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Author Topic:   Help w Aggressive Cocker Spaniel...sometimes
jcoveney
New Member

Posts: 1
From:West Rox, MA USA
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 01-14-2004 10:53 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for jcoveney     Edit/Delete Message
Our 1 year old dog (Cocker Spaniel) has a very good temperament. He’s very friendly and playful 99% of the time.

EXCEPT… When he has something he wants that he isn’t supposed to have (mostly small objects. Especially the baby pacifier, etc), he completely changes. He becomes very aggressive when we go near him to try to get it away. He went from just growling only a month ago to growling, snapping and jumping on our leg.

Anyone have any ideas on how to address the problem? Yelling “bad dog” doesn’t seem to be helping.

And we do have a new 5-month-old baby but he seems to be fine with him.

Yes, the dog has been neutered.

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Jamiya
Member

Posts: 1392
From:
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 01-14-2004 11:37 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jamiya     Edit/Delete Message
This sounds like resource guarding. He is protecting what has a lot of value to him.

Here is one article on the subject (there are many others, if you do a search):
http://www.greatpets.com/home/dogs/behavior/common_problems/aggression/types_of_aggression/d_article.jsp?articleId=38

I'm sure others who have had this problem will pipe in soon with better advice.


Jamiya

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puggleowner
Member

Posts: 228
From:Grand Rapids, MI
Registered: Nov 2003

posted 01-14-2004 01:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for puggleowner     Edit/Delete Message
We had similar issues with our dog that I wrote about in a previous post...she never got to the snapping stage, but she did growl if we tried to take away something she wanted. We cured her by having a squirt bottle handy (on the full blast squirt option, not mist), and we would squirt her whenever she growled, plus take the toy away. She hated being squirted, so eventually, after many episodes, she would stop growling, and then we'd take the object and give her a treat (and give the object back if it was something she could have). This seemed to do the trick, and we alternated between taking away the object for good and giving her a treat and giving the object back and giving her a treat-- this way she is always willing to give the object up, because she knows she might get it back. If she doesn't though, the treat makes her forget. If your dog hates water (other than swimming of course ) I would try this. Hope this helps!

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Maisey
Member

Posts: 1387
From:Portland, Oregon US
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 01-14-2004 01:04 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Maisey     Edit/Delete Message
That is called resource gaurding, there is alot you can do to change that behavior. Type "resource gaurding in dogs" into your search feature and you should find lots of articles and information.

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