Strangest behaviour. Do cockers create fantasies in their minds?

[tritonx]

Just back from walking Fraser along the seawall and watching him at one point display the strangest behaviour. We were coming back along a bit we'd passed not 15 minutes before and suddenly he took great interest in some smell along the edge of the path. He's always sniffing, but sometimes he gets downright forensic about things. This time he was clearly tracking intently in that wide legged, waddling way when they are hot on the trail of something really, really interesting. What was different about this time was he was clearly spooked, his tail glued down, back hunched and showing every sign of being afraid. He was away in a world of his own and every one in a while as he was casting about, he'd throw his head up to look around him as though he was afraid something was about to pounce on him. He tracked along the path, circling, giving some spots extremely close attention and all the while, tail tucked and back rounded. This is an ordinary path along the edge of the sea with parking stalls on the other side of a low wall, completely open, cement and, as I say, we'd just come along the path about 15 minutes earlier and he was perfectly normal. Eventually I lured him onwards, but it took a while before his tail came back up to its usual cheerful position. I know cats seem to create fantasies for themselves, but do dogs do that? And he was really afraid. Thoughts? Anyone seen their own dogs ever behave like that?

[Toni-UK]

My own dog has never done this but could your dog have picked up the scent of a wild animal that he had never smelled before and it just spooked him.

To add- i really don't think a dog would "fantasise" about a scary situation. 

[tritonx]

The only wild animal that might have crossed the path at that point (by a road and suburban houses) is maybe a squirrel or chipmunk. Rat? Though when I saw him jerking his head up to look around him as though he though he might be being stalked, I did look up the nearby trees in case a cougar was overhead. ( I guess he got me a bit spooked too.) It's highly unlikely a cougar would be there as it's a suburban neighbourhood though they do occasionally show up in urban/suburban area, but very rarely. I wish I'd looked more closely at the beach which at that time of the day is only a thinnish strip of maybe 10' before the water. I suppose something bigger than a rodent could have nipped across the road, over the seawall and down onto the beach. There's about maybe 5 streets going up the hill from the water, but beyond that it's scrub bush and then trees where coyotes and suchlike would roam. It's just that his behaviour was so marked and the smell alone seemed to spook him. He's smelled deer before and presumably coyotes as their trails must be all over the place. He's smelled bear poop before which he finds very interesting, but not fearful though a real bear might give him pause. I don't think he was fantasizing in the self play way cats do, but something was in his head about the smell to make him act so fearful.

[sharonmansfield]

Jasmine can behave a bit odd sometimes, we can go to our local fields and all is fine, I let her off she goes for a sniff then as you say its tail down and head down with Jasmine and then she heads to go home clearly upset about something. I have never got to the bottom of it and she has not done it for a while. It spoils the whole walk as the only way we can continue is if I put her on the lead then I feel like I am dragging her around. Bella my other cocker has never done this so its something that just spooks Jasmine. No bears or coyotes here I think the largest wildlife here is a fox but maybe the odd badger but then surely their smell would bother her everytime we went out not just on odd occasions.

Maybe there was something that he sensed that you could not see? cougars in the neighbourhood sounds a bit scary to me 

[Sarah.H]

Sounds exactly how Charlie reacts when he catches scent of a dog that has previously attacked him. My parents had particular problems in their local fields after a certain Great Dane tried to kill him on two different occasions.

[tritonx]

I was wondering if other people had noticed the behaviour in their dogs, so glad to see he's not alone. I took him by the same spot on our walk today and he was fine. 

[sarahR]

Must have been a scent you couldn't detect that worried him.

[Helly D]

My old cocker used to get spooked on a regular basis. We have a common very close to where we live and he used to point blank refuse to go on it some days. His tail would be down and he was very unhappy. Can't think why as nothing had happened to him there. If we took him anywhere else he would be fine.

I think cockers are particularly sensitive dogs that can pick up things we aren't always aware of.

[tritonx]

They areextraordinarily sensitive dogs which is one of their great charms when it comes to the degree they want to be cuddled all the time. That surprises me in a dog bred for the field. You'd think you'd want an obedient, intelligent dog, but more aloof which spaniels are definitely not. Still, my boy is a wonderful collection of traits--sometimes laddish, sometimes quivery with nerves (at the groomers), sometimes a great big, affectionate sop, and other times, I'm not in the mood, can't you see I'm trying to sleep. He always makes me laugh. Just yesterday on our walk, he'd peed on a tuft of grass and something must have moved in the undergrowth as he suddenly leaped in the air, whirled round and barked at the pee spot. Heheh, he might have peed on a mouse. Or perhaps a twig moved. They're completely fascinating dogs. Not for everyone, but I'm glad I've got one.