Aggression in 14wk old puppy - Help

[Debbielou]

Hi Everyone

I have a 14 week old black cocker spaniel puppy that I have had since she was 8 weeks old.  From the beginning she has switched from loving to growling and snarling when handled and we though it was just puppy behaviour.  Her puppy biting was and still is over the top frequently drawing blood - we have tried everything to stop her doing this - replacing our hands with toys, yelping, etc.  Over the last few days we have increasingly become aware of her being aggressive over possessions such as toys and food and has even tried to stop the other dog from using the water bowl.  She bit me yesterday when I was trying to put her halter on her to take her for a walk.  She has growled and snarled and lunged at both myself and my partner when we have tried to take toys away from us - and there is nothing playful about this behaviour - only because we have withdrawn our hands quickly we have not been bitten.  The rest of the time she is loving and beautiful and we love her dearly but we have serious concerns about the aggression escalating and becoming a problem.  I have had several puppies in the past including and alsation but never saw any aggression at this age. Its very difficult to assess how much of her behaviour is related to her age.  We are very upset and concerned about this behaviour and would welcome any advice.

Thanks

Debbielou

[tallulah0710]

Hi

I'm sorry you are having trouble with your pup. Are you attending puppy classes? I really recommend you find an experienced trainer/behaviourist in your area you can visit www.apdt.co.uk to find a trainer or www.apbc.co.uk to find a behaviourist. You've realised this is a serious matter so really only someone qualified and experienced will be able to help. (Aviod anyone who tries to tell you your puppy is dominant or you need to be the pack leader).

Sorry I can't help but what you've described sounds to serious to give advice over the internet 

Clare

[piph]

Hi

I'm sorry you are having trouble with your pup. Are you attending puppy classes? I really recommend you find an experienced trainer/behaviourist in your area you can visit www.apdt.co.uk to find a trainer or www.apbc.co.uk to find a behaviourist. You've realised this is a serious matter so really only someone qualified and experienced will be able to help. (Aviod anyone who tries to tell you your puppy is dominant or you need to be the pack leader).

Sorry I can't help but what you've described sounds to serious to give advice over the internet 

Clare

100% in agreement.  We had similar problems with Ozzy, although not quite as bad as yours, I think, and have had some help from a behaviourist, which is working slowly,  In the meantime, try to stay very calm with your pup and try to avoid if at all possible geting into situation where you might get bitten.  Good luck. 

[Debbielou]

Thanks for your replies which help to confirm that we really have a problem - its so easy to go into denial and brush it off as puppy behaviour.  I have her booked on to a puppy foundation course starting in 3 weeks and I've contacted an animal behaviourist recommended by a friend who is going to assess her.  Outside of the aggression she is so beautiful and loving and gentle and the situation is heartbreaking as we have a 12 year old Yorkie to consider - they both cuddle up together in their quiet moments so just hope it can be remedied as would hate to have to give her up.

Debbie

[karenl]

Hi there sorry you are having problems with your pup, I just wanted to try and reassure you a little that you are not alone in having a puppy like this, I am no expert on dogs at all & as I have only had one dog I have very little experience . I went through many of the things you have described with my now three year old cocker spaniel, we got to the stage when she was about 9 months that we had to see a behaviourist & basically were told she was a nervous nature, I had many a time in tears thinking it was our lack of experience & knowledge that we were doing something dreadfully wrong & also I hate to admit it we seriously thought about rehoming her quite a few times, but we hung in there & things got much better in time, she now is 3 years & 7months old & is such a lovely dog, we learnt I suppose to read the signs of what things set her off & worked on them but on the whole now she is very good , hope I have helped you a little & hope everything works out for you .

[Debbielou]

Thanks Karreal  - we are going to hang on in there with her as I think half of the problem is her age and the rest hopefully can be worked upon and improved on - she is very very intelligent, she already understands the sit, down and roll commands when a treat is involved and hopefully we will be able to turn her into the dog she deserves to be with a bit of help.  I have started to reproach my self for not having the knowledge despite having had many dogs previously to be able to deal with this but there is a steep learning curve involved here which with professional help hopefully will pay off.   

Debbie

[karenl]

Glad to be of some help to you, it does get better, some days bad some days good .

[williamsmum]

Good luck, and I am sure you will find the behaviourist is a real help.

[piph]

Thanks Karreal  - we are going to hang on in there with her as I think half of the problem is her age and the rest hopefully can be worked upon and improved on - she is very very intelligent, she already understands the sit, down and roll commands when a treat is involved and hopefully we will be able to turn her into the dog she deserves to be with a bit of help.  I have started to reproach my self for not having the knowledge despite having had many dogs previously to be able to deal with this but there is a steep learning curve involved here which with professional help hopefully will pay off.   

Debbie

We also felt the same when we started having problems with Ozzy - he is the 4th dog we have had from a pup and never, ever had any of these problems with any of them.  However, Ozzy is the first boy we have had, and also the first cocker spaniel, so we were beginning to wonder if it was a 'boy' thing, or a 'cocker' thing or a combination of the two, or none of these things     I used to get very upset that we couldn't cope with his behaviour, but, I've come to accept it now as part of who he is.  In every other respect he is a lovely and loving dog, and such a clown, with a huge character - I'm sure that your's will turn out the same.  Just seeing the behaviourist will help you to develop strategies to combat the bad behaviour.  It seems to me that when Ozzy doesn't have the opportunity to indulge in the unwanted behaviours, he seems to sort of forget that he ever did it in the first place!  Hope your meeting with the behaviourist goes well.

[tallulah0710]

Thanks for your replies which help to confirm that we really have a problem - its so easy to go into denial and brush it off as puppy behaviour.  I have her booked on to a puppy foundation course starting in 3 weeks and I've contacted an animal behaviourist recommended by a friend who is going to assess her.  Outside of the aggression she is so beautiful and loving and gentle and the situation is heartbreaking as we have a 12 year old Yorkie to consider - they both cuddle up together in their quiet moments so just hope it can be remedied as would hate to have to give her up.

Debbie

Sounds like you have a good plan. Good luck and keep us updated.   

[Holly Berry]

Sorry to hear that you are having problems with your puppy. It's very difficult to assess behaviour without seeing it and you are doing right in getting someone to help you. The only thing I would ask you to ensure is, that they use positive training methods and do not use aversives or talk about dominance and wanting to be pack leaders. These methods have now been shown to be very out dated and in many ways exacerbate problems. I would also be very wary of anyone who talks about "cocker rage". This is a very rare condition and is not a generic term for a cocker showing aggression or guarding issues.(lots of discussion on COL about it)

You say that she growls at you when you take things off her. Do you swap the thing she shouldn't have for things she should have?(something highly prized) If this is the case, an analogy would be if you had something you highly prized and someone came along and took it off you. I would imagine that you wouldn't be best pleased and might have a few choice words to say  Growling is a form of communication.

Has she only just taken a dislike to her halter? Is it the kind that goes round her mouth, as it could be her teeth are really hurting her. If its a harness that goes over her head, try putting your arm with a treat through the neck part, so that she has to put her head into the harness to get the treat. What did you do when she wouldn't let the other dog near the water bowl? and what was the reaction of the other dog?

There are lots of threads in the behaviour section where behaviours like you have described have been discussed. You are not alone and lots of people have been worried about their puppies behaviour. The good news is that the majority of puppies grow out of it, provide they are shown the correct behaviour and boundaries through positive reinforcement and training. Best tip I can give you is reward the behaviours you want and ignore the ones you don't.

Good Luck 

[Ben's mum]

Sorry to hear that you are having problems with your puppy. It's very difficult to assess behaviour without seeing it and you are doing right in getting someone to help you. The only thing I would ask you to ensure is, that they use positive training methods and do not use aversives or talk about dominance and wanting to be pack leaders. These methods have now been shown to be very out dated and in many ways exacerbate problems. I would also be very wary of anyone who talks about "cocker rage". This is a very rare condition and is not a generic term for a cocker showing aggression or guarding issues.(lots of discussion on COL about it

Can only agree wholeheartedly with this - we had very similar problems with Ben and at 12 weeks I called in a behaviourist. Ben was our first cocker so had no experience about what to expect from a cocker pup.  It was nearly 10 years abo and ideas have changed now thank goodness but our behaviourist insisted it was a 'pack thing' and we need to show him who is boss with a range of strategies from dangling him just off the floor till he went 'submissive' and holding him down on the floor when he bit us again until he realised we were the boss.  I am so ashamed and upset now as what a terrible thing to do to a pup, but I do hear from people that this sort of behaviour is still being recommended by some so called 'behaviourists' and it makes me shudder.   Needless to say the strategies we learned from her did not help the situation and in fact it escalated until we ended up with a very reactive dog.   

In complete contrast when we rescued Harry 3 years ago, he had huge aggression problems and he was 8 months old.  And using positive reinforcement and clicker training along with some excellent advice from Top Barks on here, Harry has grown into a happy loving boy 

I am sure you probably know all this anyway as you say you have had other dogs in the past!  What I am rambling on to say is - with the right help these puppy issues you have can be resolved, and you will find loads of support no here