# Excitable cocker spaniel - advice please



## HollyBolly (Jul 22, 2012)

Hi everyone

I would be really grateful for some advice and sorry for the longish post.

We have a three year old cocker who has always been 'excitable'. She presents us with various challenges but, at the same time is absolutely gorgeous!

Our problems are all outdoor-related. The moment I start to prepare for a walk she starts to get super-excited. Once the door is opened and we set off, she becomes almost uncontrollable.

She 'screams' as we walk along - I'm not exaggerating, we have had neighbours come out to help. It sounds as if she is in real pain!

She lunges and pulls and is desperate to be set loose to run. Pavement walking is virtually impossible.

We have tried just about everything - harnesses, de- sensitising her etc. etc. Our other dogs are fine, quiet, controlled and easy to walk.

We have seen several trainers - the latest has suggested a citronella spay collar. I'm not keen on aversive training but I have failed with everything else....

Any ideas?


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## Sarah1983 (Nov 2, 2011)

I'd go and sit back down every time she started to get over excited when you're preparing for a walk. You need to start the walk as you mean to go on, with her calm not super excited. Sit down with a book/at the computer or whatever for a minute or two (or until she calms down) and then try again. I can pretty much guarantee you'll be like a yo-yo at first but they do seem to catch on pretty quickly that getting super excited results in you stopping getting ready and going doing something else. There seems little point trying to work on her excitement outside when she's working herself up so much before you've even started the walk.


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## smokeybear (Oct 19, 2011)

HollyBolly said:


> Our problems are all outdoor-related. The moment I start to prepare for a walk she starts to get super-excited. Once the door is opened and we set off, she becomes almost uncontrollable.
> 
> *She does this because you have "taught" her that this behaviour works. Being excitable results in the door being opened.*
> 
> ...


Dogs do what works, so if the behaviour they demonstrate results in what they want, why would the stop doing it? 

So you need to have a new set of rules and then carry them out.

You need to teach your dog impulse control.

Silence, all 4 feet on the ground and no lunging = what you want, noise, lumging, etc = withdrawal of what dog wants.

It will take time, after all she has been rehearsing this behaviour for a long time so she has got very good at it.

You will start the programme and then see it get worse before it gets better (perfectly normal think of what you do when the lift or vending machine does not work)

Access to the outside will be contingent on a quiet sit.

Walks will be contingent on quiet walking.

This will try your patience but it DOES work.

http://www.deesdogs.com/documents/LoweringArousal.pdf

ETA please do not use a spray collar to punish your dog for your failures, it teaches a dog nothing and may result in worse behaviour.

Get yourself a trainer who actually understands dog behaviour and how to tackle it. Where do you live, perhaps we an recommend someone?


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## springfieldbean (Sep 13, 2010)

Hi HollyBolly,

I have a 17 month old working cocker spaniel, who sounds very similar to your girl - he's excited by everything, and is full of energy and drive.

We don't let him out of the house unless he's calm, and if he pulls once we're out the door, we take him back inside until he's calm again.

While we're walking, we stop every time he pulls. He knows to come back to heel, and wait until we start walking again. We've been doing this since we started walking him as a pup, and he's definitely better than he was, but it still takes a long time to get anywhere - I just factor this in to the timings!

Our problems really start when we get somewhere particularly exciting, like the countryside or the beach - he is then so incredibly excited that he's unable to control himself and goes completely deaf. I'm still trying to find a way to deal with this - I'm doing the stopping until he's calm thing, but he finds it too difficult and whines as though he's in pain. I'm sticking at it though, and hope to see an improvement over time. He's fine as soon as he's off lead - he can just run to his heart's content. But having him on the lead is a nightmare.

I started a thread recently which got some really good advice - you might want to look at it (http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-trai...deas-llw-excitable-cocker.html#post1062265994).

I'd love to see a pic of your girl if you have any!


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## HollyBolly (Jul 22, 2012)

Thank you for these really helpful replies.

I should also have added that our cocker walks much better when she is on her own. We use a Gentle Leader collar and she seems okay with it but without it we would still have problems!

Our real problems start when she walks with more than one person or with other dogs.

We can't really keep stopping when there is more than one dog; we had hoped that the calmness of the others would eventually rub off. Three years on we are still hoping!

I'll try to find how to add a photo; she is gorgeous.


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## GermanShepardOwner (Aug 20, 2012)

HollyBolly said:


> Hi everyone
> 
> I would be really grateful for some advice and sorry for the longish post.
> 
> ...


Hi,

With my dogs they do not go out untill they are calm and sit for their leads to be put on. If they are excitable i will go and do something else and then try again and repeat if needed. Then if we go outside and start playing up i will go back in or stop and get them to do a command and treat. Its very annoying and a inconvience to do this but it does work in the long run.

As for the screaming, i have known alot of cockers to do this. Most do it because of over excitment, or attention seeking behaviour. I know some people who have used a pet corrector spray which has worked, but it does not work for all..

With the lunging, a headcollar is the best, i use a gencon personally but i have much larger breeds than yours. I would get her to stop and do a command every time personally, or if she gets excited when seeing another dog i would distract using food, a toy or voice and i would walk the other way.

There are many different ways to deal with all the issues, but its finding what works best for your dog and being consistent with the training. Make sure she is getting enough exercise, on and off lead, i find alot of pulling and over excitment does calm down when they get off lead exercise. Also ball games in the garden will help.


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