Hi there, Im new here i've got a 12 month old male cocker spaniel (working) he's mental but thats not really the issue i have with him, the problems are first up...

He's awful on a lead!! we've moved from the country to a larger town due to my hubbys work a few months ago when we lived in the country i never really had him on a lead and its not so much of an issue here because the route we normaly walk him on doesnt require a lead but i would really like it solving! he pulls alot so we bought a lead that was supposed to stop that, kind of like a halti only this was a rope one with a bit that loops over his nose and a bit that loops around his neck pull it tighter when its on then it SHOULD stop them pulling, now yes this does solve the pulling problem! but a few new problems arise! now he puts his nose too the floor and scratches at it with his paws untill it comes loose from his nose then he starts too pull again! secondly i cant get the bloody thing on him!! i cant get him to stay still to actually put it on he just jumps about all over and wriggles so i cant do it! so in the end i gave up with it and just walked him without the lead hes a good dog he comes too me if i shout him hes awful near roads but i dont walk near roads to thats not a problem. i am going to stay with my mum soon and there will be roads when i walk him so we really need to get it sorted because hes going to have to be on it! hes so hyperactive its impossible to get it on him properly! I'm a bit lost as to what to do!

secondly the barking! oh dear me! this is a fairly new thing with him pretty much since we moved house again probably something to do with more people being around but if hes out in the garden he barks all the time he barks at the naighbours children and hes great with our two kids! he's at it all the time i just tell him to come inside when he starts but now when someone comes to the door he barks like mad which i dont mind but he doesnt stop once they come in! my dad came to visit the other day and hes only met him once he just sat and barked at him until i put him out side! a work man came too and he barked at him until i put him out side! how do i teach him not to bark at people once they're in the house? he used to just go crazy and jump all over them! which he still does but only with some people alot of them he just barks at! i suppose some sort of classes would maybe help with calming him down a bit but the problem is i have two young children and im pregnant i cant take him to classes because theres no one else to watch the children while i do!

i really need some tips on how to calm him down before the 3rd baby comes along because i cant have him jumping about all over me while im feeding a newborn or barking like a lunitic every time a midwife or health visitor comes around! as for the lead thing well its not that much of a big issue to me but it really is something i would like to sort out because he SHOULD be able to walk on a lead without ripping off my arm or jumping up all over me! HELLPPPP!

err im not quite sure where to start with this one...........

in answer to one of you questions, Yes I think classes would be of use. We try and do at least 2 lots of 15 minute training sessions with ours daily

He wont like his head collar, ours didnt to start with. Its just something that he will get used to. I wouldnt be leaving the house with him unless its on.

Consistancy is the key................

sorry, just seen that u cant take him to a class. you should try and do regular training with him at home.

How about the problem with getting it on him? Because I practically need to sit on him to get it on, as soon as he knows we're going for a walk that's it he's jumping about and running all over the place! I don't really know where to start with him :-/

Back to basics in the new environement. Sit stay downs etc. Lead training around the house and garden and distraction training for the barking. No talking when heis barking.........if yu are telling him to shut up and talking you are adding to the problem.
Short answer at this time...............toooooo busy to give long answer.

I have a working cocker - these dogs are working dogs and if they are going to be content at home, they need a lot of stimulation and off-lead exercise (around 2 hours a day). I have yet to meet a working cocker who is good on-lead - they are designed to flush out game and race through bracken and woods. Just trying to explain why they can have problems in a domestic environment. I've been lucky with Henry - he is so chilled indoors and doesn't bark, but I think that's due to the time we spend out in the woods and fields each day.

I think it's going to have to be back to basics as said above. A halti may be your answer, at least temporarily for road-walking, but like i said these dogs need to run or they become bored and frustrated.

It's a difficult one - I've just re-read that you're expecting your third child - that's a lot of work to have 3 young children and a working cocker! I waited for a long time to get a working cocker and to be honest, he takes up at least 2 - 3 hours of my day. Do you know anyone who could help with exercising him, etc?

Oh yes he's a lot of work but we love him to bits so he's worth it, he does get a fair bit exercise and all of it is off the lead obviously because of the problem with him staying still to get it on him! Me and the kids take him for about an hour on a morning before I drop the oldest off at school just walking around and playing fetch he runs for an hour straight back and forth chasing his ball all over and then he's still ready to run about when we get home! The three of us take him out for half an hour and do the same thing in the afternoon and then daddy take him on a night I just feel bad for him that we have to walk him in the same place every day because I can't put him on a lead, if we were back in the country it would be great we used to walk him down to the beach every day and he would run about all over no cars or people! On a weekend we normally get in the car and go to the country side we live quite close to the cotswolds so its nice for walking him out there, I will defiantly try lead training in the house we've never done it before because when we got him from an old school friend who bought him and his sister and have two kids my boys age but they were too much work for her together so she'd already had him on the lead and he was really good but as he's got older and we' ve not used it much I think he's forgotten him self, I'm luck that he is so good off the lead if I tell him to come back to me and sit at my feet he will people often comment on how good he is but they all comment on how crazy he is! Although I'm sat here now looking at him rolling around on the floor with his toy and he's being really calm but itis sunday so he's had more exercise than usual today! I guess that's the key wear him out more!

working cockers are built to purpose....... they have been bred to be worked all day and still keep going.

If im honest i dont think ive ever managed to wear mine out physically, and i have given it a good go!

Its mental stimulation that they need. You can do this in the home with training sessions and fun games that require them to find things. We normaly hide 3 or 4 really tasty treats around the house and then let oscar try and find them, its normaly 15 minutes or so of him wondering around sniffing the heck outta the house trying to find these well hidden lumps of chicken!!