Growling Dexter

[northernfish]

Just had a quick flick through the forum and desperately seeking a solution to our problem.

Dexter, my 4 year old cocker has suddenly over the last few days started growling quite aggresively at the wife and kids when they go to stroke him. This is very out of character for him for him to be like this as he loves a fuss n cuddle.

At times he does tend to have a growl at the kids if they come at him fast or making stupid noises but nothing like this. Yesterday he was growling so bad that my wife sent him out of the room and all the way out he was growling at them. Now i can put up with a bit of grumpiness but i'm not willing to make my family feel at unease whenever he's in the room.

I'm not saying this is the reason but one thing sticks in my mind is that last week when out walking on the lead, a couple of boxers approached him and he did his normal growl at them and they took turns snarling and biting at each other until their moronic owner caught up with them  . Could this have effected him that badly? Could it be just a pecking order thing? Or can it be linked to the "cocker rage" that the vet scared my wife to death with when we took him to the vets as a pup?.

[Helen]

If your vet is spouting cocker rage then change vets pronto.

Before jumping to conclusions then go and see the new vet and get him checked out - he could be in pain somewhere so this needs to be ruled out 

[elaine.e]

My first thought is that Dexter is perhaps feeling unwell or is in pain of some sort. Dogs can be very good at hiding pain, but grumpiness and not wanting to be handled can be indications of pain. They can also be indications of fear and anxiety. Has anything changed within the family or house that could be making Dexter worried or fearful?

A growl is a warning and should be taken seriously and respected. So for everyone's safety I think you should make a house rule for now that nobody goes to stroke to Dexter until you discover the reason and can start putting things right. When he's growling Dexter is giving out warnings that he's unhappy about something and if the warnings are ignored there may come a time when he just goes straight to biting instead. I'm not trying to alarm you, but that could happen if people ignore the growling.

If he was mine I'd probably take him to the vet for a thorough check in case the cause is physical. If nothing showed up I'd then look for a good behaviourist, one who understands positive training and isn't a Cesar Milan fan. Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes, particularly those of an experienced dog behaviourist, can see subtle things that you as a family might not have noticed in your everyday interactions with Dexter.

Please do not worry about Cocker rage. It exists, but is very, very, very rare. The name has been used in the past as a kind of general label for behavioural problems that haven't been diagnosed or understood far more than it has for the real thing.

I hope you find some answers very soon and in the meantime please stay with us on the forum. If you need a behaviourist someone on here may be able to recommend a good one in your locality, and there's always plenty of support on here.

[JeffD]

Have to agree with Elaine, get him checked out as it does sound as if he is in pain, also agree respect his growling he is saying stay away leave me alone, forget about rage virtually non existent now days and dogs with rage don't growl.

[northernfish]

Thanks so much everyone for taking the time to reply.

I'll get him to the vets on Tues unless much changes between now and then. Like i said its not like him, normally he cant get close enough (to the point where he normally sits on them  ).

I'll keep you posted.

[PennyB]

I would also ask re his thyroid as well as this can significantly affect behaviour or even if its low-normal it can - for this he needs a full blood panel doing as well. I mention low-normal as this happened to a friend's parent's spaniel who had become aggressive - results were low-nomal but vet decided to treat anyway and his behaviour changed.