrated Cocker Spaniel!



## Melissa15 (Dec 29, 2012)

How can I keep my Working Cocker busy?
I have a 6 month old Working Cocker Spaniel called Dobby. He's a great dog, despite being on the go 24/7. The trouble is that when he doesn't get 2/3 long runs a day, he goes absolutely mad (obviously, since he's a working cocker and we have him as a pet). This usually isn't a problem and he gets the exercise he needs as well as games at home (kong Toys etc.) However, we had him castratred a couple weeks ago and we've been to the vets a couple times since because the swelling isn't going down. The vet also told us that he needs to take it easy and should only be allowed short walks on the lead. This is way less exercise than he's used to and way less than he needs, but it's necessary for him to heal properly. 

Do any of you know of things I can do with him at home to make the next week or so a little more bearable for both of us, without making him worse?


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## blossom21 (Oct 29, 2012)

Bless him sounds as though he's missing those lovely long walks. I cant suggest anything,but it wont be long and he will be back to normal. Whatever that is with these mad spaniels.:mad2:If my boy doesnt get a really good,long walk he goes hyper and races around like his a*** is on fire and he's 3


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## WhatWouldSidDo (Nov 17, 2012)

Teach him to "find" food that you hide around the house.

You start by letting him see where it is and build up from there until the food is hidden out of site.
Dogs love this game as it gets them using their nose and will be mentally tyring.


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## Charleigh (Nov 9, 2012)

Welcome  

I don't know anything unfortunately. 

I have a show cocker called Teddy but she's only a baby so not having too much exercise. One thing she LOVES is those wooden intelligence toys I got mine from zooplus I give her one of her meals in it. I also freeze some puppy milk in her kong which keeps her amused for hours (the only thing I've found that she's interested in getting out of her kong, I use the top life one, which also has a dog milk for when she's older). 

Perhaps you could try some hide and seek games? Nothing too far away just in your garden/living room so he can have some mental stimulation? 

I hope dobby gets well soon! 

Perhaps post some pics of the gorgeous chap?


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## Melissa15 (Dec 29, 2012)

The finding thing sounds alright, I'll give that a go, thanks! 
I'm not sure how well I'll be able to hide treats considering the size of the cone he's wearing but I'll try it. 

I've just stuck a few pictures in an album on here, not entirely sure how to work this thing!


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## BoredomBusters (Dec 8, 2011)

The trouble with giving working cockers lots of exercise at a young age to tire them out is you end up with a really fit dog you have to keep walking. I'd slowly cut down on the amount of walking, ease him off gently, and research lots of brain games for him. You need to keep his mind active, not just his body.

Boredom Busters - Articles

Three in the 'activities' section will give you some ideas, but if you look online or on Amazon there are loads of books and websites with games you can play with your dog. If I owned a WCS I wouldn't own a dog bowl, that's for sure. Interactive feeding time would be the way to go.


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## Sleeping_Lion (Mar 19, 2009)

Can I just point out (in case you weren't aware), cockers were/are bred to flush game, to be trained to work a tight pattern as a rough shooters or beaters dog, they can be quite hard headed sometimes and are known for flicking the proverbials. They love to work cover, and are also capable of retrieving game nearly as big as themselves!! If you have a working bred cocker, you might want to consider looking at what they were bred to do, and incoporating this into their training in some way, rather than just trying to exercise them to release excess energy, which as has been pointed out, really only increases stamina.


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## BoredomBusters (Dec 8, 2011)

A friend of mine posts lovely pics of her wcs retreiving birds that look twice her size!


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## Sleeping_Lion (Mar 19, 2009)

BoredomBusters said:


> A friend of mine posts lovely pics of her wcs retreiving birds that look twice her size!


One of the OH's dogs attempted to retrieve a goose last year, he nearly made it, but got stuck in a ditch at the final approach! They are small(ish) dogs with huge characters, that need a purpose but also cling to their owners, quite a mixture!!


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## Melissa15 (Dec 29, 2012)

Interactive feeding sounds good, I'll look into that, thanks. He's not a brilliant eater anyways and often leaves a lot of his food so that might kill two birds with one stone.


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