Guards the house & growls at visitors

[Amethyst]

Hi, can anyone help, we have a 4 yr old red cocker. We got her when she was 2 from a breeder, she wasn't too bad the first 12 months but doesn't welcome visitors and growls, Of course I want her to bark if anyone comes up the drive, but she doesn't seem to know when to stop, I shush her & try & settle her down. She used to live in a pen & I wondered if maybe because she hadn't had anything to look after this is what she is doing. I am concerned about the growling it makes people feel very uncomfortable. I have tried distracting her when anyone comes, throwing carrot or taking her on the lawn to play ball, and recently put her outside straight away when she was growling when my brother came in, I let her in about five minutes later and she went straight to him jumped up once and was then ok, but growled again when he was leaving. I wonder is it fear aggression. She is fine with my husband and I & very responsive to all commands except this one problem when anyone visits.

[archieb]

I have a two year old with similar issues - he is fine with people he knows but if someone new visits he barks then he will stop then want fuss from them but out of the blue may start to bark again. He is very attached to me and the feeling is that he is guarding and being overprotective because if he was fear aggressive its unlikely we would allow them to fuss him. I have had a behaviourist and am working on a bit of separation from me so he does not feel the need to guard me

[MIN]

can you sneak your visitors a treat for her, making her sit in front  of them before she is given it. Then you take over the treat giving and sit
 when they arrive  after a time.   just a thought

[elaine.e]

Hi, can anyone help, we have a 4 yr old red cocker. We got her when she was 2 from a breeder, she wasn't too bad the first 12 months but doesn't welcome visitors and growls, Of course I want her to bark if anyone comes up the drive, but she doesn't seem to know when to stop, I shush her & try & settle her down. She used to live in a pen & I wondered if maybe because she hadn't had anything to look after this is what she is doing. I am concerned about the growling it makes people feel very uncomfortable. I have tried distracting her when anyone comes, throwing carrot or taking her on the lawn to play ball, and recently put her outside straight away when she was growling when my brother came in, I let her in about five minutes later and she went straight to him jumped up once and was then ok, but growled again when he was leaving. I wonder is it fear aggression. She is fine with my husband and I & very responsive to all commands except this one problem when anyone visits.

My guess (and that's all it is) is that she's anxious and worried about visitors, which is quite possibly linked to not being well socialised when she was with her previous owners.

If she was mine I would try to take the pressure off her by teaching her that when visitors arrive she goes into a particular place, perhaps a room away from the visitors or in her crate (if she's crate trained) or behind a babygate, so that she doesn't have to meet the visitors. Make it a nice place and nice experience for her. If she likes a chew or a kong it would be a good time to give one to her. It may help her to associate visitors with nice and relaxing things happening.

If she seems relaxed and your visitors are dog savvy you could try giving her the choice to join you, but ask the visitors to completely ignore her. If she approaches them they could throw a few treats towards her while still ignoring her.

It's a routine that has worked with my now 7 year old Cocker Louis, who became suspicious and barky around strangers after an incident when he was a puppy. He understands that when visitors arrive he goes into the study, as does my other Cocker (who's confident) behind a babygate and with some treats or a chew. If the visitors don't like dogs I leave the dogs in there, but if they're OK with them I remove the babygate after a while and then it's up to the dogs to choose. The confident one always comes in, does a bit of excited barking and then settles. Louis might choose not to come in, or may come in and stay near me. The choice is his and if he comes in and then starts getting agitated I put him back in the study. Not as a punishment, but in a bright and breezy way.

That's just my experience. It's difficult to give advice on a forum because none of us know your dog or what causes her to be so uncertain. I know that with Louis it's because he's fearful of strangers, so because we don't have a lot of visitors I've found the mix of taking the pressure off him then letting him meet certain people when he's calm and when it's his choice, works for us.

I hope you find a solution

[Amethyst]

Thankyou to everyone for your suggestions, I am going to put Etta behind the baby gate or in another room and give her a kong when we have visitors, I have noticed she is better when visitors ignore her, I think this stems from just not being socialised but we'll get there.

[elaine.e]

Thankyou to everyone for your suggestions, I am going to put Etta behind the baby gate or in another room and give her a kong when we have visitors, I have noticed she is better when visitors ignore her, I think this stems from just not being socialised but we'll get there.

I think that's a good thing to try. Something else I've found with Louis is that I've had to learn to make myself accept him for how he is (or how he became after the dog attack that wrecked his confidence and made him wary of other dogs and of some people). I've worked hard to increase his confidence and he's come a long way, but he's never going to be as confident as William and my previous Cockers, and I have to remember that and make sure that he's not put into situations he can't cope with. You might find that with Etta too, that you get so far and that's as far as she can go

[daw]

Having had a little red pocket rocket I do know! Mine was the other way- and round visitors necks before I could say hello. With your girl I agree with others that it's loss of confidence- and 'taking the pressure off' can only do her good. If she calms a little what you can do is recruit a couple of friends (stooges!) who are confident with dogs and will agree to ring the bell, come in, sit down ignoring anything she does. Then go out and repeat. Nobody makes eye contact or gives treats. You just do it in a really mater-of-fact way until she stops reacting. You do need to be vigilant yourself and know your dog so that if you think her anxiety is rising rather than having the edge taken off each time, then stop straight away of course. But for some dogs just observing that people can come and go and NOTHING is required of them can be a relief. I guess she's trying to protect you and yours which is a real burden for her. Good luck.