My thoughts , (for what they‘re worth, Humphrey is my first cocker) I think you hit the nail on the head when you say your lack of experience and poor advice led you to believe Ben had rage. I‘ve read quite a lot of articles on rage but have no direct knowledge so certainly wouldn‘t presume to express an opinion about it but I think its a stamp which is very quickly placed on cockers as the answer to any sign of unwanted behaviour. I do think handling makes a huge difference, cockers are sensitive and don‘t react well to confrontation and as a result, their natural traits e.g. guarding can either become huge issues or can be „managed“. My dog guards his treasures more and more as he gets older and in an earlier life I‘d have approached the problem differently and ended up quite likely with an aggresive dog, but I‘ve learned SO much here on COL which has help me raise a happy sociably competent dog. The old training methods based on dominance probably had a lot to so with the problem but thank goodness things have changed. Unfortunately there is still a LOT of bias and consequently humbug surrounding the breed, - only last week I heard of a trainer here asking a neighbour of mine if she realized what she‘d let herself in for with a cocker and our local dog home is still advertising a cocker which will only be given to someone „who understands how to deal with a red cocker“ (the poor dog‘s been there for months but will probably never have a chance with that attitude).
I realize I‘m rambling now but its a bit of a soap box topic for me
- the’re such a wonderful breed and its so sad when a lot of their „problems“ are man made and then they’re dealt a reputation they don’t deserve. Best of luck with George, he sounds lovely and I‘m sure he‘ll be absolutely fine!
