Laid back dog?

[Elisa]

Bailey is very laid back too, can do anything with him in the house, it's just outside he seems to get a second wind 

[crunchie]

Oh dear, is Pringle the only exception    She does growl a lot.  Funnily enough she is fine with us picking up her food bowl when she is eating out of it.  We have done this from when she was tiny to try and stop her getting possessive and she does not murmur or do anything.  But if she has something you are trying to get from her she really growls.  She growls as you are trying to catch her and really growls when you are trying to remove it.  She found a dead mouse in the garden the other day that the cats had caught and OH had a real battle trying to remove that from her.  She was clinging on to it for dear life and was going mad.  He managed to remove one very soggy dead mouse from her in the end 

She also tends to growl and snap a bit for other reasons, like when you are stopping her from going somewhere she wants to go or moving her on from somewhere she wants to be i.e. settee, climbing into dishwasher etc.  I am really hoping she grows out of it as we love her to bits and she is great.  We never find her scary or intimidating though. We are just firm with her and insist that she does whatever it is we are trying to make her to do.

[CraftySam]

Other cocker owners have alerted me to the fact that they can be possessive about food and other things, which is why I'm focussing on this with Barney, so that hopefully he will be as laid back as Alfie. 

Is it a particular problem with cockers though? It's not something I have ever heard/read before as being "cocker specific"

My experience of other breeds is through rescue, and so may not be "balanced" - but I have seen dogs of all breeds/x-breeds show resource guarding aggression 

At no point did I state that guarding was a problem only for cockers.   

I simply stated that other cocker owners I know had told me that they have experienced problems with possessiveness of food and toys. Having been told this by a few cocker owners, I have chosen to spend time trying to ensure that this isn't an issue for Barney. Why is that a problem?

I have never stated that all cockers have guarding issues.

I am well aware that all breeds are capable of guarding.  Guarding is more prevalent in some breeds than others.  But I'm sure that all breeds could be capable of guarding depending on each dogs individual breeding and circumstances.

Surely as a responsible dog owner it is my responsibility to ensure that I train and socialise my puppy in every aspect which will hopefully lead to a confident, well balanced adult dog that is trustworthy in every situation.

[Magic Star]

Indie is very laid back, she doesn't bother if you take her food off her, mover her or take toys from her   However, she will growl if she's got a bone, soo, she has never gone to bite though, just a warning growl and to be honest who can blame her, its high value and if I was scoffing sommat really tasty and someone tried to take it off me, think I would have sommat to say about it too

When she has a bone, shes left alone with it, to enjoy it in peace that way noone gets stressed out  

[Jan/Billy]

  However, she will growl if she's got a bone

Billy is the same. He only ever growls if its chicken wings or bones ( meaty ones)  Every day items such as his burns & biscuit treats he is fine with

If I had been typing in this thread 12 months ago I too would have been someone saying billy is laid back etc but then one day BANG!!! he started showing guarding behaviour 

[waisis]

Bailey is very laid back with humans (i.e., bones, food of all kind is not a problem), but with other dogs...it's MINE MINE MINE!  Today at the park, another dog got into his space when he thought he was about to get a treat from me (e.g., he had just fetched his ball and was sitting at my feet) and boy did he give this other dog an earful!  He didn't growl, but told the other dog off by making this piercing high-pitched bark at him over and over again.  Very embarassing...although I felt it was quite normal doggy communication.

[Rob6014]

Corky is fairly laid back. She doesn't seem to growl (yet - it may still happen) over food or toys, but she gets very frustrated and growls and barks if one of her toys rolls out of reach. You know how little kids get exasperated and whiney - well it's just like that!