Troublesome Cocker

Question
QUESTION: Hi Delores

I read through some of your replies to questions and thought they were great and well thoughthrough.

I wanted to run my own problem by you to get your thoughts.

Alfie is just over 2 yrs old, very beautiful and loving golden boy. He is so good 95% of the time, then on the other 5% of the time he can react very aggressively to certain situations and snarls and now on several times has bitten. He does not proactively come up and bite, not at all, it is generally when he is in for example the boot of the car, or being towel dried, or being told off for being somewhere he ought not to be. He had a bad experience at the vet when he was a young pup, needle into the wrong place and he reacted very badly, and bit the vet when he was only 3 months old. Since then he had periods for maybe 4 or 5 months when he been literally good as gold, then has a very bad couple of weeks. I have had a dog behaviour specialist come to review, he suggested many rules and having him neutered. This all helped, then I guess the rules got relaxed and he reverted back to being naughty, before another 3 or 4 months of rule based behaviour. He is very very hyper active and loving. I just want some advice on how I can undertand him better to get him as close to 100% as possible.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Mark


ANSWER: Thanks for the compliment, Mark :)

I think, deep down, you already know the answer..."I guess the rules got relaxed and he reverted back to being naughty".  Bingo!

A lot of rules is okay, but basically with dogs it's "act and consequences" that matter.
So tell me how you react when you're towelling him (for instance) and he gets snappy or growls.
What precisely do you do?

The problem here is you know you can't trust him.  But guess what?  He can't trust you either..in the sense of "are you the pack leader or not?".  

And do forget about the bad vet experience.  Dogs live completely in the moment so this isn't an excuse or a reason.  I, of course, NEVER make excuses for my dogs...well, hardly ever...okay, a lot!!! :)   Point being - it's human nature and we forget they're not human - they're dogs.
But there is ONE thing that's never, ever excused...aggression.  That's a line in the sand.

I think I can help if you can describe specific incidents.

And, by the way, "telling off" a dog is a sign of weakness to them.  Pack leaders command - they
don't blither on about how annoyed they are.  (I never do that either :)

So write back - give me lots of detail and between us we can let Alphie know there's a new Sheriff in town !
Delores

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


Alfie   QUESTION: Hi Delores

Many thanks for the quick response, very helpful and yep I kinda did know the answer to the rules being relaxed -:)

So, today, we had a 1 hr run on the beach, best he had ever been behaved in terms of recall, we got home, went to his room, usually he is fine with being towel dried, today he didn't really fancy it and was very hesitant at coming over. You are right in that I don't trust him 100% so I was holding his collar whilst drying him, and he gave the tiniest of growls and then snapped, caught my wrist. I held on to his collar, and he continued to snarl and snarl, his eyes were very cross looking. At this point in time I was concerned if I had of let him loose he would have bitten further. So, the mention of "walkies" literally snapped him out of it and it was all over. This is pretty typical of how events have happened although today I didn't shout at him whereas I have before.

The other added complication of the past 2 days has been the new arrival of a black cocker girl, 9 weeks old. He has taken to snarling at the pup which I am sure is natural initially (they are not together unsupervised), and then snarling randomly at my wife or I. I guess for sure the new arrival is bad timing and is not helping, but the problem is not just a 2 day old problem. He is totally being treated the same as before the pups arrival, walks, food, affection etc and only sees the pup for 5 mins every few hours for now. Here is a pic, he is a cute one. Thanks so much for your help.

Mark


Answer
Okay...the second he growls - you stop and you position yourself right in front of him and in a low but deadly serious voice say NO and STARE into his eyes (pretend you're Clint Eastwood and you're ticked off).  Do not move - be physically still and continue with NO - never losing eye contact.

What's that about?  Alpha leaders when annoyed first give a low warning growl (NO) and then will slowly turn their head and give the "stare".  Pack members with any sense back off.

By not reacting instantly you helped turn it into a battle of wills.  So at that very first "tiny growl" is when you have to step in and stop it.

Continue the NO and the stare until HE breaks eye contact.  When he does, you just won!  He gave it up.

Most training is "anticipation" and stopping behavior before it happens.  You don't wait until the dog is "in flight" so to speak.  And then bribe him :)

Now, the new pup.  Oh yeah, that can create a bit of drama.  Unfortunately at her age you can't walk them together which is (done correctly) the fastest way to get them to accomodate each other.  But if he growls at the pup - do as I advised above.  And if that doesn't quite do it - we proceed with other tactics.

What's Alfie's problem?  He thinks he's pack leader.  Everyone thinks cockers are these cutie pie dogs..and they are (and he's a beauty) but they're also very dominant dogs.  You really, really have to address this seriously because it's very likely to accelerate.  So from now on Alfie "works" for everything.  He doesn't get fed until he sits - he never goes out a door in front of you - he's not allowed on furniture (yes, really!)

Your attitude will always be calmly authoritative and once you give a command, NEVER stop until he obeys.  Just wear him down with patience :)

Mark, this can get chatty and I'm happy to be in touch daily.  You can write me directly at DeeBeck7765@aol.com.

I have great sympathy because I've been through this with a dog that makes Alfie look like an amateur.  Today he's a happy charmer.  So I know the "never let up on the dog" is wearing but, trust me, it's worth it.  Biscotti had seriously bitten two people and I don't mean a growl and a nip.  He was doomed until I took him on and got my favorite trainer into the picture.
(Whose name, oddly, is Mark and told me on Day One to stop making excuses and whether Biscotti succeeded was totally up to me...oh my God..the pressure!  I knew he was 100% right).

And know this!  Dogs who behave badly/aggressively aren't happy dogs.  They need to know their place in the pack or they'll always be auditioning for "top dog".  Nobody's happy!

So Alfie needs to know without doubt - "You do THAT...and this happens".  No drama - no yelling - no punishment - just an unpleasant consequence.  And I DO know all the tricks :)

I clearly remember one day when B. had been particularly horrid - I sat there and looked at him and said "If YOU think a 7 month old cocker is going to defeat me, you are SO wrong".  I don't think it made a huge impression on him :) but it helped my determination.  And really, if I hadn't succeeded he would have spent his life at the Rescue he came from.
I don't want that to happen to Alfie!
Delores