r/cockerspaniel

My 9 week old cocker spaniel will not eat in her play pen during feeding times unless I am standing in the room with her. I can literally walk in shake the food that is in the bowl in front of her and she will start to eat. I will leave and she will stop. I can go in pick a piece of food out of the bowl and present it to her and she will eat it. I thought maybe she need stimulation or different style of bowl. Nope, same problem. She will start to do the food puzzle, see I have left and stop eating. I have presented the food in scatter form. I have put the food in a metal and plastic bowls, still no eating. She won't eat even if the play pen is wide open. I have tried standing in the room initially waiting until she begins to eat and then tip toeing very slowly and quietly out of the room. She will eat her food for a few seconds look up and notice I am gone and stop eating and yelp. She has skipped the last 2 days of feeding (I try feeding her 3 times a day) because of this issue. She has no problem eating from my hand. The treats I give her during training are simply her kibble. I just do not understand a dog, or a growing puppy for that matter, skipping food 2 days in a row because its simply in the play pen or I am not around. Seems like other people have dogs that they cant get to stop eating, this one WILL NOT eat. The play is necessary because one I have a life and need to do errands/cook/relax/hygiene/etc., she will be staying in it during work, and lastly, I want her learning that being alone is okay and I always come back (combatting separation anxiety). I do not want her thinking I will hand feed forever, because I will not. I also do not want her thinking the food will stay out for ever, I say once "eat" and leave calmly. She has 15 mins to eat the food but instead, she will just sit there and cry or lay down. I am confusion, please help.

What harness do you use for your spaniels with big heads and thin necks?

I have a 7 months puppy that pulls a lot and was looking into front clip harnesses. He has big head and thin neck, so I can’t adjust the harness properly when it needs to be put over the head. I am looking for harness that does not need to be put over the head for this reason. Any recommendations?

My 8mo cocker spaniel used to sleep till 5am until may but after that he has been waking up anytime between 3am-5am.

We give him his last meal at 7pm, his last potty break at 9:30 pm and then put him in the crate by 10-10:30 pm. I want to wake up by 6-6:30 pm but he starts whinning anytime from 3-5 am. The whole set an alarm 10 mins before his wake time wouldn’t work because of this.

No matter what we try to wait it out till 5:15-5:30 am to take him out and give him breakfast only by 6-6:15 am then he goes back in the crate after a bit of play and sleeps from 6:45am- 12:30pm . After his lunch and play he sleeps for another 3 hours then we take him for his long walk and then dinner.

His morning sleep window is the longest (6:45am-12:45pm) and i dont know why he is unable to sleep at night for long even though he sleeps perfectly fine when it’s sunny. We also noticed that he can hold his pee in for 7-8hours hence him waking up at 3am doesnt mean urgent potty idk. He will also not stop whinning and I have tried sleeping on the sofa bed next to his crate but he still wont stop.

Please help i dont want this to worsen, he is also my first ever dog hence i am bery new to this.