Agressive Behaviour

Question
QUESTION: Dear Delores, thank you so much for your help so far but we are still having problems!Our Cocker is fine when playing with a ball and has no issues with me going near her food bowl but if she gets hold of a bone type chew, she becomes very possesive and  nasty.We are unsure how to deal with this as I managed to retrieve the chew from her tonight but she was very angry and snarling and growling and trying to bite us. She scares me and I could do with some help as she is such a happy and friendly dog the rest of the time but we can't trust her with other people in case she suddenly turns. We are now sure that this has nothing to do with her being spayed last week and we are so surprised at this because she is such a placid dog and the lack of pain relief from the vet made sense of the behaviour last week. We look forward to hearing from you. Julie

ANSWER: Okay, first of all - no more "chews".  Give a cookie or a raw carrot/green bean as a treat.

I need to know if this is solely when she has a rawhide/chewie type thing.

There are "nice" dogs that get really possessive about a bone or a chewie.  There are two answers to this - either give it and leave them alone OR do not give anything like that.

Secondly, these type of "chewies" are dangerous anyway. Any ER vet will tell you horror stories about having to remove rawhides/greenies/raw bones from a dog's throat.   So no big deal to cut them out.
But I need to know if this is that isolated an issue.

Luckily this is not food related...toy related.  The problem with rawhides (or things like that) is that they're high protein "prey" to some dogs.
Delores

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

QUESTION: Thank you for responding so quickly! The rawhide bones are definitely a problem so will not be giving her any more of those but today it was one of those bone shaped biscuit things that are designed to give their teeth a good clean! She has previously given me a 'warning' when I gave her a small dog biscuit and she also gave my husband a 'warning' tonight when taking the ball from her - she did give it up in the end though with no fuss and it was almost as if she remembered that she had been naughty!!!
I am just worried because having owned 3 cockers in the past who never displayed any agression towards me at all, this is completely new to me.
Thank you so very much for your help and advice and I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, Julie x

ANSWER: Okay.  This gives me a better picture.  First of all, don't panic.  The first few weeks are very rough for a Rescue dog.

So, for "today" - no more treats of any sort.  She gets her food twice a day and that's it.
I want you to make her sit before putting her bowl down.

As for the "warnings" when you want to take something from her - here's what to do:
Be perfectly calm and physically still - get down on her level - STARE into her eyes and quietly but firmly say NO.
Count to 5 - say NO again while never losing eye contact.  Picture yourself as Clint Eastwood :)
Do it again.  When she breaks eye contact, you just won.

The other exercise both of you should do with her is simply snap on her short leather leash and attach it to you (beltloop-whatever works).  For 20 minutes where you go, she goes.
NO chat.  The message to the dog is YOU are the alpha leader.  The leash is a powerful tool and this works on both anxious and aggressive dogs.



For the next week I'd cut out all toys - treats - chewies and walk her a LOT.  Let her get used to you - avoid the situations that trigger this (temporarily).  Get a routine going.  At any growl - do the NO and eye contact.  Do the umbilical cord exercise - take turns.

Above all - do not yell or punish.  Dogs don't respect that and it just puts more aggression in the room.

I'm very curious as to what happens if you follow this advice.  This girl has been through a LOT and this could be nervousness - not knowing what's going to happen - and just feeling like she has to protect herself.  So let her get to know you - lots and lots of exercise (on leash) - avoid the triggers for the moment and let's give her a bit of time to settle down.  And to realize someone is in charge and it's not her :)

And, by the way, NOTHING cleans their teeth except brushing.  Pure marketing nonsense!
Delores

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

QUESTION: Many many thanks for your advice - I will let you know how we get on in the New Year. Julie  

Answer
Any good trainer will tell you not to assess a Rescue dog for about two weeks.  So many dogs kind of "lose it" while at a Rescue.  And getting her then immediately spaying (another strange place AND pain) may well have added to things.

My view is you may OR may not have a problem here.  So let her settle in, bond to you, and then we can assess.
Delores