My dog bit me

[Bitingspaniel]

Hi there,

I'd love to get your thoughts on why my 11 month cocker has bitten me and my husband in the last week.

We've had him from a pup, good breeder, some teething (ha) troubles but nothing untoward. He was neutered at 10 months as he was humping a lot.

Last week I told him 'here' and he wouldn't come. He ran off to his crate instead. I said 'hey! Here! Come on' and followed him. He started growling and I was so shocked, really didn't think he would hurt me so bent down and put my hand in his crate and he bit me. I assumed it was my own fault for not reading the signs, although I do still think he should have come when I told him to!

The second time my husband was having dinner with the kids (12 and 10) when the dog jumped up and put his front paws on the table. We've never allowed that, so my husband said 'off' and the dog ignored him. Husband shouted it - still ignored. Husband got up and walked to dog to put him in his crate while the meal was going on and the dog lashed out. My kids told me there was blood everywhere.

There have been other instances but no biting- the dog stole a toy from my son's room and hid it in his crate and wouldn't 'drop' or 'leave' and growled if we went near. We'd learnt our lesson so left him and then got the toy back later.

Having read some other threads I will take him to the vet to see if they can check him over. What else should we be doing? I'm devastated. The rest of the time he's just a normal dog, sleeps well, always ready to play, has either 2 longer walks or 3 shorter walks a day. His recall isn't great but getting better. Any advice, or recommendations for a behaviourist would be fantastic, thank you (we're in London).

God the passive aggressive attitude of some people on here.

Op you need to speak with a trainer but be careful to choose someone with relevant experience.

Honestly, the way you're treating this dog, I'm not surprised he's behaving the way he is. You all need to stop shouting at him and ignoring his clear warning signs.

If it was essential that he came to you, why not use a toy or some food rather than start chasing him around the house and then cornering him in his crate?

Instead of shouting at him to get away from the table when you're eating, put him in his crate before the meal with a tasty Kong or chew as a distraction - then he can't jump up and nobody needs to shout.

He's also a working breed that needs an outlet for his energy and intelligence - gun dogs need a job. So, either doing some gun dog training, or agility, or scent work, or Cani-cross - he needs a job and something to keep his brain busy. Walks, no matter how long, just aren't enough.

It sounds like you're lacking in experience a bit and need to stop and remember that you have a young, intelligent working dog that needs lots of input and training. He doesn't deserve to be shouted at and have his boundaries pushed.

We have rescued many dogs over the years. Since the crate 'craze' they have been more insecure and resource guarding; we have never used a crate... The dog we most recently rescued (rehomed, essentially, from a centre) had bitten in her two homes; it appeared both homes tried to bully her into submission, be 'dominant', put her in a crate as punishment, etc etc. She's also a working type, loads of energy, only 2. We gave her lots of controlled attention, play, toys etc, and train (always) with positive reinforcement. We put in firm boundaries and were very consistent. Left the resource guarding until last, gave her other, better things as reward for letting us have the 'thing'/gave it her back. She's now a happy, settled dog, who still flinches though if we move too fast... Maybe read 'don't shoot the dog' by Karen Pryor. The centre had put in some excellent training and she absolutely LOVES PR, so get a good trainer to help you get started, maybe. It does sound like your pup is deeply unhappy and distrustful; it can be rectified but it will take time; unless you can put in the effort and relearn, and provide what your pup needs then you'll have to rehome. I would just say to find a good one 😪

Thank you to all of you who've taken the time to write some really helpful, clear advice, I really appreciate it. We are honestly not shouting at him all the time - we do loads of positive training and he gets a lot a fuss and treats - but I'm hearing you and we will definitely re-examine our behaviours. Thanks again

You have an anxious resource guarding dog.
the humping is often a sign of anxiety/reassurance-seeking and neutering has likely worsened his anxiety by removing his testosterone and you’re now seeing the consequences of that.

if he retreats to his crate you need to respect that as his safe space.
I’d suggest getting support from a veterinary clinical behaviourist asap. He may need anti anxiety meds.

in the meantime read about trigger-stacking and minimise any stressors. Keep him calm and quiet and keep the children away from him

You’ve had some excellent advice here, seek proper support/training, for yourselves more than anything. You ignored your dog’s warning twice and were bitten as a result, your dog isn’t at fault here.

what are you doing with him in terms of exercise/brain games etc? Spaniels are so clever, they need an outlet for that, a bored spaniel is a nightmare.

I wouldn’t rehome, but I also wouldn’t leave the dog with your children, I’d be keeping separate for now, as adults you ignored the warning signs your kids are likely to as well.

I would possibly call Spaniel Aid and ask for help, they see this behaviour all the time, they will probably be able to point you in the right direction or at least give immediate tips.

My best friend’s dog is like this, but worse as it has escalated and he’s a cocker, I do think cocker rage is a thing. They’ve tried everything, vets, tests, multiple trainers and behavioural experts, nothing helps. They’re thinking they’re going to have to have him PTS unfortunately as he’s attacked multiple people and because of that can’t be rehomed.

I will say that they are quite dominant with the dog as well, very stern, sometimes shouting at him and he also gets aggressive when he’s told off and in his crate and approached, so I do wonder if the dog is like this because of how they have trained/treated him, however, the so called behavioural expert said they need to be even more strict and dominant to show the dog who is the leader 🙄 It’s not something I agree with, if anything I think he sounds anxious and scared, so needs more love and affection, but I’m a dog owner not an expert!

So they haven’t ‘tried everything’
they’ve tried outdated unscientific and abusive training methods and the result of that is a dog who is constantly terrified and will be killed by them for trying to defend himself.

why are you friends with people who treat vulnerable animals like this?

@Elsiebear90 I agree with you. It sounds like a disaster of a behaviourist, who has made matters worse.

@Bitingspaniel you've been given some really good advice here. In the short term, start respecing the growl (it's communication) and don't back your dog into corners where he feels he has to bite. He's at a tricky age, where he's working out who he is in the world, and testing the boundaries.

Long term I'd suggest doing some sort of training with him. It almost doesn't matter what it is - agility, scentwork, obedience, whatever floats your boat. The whole point of it is to build up a working relationship together where you ask him to do a thing, he does it, and he gets a reward. That's how you get a dog to come when you tell him to - by setting up a repeated pattern that when the dog does what the human asks, fun and rewards follow. Yes, it is about being boss, but the positive and supporting kind, not the strict dominant kind which simply does more harm than good.

Your family's safety, or the dog?
Get rid

It will not be cocker rage.

Get in a good qualified trainer (pretty sure you do not need a behaviourist at this point) and have some 121's.

The behaviour you describe is common in stressed anxious dogs. Being shown how to train and deal with the situation and what your dog is actually telling you will help you to move forward

A good place to start looking for a trainer Here

Your dog is still very young and can be trained not to act like this (and you can learn how to act around him so he feels safe). MN will write him off as a savage - consult a trainer.

They are sensitive and anxious dogs generally. Perhaps living in a big city with young children is causing more stress than you thought it might. Does your husband like the dog? It does read like perhaps he’s quite punitive which will make the dog unhappy and defensive. I’d be really cautious around your children, in case of another bite but locking him away will only make him more lonely and unhappy, so it’s very hard to call. On balance I’d consider rehoming to a quieter situation, where they had previous experience with cockers.

Agree.

When my dog bit as a puppy it was due to an ear infection. Spaniels are prone to them so get the ears checked. Agree with the others if he's gone in his crate to get away from you respect that and let him come out in his own time or if you need him out, lure him out with a treat.

Doesn’t sound like the dog needs a vet at all!

my dog guards his crate and that’s ok with us as it is his personal space and he does give the growl as a warning if he’s feeling threatened

I wouldn’t tolerate your dog at all.

you do get the MN crowd who are holier than thou and will blame you for your dogs actions! Clearly nothing to do with the personality of the dog!

jumping through hoops with trainers etc is not something I could do as life is busy enough!!

however even if you got the trainer could you ever trust this dog again?

I wouldn’t

If it's any comfort OP, I drive my dog to nip me once. He had stolen a ham off the work surface. I was so cross I shook my finger in his face and shouted. He nipped me. Obviously my 'righteous rage' isn't interpreted by a dog as anything other than an aggressive attack. Poor lad. I did better after that.

Basically your dog doesn't think like you. He doesn't think 'oh dear, they don't like my feet on the table, I'd better get down.

He thinks oh, something interesting up here, let's have a good look. No, I'm still looking, thanks. Suddenly your DH is bellowing at him for, in the dog's eyes, no good reason.

Think of the dog as a toddler. Gently redirect, distract, encourage good behaviour. The unwanted behaviour will wear off.

He's just in his terrible twos.

I would firstly get a check from a vet then have an appointment with a qualified behaviourist. I would however go into this with caution. A dog that has bitten and broken the skin is much more likely to do so again and obviously more of a concern with their being kids in the house. In the meantime can you use a house line attached to the dogs collar in order to safely be able to move him around if needed.

Ok please ignore any suggestions of spaniel rage. The instances you are describing were exactly what I expected when I read the words cocker and his age! We have a male working line sprocker. During his teen years he developed some guarding behaviour that sounds very similar to what you're describing and resource guarding is so so common in these dogs!

It's very easily nipped in the bud if handled correctly and everyone is on the same page. Our lad is now like a different dog, so don't lose faith.

The key with resource guarding is to use high value rewards and remove opportunities for guarding.

Before meal times just pop him somewhere else, remove the temptation and any chance of escalating angst around food. I would possibly crate him but use a piece of food to pop him in his crate. We always used carrots for the crate because you don't want to be trying to shut a crate that contains an angry dog guarding a high value treat! Or pop him in a diff room or use a stair gate etc

Make sure everyone understands that a dogs crate is his safe space. It's where they can retreat when they need a break. No one should ever stick their hands in the crate or bend down and peer in. If you call the dog and he doesn't come then work on recall in the house - you come when I call and you sometimes get a treat.

Never touch him when he's eating, as if he's got a tendency to guard he may react badly to this. Same goes for chews.

Don't leave anything where he can get it. If he does take something he shouldn't don't chase or try and grab it. We had bags of treats in every room ours was allowed in at one stage and if he picked something up we simply grabbed the treat back and he was immediately hyper focused on that, and would drop the item once he saw the treat. When he was bad with the guarding we had to throw the treat away from the item in order to pick it up. 2 years later we can now take things out of his mouth - so it does get better.

I would also make sure that you and DH are on the same page with redirection - if he's doing something you don't like then shouting and getting in his space isn't going to work. You should instead work in short sessions of training every day so he has a solid understanding of commands like "off" "down" "away" "leave" as well as saturating his understanding of "sit" and "stay" so that in future a firm "sit" gets him down from the table and bum on floor.

Engaging his brain is also going to help. Look into memory retrieves, do you use a whistle? Whistle work is great fun for spanners and tires them out mentally which is going to help.

Ultimately by being consistent and teaching our boy that he could trust that we would always exchange stolen things for a treat, and by always remaining calm but firm we have almost entirely eradicated any guarding behaviour. He can still sometimes get a bit funny about really exciting chews but we significantly limit those, and we will always feed him in his own space.

We haven't had a guarding incident in nearly 2 years now. And he's become this incredibly snuggly lovely boy. But adolescence with spaniels is really tough. And Spaniel Aid is packed full of adolescent dogs with a history of resource guarding. Do lots of research into managing RG, avoid any trainers who don't have working dog experience and think carefully about how you manage the DC and the dog. Our DC had the rules drummed into the and were old enough to remember to always use the treat exchange for stolen things and to give him space but I still never left them alone together.

Couldn't agree more.

You need to consider how you are as ‘owners’. Like a bad parent can result in a bad child are you at fault here? Shouting, cornering etc maybe the dog is frightened of you? I have a spaniel who wouldn’t hurt a fly but when someone tried to move her by holding on to her haunches she growled and bared her teeth - very very unlike her but they are animals and run on instinct.

Thank you all again - great advice @Motorina @picklemewalnuts , thanks so much for that link @ShouldIknowthisalready and @ShadowsShadowsShadows WOW - thank you for taking the time to write that, it's so incredibly helpful!

I really appreciate everyone's help

He ran off to his crate (I hate those things) so you put your hand in! You'd ignored his growls.

Your husband shouted at him, tried to get him into his CAGE (that's what a crate is) so he turned on your husband.

REWARD him for doing well and behaving nicely. Ignore other behaviour unless it is dangerous. Get rid of the cage.

They have tried multiple trainers and behavioural “experts” who are all saying the same thing which is “he thinks he’s the boss, you’ve spoilt him, he needs to learn who is in charge”. My friend and her family don’t agree with this, they think if anything they’ve been overly strict with him, but they are just following the advice of these so called experts because they’re all saying the same thing.

I am not a dog behavioural expert, so I don’t feel like I have a leg to stand on really in telling her not to follow their advice. I told her I personally don’t agree, and that he sounds scared and anxious, so I think they should show him more love and affection, stop putting him a crate (they do this at night, when they have visitors and if he shows signs of aggression) and stop being so strict in terms of what he is allowed to do and commanding him to do things, but they said when they discussed that with the “experts” they strongly disagreed and said that that’s dangerous advice that would make him worse. So I don’t know, maybe I am wrong?

I have my own dog and we are very relaxed in terms of what she’s allowed to do (she can come on the sofa and the bed, she can have cuddles whenever she wants, she doesn’t have a crate and can go anywhere in the house etc) and are very affectionate with her and she has no aggression issues at all. So from my own experience I don’t personally believe being too affectionate and relaxed with a dog causes them to become aggressive. I think it’s being too firm and causing them to be fearful, anxious and not feel secure, but she’s paid these people a lot of money and they all seem to be singing from the same hymn sheet unfortunately.

These people aren’t experts. The issue with the industry is it’s not regulated. If they are on FB recommend dog training advice and support. It’s run by Sally Bradbury and others. All force free. All positive. The advice they’ve had will only make the situation worse @Elsiebear90