Hi there-yep totally agree with bizzylizzy-all good advice.
My cocker is a working type and an unspayed bitch so I can confirm that she can be different around her season and definitely less tolerant with 'inappropriate' dogs. (Inca is an absolute diva when she's in season. She will only tolerate the company of the best looking, strongest, biggest, shiniest spaniels. Everyone else gets screamed at!
Also, the silent run up to the season is one to watch. She can behave differently before you even know what's happening. Her friend Henry is my marker. He's not that interested in other dogs or girls so when he starts sniffing around I know it's time to get the long line out of the cupboard.
Behaviour wise I have to say yours sounds like a dream! Ours has been a real trial. She was the pupoy from he'll and was bitey for aaaages!
Between one and two was probably the worst patch. I'm no expert but I think these factors all came I to play for us-do you recognise any of these?
1) Ours is from a long line of ft champs so none were pets and she had no genetic information to draw on for how to behave in a house. Also, looking at her pedigree, it's not surprising she's a bit highly strung. I'm chuffed she's got 4 legs and more than one eye really!
2) I let her off lead over the fields from day 1 so she would socialise. She's seen every dog of every shape and size and temperament so she's pretty confident on the whole.
3) Unfortunately she has had a few negative experiences ( been badly bowled over, chased, nipped etc in the process, and very unfortunate, got properly attacked by my neighbours cockerpoo when she was tiny-grazed her eye and she was limping for days).. but she's out there twice a day for an hour a time so in the grand scheme of things those incidents are a drop in the ocean compared to all the good ones. But I do think now she's an adult she is nit taking any rubbish from anyone any more and fair play really.
3) She has the cocker guarding tendency. (Made worse by a very welll meaning gun dog guy who told me to get her obsessed with a tennis ball to distract her from bogging off after pheasants). I don't recommend that- it made the guarding worse and a tennis ball is still not a pheasant!
4) Once she was one, I think she thought ' it's all good, I've got these humans trained, I've got my food, comfort, my patch, I'm feeling confident and strong and noones mentioned battersea dogs home- I think I am IT!!!'
At about 18 months I was tearing my hair out. We had snapping, running off, ignoring us, merciless chasing of our poor cat, arguing about everything, zoomies around the house, digging the furniture, etc etc
I had to really man up. There were tines I was actually a bit scared of her but I managed to bluff her that I wasn't. I had to be really firm.
I found the only thing that worked for really bad behaviour was exclusion. Picked her up and plonked her in a time out place on her own for a minute. Let her back in-if she did it again, back in time out.
Yours sounds nowhere near as bad as ours but wanted to say even our little monster is now fine.(she's 2.5) Not perfect but fine. She's under control and loves people so much. Our little granddaughter has just turned three and Inca will lie down so she can brush her! She doesn't mind being picked up (probably all those time outs) genuinely loves being hugged and cuddled and is soooo affectionate.
She is still guardy over her ball with some not all other dogs but it's easily managed and I do avoid pheasant rich ground at certain times of year but even that is Improving.
Her and the cat now snooze in front of the wood burner together.
So on balance, I'm sure it'll all be fine if you keep calm but be firm. Step the discipline up a little bit so she doesn't get too cocky.
Brilliant timing- I have to go-someone's got my trainer!!!?!