18 month old cockapoo bit me

[pamelat]

We have had our cockapoo from 8 weeks old. We did the whole biting puppy bit which was natural etc

I have been a bit concerned that he's still 'mouthy' in excitement but it's not in anger, more play. We are following all the guidance around that.

I have also been a bit worried that since turning one he has growled, predominantly at my husband, if asked to do something he doesn't want to do. Ie. Get off the bed.

I have really told him when he has growled at our children and slapped/tapped his nose for it. With them he seems to have stopped and tolerated them.

He's definitely my dog and prefers me because I walk/feed etc.

He is actually quite anxious if I walk away when out in a family group or if he is taken from me by anyone, but fine once I'm not there or if he is home alone.

This is relevant because today I was taking the children out and my husband was working from home. The dog ran to get in the car with the kids and knew when I took him out that he was staying home. He growled in a grumpy way, and I picked him up and carried him from the car to the house. He carried on growling and i told him no. I think I tapped his nose (this is all quite gentle) and told him off. He lunged at my face aggressively and his teeth made scratches down the side of my nose.

I actually cried in shock and was upset. I put him down and shouted quite loudly at him. He did cower and knew he was in trouble. I made him "go" in the house and left on bad terms with him.

I suppose rather than biting me, he lunged at me with his teeth bared? I am just worried at this unnecessary grumpiness and if he were to do this to the children?

He was probably tired as he had a full fun day of walking with me yesterday, 12 miles. I know he would have felt that he was missing out but staying home but I'm surprised that he did this. Maybe he is too?

He is such a loving day but definitely a grumpy or perhaps spoilt one? What do you advise?

I think it's ok to tap their nose but I don't have a dog and I wouldn't get one

With respect, you clearly know nothing about dogs or training them, so why on earth are you on this thread?

It is never okay to smack a dog on the nose!

I think it's ok to tap their nose but I don't have a dog and I wouldn't get one

DFOD

If you sign up to Reactive dogs UK on Facebook, they will put you in touch with a behaviouralist who can help.

It's not too late to turn this around but you will have to do some work and all of you need to be consistent.

Please though, don't just carry on as you are because I think someone will get bitten if you do and that isn't fair on anyone

I think it's ok to tap their nose but I don't have a dog and I wouldn't get one

Well at least you're making our point nicely for us

Just in addition to my other post, why would you carry an 18 month old dog back to the house.

Most people wouldnt like to picked up and carried away from where they are happy. Most dogs wont. Just like you wouldnt want to be gently tapped on the nose for showing you are unhappy.

At 18 months old a dog is reaching maturity. A bit like turning into a young adult. Unwanted habits can occur or old habits can escalate into something more inappropriate. I agree with finding a professional dog trainer if you don’t feel confident in how to stop the unwanted behaviour.

My cousins husband worked for Battersea dogs and cats home. A lot of dogs come in at about 18 months old because suddenly the dog is displaying unwanted behaviours. So often these behaviours can be easily sorted out.

I have a dog that started displaying a growl when told to get off the bed or sofa at this age. We did positive reinforcement training. When she got down she would get a treat and lots of fuss.

She displayed more of this behaviour towards my daughter so I got my daughter to start giving her breakfast/dinner. She would ask the dog to sit before giving her the bowl of food. We also did this for treats, my daughter would ask the dog to sit or lie and then reward her with a treat.

It did sort the issue out quite quickly. I do believe in my dogs case that she was possibly resource guarding with the bed/sofa was hers and how dare we try to remove her from it. It’s important to get the rest of the family involved in the care of the dog as I think that’ll help your situation too.

I agree with other posters who are saying that a growl is a very nice clear warning sign. You need to look at the situation when the dog is growling and assess what might be causing the problem. When you carried the dog, maybe the dog was uncomfortable, maybe the dog doesn’t like being carried so put the dog down. If your children are playing near the dog and the dog is growling is it because the dog is tired and wants to rest or is it the noise. Two choices here, remove dog from situation to a quiet place or encourage children to play away from the dog. My dog likes to escape from my granddaughter into my bedroom just for some respite from the noise and mayhem. Does your dog have a quiet place?

My advice is only based on my experience and advice I got from my cousins husband but I hope you might find some useful help in what I’ve written.

He sleeps in your bed, so he thinks he is above your children in the ranking. Nope.

OP you need some help with this dog and I hope that this will be your takeaway from this thread. You should not be picking up a growling dog and as for hitting him in the face...my heart breaks for him, just never do this again.

Also walking him 12 miles at 18 months seems a lot to me. I am an experienced spaniel person and I would not go so far with an active young spaniel tbh but my dog will never stop so I have to tell him when enough is enough.

Please ignore anyone who recommends Cesar Milan as all of his methods are based on pack theory which is outdated nonsense.

Your dog sounds anxious to me - get some help from a behaviouralist who will treat him with kindness and understanding and then will teach you how to do the same.

Not a grumpy dog, nor a spilt one. I suspect an unhappy one.

One of the biggest risks to using punishment in dog training is that you cannot guarantee what the dog will link the punishment with. We assume the dog will think

• I growled at children
• I got a tap on the nose that I didn't like
• Therefore I should not growl at children

This is actually the least likly scenario. Far more likely...

• I growled at childen
• That didn't work, they stayed close AND I got a tap on the nose that I didn't like
• I should try harder next time, perhaps a bigger growl and a bite

So, what you have here is a dog that has started to link all sorts of scenarios with being told off and is trying very hard to avoid those scenarios using growling to keep people away.

Please do consider a good 1-to-1 trainer or behaviourist because it reads like there are quite a few different situations in which you need some help to know the righht way to deal with them. In the meantime, please stop making the dog do something he doesn;t want to do. Think of ways to make him want to do what you want him to do.

If you want him to go inside then use a toy, treats, praise or encouragement to achieve that. Don’t just carry him in or drag him by a lead.

If you want him to get off a sofa then think about using nice things to get him off. If these don’t work then think about ways to prevent him getting on the sofa to start with.

And so on.

Also, the mix of breeds is important here, I think, for two reasons:

1. Cockers and poodles are both dogs bred to work in a way that encourages a strong bond with one person. That’s their nature. This is why he is clingy with you.

2. Cross breeds don’t often come from great breeders and genetics, in utero environmental exposures and the experiences of the first few weeks of life play a massive role in influencing temperaments. Think about where yours came from and whether or not the breeder is likely to have known this and taken actions to ensure the dogs had the very best start in life. If not, you bought a dog more likely to have behavioural challenges and so will need even more care and consideration to encourage the better side of him.

Doghouse really pisses me off when snobby people just can't help themselves with their pathetic 'Also, it's not a cockapoo, there is no such thing' etc etc.

No, Cockerpoo is not a breed, but it is a very common name given to a cockerxpoodle. If the op had simply written 'mongrel' or 'crossbreed' the very next question would have been 'what breed?'.

There is no problem with paying however much money you want for the dog you want, whether that is a pedigree, crossbreed, mongrel or rescue dog.

Decent cockerpoos breeders do health check both parents, and are just as good breeders as pedigree poodle breeders.
They are simply responding to the current demand for pets at the moment. There's no point them breeder perfect pedigree poodles if people want cockerpoos instead.
Yes, there are many many puppy farmers and unscrupulous breeders, but that goes for any breed/crossbreed of dog.

And yet again, this MN obsession with beating down cockerpoo owners has detracted from the real issue....

Think you must be reading a different thread @LochJessMonster

Very few people have mentioned the cross but breeding to meet demand is going to lead to a rise in health issues because people are buying dogs from puppy farms and backyard breeders.

I live in the countryside and bags of deformed puppies have been found dumped by the roadside.

So my dislike of designer breeds - and it's the same for most of the doghouse I'd think - isn't due to snobbiness, it's down to concern for dogs.

I would never buy from a commercial breeder, backyard breeder or a puppy farm. That’s not snobbery. That’s concern for animal welfare. Decent breeders don’t churn out dogs to meet demand.

@lochjessmonster

It's not snobbery to suggest that overbreeding creates health and temperament issues.

The vast majority of dogs like this come from puppy farms or backyard breeders and are not health tested. Taking your dog to the vets for a once over or getting the pups
chipped is not health testing!

Dogs who are raised in isolation often have behavioural issues. Puppies who are removed from their mothers too early also have temperament issues. Dogs like this are often from puppy farms and can be bought by anyone - puppy farmers don't care who gets their puppies so long as they get their money. So irresponsible owners end up getting puppies they clearly have no idea how to take care of, and things like this happen.

I think it IS mentioned due to concern for dogs rather than snobbery but I also think that a gentler approach to the debate is less likely to alienate OPs and so more likely to help them and their dogs.

Lecturing or arguing the toss on whether mixed breed, cross breed or mongrel is the right term risks the OP tuning out over their specific issue and so is probably not the best approach if helping their dog is the goal.

I don’t think LochJess has been reading a different thread. There are good and bad breeders out there. I’m sure years ago labradors were being churned out to meet demand in response to the Andrex advert. Our pup is a cockapoo. I call him by the name other people recognise, not to show off his designer status. He was raised in a family home. His parents have passed health tests. It’s just annoying that someone had hijacked the thread to attack the ‘breed’. This dog could have been any breed. Tapping on the nose is unacceptable regardless of breed.

It was labs which still rank quite highly among farmed breeds - something that might surprise people. As do beagles and dachshunds as well as pugs and frenchies (perhaps less surprising to most).

Cross breeds are vulnerable to bad breeders but 75% of farmed dogs are pure bred so being aware of bad breeders is all of our responsibility.

@RoombaSavedMySanity both are puppy farmed but where did you get that figure from?

@pamelat

If you’re still reading then please get support from an APBC accredited behaviourist.

I know that it’s hard to take on board but unfortunately the behaviours you are seeing in your dog are perfectly normal responses to how you are managing him, and are potentially very dangerous for your children and your dog’s future life.
You need expert advice to change your dog management style and improve the situation

Check out www.apbc.org.uk for an accredited behaviourist who can help

Have you never heard 'don't punish a growl?' And why did you hit him? If you hit me I'd bite you too.
Get a trainer or better still find him a nice home with someone who doesn't hit dogs

Sorry that this happened OP.

In terms of modern, researched understanding of dog behaviour and management you, (no doubt unwittingly), caused most if not all of this issue through the way you have handled and reacted to DDog.

Please do some research and consult a behaviouralist one order to get this sorted before it escalates into something even more serious. It can be resolved, but you and your family need to fully understand the particular set of circumstances that have led to this and how to fix it.

Until you have sorted the situation do not allow any children or young people to interact with Ddog, as they would be at risk.

wolfie it was a study commissioned by the Scoittish Gov back in 16/17 or 17/18 (I forget which) - later quoted by the RSPCA has a representation of the wider UK, in lieu of specific data.

The fact that you insist you only 'tapped' his nose proves you need help. You shouldn't be tapping him anywhere.
My dog has only ever been trained with positive reinforcement. Unfortunately 3 years ago a dog bit her whilst she was on the lead. Now occasionally she will lunge at other dogs if she feels threatened. We deal with this by giving her treats if we have to pass another dog in a limited space.
If your dog is growling try and work out what's making him anxious.

Don't ever punish you dog by shouting or hitting!

I live in the countryside and bags of deformed puppies have been found dumped by the roadside

God this is so heartbreaking. They never stood a chance.

Our pup is a cockapoo. I call him by the name other people recognise, not to show off his designer status

I am surprised by your use of language here and find it quite telling. 'Show off his deisgner status' is a really odd phrase!

designer

I think the “poo” craze has kicked in so much that’s no longer true. But given the popularity of Frenchies and Pugs it may well still be. It’s a sad situation.