5 month spaniel bit me!

[twinkie81]

My gorgeous 6 month Springer just bit me. She's usually a great soft lump who loves a cuddle but I picked her up from the dog sitter today and she said she had bitten her while she was trying to take a stock out of her mouth. I touched her face while she was in her bed and she did the same to me. She was a very nippy puppy but we sorted that pretty quickly but I'm worried about a larger dog that has actually bitten. I think she could be quite dominant given half a chance but we've always been careful to make sure she knows where her place is. I'm going to take her to the vet tomorrow so he can check if there is anything hurting her but how else could my lovely cuddly pup turned agressive overnight?

[Randytortoise]

Sounds like she's in pain. Is she too old to be teething? I remember when out dog was loosing his baby teeth he was very sorry and bit and chewed everything.
Also ulcers etc may cause pain.

[Hoppinggreen]

When my Goldie was about 4 months old he very aggressively bit me when I tried to put him in his crate. He had taken a bone up stairs onto the landing and I suspect he thought I was trying to take it. My hand bled quite a bit and was bruised.
Unfortunately it was the start of guarding issues around bones etc so we worked with a trainer and it's no longer a problem at all. The main thing was to prevent access to his places he took "stolen " items - so banned from upstairs for example ( which I preferred anyway).
The most important thing we learned was never to take anything but to swap it instead

[twinkie81]

Thanks. I'm going to take her to the vet tomorrow just to check that she's not in any pain and if not then I'll look at guarding issues. She's such a lovely girl but I just feel scared to touch her this evening.

[Frequency]

I think she could be quite dominant given half a chance but we've always been careful to make sure she knows where her place is

This is probably what the problem is. Certainly get her checked out by the vet but also contact a trainer who specialises in positive reonforcement.

Dominance theory is old hat. It was disproved many years ago and some of the practises it encourages can be quite damaging to a dog and can actually cause aggression.

[twinkie81]

By making sure she knows where her place is, I mean she isn't allowed on the furniture, she doesn't go upstairs, she eats after us etc she has completed a brilliant course using positive reinforcement. She's usually such a good natured pup. We had a very dominant male prior to her who was fantastic providing he never went on a bed. If he did, there was no getting him off without a huge drama! He was a lovely boy too though. Came to us as his owners couldn't manage his agression with a small child in the family.