Rage Syndrome???

[Tiramisu]

heya, my pup is 11months old solid golden show cocker, and we start thinking he might have rage syndrome..

i've read so many thing saying that rage is very very rare, so i must stress that he's a very well trained pup, he goes to training at least on weekly basis, he did GCDS bronze and flyball etcetc... he is not a resource guarder at all, i can take his food/toy away from him easily and he wouldn't show any aggressive symptom... he socialise with other dogs and people very well..
even he's a male dog, he never show any alpha male behaviour (not even marking!) since he got neutered at 5mth old

so why we think he might have rage syndrome?

when he's asleep/napping, on several occasion we woke up him up (to get him sleep on his bed/ it's too early for bed time etc..), he would literally roar/ growl at me (just noise/sound but no biting/attack). immediately after the one roar/ growl sound, he then back to normal, seems nothing ever happened/not knowing what's going on and back to the usual cuddly sweet boy. these symptoms sounds like the typical rage syndrome symptoms!

we never pay attention on his eyes as we are always shocked *o* when he roar/growl...

since this happened more often now and we recalled reading abt sage syndrome before, started getting worry. not really willing to go to vet at this stage, my heart will break if vet said it's necessary to PTS!

any experiences/comments?

thanks loads xxx

[HeatherandBenjy]

I don't have the time at the moment to type out a detailed reply, but in essence, no I don't think your pup has rage syndrome.

Puppies and young adult dogs need to sleep alot, (around 16 - 18 hours out of every 24 while they are still growing). You should not disturb a sleeping dog. What your pup is doing is very politely telling you that he doesn't appreciate being woken up when he needs his sleep. He is being good by giving you a warning. If you continue to ignore these warnings, you risk his behaviour worsening as he realises that his warnings aren't working and so moves on to snap.

I don't know about you, but if I were fast asleep and someone woke me up, I'd be pretty grumpy (and do a lot more than roar / growl at you, ask my OH  ).

Stop worrying about rage, it sounds like you've got a brilliant pup, but do remember to let him sleep

[twiceover2]

I don't have the time at the moment to type out a detailed reply, but in essence, no I don't think your pup has rage syndrome.

Puppies and young adult dogs need to sleep alot, (around 16 - 18 hours out of every 24 while they are still growing). You should not disturb a sleeping dog. What your pup is doing is very politely telling you that he doesn't appreciate being woken up when he needs his sleep. He is being good by giving you a warning. If you continue to ignore these warnings, you risk his behaviour worsening as he realises that his warnings aren't working and so moves on to snap.

I don't know about you, but if I were fast asleep and someone woke me up, I'd be pretty grumpy (and do a lot more than roar / growl at you, ask my OH  ).


Stop worrying about rage, it sounds like you've got a brilliant pup, but do remember to let him sleep

I completely agree with HeatherandBenjy  - your dog is just objecting to being woken up.  He doesn't have rage and sounds like a brilliant dog.  Have you heard of the phrase, "Let sleeping dogs lie"?  I would really try to avoid waking him when he is sleeping at all.  Could you just lift him into bed still asleep?

[black taz]

Sorry, but if you woke me when i was asleep i would growl at you too.

If you really need to wake/move him, i would try clapping your hands to get his attention.  He must be an heavy sleeper though, i only have to move when mine are asleep and they wake.

If that's the only thing you have to worry about, it sounds like you have the perfect dog

[abkb]

Agree with the above, this doesn't sound like rage at all.  Molly has a good old grumble when we wake her up from her little doze at night, to get her out for her last wee and then into her crate.  It's just your dogs way of politely telling you to sod off.  Perhaps you are also startling him when you wake him up?  

[Nicola]

I agree with Heather too, your pup doesn't have rage, there's a very clear trigger for what he's doing - you are waking him up from his sleep and he's telling you he doesn't like being woken like this, and you're possibly also startling him. As Heather also said though if you ignore the warnings he's giving you you do risk him escalating the behaviour (this still doesn't mean he's got 'rage', just that his current warning isn't being listened to). Do you really need to move him when he's sleeping? My dogs don't really object to this but I still try not to do it if I can help it. If I just get up and move around - or try to leave the room! - they almost always wake of their own accord though so you could try doing that if you need him to wake up.

[ollie nathan's mum]

I have that syndrome....get very annoyed and growl when OH wakes me if I fall asleep on the sofa and tells me to go to bed

[tallulah0710]

I agree with the other replies. It doesn't sound like your dog has range syndrome. A dog with rage syndrome would become 'suddenly and inexplicably aggressive to its owner'. Your pup is not growling for no reason, he's annoyed that he has been woken up  and is maybe a bit grumpy if he's tired.

Like the others have said it's important to listen to him so that he doesn't escalate his growling to anything more!

Hope that helps

Clare

[Ninasmum]

Same opinions as the others 
Its definetly not rage syndrome  & if it was then i would have it too 
The advice from Heather & Nicola should help. 

[cangrejo]

Yep, I agree with what everyone else has said. Your pup is just showing his displeasure at being woken up.

I also am not keen on being woken up and grumble a bit too 

[luckypenny]

We've never had this problem with Penny, but after reading other threads on here we did start to say "excuse me Penny" or " are you going to bed Penny" and waiting for her to move rather than move her ourself. Sometimes if she's really fast asleep on your knee she dose look round a little dazed while it sinks in, but them hops off sharpish as she knows she will get a bed time biscuit.

[siam]

Our last blue roan cocker Jake did not like being moved from his chosen place to sleep when it was time for him to settle in his bed in the kitchen last thing at night and used to 'tell' us in no uncertain terms. We accepted this as this just being him not happy to be moved, certainly not rage syndrome. My son is usually the last to bed so moves Alfie through from the hall to the kitchen and he still can't get over how compliant Alfie is compared to Jake - he's so good natured about moving through.

[lindseyp]

Like others have said, it would highly unlikely to be true rage, as it is so very rare but as you say it is happening more often, I would get him checked out by the vet, just to make sure all is well - any number of illnessess or conditions can affect a dogs behaviour long before showing any symptoms. I'm not saying he's poorly in any way but worth cancelling out that possibility IMO    (If your vets even mentions Rage, I would change vets  )

It sounds like he's quite a busy bee & you mention he does flyball? .... please excuse me if I'm wrong but I understood dogs only take part after 1 year old?  ......maybe he needs more sleep to compensate for his activity levels 

[minimoo]

I agree with Heather too, your pup doesn't have rage, there's a very clear trigger for what he's doing - you are waking him up from his sleep and he's telling you he doesn't like being woken like this, and you're possibly also startling him. As Heather also said though if you ignore the warnings he's giving you you do risk him escalating the behaviour (this still doesn't mean he's got 'rage', just that his current warning isn't being listened to). Do you really need to move him when he's sleeping? My dogs don't really object to this but I still try not to do it if I can help it. If I just get up and move around - or try to leave the room! - they almost always wake of their own accord though so you could try doing that if you need him to wake up.

Totally agree with Nicola and Heather, why cant you just call his name to wake him if you need to, i try and creep out of the room with mine and they always wakke up and follow me, if hes a deep sleeper trying to move him will startled him and hes making it clear to you that he doesnt want you to do this, he certainly hasnt got rage , its happening more often because you are not listening to what hes trying to tell you 

[Petepreston]

Hiya. We went through a phase with Posie towards the end of last year (she would be about 14-16 months old) and she was getting very snappy with me and my wife. It was almost always prompted by us trying to make her do something, go somewhere, or relinquish something that she didn't want to. The ferocity of the growl and quick bites was shocking and worrying.

The behaviour disappeared almost as quickly as it started and only lasted a few weeks. We still get growls if we try to move her when she wants to be in your seat or wherever, but it's more growl than anything, and a firm confident gesture and a good cuddle seems to nip it in the bud. SE certainly hasn't actually bitten since last year.

We put it down to a change in her hormones after TheOp, generally growing up, and trying to assert herself a bit more.

As I understand it Rage Syndrome comes with no warning or obvious provocation, is a sustained and frantic attack, and accompanied by "mad eyes". The dog often looks confused after the bout as they aren't in control at that point. In 20 months of owning Posie and talking to hundreds of dog owners - many of whome are Cocker owners - I have yet to hear of a genuinely likely case of Rage.

Given the situation that your little bouts are coming during I can only agree with everybody else - you don't have a Rage dog.