Red Cocker Spaniel uncontrollable?!

My dad has a Red Cocker Spaniel (I say red- he isnt a pure Red - more of a dark brownish red.) who is 3 years old and absolutely crazy. He is lovable and would never dream of hurting a fly intentionally but all he ever wants to do is play and has no idea about anything besides the fact he gets told off a lot.

Personally I believe that Frodo (the dog) has no respect for my Dad because my of the inconsistency of training and techniques. However, I have personally witnessed a dog behaviourist come in, Frodo behaved perfectly ffor every second. He was attentive and alert and did not even pull on the lead. The moment she left he went back to his usual self.

I desperately want to take the dog on myself and prove to my father that there is nothing wrong with Frodo - but is there anything I should know about training Spaniels first? I know about Red Rage (this is not it) and i know they have boundless energy - but does anyone have any tips besides more consistency in training?

Thanks

Hi Stolen Wing you say..and has no idea about anything besides the fact he gets told off a lot.
..if Frodo is getting told off a lot he is probably confused/ is getting mixed signals /does not know and has not learnt what is expected of him

Training a Spaniel is similar to training any dog, you need patiences/kindness /consistency and time. Dogs also need regular exercise and play to keep them fit and to give mental stimulation

If you take Frodo on I would advise signing up to training classes with an approved APDT trainer, here is a list...
http://www.apdt.co.uk/list_trainers.asp

Good luck

Good advice from Mini - I would just expand a bit about play and mental stimulation.

I've taken on rescue dogs and so have training later than puppy stage. In my experience, the dogs learn quicker when structured play forms part of the training. For example, my resuce bc learnt stay through playing games of hide and seek - she had to stay in position until I went and hid her toy and then told her she could 'find it'. (gradually increasing how long she had to stay and how difficult the toy is to find).

I would think 'Find it' games are particularly good for spaniels as it will make them use their noses and their brains.

Hopefully you will find that after structured play such as this, the dog is more settled because it has had a mental work out as well as a physical one.

Good luck

Echo whats been said He probably isn't being mentally stimulated... if he behaved for the trainer there is hope, you know he hasn't got the 'rage' syndrome so I would go for it
Plenty of love, patience, exercise, training and he will come round...
My setter Jamie behaved perfectly for his trainer and played me up no end!! But with perserverance and valium (joke!!) and patience he is now maturing into a great boy

Thank you all for your help - I have no doubt that you are right and you have all just confirmed my suspicions. He is confused and doesnt know what is expected of him. My Dad isnt exactly a strong believer of the 'patience and understanding' approach and it is such a shame because Frodo is a lovely dog. It doesnt help that htye have a puppy (a border terrier) who is also quite mad. Though he is not as bad as Frodo but they do nothing but play when they are together - its almost impossible to get either of them calm down. Frodo once got so excited that he headbutted me on the chin and made my tongue bleed!

Last time I was there I took Frodo for a walk and true to form he started pulling like a steam train. I realised his main problem here was that he seemed to forget I was at the other end of the lead! Each time he flew ahead I stopped, asked him to sit and waited for him to look up at me - when he did i praised him and we moved on. After doing this for about 20 minutes he settled and we were able to continue normally with only a few slip ups. I was quite proud of that but without any consistency in it he is going to go straight back to how he was. The only time he really behaves is when my dad takes him to work with him.

I also am concerned because even if I take him on, when I give him back he will just go back to normal because that is the effect my dad and the puppy have on him. It really hurts to see such a lovely dog wasted.

But would you have to give him back....couldn't it start out as temporary and become a more permanent arrangement?

From your posts it just sounds like Frodo would have a better life with you.

Sadly I dont think my Dad would give him up easily - it will be a struggle to get him for a couple of months as it is. The poor dog was already uprooted - he was originally my Sisters (she got him as a puppy without looking into the breed - welcome to my family ) but she could not cope with his strength and hyperactivity so my Dad took him on and he loves him to bits - despite being unable to control him.

Well, perhaps if you give it a try, if you're Dad sees the improvement he might well start listening to you and follow your example.

Parents are nearly always like this, it takes a huge amount of proof before they finally accept that actually their grown up child may know more about something than they do themselves

It's very difficult to get Dads to do what they are told isn't it?!! Which is the real problem here I think!Is he a working cocker by any chance? I think that they are a lot more busy than show type cockers because they are bred to be working to the gun and on the go all day long. I can sympathise with you re level of excitement as both my husband and I have been at the wrong end of our Welsh Springer spaniel's nose....ie fat lip!

I think that your idea is a good one and already you have made headway with walking to heel. I think you should continue to train him and do what you can when you can(you don't say how near to your Dad that you live) and look on the bright side, it may stick even afterwards especially if you were seeing the dog a lot.

As you say he sounds like a lovely wee dog and I'm sure that you can get him to calm down a bit with a bit of exercise and training. Good luck and keep us posted.

I hope you can convince your Dad to let you have the little guy Sounds like then you can devote time to Frodo and your dad can devote time to the pup.... plus he can always see him...
Know about the injuries too, Jamie has bitten my earlobe and nearly broke my nose (all in play ) my last setter knocked me into a radiator, winded me and blacked my eye and Deacon loves ripping my hair out and chewing my arms and neck
Good luck anyway with Frodo, he sounds a great little boy.. who just needs his boundless energy channeled correctly!