3 Year Old Cocker Spaniel Behaviour Change

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NickK
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2017 5:06 pm

3 Year Old Cocker Spaniel Behaviour Change

Post by NickK »

Hi there

I am currently worry about my Cocker Spaniel's behaviour of recent. Her name is Hiedi and she is 3 months shy of 3 years old.

Recently, Heidi has been growling, acting aggressivly toward me & my wife and not obeying our commands. These issues only appear to happen now and again with no warning.
We have our first child arriving in a few months so I want to address this issue before a child is brought into our home.

We noticed this behaviour start just over a week ago where she would start to growl if you came close to her whilst she lay on the couch or in her bed in the corner of the livingroom. When she would growl, the noise would increase if you started to speak to her (firm or high pitched) or attempted to stroke her near her face or chest/stomach area.
What was weird was that whilst she was growling, she would act very submissive and cuddle into you with her tail low. She would even allow you to perform certain commands like 'paw' or if you walked away from her and ask her to 'come' to you, she would.
We thought she might have had a sore mouth or stomach and this was her way of telling us but other times we would clap or come upto her (in her bed or couch) and there was no signs of growling.

She has always been a very fussy eater and I'd be lying if I was to say I haven't added the odd scramble eggs or chciken carving into her bowl of dog food when she hasn't ate all day. This does usually make her think she will be getting more human food but after a day of relising she isn't getting any, she'll wolf down her dog food on it's own.
Saying that, the last few days she has been extreamly reluctant to eating her dog food which has had us worried. So my wife wanted to check her teeth/mouth was OK and in doing so the growling began. Heidi kept her mouth wired shut as my wife attempted to look and it was then Heidi snapped at her. Luckily she did not bite her but the intent was obviously there!
After that situation, she was very submissive again as if she knew what she had done was bad but still a low volume of growling was ongoing from her.
Not long after that, we all went to bed where Heidi has a bed at the corner of our room. She went in her bed on command and after I had got ready for bed, went over to pet her (she was fully aware I was coming over as she had been watching me the entire time) and she started to growl again. This was when she snapped at me as soon as my hand touched the back of her neck. Unfortunately, she was not submissive after this attack and was reluctant to adhear to any commands.

Today, she was the same happy, playful, obediant dog we had grew up to love and showed no signs of any issues. She let me clap her at the back of the neck, she'd lay on her back and expose her stomach and allow me to pet her. She even let me see her teeth (howeven, did not let me see inside her mouth). But me wife phoned me several hours ago at work complaining the dog is doing her 'growling' behaviour again and deliberatly not obeying her commands.

We did have an episode when she was younger where she was trying to find her rank in the household but read up on it and got advise from our vet and feel we have managed this issue...or have we given the issues just raised?

I have thought that Heidi might be going back down this dominance road because she's aware of the changes happening in our house (baby) and she feels like she is going to be replaced or wants to mark her territory!? But how does this explain the random growling or she won't show us her teeth??

We done alot of research on Cocker Spaniels (and other breeds) prior to getting Heidi so we were clued up on how to properly look after and train a dog. She is one of the most obedient and well trained dogs in our neighnourhood and all our friends & family agree but the last week or two has been difficult with her behaviour and we can't put a stamp on what it is!

I appreciate your time reading this and any feedback or advise will be greatly appreciated!

Kind Regards

Nick
muttmom
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Jan 22, 2017 2:43 pm

Re: 3 Year Old Cocker Spaniel Behaviour Change

Post by muttmom »

She sounds like she's in pain, especially because this is a sudden change, and she shows submissive behavior along with the growls. Has she been to the vet since this began? I wonder if she has a problem with her teeth perhaps.
Erica
Posts: 2697
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:35 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: 3 Year Old Cocker Spaniel Behaviour Change

Post by Erica »

I second the vet check. Pain in her teeth, back, stomach, anywhere; a decline in eyesight or hearing; a subtle illness could all be medical reasons for her behavior. I would look to this first before trying any training. If you have the same vet as you did when advised to look into dominance training, I might suggest looking to another vet for answers if they don't give you any. Our German Shepherd was diagnosed as "sad that she wasn't the alpha anymore" when I first got my poodle puppy. A second vet diagnosed her tick-borne blood disease that was causing her pain and lethargy and prescribed meds that had her back to bouncy in two days.

We don't go to the first vet anymore.

Additionally, I think your vet sadly gave you incorrect information on the why's of your dog's previous behavior. This article is the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior's stance on dominance-based training. This article is a bit shorter and just as clear and helpful. In short, dominance theory is based on a bunch of misunderstandings, and popularized by charismatic but misinformed TV personalities. The "submissive" behaviors you describe sound more like appeasement to me - a dog's way of saying "I am not a threat, please don't hurt me."

I'm up past my bedtime and need to head on out, but I'll try to jump on again tomorrow to expand a little bit more! For now, if she growls, back off and leave her be - here's a bit I wrote up in another thread that applies here as to the "why should I leave her alone when she growls?"
Growling is not a threat. It is a statement of discomfort. It means "I don't feel comfortable with this" [...] If he learns not to growl, it doesn't mean he won't be uncomfortable, it means that he won't growl and will possibly go straight to biting. I know that I'm much more comfortable letting the kids pet Amadeus because I know he growls when he's not feeling well - if he growls, the kids say "Oh, sorry," and leave him alone. He doesn't have to bite. He knows that we will listen to him when he doesn't want to be hugged or messed with, when he's got a sore paw he'll tell us about it. Do not punish a growl unless you want to create a dog who doesn't warn.
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
NickK
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2017 5:06 pm

Re: 3 Year Old Cocker Spaniel Behaviour Change

Post by NickK »

Thanks for your inputs...

I have since took Heidi to the vets and there is no issues with her teeth or stomach. Infact the opposite...her teeth & gums are in good shape and she is in great physical health with no discomfort coming from her stomach. The vet could also see straight to the back of the retina so her eye sight is good as well.

This is looking towards a more behavioural issue after eliminating the previous symptoms (without going into the rare symptons of tumors, etc.) so we have sat down an decided how we want to attack this.

She can be very timid at times so to help with her anxiety towards this, we got her one of those pheromone collars so hopefully help her elax a little.
With regards to her growling, we will most definately take your advise Erica with walking away from her and giving her her space.
We have also took her beds in our bedroom & livingroom and put them into large crates so she has a 'hiding spot' away from everyone when she wants to be alone and feels safe in them.

I know these solutions implemented will take time for us to start seeing the results so hopefully in the next few weeks, this will be successful.

I will look into the helpful article you posted Erica and incorporate the tips from that into our daily lifes.

Much appreciated

Nick
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