Aggresive behaviour

[sswriver]

Hi,Iwas wondering if anyone could advise
Alfie is nearly one.He is the most placid dog but recently when things arent going his way he nashes his teeth and tries to bite us. I have been grabbing his collar and putting him outside for 5minutes.This however isn'thelping. Any ideas?
He is so placid normally!

[black taz]

Sure someone else will be along with advice, but i would avoid grabbing his collar and this may result in the getting bitten esp. if he is already nipping.  You could perhaps use reward based actions, ie: when he is in that mood getting to sit, lay down, etc, to earn rewards.  If you do have to resort to taking him out the room, i would clip his lead on and move him away.

[HeatherandBenjy]

I agree with BlackTaz, please don't grab Alfie's collar, the neck is a very sensitive area and by grabbing him by the collar, you are (albeit inadvertently) escalating the situation and risk him, in turn, escalating his behaviour to biting.

Alfie is at an age where he will be pushing boundaries. You don't say what kinds of situations cause him to be snapping? 

When Amber was the same age she could be difficult about certain things (guarding her bed being her main one) We found that distraction worked well. So, to be more specific, if she was growling at the other dogs near her bed, I'd move into the kitchen and make a big fuss of the other dogs, she would come into the kitchen to see what all the noise was about and was then no longer in her bed, so there was nothing to guard. 

In the past with other dogs, having a long house line on (never unsupervised) means that you can move a dog away from a challenging situation without being confrontational.

I hope this helps.

[sswriver]

hi there

This behaviour seems to start after tea time once we all sit down.For no reason at all he just comes up and bites us.When told to stop he really snarls and bears his teeth and snaps like mad. He is very aggressive. I am absolutely determind not to let him away with it as he is such a lovely placid dogat other times.Tonight I got out a rolled up newspaper to tap his nose with and he just grabbed the newspaper with his teeth and carried on. He actually had me backed into a corner.....please please advise!!

[Karma]

hi there

This behaviour seems to start after tea time once we all sit down.For no reason at all he just comes up and bites us.When told to stop he really snarls and bears his teeth and snaps like mad. He is very aggressive. I am absolutely determind not to let him away with it as he is such a lovely placid dogat other times.Tonight I got out a rolled up newspaper to tap his nose with and he just grabbed the newspaper with his teeth and carried on. He actually had me backed into a corner.....please please advise!!

Please do NOT repeat this.
It's really hard to advise you, as you have not given much information about triggers and patterns - there WILL be a reason, but without seeing what is going on it is really hard to suggest anything.
What is his normal day?  How much exercise/training/rest does he get?  What is he fed?

You say the behaviour starts when you sit down.... what exactly does he do, and how do you normally react?  Describe his body language in as much detail as you can.

One thing is for certain, though, if you meet his behaviour with confrontation (either grabbing his collar or hitting him) it will escalate into a more serious problem!

[elaine.e]

Please take Karma's advice and don't be confrontational. It will definitely make things worse.

Alfie is just coming up to a year old I think? Both of my two were very keen to play during the evenings at that age and it was a real pain when I wanted to sit down and read or watch TV at the end of a long day, only to have a playful Cocker bouncing around to get my attention for a game. Could that be the cause of the problem with Alfie and it's escalated from there?

It's just a thought on my part because you say that's the time of day that it happens. Could you try taking him for a walk at that time of day, even if it's only 15 or 20 minutes, or playing games with him for a while, or giving him a chew or a Kong filled with his evening meal kibble? Maybe getting him to do something at his "difficult" time of day will relax him for the rest of the evening.

[sswriver]

Yeah, I'm never sure when people give "old school" remedies such as the paper! It certainly didn't work and didn't feel right either!
His normal day is into town with me for a walk along the beach then home. He is fed on royal canin although I recently changed to proplan.
He tends to cosy into me on the settee when he can and sleeps! He is a lazy boy!
He comes out to pick my daughter up from school. Today he was walked along the beach in the evening to try to tire him out a bit more.
What happens when he gets aggressive is we are sitting down and he comes up on the settee beside one of us and growls and bites. If we say no he really starts to Nash his teeth. I wondered if it was because he felt excluded but he really is well loved and we all cuddle him lots!  Really keen to sort it out as he is such a lovely dog! Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Oh- and I have tried walking him at bitey time too but he just does it when he comes home!!

[Ben's mum]

It sounds like you could do with some advice from a behaviourist who can see what is happening and advise you.
What you describe sounds very like my Harry, in the evening, just when we settle down he gets really bitey and quite frantic trying to get us to play or just because he wants attention. If we ignore him he just starts barking and it escalates, but if we do play then he is quite excitable and his play is very rough.  I sometimes do some training with him then as that seems to focus his mind but without increasing the excitement level too much.  I have also started to introduce a 'settle' so that he understands sometimes he just needs to switch off 

If you get someone qualifed and good (I am sure people on here can advise you) then they can suggest ways to manage the behaviour and distract onto something more positive.  

[Bluebell]

I agree with you getting the advice of a good behaviourist
If he was mine, I wouldn't let him on the sofa at all.
It is hard to work out from your description if if is over excitement, in appropriate play or something more serious.
At his age he is almost certainly testing the boundries.
Reward him for resting/staying/sleeping is his bed on the floor. If he won't stay there, use a crate in the lounge, making it rewarding, and shutting the door if you need to he won't feel excluded, but won't be able to cause havoc!
Avoid all confrontation, rewarding for correct behaviour. If you need to move him, lure and reward or even leave the room yourself and shut the door behind you for a couple of mins
Oh, and from now on, use the recycle bin for all newspapers

[PennyB]

I've also noticed he's a youngster - he does also sound like he's pushing his luck and boundaries and presenting with unnacceptable behaviour. I also feel like others suggest that you need outside help from someone who is into positive methods - that way you will be able to deal with his behaviour properly.

While you're waiting for help do short training exercises with him to help increase your bond with him. He's at an age where he may not be listening to you either (teenager) so short exercises will help. Any training exercises will do but its more about getting him to listen to you more as well rather then training for anything in particular.

[HeatherandBenjy]

Wholeheartedly agree with the advice from Karma and Elaine E.

I'm not sure whether Alfie is a working or show cocker, in either case, he will be needing alot of mental stimulation, which will help to tire them out and help them settle far more than walkies ever will. You don't mention whether you do any training with Alfie (either on your walks or at home) but perhaps you could build in a few short bursts of training through the day? Keep it fun and short and always reward with lots of praise.

Are you able to vary Alfie's walks a bit, so that he has different scents etc to think about? Even walking on the other side of the road to normal can help do this.  

I think Elaine's suggestion of a filled kong when you're sat down is excellent. When we sit down and appear to be doing nothing, Amber sees it as a great opportunity for us to play with her. She's just coming up to two and needs to have a play time before she can settle down herself. (Think of your daughter at toddler age   ) A short walk and then a kong to chew (and the chewing action helps to relieve any stresses for a pup) may well help him to settle.

Hope this helps

[Archie bean]

I have exactly the same problem with Archie in the evenings. He is 10 months so similar age as Alfie. The minute I sit down in the lounge he starts jumping at me and grabbing either arms or feet or something else he knows he shouldn't (sofa, coffee table, TV remote!!) It is really important not to respond to any aggression with aggression. I have made that mistake and it was a disaster. Even just raising my voice resulted in his behaviour getting worse. I really thought I was going to end up with a dangerous dog. I now just say one firm "no" and leave the room and shut the door for a moment. I may have to do it many times but eventually he gets the message. He will either do the wall of death for 5 minutes or he will get a toy out and have a good chew. I try not to start any play or training if he has been pestering me, because I worry that it will reward the behaviour and encourage him to do it more. If he is happily playing on his own then I may start a game of fetch or find it etc. Chewing really seems to calm him down so I often give him his stag bar or a cow hoof or just a bog standard rawhide twist. I find that holding it for him has really helped with his guarding issues too. 

[sswriver]

Thanks so much for all the fantastic advice. I am going to try leaving the room tonight and see if that has any effect. Also will look for chewy chews! It's great to know I'm not the only one out there having this problem!
Susan. X

[jaybee]

Bingley has recently started getting excitable more in the evenings. He's generally quite good when we're eating, but to make sure it stays that way I try and do 10-15 minutes of clicker training/practice while dinner is finishing off, and then put a Kong down when we're eating. More often than not he just lies down and has a snooze, but the Kong is there if he wants it, and then gets taken up and put away after we've finished eating.

Good luck