moofius

Hello and thanks for the great replies! I have been looking at these two clippers, been reading review and generally pretty good: http://clipperworld.com.au/clippers/andis-clippers/andis-agc-2-two-speed-clipper-p34.html http://clipperworld.com.au/clippers/andis-clippers/andis-agc2-super-2-speed-professional-clipper-p201.html It looks like it might be worth paying the it extra for the faster ones? Or would the standard ones speeds be just fine? I was also looking at the 5FC and 7FC blades: http://clipperworld.com.au/blades/andis-blades/andis-ultraedge-5fc-blade-p277.html http://clipperworld.com.au/blades/andis-blades/andis-ultraedge-7fc-blade-p275.html Would I just want some standard scissors about 20cm like these? http://clipperworld.com.au/scissors/wahl-it-scissors/wahl-italian-series-scissor-8--p130.html Is it worth getting a comb set too? http://clipperworld.com.au/attachments-accessories/andis-9-piece-attachment-set-small-combs-p400.html I don't really want to do anything fancy with the cuts, just a nice short cut. At least for awhile. :) I already have most of the other things just from when I wash them.. I'll probably try to make do with a standard hair drier for now. Oh and my cockers are Vada (black girl) 4 years old and T.J (gold boy) almost 3 years old. I take them both to obedience classes weekly as I don't get much time to spend with them one-on-one. They are brother and sister (I guess), same parents but different litters. :)

Hello, I have researched clippers and blades to DIY grooming my two dogs. They are both English Cocker Spaniels. I am looking at getting the Andis AGC2 clippers which come with a 10 blade, it looks like I'd want 7 and 5 blades also. Is there a link anyone can give me as to what other items I would require? Some nail clippers and scissors are a given. Are comb attachment required? Is that more for styled "breed cuts"? Thank you for reading. :)

I'd bet that it's submissive urination by the sounds of it too, especially if it's about 6 months still. I had a lot of problems with my puppy (female cocker spaniel) up til 6 months, she's now 8 months old and maybe has an accident in the house once a week at most. It usually occurs if I haven't taken her outside for 2-3 hours to go pee and someone visits that hasn't been around for awhile and she gets too excited. It drove me crazy for quite awhile. If she's been outside for awhile and I'm letting her inside I'll always try to get her to "do wee's" before letting her in, her bed's in my ensuite and if she's been in there for more than 2-3 hours I'll always take her outside to get her to "do wee's" then too. After a month or so she got the hang of the words and now will go in a couple of minutes a lot of the time. So if you aren't doing that, I think that's a good approach. She will soon be able to hold her bladder better and go when you ask (most of the time) hopefully.

I would definitely recommend taking close to a week off work when you first get the puppy. Use that time for separation training and just the basic house training in general.. I wouldn't expect to make much grounds in the house training, my female cocker spaniel took til pretty much 6 months old to come right and if someone comes to visit she can still get excited and pee on the carpet if I haven't taken her outside in the last 2-3 hours to go. I think separation training is very important, the don't think the neighbours behind me did it and their dog was making noise for months during the day, and then they got another one which seemed to make things worse.

Oh yeah if I hand feed her she's more likely to eat it, but not always, just a little more inclined to. If my can takes a nibble out of her bowl cos she's not eating it she will jump up and have a mouthful or two. If I throw some around on the ground and the cat walks over she will eat them and then lick him in the face lol.. it's pretty funny. This morning I didn't bother giving her biscuits cos I had the bowl down near tv last night and she ate it all, I just gave her a 1/4 of a carrot and will give her biscuits tonight. It's funny she won't be keen on the biscuits but she'll want to try to get my food off me which I don't usually give her, maybe a bit of a crust off some of the toast after I've finished or something.

Yeah I was just going off target adult size/current age table as a guide. I know they aren't perfect but did think she would start eating a fair bit more than when she was 3 months old. If I give her scraps or almost anything else she'll wolf them down, even after slowly eating all the kibble. I will start just giving her food in the morning for 20 minutes and then she can have it when she gets home, then take it away for a few hours and maybe put it to her later if she's not had it.

I understand that, it's just that she never ate more in the 4-6 month period where on the bag it suggests more. Recommended was 1cup prior, 4-6mths was about 1.5cup and then after 6months about 1.25, roughly. I measured her last night, she's 35cm tall at the shoulders and around 9.5kg, adult sized I've read is pretty much 40cm and 13kg so she's got about 30% more to go overall I guess. Probably not a lot over 5 months. I'm guessing that 60% was from 4-6mths, according to what I mentioned was recommended above. The food isn't there for the sake of it to eat. It was more that she doesn't eat much (kibble) at all in the mornings in the time I get ready, breakfast go to work. So that's why I would leave it out there. Yesterday for example she ate nothing in the morning, pretty much didn't touch the bowl all day and didn't even finish that til about 9-10pm when I encouraged her to. And that was only 1 cup. I guess if she's not running around much during the day she doesn't need much as well. She's got a few toys out there which do occupy her some of the time. This morning she wasn't eating the kibble again and I didn't have time to sit with her, so put it in the cupboard and gave her a chicken neck and a bit of a carrot til tonight. Maybe she will go for the kibble when I get home if it's not been there all day.

Hi, Thanks for the replies, Tiger - might help by saying what kind of dog you have, there's no way mine is meant to have 6 cups lol but I think I get the idea. chicken carcases are probably too big/much for her.. Like I said I proably give her a chicken neck every second day almost now. In the mornings she won't eat unless I sit down and have my breakfast and put her bowl down near me, then she will have some. Other than that she'll follow me around the house til I leave for work or wrestle with my cat. I could not leave any food with her for the day, but she will have a bit of it usually grazing in the day, but often not touch it. I would feel better leaving it with her cos' she's got not a lot out in the back except a few toys so the food is something else to do. When I am at home I don't usually leave it with her though. Revergem - What is Black Hawk? Oh and her legs aren't scrawny really, I just thought the would be a bit longer making her taller. Poodlefan - I only feed her 2x a day because I jsut break up the amount to half. If i did 1 meal a day I'd just fill the bowl right up (if I was going by the "recommended" amount). 1 cup a day was where she should have ben according to 4-6 months, now she's 7 and not really eating more, so I was wondering about that. Should I just get bones from a butcher? Does size matter(hehe) for a smaller dog? I only really give her checken necks (frozen) and they keep her busy for about 10 minutes.. Are bones really any better than checken necks? aussielover - I will try one of Royal Canin, Eagle pack or Nutro, and I hope she does get a bit taller, she will be a bit of a short cocker spaniel if she doesn't and would be surprising as they was the biggest of the three I could choose from. The parents seemed quite big from memory too, but I guess any adults would compared to 8 week old puppies!

Hi, I have a 7 month old female english cocker spaniel, she's about 9.5-10kg. I have fed her 80% puppy Advance dog biscuits, if I just go to work and leave it with her she'd half eat it by the time and a bit later on the evening and only having about 2/3 of what's recommended on the bag (1 cup not 1.5). The only way she will eat it all is if I sat down with her and she'd eat it cos she'd just be hanging around me and get to it eventually. I have been doing this a bit as I was worried she might not grow to full size (even though she's not ever really been skinny(, I did think she'd be a bit taller though. I think she's about 30-33cm tall at the shoulders. Anyway my main question is whether or not I should be giving her a wider range of food, I give her a few chicken necks over each week as a treat and just started on carrots which she likes. I partly wasn't giving her a lot of different things as I didn't want her to go off the biscuits which seem like a good staple food. What can people recommend? Is there still much growing to be done from 7-12 months? I read that an adult english cocker spaniel will get to about 13kg, I hope some of that's in her legs. Thanks for reading.

Hi wuffles, Yeah I think I will look up some flyball and agility videos on youtube later. Flyball seems a bit more running/athleticism and agility more challenging or puzzle oriented sport. Vada was only desexed 3 weeks ago and before then I thought about taking her to the obedience class afterwards, but she seems to be settling down a bit more each week and more receptive to things which is why I thought with a bit more time she might get more out of the class in a few months, I'll probably just wait til 9months rather than 12. At 5-6 months she was a bit rebellious and I wasn't too keen on taking her to the obedience class with that in mind, but she seems to be getting a little better.

Hello, I have a female English Cocker Spaniel which is almost 7 months and have been reading up on flyball and agility classes. Which do you think is more fun or prefer, is a cocker spaniel more suited to one or the other? I have attended puppy school which went pretty well and in the last few weeks or so she's been getting more obedient to my commands, well 'come' was the one which she was worst with some distractions but that's been coming along well. It seems that from 6+ months she is becoming more alert to what I am doing and be less distracted, so I was thinking I should wait til 9-12months of age take her to obedience class. Anyway my thoughts are after that I could do some type of flyball or agility classes etc and trying to work out which I would like to do more. Any thoughts??

Hi, I can't get dog doors where I am, I just try to take her out often, but that isn't really teaching her to let me know to let her go outside. At one point today she was outside for 2 hours, I brought her in and within half an hour she just went in the dining area on the tiles. Is it worth trying crate training? Does age really matter for this, but really I don't see how it would do anything now, she doesn't go within almost every hour like she did from 8-12 weeks.

Hi dogmad, I'd be interested too dogmad - [email protected] I have a 18 week old Cocker Spaniel (Vada) who is very hit and miss with her going on the UGODOG tray I got, it's basically a big plastic tray that you can put something under the grating to absorb, but I usually just put newspaper. She usually sleeps in my ensuite with that and newspaper covering half the floor and she will go on the pad sometimes, but pretty much will always pee on that or the newpaper. The other night I removed all the newpaper and she just went in front of the door (hoping she'd learn to use the pad). And it's really annoying when it seems into the bottom of her bed. I've tried other things like taking the pad to the kitchen area where the tiles are and holding her on that saying 'toilet' to get her to go which isn't that successful unless she really needs to. Other than that I just let her outside and she will go and when she does I say "good girl Vada!". If I leave her in the kitchen area/dining where it's blocked off with a baby gate she might do #2's there and not the hour before I let her out or wait until she can. I'm wondering if I should just be trying to get her to go on the pad a lot when I'm quite sure she will need to go, rather than just letting her outside - just to get her used to the idea that's what the pad is for when she can't go outside. Sometimes she does make noises before though but I think that's just her whinging for attention so I don't come running. Someone at work said thiry puppy which is about the same age will get their attention when they need to go to the toilet or paw the door or something. I wish!! p.s. Pia is a nice dog you have there Kirty!

My cocker spaniel puppy is 17 weeks.. I've bathed her about 5 times since 8 weeks old. The first couple of times she didn't like it a lot but the last couple of times she's been fine. I just fill the bath with quite warm water (if it's not that warm i.e. luke warm she gets cold) about 5-7 cm deep - I use that water to wash her. I don't put anything at the bottom of it though to help her stand. I fill up the basin next to the bath with warm water about the same temperature for rinsing her.

When I said - I also think a young puppy will adapt to a cat better than the other way, when the puppy has had much more time pre-kitten. What I meant was - I also think a young puppy will adapt to a cat better than the other way, when the puppy has had much more time without a kitten - the puppy might be more territorial. I think that kitten then puppy would be better, I guess find a kitten first then start looking up breeders or upcoming litters soon after. Find out puppy schools/vets and start getting things for it like beds and toys, the upfront cost of a puppy will be more than a cat so there is a bit of planning there. And be prepared for lots of accidents every hour for at least a month from the 8-12 week stage of the puppy.

double post..

This is what I did, I got a kitten back in April at 6 weeks of age and was almost 6 months old when I got my 8 week old Cocker Spaniel at the start of September, who is now just on 4 months. I think that would be the better way to go for a few reasons: - Having a kitten while it's young and no puppy means you can give it more time growing up, I believe that a puppy will need that time for longer than a kitten and might get jealous of a kitten, getting the puppy second the kitten will be happy to do it's own thing as they are more independent. - A kitten at 6 months old will be more equal with a new puppy I would think than an older puppy which could bully the cat, mine playfight a lot as it is, couldn't see them doing that if the ages were reversed. My puppy playfights/wrestling enough as it is - the cat can stick up for itself. - I also think a young puppy will adapt to a cat better than the other way, when the puppy has had much more time pre-kitten.