Can anyone recommend what to feed a 5 month old english cocker spaniel please?

J

JoandMike

New Member
We are 1st time owners of our beloved 5 month old English Cocker Spaniel (show type), Bailey. Training is not going so great in that he is VERY hyper and easily distracted around other dogs and people. The trainer thinks that it may be due to his diet. We currently feed him James Wellbeloved Puppy Kibble and she thinks it's too high in protein and this could be causing his hyperactivity. We thought the higher the protein the better. However, I have found on some forums people saying that, anecdotally at least (no scientific proof known as yet), there does appear to be some correlation between hyperactivity and a high protein diet. Can anyone recommend a good diet for a Cocker Spaniel? In deed any tips to adjust his selective hearing and stubbornness also welcome! :naughty:
 
What is the protein % of his food? Most dogs do have more energy on high protein...not because it makes them hyper but because it makes them healthier,more fit and active. The only problem I have ever had is some very high protein 40 to 45% protein food produced soft stools and I thought it was because it was too rich for their sensitive system. I stay around 30 to 35% and my cockers have done great on it...I have one boy now that is a bundle of energy,into everything and is also a 5 month old puppy. If your boy is doing good on his food,growing well,no skin problems and has no allergies I am not sure I would change his food at his age...it can be very hard on a little ones system and cause GI upsets.
Sounds like your boy is very confident,which is a good thing but can sometimes make training a little harder as they think they are boss and it has to be their way or no way...hence the selective hearing and stubbornness. :)

I personally like confident full of them self dogs and enjoy the challenge. They always come around and to me, easier to train as they get a little older. I do not have my boy in any classes yet as I do not feel he is ready...we work on simple commands,leash training and taking him out around people and other dogs (all of these things will help him with classes)...but I will wait a few months before any serious training as his attention span is way to short right now.
I would take Bailey for a walk,play ball with him and run out some of his energy right before going to training class. Lots of really tasty treats (ones he loves and only gets at class) so his attention is on you though class and not the other dogs.
Good Luck with your precious boy and have fun with him,they grow up way to fast.
 
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I like the higher protein foods as well. Some can produce soft foods. I have also learned in talking with a hollistic veterinarian it depends on the type of meat that is in the food. Dogs can be considered hot or cold in Chinese medicine. Very interesting I have learned so I am giving foods that will agree with my dogs. Both mine are considered "hot" so I do not give any lamb or chicken. I happen to like those assertive playful dogs as well. With puppies it is good to maybe tire them out before training. Some dogs take longer to mature than others. Good luck to you.
 
Nicole...how do you tell if your dog is hot or cold? Are you talking about active or not? I know a "Hot" horse is very spirited and full of energy,but I have never heard of a hot dog. I find the Chinese Medicine and Hollistic Veterinarian very interesting.
So if they are hot no chicken or lamb? What not to feed if they are cold?
 
Kathy, a hot dog is one that is very excitable, constantly panting, allergies, finding a cold place to lay down. A cold dog likes to lay down in warm places, can be arthritic, and very calm, slow moving. Types of meats you can give dogs that are hot are duck, fish, rabbit. A warming food is chicken. I am currently feeding kangaroo and red lentil by California Natural. It is very interesting.
 
Wow! Thank you for that info Nicole. Levi is definitely a hot dog!!...but his food has both chicken and lamb in it. I may have to look into this when he is a little older. I do not like to change food as it seems to take forever with cockers and also the GI problems,these guys are so sensitive. I have never tried kangaroo food before...glad your guys are doing well on it.
 
Interesting Kathy. I think you are right looking into changing it when he is older. I probably will change. Really want to go raw. Going to a
Seminar on 3/28 about raw foods. Think it should be interested. These guys are sensitive, not sure if it is because more is known or studied now?
 
Thanks everyone for your advice. FYI We are in the UK & he currently eats James Wellbeloved Puppy Kibble.


Baileys behaviour does seem to be getting worse not better though - he is regressing. A month ago he would do all the basic commands at least in our own home & garden but now he's ignoring us more often than not. He won't come when called in the garden no matter what treats I have in my hand (chicken was his favourite & he doesn't seem to care any more). We've taken to putting him back on a lead if he refuses to come when called. He's waking up at 5.30am howling every morning & refusing to stop even after we quietly get up, take him out to go toilet before putting him back in his bed until 6.30am - he howls for an hour until we go down! For reference we put him to bed between 10pm & 10.30pm. He won't heel at all anymore - he used to at least heel for some of the walk with praise and treats but now he is constantly pulling & again offering praise and treats for the right behaviour is not working. I spoke to someone else yesterday who also said they changed their dogs food from JWB to Pets@Home own brand after being told high protein diet may be affecting their dogs behaviour & they said they did notice an improvement afterward. Our trainer has looked at the routine we have for Bailey & the only suggestion she could come up with was that it was diet related - too much protein. Are we going through the teenage rebellious years or something??? Does he have to get worse before getting better?!? We are consistent with him but his regression leads us to think we must be doing something wrong so any advice is more than welcome!
 
Have you considered consulting a different trainer? Your problems sound more to me like training issues. A really good trainer, or, animal behaviorist will evaluate your interaction with your dog. Check with your breeder and your vet to be sure your puppy doesn't have any physical or health issues.
 
I would say try a different trainer as well. Yes contact the breeder find out if what they feed. Might not be the % of protein but the types of the protein. Any changes in the household? Dogs are sensitive they pick up on emotions etc. Are you training with a clicker? Also did the breeder keep any of the litter mates? Are they going through similar behaviors as well? Perhaps a visit to the vet would be a good idea, they could probably do a blood panel to find out if there is anything going on. Any recent vaccines? Good luck hope you get to the bottom of whatever is going on.
 
Nicole...Please let us know how the seminar goes. I talked to Levi's breeder as she feeds all her dogs raw and told her about Levi tearing and ear wax build up. She agreed and thought it was due to teething,shots and especially Rabies,told me the Rabies shot is the one that is so hard on them and always gets there immune down (which s when Levi's problems began)...said she changes them over at about a year old and she gives no supplements and all raw chicken diet. I noticed none of her light colored dogs had tearing stains and she told me she feeds chicken livers that they were very good for eyes and tearing,all parts of the chicken cut up and she had very few ear infections or GI problems for years. I thought that was pretty amazing for Cockers. Her diet is very simple all parts of chicken and extra livers for all her dogs for about 15 years of her 23 years breeding Cockers...she has been feeding raw way before all the talk of raw diets for dogs and would never feed kibble to her dogs again except for the puppies.
 
Kathy said:
Nicole...Please let us know how the seminar goes. I talked to Levi's breeder as she feeds all her dogs raw and told her about Levi tearing and ear wax build up. She agreed and thought it was due to teething,shots and especially Rabies,told me the Rabies shot is the one that is so hard on them and always gets there immune down (which s when Levi's problems began)...said she changes them over at about a year old and she gives no supplements and all raw chicken diet. I noticed none of her light colored dogs had tearing stains and she told me she feeds chicken livers that they were very good for eyes and tearing,all parts of the chicken cut up and she had very few ear infections or GI problems for years. I thought that was pretty amazing for Cockers. Her diet is very simple all parts of chicken and extra livers for all her dogs for about 15 years of her 23 years breeding Cockers...she has been feeding raw way before all the talk of raw diets for dogs and would never feed kibble to her dogs again except for the puppies.
Click to expand...
Manuel feeds Hoshi raw chicken.
 
I am sorry about Bailey going through the terrible two's with you right now. At this age they start becoming more confident and take off further away from you. Remember when he was 2 or 3 months old and would stay right with you when you took him out for potty break and would never run away or let you out of his sight? Now he is growing up and going through that "I can do it on my own" stage as he is becoming more independent...just like a two year old child. Even though braver and runs off farther now...you may also noticed some small little things scare him that never did before as he is growing up and changing.
My boy is all go right now and seems to never slow down,he is on a leash when we go outside for potty as I would not trust him to come back to me at this age...if a bird flew by or a rabbit run in front of him...he would be gone. I do take him to a large fenced in field and turn him loose so he can burn some of his energy off...when he gets tired enough he comes back,but I just sat and watch him go and snap some photos as he runs by...lol
I do not take a young pup to training classes as I find they are to busy and into everything to pay enough attention as they should be. I wait till teething,shots and neutering is over and they start coming back down to earth...lol usually around 8 to 10 months old they seem to start getting more level headed and have a greater attention span and can handle more serious training.
I checked out your food and it looks very close to what my 5 month old eats as far as protein % and contents. I still am not sure I would change Baileys diet at this age as it is so hard on them and can take several weeks for them to get straighten back out,even changing over very slow can cause throwing up and diarrhea. That is something he does not need while going through shots and teething as his immune is already off. If you feel he is hyper-active more than he should be at this age have your vet check him out. Also I have found a huge differences in trainers...some are far better than others. I like a trainer that knows about dog behavior and why they do what they do. They train in ways that is natural for the dogs own instincts.
They can watch a dog and his owner handle him and tell you why he is doing things and also tell the owner what they need to do to correct him in a way that the dog understands. I love natural training for my dogs and horses...it is by far the best method of training to me. When you get into a dogs head and really understand why they do the things they do it takes owning and training one to an entire different level.
As far as Baileys whining for an hour of the morning...he is getting older and does not need quite as much sleep...my boy goes to bed around 11pm or later and wakes up around 6 to 6:30am seven days a week and he is not going back to sleep for many hours...it is time to eat,play and see what he can get into next.
Good Luck with Bailey and I think with time he will settle down and become focused more on you again...up to this point you have been his world...now he is focused on everything in the big new world that he has just discovered.
 
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Polly said:
Manuel feeds Hoshi raw chicken.
Click to expand...

Polly I am really thinking about changing Levi to raw when he gets a little older and through all these vet trips and getting his immune back to normal. His breeder is very high on it and said the only reason she feeds puppies kibble is that most of there new owners will feed dog food and not raw.
I have seen Hoshi...he is beautiful and a picture of health. I bet he does not have many ear,GI or eye problems on his raw diet. Polly there is so much out there right now about all natural foods,protein,carbs, raw it starts getting confusing. I keep researching and hope to have Levi a planned out raw diet by time he is ready for it. I have your stew bookmarked and saved also.
 
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I will for sure let you know about the seminar. Yes the more I hear about raw, the more I like it. Kathy your breeder sounds like a very good breeder, caring a lot about the health of the dogs. That is so important in our breed.
 
Thank you Nicole...I am anxious to hear about what you learn. Levi's breeder is a very sweet lady and truly loves her dogs and will share all her knowledge of Cockers with you. It took me a long time to find her as she was just the kind of breeder I was looking for. I have had some "VERY" bad experiences over the years with breeders.
 
I never did have that problem with Amelia. I got her at the age of 14 weeks and we were going to puppy kindergarten since the day after I brought her home. She graduated in 3 weeks and we started the basic obedience class approx 2 weeks later. She picked up on everything so fast. I would expect a similar behavior in dogs that are 1-1 1/2 years. My trainer said that dogs that are not properly exposed or had a negative experience when they were young will become fearful or exhibit other negative behaviors. Fenway has some anxiety in public he manifests it by barking and pulling at other other dogs. He went to classes when he was a puppy. But I can remember h being chased by the larger puppies in his class. As a result he acted up when he was older going to class. My trainer explained it like at that age they are comparable to a teenage human, who rebels. She was telling me to combat this problem with the clicker. So when he sees another dog and does not bark I click and he gets a treat. I never had that problem with any other dog that I had at that age. I agree puppies sometimes can be a challenge as their attention span is not that long. So training sessions are short but often. As for the heeling it does take time to perfect it. I work Amelia daily. She is pretty good. She does not pull. She will heel of leash in the house and back yard. I have not tried in public yet. I need another class before. If Bailey was really good before, I do not expect for him to regress like that.
 
Nicole..my last little girl went through puppy class with ease at a young age she was a mellow girl and the only Cocker I have owned that I felt was ready at such a young age.Your sweet Amelia sounds a lot like her. Levi is a different story,he is not a calm mellow puppy at all...lol I just don't feel like he is ready for serious work yet. We do work on a lot of training at home,sit,stay,watch me,sitting at the door till I come in first,sitting before food and leash work. We take him out to stores and any where we can take a dog into for socializing...I guess I should have clarified when I say "serious training" I am talking about long line work,stopping,down,staying and coming at long distance,staying when you leave the room...this is serious training to me. Right now Levi works on simple basic things...but no "great attention" type training. Now he may sit and stay for 4 or 5 seconds. I feel it will be several more months before he will be ready to start long attention type work,like sit and stay till I tell him to move,even if it is 5 minutes and I am in another room. Sorry...hopes this makes more sense.
Bailey may be like Levi and need more time before he can focus on his training instead of everything around him.
I have seen puppies do good on leash when very young and when they hit that "age" become a wild child and it is like everything that they have learn is gone...after that stage passes in several weeks they settle back down again.
Clicker training is very good if you know that magic moment to click or have an issue to work through.
 
True, the attention takes time. What we did was each day maybe add a few seconds on to the stay. That is great that you take Levi out to stores to socialize him. It makes for a good dog. I really enjoy the clicker training, I should say my dogs really enjoy it. They get excited when I get the clicker out. I recently got the click stick which I use for target training. Kathy what kennel name does Levi's breeder have?
 
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