agressive cocker speniel

Question
My son adopted a male cocker (they said he was about a year old but the vet recently said he is closer to 2 years old) from the spca on Oct. before he took him home he was neuter. He started to notice he had problems with some people they could be petting him and all of a sudden Baxter would jump at them and try to bite. He has almost snipped at 4 or 5 people, the first time it happened it was with our grandson,but then it happen to adults also. Is this a behavior that can to fixed. We have bought him a muzzle but he seems subdue when it is one, so right now we keep him from most people which is not teaching him to be social. He really wants to keep him but he is only 26 living with a couple of other people so there are people coming and going all the time we are worried he may bite very soon. Hope you can help us.

Answer
Yes, it can be fixed.  I seem to be reading that Baxter spends time with you.  Is that right?  How is he then?

The first thing I'll tell you is Baxter is "snapping" and that's not biting.  If a dog wants to bite - they bite.  And even their bites are "measured".

Your son has to be willing to put in time doing basic training and giving Baxter a good amount of exercise.  A lot of bad behavior is due to boredom and pent up energy.  Two half hour walks a day is minimum.

The first thing to do is teach Baxter he's not allowed to approach anyone without permission.  That means anyone coming in is told to totally ignore him.  Not even eye contact.

Dogs are curious so he'll try.  He's then corrected with a firm but quiet NO and made to sit and stay.  Have him on a short leash so you have total control.  Just being on leash makes a dog more submissive.

In a dog's mind the message is that these "others" are under the pack leader's protection.  Note he's not doing this to you or your son but to people he considers "trespassers" and he's announcing "he" owns this space.  So he needs to be taught he doesn't.

But I do need to know more about Baxter's daily routine - what commands he knows - how much exercise he gets.
Delores