cocker spaniel advice

[spartan_ferret 6]

I'm thinking of getting a Cocker Spaniel (just thinking about!!!!) but I need advice.

 

I live with my partner in an apartment we don't have a garden but we have a private field literally behind the block which is for residents only but it also allows their dogs. I also have two jobs one is working on a 900 acre estate which I do 1 or 2 days a week and my other job i'm gone from 08:30am to 16:30pm and if I really had too I could take the dog in now and then. I also go jogging every morning at 06:00am so I could take the dog out then and when I get back from work in the afternoon or evening i can walk the dog as well. My girlfriend also gets alot of study weeks and spends alot of time at home, also I live right by a river so I could take it walking there as i've heard they love water.

 

The problem is that I'm not sure if a cocker spaniel would be ok in a apartment, but I know that I could give them a lot of excercise and training they need and spend time with them out by the water, fields and woods.

 

We have a relatively good sized apartment which has lots of room for the dog to have privacy and to roam around.

 

Also what is the longest amount of time a spaniel can be left alone?

 

Whats their coats like do they get hair everywhere?

 

Do they bark and make a lot of noise? would they annoy the ppl around me?

 

We don't want to get one until we are absolutely sure that we can completely take care of their needs and that they would be happy in a flat. I know some ppl keep dogs in kennals so a flat cant be that bad can it?

 

Any comments would be welcome

Edited July 9, 2011 by spartan_ferret

[amentalcat 3]

Hiya,

 

To be honest i don't think the flat/apartment is the issue.

 

I would be worried about the time that the dog would be left on its own.

8 hours is just too long unless you want a real mess when you get back. Cockers, especially workers are clever little whotsits and if they get bored, they will be in all sorts of mischief.

 

If you had an outside kennel it would be a different matter, but unless you have someone that could come in and give it a walk/toilet break, i think it wouldn't be very fair on the dog.

 

Only my opinion!

 

Ali

[gigs 6]

Hiya,

 

To be honest i don't think the flat/apartment is the issue.

 

I would be worried about the time that the dog would be left on its own.

8 hours is just too long unless you want a real mess when you get back. Cockers, especially workers are clever little whotsits and if they get bored, they will be in all sorts of mischief.

 

If you had an outside kennel it would be a different matter, but unless you have someone that could come in and give it a walk/toilet break, i think it wouldn't be very fair on the dog.

 

Only my opinion!

 

Ali

[ftm 3,357]

i own a cocker mate and i would advise against it ,like has been said they need total commitment or it would destroy your flat which would annoy you hence you wouldnt like the dog as much and they dont take to being told off very well or man handled.outside in a kennel with a run is what i would do [mines outside] but good luck whatever you do as there great little dogs

[Lloyd90 509]

 

I know some ppl keep dogs in kennals so a flat cant be that bad can it?

 

 

Why do you make this assumption ? A dog in a kennel can get upto no mischief, pretty much all the people I know that take there dog work seriously kennel there dogs. It avoids alot of problems brought on in the house.

 

Also what reason do you choose a cocker spaniel ? There very active dogs and personally from experience I don't like having spaniels in the house, they want to be on the go all the time and if bored seem to get into alot of mischief lol. Chewing stuff, getting into all sort. These dogs are bred to hunt hard, they will hunt and upturn every inch of your house if there any good.

 

I don't know if you'd be able to put a kennel in the "communal garden" but I wouldn't like to do it, you'd have other people teasing and playing with and letting the dog out if it wasn't locked. Then yu'd have the do gooder's telling you how its cruel to kennel a dog.

 

You need to look at all these things and make a careful decision.

[hkinsont 0]

i would have to agree with the others a dog can't go all day without being let out to do its business, you really have to look at your lifestyle to dictate what type of dog you can have rather than just decide which dog you want, as the others have said spaniels are busy dogs, Labradors are easy to look after but still any dog can't go all day every day without at least a couple of toilet breaks. but a well behaved dog would most probably be OK at your work if you have an understanding boss, i would talk to him and come to some kind of agreement.

[butcherboy 68]

I know some ppl keep dogs in kennals so a flat cant be that bad can it?

 

Any comments would be welcome

 

 

My kennelled dogs can sh1t & p1ss in the kennel without fear of getting b0llocked for it. So your flat comparison is just nonsense.

 

It's good that your at least asking these questions but I'd advise against you getting one at this stage

[spartan_ferret 6]

thanks for the advice everyone

[pegleg33 134]

I know some ppl keep dogs in kennals so a flat cant be that bad can it?

 

Any comments would be welcome

 

 

My kennelled dogs can sh1t & p1ss in the kennel without fear of getting b0llocked for it. So your flat comparison is just nonsense.

 

It's good that your at least asking these questions but I'd advise against you getting one at this stage

 

 

 

Sorry to disagree but my dog's are kennelled through the day while I'm at work, but they won't go to the toilet in their kennel/run.I understand not all dogs are as clean as this,I think it's the lab who's rubbed off on the cockers but they hardly go to the toilet in the garden (the chickens ruin that ) .I walk them first thing in the morning and as soon as i get home from work.But I'll agree to whats already been said that a spaniel is a little hyper to leave in the house for long periods

[hkinsont 0]

My point was that in a kennel it does not matter weather they go to the toilet or not, but in the house you really do not want to take the chance that it won't be able to cross its legs for that long, i never leave my dogs for more than about 4-5 hours without being let out but that's just me.

[butcherboy 68]

I know some ppl keep dogs in kennals so a flat cant be that bad can it?

 

Any comments would be welcome

 

 

My kennelled dogs can sh1t & p1ss in the kennel without fear of getting b0llocked for it. So your flat comparison is just nonsense.

 

It's good that your at least asking these questions but I'd advise against you getting one at this stage

 

 

 

Sorry to disagree but my dog's are kennelled through the day while I'm at work, but they won't go to the toilet in their kennel/run.I understand not all dogs are as clean as this,I think it's the lab who's rubbed off on the cockers but they hardly go to the toilet in the garden (the chickens ruin that ) .I walk them first thing in the morning and as soon as i get home from work.But I'll agree to whats already been said that a spaniel is a little hyper to leave in the house for long periods

 

You're kind of missing the point

[spartan_ferret 6]

ok so I did more checking and asked my boss if I could bring a dog to work and they said it's fine. So I can bring a dog to work with me on both of my jobs and I spend nearly all the day outside walking around a housing estate and a nautre reserve cos im a parish ranger, and on my other job i'm working on a 900 acre country estate so do you think I should still look into to getting a dog if I live in a flat. I really want to move on from ferreting and start using a dog instead so if no one thinks a Cocker Spaniel do they recommend any other dog?

[hkinsont 0]

if you are giving your dog plenty of exercise during the day there is no reason you cant have a spaniel, they only get destructive when they are board so if it has tired itself out all day then it should be relatively quiet in the evening, the issue is not your flat it is being confined with no exercise, dogs chew and make a mess when they have nothing to entertain them or make their minds busy. there are dogs that are easier to look after than a spaniel, as the old saying goes

 

"A Labrador is born half trained a spaniel die's half trained."

 

have a could look at what is out there, there are so many different working breeds.

[butcherboy 68]

What exactly do you want the dog to do?

 

You say move on from ferreting but to what? Do you want the dog to flush the rabbits from burrows ?? Are you going to be shooting?

 

Loads of people decide what dog they want then can't understand why it doesn't fit their needs. Decide what job you are going to do, then pick one from the group that does that job best?

 

Your still going to need a cage or someting in your van or at work. A free running puppy for hour after hour is no good for your company & no good for the dog.