Cocker Spaniel bit my husband

[Lottie231]

We’ve got a cocker spaniel who we’ve had for four years.

He’s been aggressive a few times over the years. Mainly when he’s poorly (e.g had an ear infection) and hides in a bush in the garden or under the bed. When we try to coax him out to come inside and go to bed he has lashed out & growled when we reach towards his collar, sometimes biting.

Recently he’s gotten worse and has taken a particular dislike to my husband. He’s always been a bit excited/bonkers and jumped up on people when they’ve come in the house (we have tried and failed to train this out of him). Anyway, one day he was particularly excited and he was jumping up on my mum and my husband told him to get down, he reached for his collar to pull him down and my dog just flipped. Really attacked my husband and drew blood from his wrist.

Now every time my husband goes near the dog he seems unsure. My husband really wants to re-home him (we have a 2 year old). He says it’s only a matter of time before he bites my son. I feel in an impossible position because I love him. We are having rows over it. Has anybody been in a similar position?

Good dog owners don’t allow this to happen (the jumping).

But, OP isn’t a good dog owner and neither is her DH - if they were, their dog would respond to their commands and they wouldn’t be dragging it about by its collar and being bitten as a result.

Try the vet first in case there are health issues but ultimately, you can't keep a dog with that nature as a family pet.

Rehoming with an honest/transparent description would be difficult "dog, free to good home, tendancy to full on attack adult men"...You'll probably need to think about PTS.

Don't get another dog as the training takes a lot more time and effort than you can manage. Spaniels are very intelligent and can be trained to do anything but it is a full-time job getting them to that point.

This isn't rage syndrome. That affects less than 1% of cockers so is very rare and the rage happens randomly. In your case you've identified triggers (collar dragging).

He's hiding before you're trying to get him out, therefore, he is biting as he is using the only method he can to protect himself as he's most likely frightened or in pain. We had a similar issue with our rescue cocker but we quickly learnt that when he runs into his cage or hiding place and we approach him he would get scared and he needed to be left alone or if he has something he shouldn't, he needed to be coaxed out not pulled out by his collar as he would bite. Spaniel bites are unpleasant and hurt a bit but I wouldnt call it an attack. We have learned what works best for ours, we took him to training and since we learned to understand his behaviour more, he's not bitten us since. Ours still jumps up when he's excited, but he goes into his cage for a minute or so when we have people come round and when he comes out he is calm. Having a working cocker is very different from any of our other dogs, they take a lot more training which needs to be ongoing. Ours is still really energetic and needs massive amounts of mental stimulation and physical exercise (loads of people dispute this, but ours does) if you dont have the time to give, then you need to consider rehoming and as someone else said, contact Spaniel Aid.

Loads of people are saying say get rid or he needs to be pts (I cant believe people actually think this is okay without checking out why he is reacting, he may be scared or in pain) I'm of the opinion, dogs are what you make them, if you haven't done everything you can to manage his behaviour, training, behaviourist etc. then do it, why pass the problem to someone else to sort out. However, if you're too scared about him being around your child then call Spaniel Aid, I was looking on there today and noticed they had a spaniel who had previously bitten as most rescue centres won't take dogs who have shown any signs of aggression.

For goodness sake, this shouldn't even be a question!! You cannot keep an aggressive dog in the home with a 2 year old. It's just bloody irresponsible. If I were your husband, I'd take the 2 year old and leave if you don't rehome the dog immediately.

I've overheard my neighbour telling her friends that their cocker bites and is aggressive due to being a lock down dog. Can't help but think that's an excuse for a lack of training.

Please contact Spaniel Aid as others have suggested. They are a spaniel specific charity & rehome via fosterers so your dog won’t be in kennels etc & they have experienced fosterers who know how to deal with this type of thing. I’m sorry to be blunt, but this absolutely could have been avoided - there have been many signals from your poor dog that he’s not happy with how he’s being treated (grabbing a collar to drag him from a hiding place for starters). I actually despair at how many posters on this thread are saying to just put him to sleep. He’s tried communicating with you & you’ve ignored him repeatedly, so now he’s escalated his communication. Please don’t fail him… speak to Spaniel Aid (or another spaniel specific charity) urgently, and do what’s best for him and your family by rehoming him. I say this as someone who works with dogs, has my own spaniels and has fostered many rescue spaniels.

The dog needs to go somewhere with an experienced owner who can train it and undo the damage done by owners who failed to train it and then kept grabbing it by the collar in an attempt to control it.

Your dog has a negative association with being grabbed like this. You could pay for a behaviourist and really listen and do what they say, but I don’t think I could take the risk with the situation you describe when you have such a young child.

I have spaniels and one required work with a behaviourist as he had some issues when he was very young, mainly around resource guarding. We invested lots of time, money and really stuck to the advice and supervised very closely and made sure DCs understood rules. But the dog hadn’t actually bitten anyone, although he had snapped at the air - which was the point that I phoned a behaviourist and took it extremely seriously.

Many years on and he is a great dog who doesn’t guard. Even now though, I’d never grab him and move him about by his collar, particularly if he was hiding; it’s a bit of a recipe for disaster really and there are always more positive ways of getting desired behaviours, involving some form or treats or positive reward.

The child is your priority. The dog will not live a good life constantly being kept away from the family or told off, he needs to be in an adult only household where he can be trained.

Why has your husband not paid attention to your dog's warnings? Looking after and owning cockers is hard work and time consuming. Contact Spaniel Aid and let people who know what they are doing give your dog a proper chance.

@LandSharksAnonymous
Well said.

If your dog is reactive, take it out of the room when people turn up, or put it on a lead.

I had a friend once with two totally out of control dogs who effectively mauled me when I visited. Unsurprisingly, I didn't want to go round there and wondered just what was wrong with this person that they would let that happen 🙄

I'm sorry to say OP but you failed your dog and you simply can't undo it because you have a toddler in the house.
No dog should be jumping up by the age of 10 months as the absolute maximum limit.
As others have explained, you/DH weren't knowledgeable enough as regards collar grabbing.
With the best will in the world, you simply cannot implement a sustainable training programme at this stage. Your child comes first. Your child's friends will be visiting for play dates before you know it. You can't keep the dog away from all visitors indefinitely. You need to be relaxed and the dog needs to feel safe and secure. Why put such a stress of everyone and the dog?
The dog needs re-homing asap. Also it needs a thorough check by the vet as I suspect there might be some serious health issue going on.
Don't fuck about with behaviourists nonsense.
The dog has to go to an experienced owner who has the time and capacity for it. Spaniels are actually quite a complex breed and, sadly, also prone to serious health problems.

Spaniel rescue group. Usually found on FB. They're very good.

Agree Vet check then rehome, a cocker spaniel will have more of a chance than many other breeds but you’ll have to make sure to tell them about his issues. I warn people not to get cocker spaniels because of how nippy and hyper they are BUT with all the people I’ve talked to as with our dog I’ve not heard of a vicious one. You can’t have a dog like that with a child in the house though. Hope it all works out op

I’m wondering where all these loving forever homes are for an untrained, aggressive, adult dog with potential health issues and a bite history.

I’m also wondering how long it will be before the poor thing ends up being passed on and end up on FB free to a good home. And on to god knows what life.

Rehome the dog ???

Yep - that’s bad dog owners. Our working cocker was purchased in lockdown (though that was by coincidence as we’d been planning for her for two years prior). She’s never bitten. Despite lockdown we took her to training classes. She’s lovely natured, lives with our cat, and is very sociable. I’d never ever grab her by the collar - it seems quite an aggressive act?

This dog needs a vet consultation and owners who know how to care for it properly. I think some owners see the beautiful big eyes, long floppy ears, and expect it to be an easy ride with minimal training and a little walk each day. It’s so much more - they’re working stock so need a job to do, and the right mental stimulation.

My cocker bit a child and so I took him to the vet who immediately said cocker rage. We had to wait 3 weeks to see if the child got rabies (in France). He was put to sleep 3 weeks later. He really ramped up the agression in those 3 weeks.

The last day he was agressive with me too.

Cockers can really have issues.

i had a jack russell dog years ago had a brain tumor bit me during a fit first fit ever vet said its quite common, please get the dog checked, it might just want some quiet time or could be ill good luck

They can be very, very aggressive.
Ours bit my Mum, growled and snarled at people and often just seemed to 'lose it' completely.
We felt he was a danger to our frail, elderly Gran and potentially any child (and us I suppose, looking back).
We had him put down.
(This was 50 years ago ... no 'dog behaviour' people then. Though frankly, we probably wouldn't have gone down that route anyway).
He was a loved family pet. He had become a dangerous dog.
The vet said he put down more cocker spaniels than any other breed.
Would not have wanted him ANYWHERE NEAR a small child.

We have had cockers in our family. One was the kindest most gentle soul and the other wasn’t. They were both single colours - which can indicate a tendency toward ‘rage’.

unfortunately grumpy bit, seriously, resulting in a hospital visit by ambulance. There are still scars. The paramedic said that he had a cocker who is the same. Behaviourists were called, full vet check for pain etc but nothing found. The tough decision should have been made then, but he was very much loved.

there were two further incidents later on. One caused by family member getting into his space in the dead of night (he gave no warning), and the final incident when he woke up suddenly and bit for no reason. The vet at this stage suspected doggy dementia. He was pts and everyone was heartbroken.

interestingly alongside the paramedic, we know other Coker owners who have had similar experiences - even with all the training and behaviourists. I’m not sure it is spoken about much though (look at rage in cocker spaniels).

I would suggest talking to the specialist breed charity but you with at the least need to rehome or consider pts. It is heartbreaking and I am sorry you are going through it.

OP it is devastating when your beloved family pet turns on you. In your circumstances there have been clear triggers before the bites, so with quick and thorough intervention from a behaviourist you may be able to retrain the dog. But given he has bitten several times, I don't think you can ever trust him with your child, which creates a massive burden for you in the house. I think you are out of your depth here and should contact the rescues. The cocker spaniel rescues are full of difficult dogs, and may be willing to take yours on, or you may sadly be stuck with an awful decision. Are there any family members who could take the dog - maybe a quieter environment, male-free, would suit it better?

You should have attached training lead to him before anyone came into the house. Don’t reach for his collar as this is a trigger for him.

I agree this is the best way forward. However, be prepared for a difficult decision if the underlying cause can’t be fixed.
Your child could be very seriously injured/maimed by the dog so you need to take great care if they are in the same room.

Try telling a two year old that.