How We Socialize Our English Cocker Spaniel Puppies
We strongly believe that puppy socialization is second only to genetics in developing a dog you can live with. This is true of ALL breeds. English Cockers are a merry, happy, outgoing breed by nature, but poor socialization can still develop a puppy who is afraid of strangers, aggressive towards other dogs or people, or many other serious behavior problems.
When competing with an English Cocker in a sport such as agility or obedience, you develop a new perspective on what makes a dog tick. You really learn to think about the character traits that make a dog a wonderful companion.... someone who is a great lifelong partner and friend. We love a *thinking* dog here at Calypso. This is how we describe a dog who is constantly thinking and you can see the intelligence in his or her eyes. A *thinking* dog makes a great agility, obedience, or hunting partner as well as an entertaining and easily trained pet at home. Early socialization and stimulation can help to build the foundation for a *thinking* dog.
Our puppies are raised in our home. From day one puppies are held and accustomed to different sounds/textures. From 2-4 weeks we concentrate on having the puppies around many different people, holding them in different ways, putting them on different types of bedding, and taking them out of the whelping box individually for cuddle time. From 4-6 weeks we start providing different toys of different shapes and textures and making trips out into the real world. From 6-8 weeks, we work primarily on creating puppies who are fearless and happy. Our puppies take car rides, meet many people, play on tiny puppy sized agility equipment and spend a *lot* of time with their dam, who we believe teaches puppies to be appropriate in behaviors with other dogs. We also start bird work early and puppies are introduced to chuckar and pheasant wings at this age. If the weather is good, the puppies are allowed to play in an x-pen in the yard to get some sunshine and fresh air. I do not believe in training baby puppies for specific actions, but rather preparing them for activities that will be required of them in the future and getting their brains developed by giving them many opportunities to THINK. At 8-10 weeks, I do start separating puppies into crates for short periods of time to get them used to being alone and gradually transfer them to sleeping in crates alone at night. We allow some pet puppies to leave at eight weeks if they are emotionally mature enough, but other pet puppies need to wait until ten weeks before leaving for their new homes.
We will put a grass "puppy potty" in with the young 6-10 week puppies and alternate other materials in with them such as shavings, puppy pads, etc. This is to get puppies used to going potty on many different surfaces. Training your puppy to have a command word for relieving themselves and getting them used to doing so on different surfaces makes traveling with your English cocker so much more convenient. Our puppies are not housebroken at eight weeks and do not "get it." They are just getting used to the behaviors that will be required of them once their minds and bodies develop more. At about 9-10 weeks, we will put an x-pen in the yard and start taking puppies out to go potty in the yard after they wake up and after meals. We will actually start taking them out in the morning and after meals at an earlier age, but won't start using it as the primary potty spot until 9-10 weeks.
Here are some interesting articles on Early Puppy Development. We do not use any one technique, but rather use any knowledge we find is appropriate for this breed and our own line of English Cockers.