Gibbo

Wilbur - cocker spaniel (and his mother) are completely ball obsessed. I can throw a tennis ball into long grass and he will spend half an hour looking for it. I trained his retrieve to Shirley's retrieve process and worked perfectly. It became a problem at the Dog Park when we are supposed to be socialising nicely and he became super competitive for his ball. This started with some smaller dogs chasing it with him. now he seems to have a bit of an aggresive streak towards smaller dogs. he is only 12 Kilos and plays well with larger dogs often (My parents Golden retirever - a mates Bull terriers - and a few staffies). It is almost as if when he see smaller dogs its his one chance to play in his own wieght division and he plays tougher than he should. We don't take balls out anymore - just in the yard and when training.

it is ok for them to eat the shell? Wilbur loves raw eggs just not sure about giving him access to the Shell

Sorry Haven - Bunnings at Auburn - busted me for taking Wilbur in when he was 8weeks. He was in my arms asleep - they told me to leave - so i went and bought the dog door at the local Hardware where they loved him. Bunnings to Hardware is like the Starbucks to the Cafe Industry

Well I've had a break through - he seems to be deliberately quiet now - haven't heard a bark or wimper from him. Plus he is dropping from a standing start. I love this forum - and so does Wilbur too - he is getting lots more treats now i'm on the Forum! - we should get our brand spanking new clickers in a couple of days too!

We just tried something - a bit of a backyard blitz..... It is low cost and might work and shouldn't have any adverse effects on Wilbur. We have pebbles in our garden beds - probably 10 mm deep. Directly underneath the pebbles is the green plastic garden trellace - about $3 a metre. This sits directly on top of the soil You can cut gaps in the mesh for Plants to poke through (leaving growing space) Normal ground covers (mondo-grass etc) will just grow up through the pebbles. The pebbles are $12-$13 a bag - and are good in the water-unfreindly climate to avoid soil drying out after watering

that is my feral foot up in the top left hand corner

Thanks guys- His name is Wilbur - I can't take the credit for it though - that goes to my Fiance.

I'll try to cover most of what i have read and learnt Well that opened a can of Worms. Thanks to all those that added there constructive advice to my situation. I took the bait and landed the thread in Hi-jack teritory so I'm not too fussed - i got out of it what i needed - good constructive advice from people who took into account my situation Although I've been around dogs all my life, my parents have had Dogs before (Golden Retriever and a German Sheperd) - This is My first Puppy where I will be the pack leader. I am a newbie to both the forum and to the role. Just goes to show how good forums like these are. I've learnt something - and 1 or two others may have too. To answer a few questions - the laundry is probably getting a little light in the mornings - i'm installing a doggy door this weekend - which hopefully will keep it a little darker for him. I have the laundry door propped open - although wilburs area is still warm and out of the wind/rain etc. I have to agree with fifi (and others that have mentioned it) - it is definately the "Naughtly demanding attention" bark - i know when he is genuinely unhappy about something. Like last saturday when i accidentally left all of his toys on the kitchen table and he couldn't get them. he also has a defense bark that is quite funny - i shouldn't laugh at it but is is so cute - he thinks he is so tough. Greytmate - I spoke to the neighbours last night and they hadn't actually heard anything yet - so maybe i'm parranoid. They thanked me for the notice as well and Wilbur got to meet the cats next door (from a distance) I'm sure they taunt him anyway The neighbours have already met Wilbur - and they all love him. Status Report----> Last night Wilbur woke up at about 3;30 - had a bit of a cry for about 5 minutes - went outside to the loo and went back to sleep. he's been doing this on and off. He didn't get up to full barking power which was good. At 5:30 he woke up with the birds/cars in the area and had a cry for about 10 minutes - a few loud puppy barks and then to settled down for a rest. My actual alarm clock went off at 6am - for me to go to work - and Wilbur was sitting on his bed. I went to the laundry - gave him lots of praise and a few treats - we then went outside and there were a few wee spots on the paving from the night before. When I went to work - Wilbur had a bit of a cry again - My Fiance was up by then and ready to take him for a quick walk around the block. As we spoke about - that would be his reward when he settles down again in the morning. When he did it was walking time. Last night was "interesting" I think the past few weeks i've tried to resist the urge of going to hom. I should receive my clickers in the mail in the next few days - but I started training Wilbur with treats and his dumb-bell. He is doing the grip very well. I've attached his photo of him sitting for us - this was taken about 3 weeks ago.

Okay i'll take that bait! I'm not sure where that came from. I've been on this Forum for a week and i'm already getting flamed - thats a Personal Best! If you have read the thread in context - the idea of "ignoring" the dog is to avoid the attention barking - and remove this behavior - that i have already taken responsibility for - not to avoid the dog all together. I will be praising/treating/clicking (when it arrives) when he is quiet the correct times. When this is trained - i will know that when he is barking continually it will be for a good reason (e.g. house burning down) other than attention. It's a two way street in my family - Some times when i want to play with the pup - he is often asleep. Even though i could, I don't want to wake him up so i leave him. He has me trained to be nice - and i think it fair that I will train him to be nice. Sorry Forum mods et. al. I had to have a swing at that one.

we aren't at panic stations yet - and if i need sleep i can always shut all the doors - it is mainly just the anooyance factor. But i guess a few weeks of the ignore 100% the bark - praise the quiet tactic will pay off in the long term. Plus i just bought some 3 clickers ( i presume they get worn out after a while) from Black-dog after the you guys and the Puppy school recomended them over the phone. Cheers

This is possibly the best advice yet - thanks sidoney - i like the way you've thought out the positive aspects of leaving him be. - i do agree that he will learn to fit into our lifestyle - which i think suits the cocker-spaniel breed to a tee. Thanks I think i've been a little too worried about what the neighbours will think - and not rewarding him enough when he is quiet and on his bed during other times. He's generally a good Dog and i think i've brought this problem on myself. The laundry is his 'den' and he knows it - he loves it in there. He can get out of the heat as the door is always open or he can curl up in the warm corners when it is cool. He will toddle him self off to bed when he wants to - this is the only place he'll sleep when around the house.

he does stop once i go to him - also the rest of your post does make sense. The Neighbours aren't getting annoyed (that i know of) - i'll just need to grit the teeth and bear it. He has chew-toys to play with etc so i don't think it is boredom. He sleeps pretty much all day and gets play time at night. He's off to the vet on wednesday for this 2nd round of shots so i might start walking him a bit further (and harder) to try and wear him out. He is such a clever little thing -

We have a paved back yard - so his toilet breaks show up pretty well out there - He is pretty well trained. When i went out to the back yard this morning - there were 3 wee spots on the pavers - one very fresh one - so i'm not sure about the need for a toilet break. I wish i could sleep in like my fiance

Morning all, This is my first post so go easy. I've searched around the Forum looking for a answer but to no-avail.... The Back ground - Wilbur is a 3 month old - pure bred - gold -cocker-spaniel. He sleeps in our Laundry with open door access to our back yard. Every morning at approx 5am - he wakes up and starts the puppy 'crying' - after about 3-5 minutes this graduates into a full on barking session in an attempt to get our attention (i'm guessing). When I've had enough - 20-30 miuntes later - (my fiance manages to sleep through it : ) I go out to him and take him out to the back yard and he has his toilet break (if he hasn't already). He has been doing this for about 3 out of the 4 weeks we've had him (we got him on New Years Day). My fiance and I spend plenty of time with him - and he doesn't bark etc while we are out at work during the day (he is too busy digging up the garden i think). Its almoist as if he has to make sure I'm still there everymorning. I would really like to continue having him in his area (the laundry) and to once in a while have a sleep in. Thanks in advance for any advice - Gibbo