Author Topic: Two year old male spaniel - behavioural problems  (Read 3178 times)

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Offline Emma D

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Two year old male spaniel - behavioural problems
« on: September 25, 2019, 01:47:48 PM »
Hi, I’m new to the site and would really appreciate some advice with regards to my blue roam cocker spaniel. He’s nearly two and I purchased him from a breeder in derby as a puppy. I’ve had various problems on and off over the Past two years, and have tried many different tactics to try to resolve these issues as he is a much loved member of our family. My current issue is that when he is walking on or off the lead he is unpredictable around dogs he comes into contact with. He will wag his tail, act very excited and playful, usually jumps on other dogs which I assume is either part of play or him trying to dominate? But then for no apparent reason he will become aggressive, snappy and really have a go at the dog. This doesn’t happen all the time, he can have a walk and come into contact with many dogs but then act so aggressively all of a sudden. He can be worse on the lead as I think he feels threatened or is maybe protective, but equally he is acting the same off the lead. Our walks are becoming less enjoyable and I'm finding myself avoiding other dogs which I’m not sure is the best thing as he is sociable and enjoys the company of other dogs I believe. I do feel that over the past two weeks his unpredictable behaviour has worsened, he hasn’t been poorly, his diet is the same, nothing has changed. I just want him to be happy and for me to figure out what is going on in his mind! I’d very much appreciate any advice that a more experienced dog owner may have. I do worry that I may be doing something wrong! Many thanks

Offline Pearly

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Re: Two year old male spaniel - behavioural problems
« Reply #1 on: September 25, 2019, 09:20:41 PM »
Hi and welcome to COL

I would say your boy is absolutely normal.  We humans are conditioned into believing we have to continually socialise our dogs and to be fair, the first 12 weeks of their life it is really important as they learn “doggy manners”.  Once they have a degree of confidence and understand doggy behaviour/signals they really don’t need to be socialised!  There is nothing worse than a dog pulling its owner over to my dog with the human saying “he just wants to say hello” - not true, he’s controlling the owner and is interfering with my dog!

We have five cockers.  If we are out on a walk I expect them to ignore other dogs and more importantly not interfere with them - if another dog is off lead and comes over to mine, I would consider that dog to be out of control and the one of ours that really doesn’t appreciate another dog in her face is likely to nip, fair game in my book.

Stop feeling guilty that you have to socialise your boy, you’ve clearly already done that and he just wants to get on with his walk now  :D. Enjoy him, he sounds lovely,

Jayne

Offline Gerryjane

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Re: Two year old male spaniel - behavioural problems
« Reply #2 on: September 26, 2019, 04:24:50 PM »
Sounds like he is a bit conflicted around other dogs and actually a bit frightened especially if it’s worse on lead. Start by keeping at a distance from any dogs where he is not reacting at all .... feed tiny treats while he can see the dog/s but stop as soon as they move away. Over time move closer but if he reacts you have gone too close too quick ...... takes time but it works for reactive dogs so might help his feelings become more positive.

Offline Digger

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Re: Two year old male spaniel - behavioural problems
« Reply #3 on: October 05, 2019, 02:29:09 PM »
Hi-just wanted to add in on this one. Sort of in the middle of both of those comments.

Actually, I totally agree with Pearly, but the reality is that when you're in a country park or something there are so many people that are clueless or just don't see the point of view of dogs and that they are not little humans, that you do have to plan for the inevitable.

My dog was two in July. She has been heavily socialised in big open spaces withth all sorts of breeds twice a day-off lead since 11 weeks. She has been nipped, bashed, pinned down, rolled over-all sorts.  She's always been fine around other dogs.
Earlier on this year she was in a down stay while I threw a ball in to a copse for her to find. A friendly (but bonkers) cockerpoo came bounding through into the area, saw Inca and jumped on her. It sounded like my dog was going to kill her!!! The owner was a bit taken back but like pearly said-fair play. If someone came and jumped on your head while you were waiting for a bus would you think you had to be polite with that person??

I'm not sure if it was triggered by that event but ever since, my dog will definitely assert herself more and she does have a right go sometimes. Funnily enough, every time she sees that dog now, she'll have a go at it to start with. I just acknowledge her opinion and then it's fine after that and they will actually play nicely together, but Inca definitely says 'Just before we start, don't even think about jumping on me ok or I'll have you?' And once that's cleared up, everything is fine.
We have had a few issues with guarding tennis balls too-she would be nasty over that (again, would you think it was ok for someone to come along and want to play with your handbag?) but that has moderated a lot. I don't bring the big guns out where there are other dogs-I use less valuable balls and my dog is told to leave other dogs balls alone. I did sometimes carry a secret tennis ball in case mine did get someone else's then she could have hers as reward for dropping the stolen one but she's much better at leaving now.

I did worry when I first saw this behaviour but I concluded:

-Dogs only have limited communication tools, so if they are really unhappy, they've only got barking, snapping etc to show their displeasure. It nearly always sounds much worse than it is. (My dog has never actually nipped another dog).

-Try not to worry about it too much. Just look at the situation-call your dog to you if you need to, or go and get it. Often just you calmly saying ok we get the message-that's enough will be enough to diffuse the situation.

- Your dog will feel threatened if it is on the lead and the other is not, so personally, if it's a safe place,I'd let yours off to greet the other dog naturally. (Also that will prevent your dog practicing being reactive).  However,  If you don't want to and the other dog comes bowling up in a rude way then the owner should expect that yours might react! It's an obvious possibility.
If I see a dog approaching on a lead and mine is already off, I might call ahead just to check it's not dangerous but I don't worry as I can call mine back and more importantly, I know exactly how my dog will behave when greeting a strange dog. She will trot towards it and then lie down at a distance. Once the other dog has had a chance to assess her she will slink towards it very low to the ground and 9/10 lie on her back. This is polite behaviour and should be fine with all but the grumpiest of dogs. Never the less, if mine does decide to approach one on a lead it is still her risk to take and I wouldn't take offence if she did get snapped at, but that's why I check ahead to avoid that.

I don't think there are many pet dogs that start a fight for no reason and largely they are capable of sorting out their own issues-always best off lead with the option to get away if they feel the need. They don't mind being told they're not  the boss-It's the humans putting their own ideas in that confuses things.
 I'm sure yours is fine. Don't stress him further by keeping him on the lead more- I think that will make it worse. I would give him enough freedom and space to talk dog with the others and I'm sure it will settle down.

Offline IonaD

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Re: Two year old male spaniel - behavioural problems
« Reply #4 on: October 05, 2019, 05:58:43 PM »
Digger this is a great post!! Bella is  two and a half, and I’ve been experiencing the same type of doggy emotions with her both on and off the lead. Your insight has made me feel more at ease with her behaviour and also how to manage it.

Thank you!!

Offline Gazrob

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Re: Two year old male spaniel - behavioural problems
« Reply #5 on: October 07, 2019, 08:17:00 AM »
What I recommend you do is try and keep your dog away from as many dogs as you can when on walks. My dog is fine most of the time but there are the odd occasions when he will snap at other dogs out of the blue. I do let him play with certain dogs that he has already met he has one dog friend that he goes on doggy walks with but for the most part I will keep him away from dogs we don't know. He has been attacked a few times from off lead and on lead dogs we don't know and he's gotten injured a couple of times I just don't think he needs to meet every dog he sees. He's much calmer when it's just me and him.

Offline lucybennett

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Re: Two year old male spaniel - behavioural problems
« Reply #6 on: October 13, 2019, 06:40:02 PM »
I am with Digger. I would try and walk as normal. Bailey is very similar. The noise is the worst thing and it sometimes happens often doesn’t. He can sniff pass or play with many dogs with no problems. Then just take a dislike to another- often a boisterous young bouncy dog who follows him when he is done saying hello thanks or at the start of a walk when he is full of energy and adrenaline. Sometimes with no rhyme or reason. They are just dogs. Think it is similar to behaviour of many cockers. He never hurts them and often the dog owners don’t seem surprised and no one has ever got cross with me. I say sorry and we move on. I don’t think it hurts to do some avoidance. I don’t want him to have a go at a dog that would turn on him so I do some avoidance but try and just keep going, be relaxed, don’t loiter or expect him to hang around and get bored or have to play, and I try not to worry. Do treat after good encounters and be prepared to dive in  and take responsibility (bailey mostly stops now if I shout bailey no and both dogs just continue on their own way) and move on - don’t dwell or let it get you down. Easy to say I know but they are not dangerous, just tricky sometimes  x


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Offline lucybennett

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Re: Two year old male spaniel - behavioural problems
« Reply #7 on: October 13, 2019, 06:44:14 PM »
Ps For context bailey is now 5 and we walk off lead  a couple of times a day. Cockers are a joy to walk off lead with saggy tails and endless sniffing and whizzing around so I just make the most of the 95% wonderful bits knowing there will be the odd hiccup and don’t expect perfection [emoji847]


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Offline lucybennett

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Re: Two year old male spaniel - behavioural problems
« Reply #8 on: October 13, 2019, 06:47:34 PM »
Waggy tails! 🤣🥰


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Offline hoover

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Re: Two year old male spaniel - behavioural problems
« Reply #9 on: November 20, 2019, 10:37:07 PM »
Ollie gets 'hangovers' after these sorts of encounters - if he's been reactive on one occasion I know he's more primed for it over the next few hours/ days.  So I often make the decision to lead walk him for a while or recall him to me more often when I see a dog he is likely to react to, just so that he can get past that period of time.

The other things that I think helps is to have group walks with dogs all purposefully walking in the same direction together - they feel more of a community then and get to socialise appropriately without feelings of confrontation so much.  Usually when you're walking and you meet other dogs they are being suddenly brought into each other's space, head on - the dynamics increase the risk of confrontation and this dissipates when they are all walking together in the same direction.  Standing still also increase the time time for reactions, I try to encourage encounters to be brief and jolly Ollie along.

I have cue words for when he has done well 'good boy for being a gentle dog' and he gets rewarded with treats, pats after every encounter where he has met a dog appropriately.

Offline bizzylizzy

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Re: Two year old male spaniel - behavioural problems
« Reply #10 on: November 21, 2019, 08:07:06 AM »

The other things that I think helps is to have group walks with dogs all purposefully walking in the same direction together - they feel more of a community then and get to socialise appropriately without feelings of confrontation so much.  Usually when you're walking and you meet other dogs they are being suddenly brought into each other's space, head on - the dynamics increase the risk of confrontation and this dissipates when they are all walking together in the same direction.  Standing still also increase the time time for reactions, I try to encourage encounters to be brief and jolly Ollie along.

I have cue words for when he has done well 'good boy for being a gentle dog' and he gets rewarded with treats, pats after every encounter where he has met a dog appropriately.


Spot on!!! Watch any dogs naturally socializing, they always approach from the side, head on confrontation is often a spark for trouble.We go on lots of group walks with our dog club, occasioanlly there‘ll be a bit of grumbling at the beginning but once the hierachy‘s been settled  :lol:,  its amazing how, after a few minutes, they all settle down and tend to do their own thing.