Cocker spaniel problem

[flowerholic]

I wonder if anyone out there could give me some advice. My male cocker spaniel is now 3 and for some reason has always disliked my daughter. She has never hurt him in anyway but when she does try to stroke him or show affection he growls at her. And he always has done. She is now 14 and he has started to nip her. He totally ignores the rest of the family apart from my husband who he follows around like a shadow, sits on his lap all evening and acts demented when he comes home from work. He seems full of nervous energy and does laps round the garden at mach 3 for an hour at a time non stop. I'm really worried he's going to sink his teeth into her properly one of these days. We have another litte Jack Russell and they seem the best of friends, he never shows any aggression whatsoever to his doggy companion. Any suggestions?

[carmalee]

Your husband is clearly seen and respected as 'top dog' by your CS - you and the rest of the family are there but not of consequence, your daughter is considered inferior and lower in the pecking order. The little JR is no threat, knows his place and is therefore left alone (and I may add, the JR is perfectly happy with this state of affairs.) C. Spans are working dogs and have an enormous, enormous amount of energy, nervous and physical - if they aren't sufficiently exercised they have more nervous energy. Not just Cockers, lots of working dogs are the same. As a matter of interest, is the dog entire and what colour is he?

[flowerholic]

He's black & white & in full working order! And in the dog pecking order the JR is top dog and has been since he walked through the front door - CS has never had a problem with this, accepted straight away that this fudge coloured bundle of fluff that came up to his kneecaps was the boss. What can I do to stop this aggression towards my daughter? I'm the only one who disciplines him at all but I don't want to make the situation worse and I don't know if he understands that what he's doing is wrong. If I make her his sole food provider - do you think that would help? I don't think he's aggresive through lack of exercise, he and the JR spend hours running around the garden....

[carmalee]

how old is the JR?

[flowerholic]

he's 17 months old, got him when he was a few weeks old ....have had the cocker spaniel since he was 3 months and he disliked my daughter from the word go. His behaviour didn't change when we got the JR as a companion for him (thought it might help) he genuinely loves other dogs. The next door neighbours dog jumped over the fence to visit regularly and he never minded.

[carmalee]

how old was the JRT when you got him?

[flowerholic]

JRT was a few weeks old when we got him, he is now 17 months old. CS is 3, we got him when he was 3 months old as a rescue, his owner couldn't cope with his hyperactiveness.

[madmaggot]

Seems to me you have a case of:
a nervous daughter (only natural if the dog is aggressive towards her)
a dog that jealously guards its pampered position with your husband and doesn't know it's place
a lack of sufficient excercise for the dog
You need to assert your's and your daughter's place in the pecking order
give the dog(s) excercise, excercise and then more excercise together with obedience training
Also, take a look at the protein content in your dog's food and possibly try one with a lower protein content.

[carmalee]

There are a lot of things going on here - in my opinion the JRT wasn't necessarily top dog when he walked in at ' a few weeks old' - hope we are talking about eight/ten weeks btw -your Cocker saw him as no threat at all and tolerated his childish activities, possibly making you think JR was top dog. JRT is now just over the terrible teens and maybe seriously challenging the CS as never before (remember the CS may have considered himself top dog before.) As far as you getting your daughter to be the sole provider to the CSp - maybe seems like a good idea but could be a bit dicey. I think you need to get in touch with a local animal behaviourist to sort this problem as well meaning non- professional advice may result in your daughter getting bitten. It really is strange that as a three month old pup, the CSp was suspicious of your daughter from the word go. Pups really should love everyone so maybe there is something in his history you don't know about. I've had quite a lot of experience in dog behaviour and really adivise you to contact someone you is able to fully assess all the facts and meet the dogs in their home environment. Keep uus updated- I'm really interested to hear the course you take.

[carmalee]

sorry about the couple of grammer and spelling errors in the last paragraph -trying to answer a skype call at the same time. - apols.

[Jules001]

I can't help with this problem as I have a similar problem with my Bichon Frise X, my son who has always been a bit scared of dogs was always growled at by the dog when trying to stroke him. He has since moved out into his own flat, but when he comes home, he can play with the dog and have him sitting on his lap as long as he doesn't try to stroke him. The problem has now transferred to my daughter who still lives at home, idolises the dog and was the main instigator (sp) in getting a dog :( - the dog growls and goes to bite her, a couple of times he has really caught her and pierced the skin. My dog is 4 years old btw and has been done.