4mth old cocker spaniel lunging/biting us on walk

[FluffyDogMother]

This has happened a few times now. We'll be at one of the local parks, half way through the walk - he's off lead sniffing and trotting about and all seems ok. He seems to suddenly get over excited, starts ripping up grass then starts lunging at us, jumping and snapping. Jaws open and leaping up to mid thigh, and it's hard enough to draw blood.

We manage to put him on his lead and hold him away from us at arms length, so he can't hurt us. He then calms down after a few minutes and is back to trotting about and investigating again.

Any ideas what could be causing this? We have tried distraction with a ball and treats with commands without success.

Sounds like over stimulation and redirection to me. When he does it turn your back and don't engage (I know it's hard when he's drawing blood!) With my 15month rescue we had to wear long trousers and long sleeves even in the height of summer! Try reducing the length of walks (do more mind games at home) and do more on lead focused walking rather than letting him offlead all the time as this is highly stimulating for them.

My pup did this when overtired on the walk so I just used to head home. All the sniffing is tiring!

Ours used to do this if we were wearing wellies. We just used to stand still (we was chasing them). He just grew out of it eventually.

This sounds like pretty normal puppy behaviour to me. Have you had any puppy training classes. Our trainer told us to stand very still with our backs to puppy and ignore. Puppy eventually grew out of it.

Overstimulation and excitement - how long are you walking him for?

My cocker puppy did that too - he tore a hole in my good coat once. It was over-excitement because we were rushing to catch a bus on that occasion, but he was awful for it. If he did it in the garden I would tie his lead to the washing line pole and turn away from him. Teach him to walk properly - treat in your left hand, lead in right, pup on left, and reward him for a few steps walking nicely not hanging off your ankle. Repeat until pup catches on. Try not to be in a situation where you’re wearing good clothes/in a rush. Mine grew out of it/learned to follow the treats by about 5 or 6 months.

Also, give him some easy commands he knows well to help him refocus - sit/lie down/paw. Don’t shout no when he lunges at you, ask him to sit and reward him for it.

Yes, we had this as well up until ours was about a year old. Always due to being overtired, over excited or frustrated. It was most common if we didn’t let him greet another dog or person.

We used to stop and turn our backs. If that failed we’d stand on the lead at a point to create just enough tension to prevent any further jumping up and wait for calm before continuing.

@Alannawhorideslikeaman

Sounds like over stimulation and redirection to me. When he does it turn your back and don't engage (I know it's hard when he's drawing blood!) With my 15month rescue we had to wear long trousers and long sleeves even in the height of summer! Try reducing the length of walks (do more mind games at home) and do more on lead focused walking rather than letting him offlead all the time as this is highly stimulating for them.

We do do the whole turn your back and don't engage etc but DH can't help but flinch and yelp when Ddog breaks the skin, which makes Ddog react. We do wear long trousers when walking him. Lots of brain games at home (find it, snuffle mat, fetch) and training with treats (come, sit, lay down, leave, drop off, bed).

We do need to train for on lead walking though. It's on the list!

@3WildOnes

This sounds like pretty normal puppy behaviour to me. Have you had any puppy training classes. Our trainer told us to stand very still with our backs to puppy and ignore. Puppy eventually grew out of it.

No local puppy training classes - all booked up! I did do lots with our old Ddog so have been training using what I learnt before (and refreshed my memory using Battersea Dogs info sheets, printed out so the rest of the family can follow them too).

@cupsofcoffee

Overstimulation and excitement - how long are you walking him for?

Between 20-25 mins, about 3rd of which is on-lead.

@MaryLennoxsScowl

Also, give him some easy commands he knows well to help him refocus - sit/lie down/paw. Don’t shout no when he lunges at you, ask him to sit and reward him for it.

There is no way he will follow commands when he's like this - this was the first thing I tried, even with his favourite treats.

Thanks everyone, I've been at work, then an appt, dinner and dog walking so have just sat down and read your replies.

We have tried tonight to do 20mins and no more - he went a little wild at the end but quickly calmed - it was better than before. DH initially disagreed with the overstimulation suggestion but it looks like it could be just that as there is lots of rabbit/fox poo as well as molehills so lots of exciting scents!

My puppy (now 6m) was doing this a lot when overstimulated on walks.

There was no stopping her and if we turned round she just did it to the backs of our legs. I used to just pick her up and hold her firmly until it passed, then get home as quickly as possible

She doesn't do it at all anymore, it only took about two weeks to break the pattern in the end.

Mine has also started this and it lasts the whole walk, she really bites and then calms down, then to do it again a few minutes later.

I'm trying the whole ignore thing, but very hard work.

Redirect. Have a squeaky ball or you in your pocket, when he does it get the squeaky thing out, lots of squeaking and then throw it. Ours did this when we wanted to play - mad zoomies would ensue if we redirected it into a game of ball or chase with the DC. He would flop soon after and be exhausted by the time we got home!

Squeaky toys add to the overstimulation. Lots of good advice from PPs. Black cocker spaniels can suffer from 'cocker rage ' which is genetic and related to coat colour, but if your dog is improving it is unlikely to be that.