Bingley update at four months old

4/8/2021

Easter update for Bingley as he turned four moths old from Toni. Bingley is from Ernest and Blottie's litter of ten again.

"Dear Jane,
I hope you are having a very happy Easter weekend. Its lovely to read news of Ernest and Rosie on your blog. It is particularly enjoyable now I've met them both and seen what lovely characters they have. I'm excited to follow the pups!
As he turns four months old, Bingley is really thriving. He fits perfectly into our family and we are really enjoying him. Here is a video so you can see him in action.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ELjo-BEl36zwafiMCv19d3sEf2yBsDyg/view?usp=drivesdk
And I've attached a photo so you can see how much he's grown and how his body shape has changed.
He spends most of his days following Whisky wherever he goes like a little shadow, and if he's not doing that he's looking for sticks in the garden or looking for someone to throw his ball! He's a confident cheeky chap who takes direction really well. He is an extremely happy boy who seems to be just delighted with each new day and interested in meeting every human and animal that crosses his path!
Please could I ask for your wisdom in a couple of areas? Everything seems to end up in Bingley's mouth on walks - I'm regularly removing small bits of plastic or litter or sheep poo or face masks (!). It's fine to do that - I keep a close eye on him and can get anything out of his mouth, but should I be training him not to pick it up in the first place and how? Or will he just become less interested in using his mouth to explore over time?
And the second is we still have loo trip around 3-4am each night - after his last loo trip of the evening at 9.30. He goes straight back to sleep afterwards so it is quick. Is this just a sign of how long he can hold his bladder for which will just change naturally as he grows or should I be working to encourage him to sleep through to 6-7am? The added complication is that Whisky (older dog) unhelpfully tries to help (!) when Bingley starts to move around at 4am by barking to summon me so I think anything I do will need to be training for both of them!
Hope you are all well,
Toni"

Bingley with Whisky

"Hello Toni,
Thanks for the photos and video. Looks like Whisky and Bingley get on well. That's really good. Always a bit of a worry when I know a pup is going to a home with another dog that it works for both of them.
With picking up stuff, use a command word firmly each time you stop him or remove the stuff from his mouth. Once he has stopped mouthing or given you the stuff, praise him.
If the last time at night he goes out is 9.30 pm, then he is going about the length of time for his age. I would expect around 6 hours at his age, some can go longer, but he is about right for his age.
Hope you had a nice Easter time.
Kind regards
Jane"

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Blottie and Granddaughter Polly

“Humans are aware of very little, it seems to me, the artificial brainy side of life, the worries and bills and the mechanisms of jobs, the doltish psychologies we've placed over our lives like a stencil. A dog keeps his life simple and unadorned.” Brad Watson, Last Days of the Dog-Men: Stories

Author (Jane) with Teagol and Puddin'

Author

Welcome to this blog. I am Jane, a hobby breeder, situated in North Devon, England, UK (map at bottom of page ,shows where we are) on a quest to breed a healthier small spaniel similar to the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
If you are reading this, you have most probably come from my main website The POUNDLANE spaniel
Problems with putting anymore blogs on that website, I have now started this blog from 2020.

Lisa

4/9/2021 10:43:06 am

What a gorgeous pup Bingley is! We have Tucker, who is Bingley's older half brother, at two years old.

I just thought I'd share that we had the exact same thing with Tucker when he was a pup - he explored the known universe with his mouth. We got to know our neighbourhood in a whole different light, developing a mental heatmap of where the likely danger spots were for say, takeaway detritus.

We worked with a behaviourist who assured us, as first time dog owners, that that is just what puppies do. That they want to explore with their mouths. She urged me to calm down about it, and observed that most of the time Tucker would put a thing in his mouth and then put it down again after a bit of mouthing.

We also did what Jane said, teaching him the command "drop". I know some teach a more pre-emptive "leave it". The first stage of "drop" was to say "Tucker, drop!" and scatter some treats on the ground. Then we moved on to waiting until he responded to the command by dropping the offending object, then giving praise and a treat. Sometimes we'd also try encouraging him to sniff things we'd point at (that were safer to explore), just to keep him engaged and mentally focused on us.

He got very good at "drop". This led to a frustrating second phase: picking up stuff specifically because we would then ask him to drop the thing and he'd get praise and/or a treat. Clever boy.

At this point I had to properly develop the will to let him keep the thing and ignore him if it wasn't dangerous. Sure enough, when I managed not to interfere, he'd get bored, realise it wasn't working and he'd put the thing back down, sometimes adding a huff for good measure.

In addition to the training, I also think he largely aged out of having to pick up absolutely everything. I think it started to become noticeably better when he started sniffing to identify places to mark. I guess his priorities changed!

I remember, vividly, the times when he was a pup when walking across a field where sheep or deer had been stressed me out. Or even walking up particular streets. Because of him picking things up. I worried. It's tough. But it *will* get better.

Nowadays I can even get chicken bone and bread out of his mouth with "drop". Since it doesn't happen often, I give him a windfall of treats when he puts something he values that much down. Ocassionally I do have to fish something out of his mouth, but he's a very, very good boy about letting me, and I still give him treats - for having to put up with fingers in his mouth.

Oh, and the plus of "drop" is that can double as 'disengage with whatever you are doing and pay attention to me', meaning we were able to use it if, for example, he got a bit humpy when overexcited from playing with another dog when he was a teenager, or if he got a little bitey for a the same reason.

Best wishes for your adventures with Bingley. I hope you have a lot of fun together. I'm sure you will.

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