M&S still worked out the cheapest by specifying 6 bikes. Cannot remember how much more it was, but was still cheaper than NFU, Hiscox et al.

Are your dimensions right?

Slept through first night? That’s a good sign, especially if you shut the door! 😀 we didn’t shut ours in till he was 14 weeks.

Oh you’ve probably guessed right about the cockerdile phase! They are buggers for it, but it passes, round the time they start to loose their baby teeth and go off 3 meals a day. Picking ours up saying no and giving him time out for about 30 seconds in a separate room worked for us. But as I said before that’s not guaranteed to work for you!

We first ran ours just after a year, but have limited to every few months since then to ensure he’s definitely fully grown.

Chocolate cockers are the best! 🙂

You have a Cocker, as Golfchick says ignore everything you’ve read!

We’ve a 2 year old Working Cocker and he pretty much did nothing be it toilet habits or behaviour as per anything we read before hand!

They are amazing fun though! Loved the puppy phase but the adult phase teaching him to run with the bikes is so much more rewarding!

EDIT: have you been warned about the cockerdile land shark phase?

Same size with one solid wall and other half brick, flooring, plastered walls about £10k. Was a few years ago.

Is it a whole new conservatory or a replacement? If new, i.e. Foundations need to be dug, it sounds about right.

Wigwams are great!

Prices here: http://www.glentressforestlodges.co.uk/folder-20-prices-booking

Gotama, thanks I’ve been pondering the wheel options for a Jones.

You can create a personal hotspot, it’s under settings. Either connect your phone to your laptop via wifi or through a USB cable.

I’ve done this with a 4s when I don’t want to pay Internet charges in a hotel when away and just used my data package with my phone.

Edit: too slow!

Should be within a few minutes. Never had to wait more than about 10mins for one to show.

We put a t shirt we’d worn all day in with our pup on his first night. one of mine and one of MrsNero’s never had him waking in the night. Well he may have but he never cried. Also second leaving radio on for background noise.

Use them as my first choice for items too large to send economically via Royal Mail.

Drop off at a shop at lunchtime, so more convenient than waiting in.

Takes longer than Royal Mail but seem ok.

Had a Camelbak, never really got on with it as with a full bladder seemed to roll around on my back.

Now got a Shimano Unzen, the harness system is much better. Got mine off eBay with about 40% off, so worked out reasonably priced.

Seat collar too tight can cause it too. Mine worked fine a few times then randomly stopped returning, torqued seat collar to Rockshox specified torque and all was fine.

That article is just one persons view and, from my experience of having three dogs from “solid FTCH pedigree’s”) absolute bo***cks.
Working Cockers (from good pedigrees) have a level of training pre-loaded which I’ve found makes them pretty easy to control.

Couldn’t agree more, we didn’t know our dogs family background until after we received his KC 5 generations certificate. He’s related to some pretty impressive FTCH’s, and he’s a pet and pretty chilled!

Have a dog, he’s still young (18 months) but we’ve done Glentress blue with him. But we waited till after 5 when the trails were near empty.

I was in front, followed by dog followed by the girlfriend. Don’t see a problem as long as he’s between us on the trail.

As for him wandering off chasing stuff, yes when your walking no when he’s chasing one of us on a bike. The key is to give him one job i.e chasing you and he won’t go off wandering in front of other riders.

Before we got the hound we’d often see dogs on trails didn’t bother me as its for everyone to enjoy the trails and if people enjoy it with their dogs so what!

Stopping to let a dog past or to get out of its way is no worse than having to stop or move for another rider.

Some people need to realise trails are for everyone and that some people like taking their dogs with them. As long as they don’t cause accidents where’s the problem?

Working Cocker here, he’s quite chilled for a Spaniel from what everyone says. But, he’s our first dog so we’ve no idea whether that’s true or not.

No real bother provide he gets his walks and stimulation. Usually has a mad half hour after his tea, but he snoozes after his walk before he gets fed.

Don’t think there is anyway to tell whether they will turn out chilled or not, we still see his litter mates and its about a 50:50 split as to which are nuts and which are chilled. So parentage and genetics are probably not a good indicator as to how they will turn out, his parents are your typical mad Spaniels.

deadlydarcy, thank you!

Thanks. I’m pretty sure (I’ve not checked yet), that even our eccentric European cousins, won’t have classed a working cocker as a dangerous dog! Dangerously stupid maybe!

deadlydarcy, thank you perfect info. Knew I was better off asking on here than trawling the web!! 😀

Ah, more replies when typing!!!

Nickjb, thanks that gives us something to think about regarding the ferry. Wouldn’t be my first choice to leave him in the car!

We’re thinking September, he’s already microchipped and just needs his rabies jab and passport. Not too worried about sorting that, as time frames have changed so I think the 6 months doesn’t apply anymore.

It’s more what happens on the ferry if we choose that route, as I don’t want him left in the car. Also the ease of getting him treated for worms on the way back.

The ones i’ve met, are bonkers, but all spaniels are!,

We’ve a working cocker, people comment how chilled he is, but I think it’s more to do with how you treat/act around then. He is our first dog.

Expose them to as much as possible, going out into town, other dogs, weekends away and they soon work out when they can go nuts!

Spaniels are ace! 😀

Cheers guys. I fully intend to try one before I part with my cash.

Z1ppy, cheers for the link, how the hell I missed that thread I’ve no idea. I don’t think the search function likes me!

Ahwiles, thanks for the offer, but by your description, a 20.5″ is going to be massive as I only have a 32″ inside leg.

Bump in the hope someone can answer as Genesis haven’t got back to me.

Are these not the same as 55’s?

In that you adjust the travel with a spacer?

I’ve a Musto Lonnington and the girlfriend a Whisper. Both excellent and well worth the money.

Phil – just take them out with you on a quiet trail. Took our 1 year old Cocker out on Xmas eve round Grizedale, he just knew to run along. Yes there were a few near misses but not bad for a first effort. Soon got that “go on” meant speed up to get out the way. Just try it.

Yes, pretty much as legends pics show!

Ran mine, down seat tube, then followed the cables up the down tube. No pics I’m afraid, frame is long gone. Mine was a medium and I didn’t need to trim the hose.

mrstollah managed to ride off road too first time on the MTB since breaking and dislocating her elbow in Italy back in Sep.

Awesome news mate. Glad she’s on the mend. 😀

Give her our best.

Dave, Carolyn and Puppy Chaos (aka Rufus).

I’m currently sat in a kitchen surrounded by 4 Working Cockers (only 1 is mine, the other 3 are his, mum, dad and sister).

Awesome dogs. We work 08:00 – 17:00 each day and are out the house for that time. We get an hour at lunch to come home and let ours out, he’s always just waking up stretching when we get home at lunch. He’s crated during the day when we’re not there and on a night and its helped his toilet training no end.

He is only 10 months and too young to run with the bikes yet, but still needs a lot of off lead walking/sniffing/interaction with other dogs everyday. He gets about 45 mins in a morning before work and about 2 hours after work. But the important thing is these walks are at his pace, so we don’t overexert him or force him to do more than he wants.

Don’t smell (well except when rolling in things) and have yet to meet an aggressive one (in fact yet to meet an aggressive Spaniel full stop).

Hard work but so rewarding. There is nothing like the sight of a Spaniel coming to greet you tail going ten to dozen!!

Whatever you do, DO NOT go straight on at bridge and turn right at rock step up YOU WILL DIE unless extremely good, approx 15-20 foot drop!!!

Cannot work out whether this is tongue in cheek?!? 🙄

The drops only about 3 foot high and completely rollable!?!

Daft question, have you tried Silverfish?

9 Month old Cocker. Gets a 50/50 mix of Orijen and Wainwrights. I spent ages looking into food and because we want him to eventually run with the bikes, they seemed to offer the best in turns of meat based protein.

Also gets a few Markies, a Dentastick, a raw carrot, bit of raw hide and a fish block.

Still costs less than £2 a day, which to be honenst is less than a take out coffee so bargin if it gives him a good diet.

Nice one, as I suspected, thank you all.

Ti bolts on brakes eh?

Yes, nothing wrong with that, not as if I actually ride fast enough to use my brakes!

PaulD, I suspect at most I’ll just use the washer but the tightning plates and bolts will be shelved. Email in profile if you still want them.

Running some MT8’s on my Niner. I admit I bought them soley for the red and black to match the frame.

However, I couldn’t find a bad review on them, and via Merlin they weren’t far off what I was thinking of spending on other makes.

Considering they came with 160mm rotors, I’ve never felt the need for more power. Pads have held up better than I expected, have survived a Solo of Mayhem and various rides since and as Superstar do pads its all good.

I’ve no issues with them and actually really like them. Only thing I would say is the levers are a little flexy under heavy braking, but they are also stupidly light, so its a small price to pay.

Thanks. Still deciding on forks but definately going interbnal cup headset.

Anymore Mega ownwers out there?

im sticking with the 180 talas for general trail hacking.

Any massively noticeable difference running 180 over 160?

that was 3hrs per day of exercise alone you just listed, easy enough to clock up another hour of affection/feeding/cleaning etc. the reason why i firmly believe that anyone working full time doesnt have time for a puppy

I don’t entirely agree with the above, purely because both the GF and I have full time 37 hrs + a week jobs (Mon – Fri). Its all about priorities and sacrifices.

Admittedly we get up earlier now than we ever used to (2 hrs before we leave for work), work a 5 min drive from home for the lunchtime walks and don’t really do a lot on an evening till the dog is sorted by about 9!

But it is a sacrifice we’re prepared to make! Plus our riding (of bikes) has taken a bit of a downward turn, but its only till he’s old enough to come with us.

We have an 7 month old Working Cocker and as our first dog, we think he’s doing ok as everyone seems amazed that he’s so chilled out for a Cocker.

We quickly learnt an important lesson, with ours and that’s ignore how most people tell you to train them. What works for their dogs (usually not Cockers) is not going to work for your Cocker. They are head strong and independant and will learn only in a way that suits them. Its all about trial and error.

The best way we found to reprimand ours be it for chewing, nipping etc. was pick him up and go put him in an enclosed room away form everyone. You only need to do this for about 30 seconds, but they soon get the message that the behaviour gets them seperated. Took ours a few weeks to work out his boundaries using this method.

If he’s going mad when you let him out of the cage, he needs more exercise. The whole 5 minutes for each month of his life, can be taken with a pinch of salt. How long does he spend running around the house? Add this to his walk and he’s not getting anymore than he was getting anyway.

Ours gets about 45 mins off lead in a morning, about 15 mins at lunch time and nearly 2 hrs on anight. The majority of this time is off lead and at his pace so he caan let off steam. It is on fairly flat moorland/fields though, so he gets the mental stimulation of the smells from the wildlife. Plus, he’ll get dragged to 24hr of Exposure/Mayhem/SITS and into town, its all good for them and tires him more than anything.

Swimming will also tire him out in a shorter space of time than walking.

Barking from ours usually means he wants to play or some affection. He craves human contact and a sure fire way to calm him down is be at home with him all day, as he’s far too excitable then to sleep when he knows we’re home.

Sorry, a bit long winded, but it’s to let you know they are hard work but worth ever second!