Help! Territorial aggression towards owners

[Catherine McC]

Hi Everyone, I’m hoping to get some help here with a situation I’m facing with my year and a half old male cocker spaniel (show breed). He was neutered a few months ago for health reasons. During the day the dog would be restricted to kitchen area or outside only, he is not left at home alone all day and is not allowed to run freely around the house. I’m struggling to handle his reaction when someone approaches the front door or rings door bell. He goes crazy barking, growling and jumping which I know can be normal territorial behaviour mixed with excitement but on occasions he gets himself so worked up to the point he would become quite aggressive towards owners when we are trying to pass through the kitchen doorway to get to the main front door. The constant barking and us not letting him past seems to put him into a rage and he would snap at our feet. The aggressiveness does not happen every time, it only seems to appear during an episode when he gets really worked up. He has learnt basic commands of sit & stay, down, paw etc and is generally reasonably obedient. At any other time we are able to pass through doorways and leave the room with no issues, we also always make a point of commanding him to sit and stay before he can pass through himself and never let him push past or walk infront of us and he always adheres to this. I have tried to use the sit and stay method with him when a stranger comes and tried offering rewards if he calms but I’m struggling to even get him to listen to me and can’t calm him. The reason I don’t let him run out with me to the front door is because he sounds very intimidating to strangers and I don’t want him thinking he has no boundaries. I hope someone has some tips to help me with this for I don’t really know what to try next.

[elaine.e]

Hello and welcome to COL

From your description it sounds that your boy becomes so excited, maybe anxious too, when somebody comes to the door that he goes way over his threshold of being able to stay calm and loses self control.

One of my two (Louis) does something similar, although admittedly without the snapping at feet. He associates the doorbell and the front door being opened with the possibility of strangers coming to the house, which makes him worried. Once he starts barking my other one joins in as well, although he likes visitors! So I've come up with some strategies to help me and the dogs cope with the situation.

The first one is to have a physical barrier (a baby gate across the hallway) so that the dogs can never get to the front door. That in itself takes some of the pressure off Louis because he simply can't get there to bark.

The second one is that I've trained the dogs to go into a room off the hall and be shut in there while I answer the door. When the doorbell rings they still get up from wherever they are and bark, but then they go into the room and after a few seconds they're quiet (mostly) and just lay down in there until I let them out.

If the person at the door is a visitor and comes into the house I leave the dogs shut in the room until the visitor has settled (if they're dog friendly) and then open the door to let the dogs in, having asked the visitor to completely ignore the dogs. The friendly, confident dog comes in to say hello. Louis may come in and stay near me or may choose to stay in the room. His choice, and that's fine by me. If he came in and started barking I'd put him back in the other room, not in a harsh way or as a punishment, but to give him the chance to calm down.

It's finding out what works best for you. If you can find a method that stops the situation from escalating in the first instance both you and your dog will feel more relaxed.

[Pearly]

Completely agree with Elaine, I have one that gets so anxious and/or excited she doesn’t know how to release the excitement other than tugging or grabbing ankles - especially on a walk!  She’s like your boy in the house if the door bell goes.

It’s worth asking a behaviourist to help with an assessment and some coping strategies.  With Pearl I’ve had to be very hands-off and only reward with affection (of any sort, including voice praise) when she’s done something to earn it, otherwise she gets very confused and over excited! She’s now 8 years old and is finally learning to be calmer, most of the time!

[Catherine McC]

Hi Elaine

Thank you so much for your reply. Yes I totally agree with what your saying, when it happens it’s definitely as if he goes beyond the ability to calm because he’s lost all self control to do so.

Really like the idea of the stair gate, my husband and I are actually expecting our first born in a few weeks so that is already an item on my list! Again that’s really another reason I’ve became so concerned about this behaviour with a newborn soon to be arriving. The stair gate might actually work a real treat because it would allow the dog to be able to visually see the person arriving and leaving as the door would still be open. He would then hopefully see that this isn’t a threat for he might actually be associating the door being closed as a barrier restricting him from protecting the owner so to speak l, maybe this could be why the aggression is then turned towards us. Atleast if nothing else that might help with getting him calm in the first place for me to able to regain his attention to communicate with him without it turning into a full scale barking attack. Definitely going to try the stair gate!

If you don’t mind me asking, what techniques did you use to train your dogs to go into the room off the hall once the doorbell rings? I have a utility room in my kitchen so I would love to try this also. I’ve tried to get him into it before using treats once the doorbell goes but it’s virtually impossible as he goes so crazy but the way your able to keep yours calm enough to get them in would be great if I could master that.

[elaine.e]

If you don’t mind me asking, what techniques did you use to train your dogs to go into the room off the hall once the doorbell rings? I have a utility room in my kitchen so I would love to try this also. I’ve tried to get him into it before using treats once the doorbell goes but it’s virtually impossible as he goes so crazy but the way your able to keep yours calm enough to get them in would be great if I could master that.

I used bribery and treats which works well with Louis. If you think it may be tricky with your boy, practice and practice when there's nobody at the door and he's calm, until it becomes a learned behaviour. Choose a prompt or command and don't use it for anything else. I use "in the study" because that's where they go, and even if already barking they recognise it and know what I'm expecting of them.

[Catherine McC]

Hi Pearly

Thank you for your response. So glad to hear I’m not on my own with this. Can I ask what you find works best when dealing with your girl snapping at the ankles, and the same when the doorbell goes would you give her immediate praise to try keep her calm to stop the behaviour, or would you give treats or anything?

[Catherine McC]

I used bribery and treats which works well with Louis. If you think it may be tricky with your boy, practice and practice when there's nobody at the door and he's calm, until it becomes a learned behaviour. Choose a prompt or command and don't use it for anything else. I use "in the study" because that's where they go, and even if already barking they recognise it and know what I'm expecting of them.

That sounds like a great idea Elaine, especially practicing it with him repeatedly when he is calm which could help for him to associate it with a positive experience! Fantastic thank you so much

[Pearly]

Hi Pearly

Thank you for your response. So glad to hear I’m not on my own with this. Can I ask what you find works best when dealing with your girl snapping at the ankles, and the same when the doorbell goes would you give her immediate praise to try keep her calm to stop the behaviour, or would you give treats or anything?

I had (recently moved house) a stairgate at the kitchen door which is in direct line of sight to the front door.  It’s taken quite some time to realise there was an issue then learn how to read Pearls body language and deal with it!  A turning point was the arrival of Coral, in anticipation of her arrival Pearl moved downstairs to sleep (had been in my bedroom) and to live in the kitchen - she only had access to the rest of the house on my terms!  Pearl has to earn affection, to give it freely causes her to become anxious or over stimulated/excited.

Since moving house she is a far more stable dog.  She’s now one of five Cockers and seems to be happier with her place in the household.  Giving Pearl a lot of space, especially overnight seemed to add to her anxiety, I tried putting her back into a crate overnight and can see a real improvement in her behaviour - I’m now not convinced she slept very well when allowed lots of freedom!

Treats are sporadic and are very high value - that is, she has to do something (or not do something!) pretty special to earn it.

Jayne

[Catherine McC]

I had (recently moved house) a stairgate at the kitchen door which is in direct line of sight to the front door.  It’s taken quite some time to realise there was an issue then learn how to read Pearls body language and deal with it!  A turning point was the arrival of Coral, in anticipation of her arrival Pearl moved downstairs to sleep (had been in my bedroom) and to live in the kitchen - she only had access to the rest of the house on my terms!  Pearl has to earn affection, to give it freely causes her to become anxious or over stimulated/excited.

Hi Jayne, so you found the stair gate worked well for you as well, I really must try this. Yes I must admit the part I find the hardest is reading my dogs body language and actually being able to understand it, sometimes I find it hard to distinguish between when he is showing aggression compared to over excitement and no harm in it. Is there anything specific in the way your Pearls body language would change when you notice she’s becoming anxious?

I also think some of it could maybe be related to pushing his boundaries to show dominance for if he started to bark rapidly at  my husband he is able to stop and gain control over him before the situation escalates so it’s as if the dog knows he’s not the one above him. With me it can take a bit longer and I have to be really careful that it doesn’t turn into me loosing patience otherwise he ends up just constantly barking back at me and would snap his mouth into the air at me but not actually grabbing my skin. Would you ever have had to deal with the dominance thing?