Eni

Thanks I will keep her away from any similar situation. She doesn't seem herself, she whines often during the day as well.

Hi My cocker spaniel girl has turned one and finished her first season few weeks ago (now waiting to get her spayed). She has started to show signs of either jealousy or being overprotective towards me and my family. She will bark and snap at other dogs if she is sitting next to me and they approach to get a pat. My family and I were at the beach the other day and were all sitting on our towels. Couple of dogs approached us and she went mad at them. Barking and snarling to get them way. She has always been playful, happy and very social with all dogs and humans. She doesn't do that with humans, only dogs. Could it be the heat making her more angry and irritable? It has been around 6 weeks since she finished but her teats were swollen until just recently. Should I expect this behavior settle after spaying or could be more age related ? And if so, how could I prevent her from feeling she has to protect us? I don't want to take her to the beach at this stage, she was really aggressive and I had to physically hold her back. At the dog park she will only give a bark and snap occasionally so I could do training there. If anyone has any suggestion for training I will welcome it. Thank you

Hi just some advice on food guarding. My cocker puppy is now 8 months old and I have no problems with her at all. Extremely gentle, loving and obedient dog. I also have a kitten and she has started to growl and air bite if he walks by while she is eating. The kitten has tried to steal her food in the past while I wasn't watching. My questions are: - Remove the kitten every time she eats (which I am currently doing) or - Teach her not to food guard her bowl around the kitten Which one is the better option? I don't want her to food guard around any family members so I will start to get the kids to drop food while she eats. Is this a good idea ? Nobody really bothers her while eating anyway and I can call her and touch her and she has no reaction to me but I usually come with food if I do that. Today I had both the puppy and kitten sitting in front of me for treat time and she was snapping at him to make him go away. I am just asking if it's better to train her to accept the kitten or leave them separate while eating. Thank you

I only had it for a week and she came to me in good health and weight. She doesn't like to eat from the bowl but prefer if I put it down on the floor and if I stand nearby. The last few feeds I did just that, put down and then take away. She seems hungrier now

OMG she has me wrapped around her little paw, hasn't she. THe breeder gave me the diet and I followed it but without any interested from her. The vet told me she is healthy and won't starve herself. I will tough it out and put on my " Gordon Ramsay " attitude and regain my kitchen !!!

My cocker girl is finally here and she is a very loving and gorgeous girl. She is also a VERY PICKY eater. At the moment she refuses all kinds of kibble (brand from the breeder and others). I bought some barf patties that she eat only if I put little bites down on the floor or if I use them as a training tool. She only eats a little before she gets bored of them. She loves chicken necks and pasta !!! Any other suggestions of what I could try to feed her? Is 2 chicken necks a day too much ? At the moment i feed her one and whatever else I get her to eat (without any enthusiasm). She loves bbq chicken but not minced raw one. She is worse than my son !!!!

I hope everything will turn out in the end. I will give them an extra week to deal with the litter, get things organise and then I will make contact again.

The emails reach the daughter. She keeps saying she will get a picture but never did. I will wait a little longer and then ask again for names of parents, a picture, diet information etc or I will give the breeder a call.

I know the lady is not into emails and facebook, the daughter does all that for her. I will wait couple of more days and then send another email requesting parents name etc. I was told the dad is a dog from another breeder, would it be rude to check with them? I don't want to step on peoples toes. I know the puppy exist and it's not a scam, just concerned about the health and temperament more than anything.

Hi This could have been linked to a previous post but I decided to open a new thread. It would be nice to get some advice from breeders directly. I put a deposit down for a cocker spaniel puppy from a DOL breeder couple of weeks ago, the puppy is now 4 weeks old. What communication should I expect as a part of a normal (not over the top) relationship with the breeder? I have asked couple of times for a picture but I haven't received any. The puppy will be travelling to Qld so I cannot visit in person. Should I wait until they ask for the puppy to be paid in full and then ask for all the information , including pictures ? I don't want to overwhelm them with emails , I just really want a picture of my puppy, the names of the parents and if they can tell me a little about her personality. What do you think?

Thank you Rebanne, I have checked with Cocker spanier club and they confirmed that they are breeders and members. Now I can relax and wait for my bundle of joy to arrive. Thank you

Maybe I am too paranoid ....

I found the breeder on DOL, I spoke on the phone and emails as well. Daughter replies to emails and she is very responsive. I haven't seen photos yet. I arranged transportation with jetpet myself. The rest I haven't asked. My worry is that I've been reading so much about breeders screening their potential buyers but It didnt happened with me while I was speaking to her on the phone. I dont doubt the puppy exist, I just want to make sure is healthy and right match for me. A lot of people buy interstare without an issue. I asked if I could go down and visit during a short stay in Melbourne later in november and they said yes.

Hi I want to ask some advice, just to calm my nerves. I have been looking for a while for a female cocker puppy and I put a deposit down for one in Victoria (I am from Qld). The breeder is member of DOL since early 2000, says the puppies are health tested and will be coming with pedigree papers (pet only). It is a little scary to buy a puppy without meeting the breeder or the puppy itself, the breeder didn't ask many questions about me or my family situation, they don't have a facebook page or website. They do show their dogs coz I was able to find records of shows with their prefix dogs. Should I generally trust breeders on DOL ? The ad says they are members of Dogs Victoria and also Cocker Club victoria. I already picked the puppy since week 1, so no way of knowing their temperament yet, I am really scared to make a mistake. Your thoughts ?

Thank you. That's what I thought as well but everyone around me blamed it on raw meat. I will slowly introduce some raw and see what happens. I remember my dog looked so much better, no stinky poo or bad dog smell, shiny coat.

Hi I am new to the forum and I have a question about feeding puppy raw meat and bones. I will be getting a cocker spaniel puppy in a few weeks and I wanted to know if feeding raw meat and bones occasionally could cause the dog to resource guard the food and become aggressive? I had a labrador puppy a long time ago and he would become extremely aggressive and dangerous when eating anything raw, to the point that he nearly killed my cat just by walking a little closer to him and nearly ripped our hands off. I could put my hands in his bowl if he was eating kibble , it only happened with raw meat. Thanks for any advice Eni