Night biting rescued Cocker Spaniel

Question
QUESTION: We rescued a male cocker spaniel December of 2009. He had been abandoned by his owner when she had to move from a house into an apt. While she was trying to find a home for him, she left him where she had lived and we were  told, fed him when she could. He weighed 16 pounds when we adopted him and is now a healthy 33 lbs of love and fun, except.... He is 2-3 yrs old and one of the sweetest Cockers we have ever shared our home with- however, he has now bitten both my husband and myself twice each at night and also my sister once. All occurred when he was asleep and touched or moved-he changes from the sweetest, gentlest dog into a ferocious, snarling attack dog who is unrecognizable as the same dog-bared teeth, vicious and relentless until physically restrained., He then appears stunned and returns to a loving, cuddly, gentle dog. We had him on Prozac for this for a month and were told by our vet to agitate him, provoke him and prevent him from harming us but we never, evidently, scared him at night,
I understand, mentally, that he must have been horribly abused at night when he found a place to sleep but it is emotionally draining to think you have resolved this only to have it happen again. We have another Cocker who is 10 years old that he does as well with-some jealousy by both but still pals. We are and have been in training with local rescue Dog trainers who agree he is absolutely wonderful, intelligent, easily trained BUT they have never seen his "attack mode". We also have grandchildren and hate to isolate him from the family but............
He does sleep in our bedroom as does our other Cocker, unconfined, and does get on our bed with us when he wants to. Each time he has bitten it has been when one of us has gotten up, returned to bed and evidently moved him and caused this reaction.
I know crating him would resolve this issue but so we have more of a problem than I am aware of?  We both love this dog and would like him to be allowed to be a part of our family without restrictions but are afraid this behavior may extend or get worse as he ages if we do not somehow correct it now.

ANSWER: I want to be absolutely sure of the facts here.  He's bitten both of you and the only time this has happened is when he's in your bedroom at night?  Was he on or off the bed when it happened?
And precisely what happened when he bit your sister?

If he's sleeping during the day (especially on furniture) and you disturb him, what happens?  

I can tell you right now that the more specific a bad behavior is, the easier it is to solve.
And, I must say, your vet's advice was incredibly bad.
Delores

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QUESTION: He was on the bed with us each time it happened and we both believe he was sound asleep when we returned to bed. We also both tried to "move him" out of our way using his collar when the events occurred. I know I did not say his name or try to awaken him-but my husband does not remember.
When he bit my sister, we had only had him 2 weeks, we had a crowd here for the holidays, he was  not neutered and she had brought her make terrier with her. He had interacted fine with everyone and had fallen asleep on the couch when she said she attempted to pet him and he "attacked". Her dog was between them but no one else was in the room. We all thought we had her her dog growl before she was bitten but she denies this.
He sleeps on the furniture during the day but neither of us recall reaching for him but merely calling him to take a walk or eat. He also seems to have "lighter sleep" during the day and immediately gets up if either of us move, walk or start to do anything-he definitely does not want to miss anything!!
I can pick up his food bowl when he is eating and he does not care, he allows me to groom him, bathe him clean his ears and even though he dislikes his ears being cleaned, he has never done more than try to escape.
Thank you for you quick response and any advice you can give us!!!

ANSWER: Okay.  I'm discounting the sister/holiday thing.  Totally unfair to judge him from that.
So let's press on to this bed issue.

Any good trainer would instantly tell you he's not allowed on the bed.  What he's doing in this incredibly specific instance is saying "I'm the pack leader..this is MY bed.. and you're bugging me".

So...we have choices here.  You can simply say he's not allowed on the bed (but can still sleep in your room) or we go into training and teaching him this is YOUR space.

Do you have a huge problem?  No.  He sounds like a good boy and considering the horrifying neglect he suffered that is kind of amazing and I'm so glad he found you !

What would I do?  Well...for a little while I'd try crating him in your bedroom at night.
He's still with you..but under total control.  Doing nothing is not an option and if you want to train and teach him he's an "invited guest" and this isn't HIS bed I can help with that.
It's up to you.  The easy route is to avoid the issue :)

Delores

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: We have a crate in our bedroom for him now-we used it initially when we were not here until we trusted him alone with our other dog.We can start crating him tonight but I would like help with training and teaching him that he is an "invited guest"-I prefer not to avoid this issue and my husband agrees as our other dog has had this option.
He is a great dog, a true clown in some of his behavior and as sweet as the older cocker we have.

Answer
Do crate him tonight.  We need a "big change" here and for the moment at bedtime, this needs to be done.

Now...to teach him it's YOUR space.  I want you to teach him the "Off" command and that means wherever he is he gets off on command.  The way to do this is to put his short light leash on him...get him "on" the sofa, the bed, the chair...and command OFF.  Gently pull the leash and when he's off..praise & reward.  The ONLY time (temporarily) that he's on the bed is while you're teaching.  This is a process and first we teach the command.

And then..when you're 110% sure he knows the command, but just ingores you, I have a few little tricks up my sleeve :)

In the meantime - it's no sleeping on your bed.  This is important.  He has to earn that privilege (sleeping with the pack) and right now he's running the show.  So stop that immediately because by allowing it, you're allowing unacceptable behavior.  Dogs are simple...we're the ones who complicate things :)

And training is "anticipating"...you don't allow the behavior to happen.  Too many owners let it happen and then when the dog is in "full flight" so to speak, try and correct.

Let me know how it goes.  

Delores