# Stubborn Spaniel growling and snarling



## Spaniel36 (Jan 17, 2013)

hi, 


im new to this forum and come here looking for advice.

I have had english springer spaniels all my life and never had any behavioural problems with any of them...until now!

I bought my 2 and a half year old 2 weeks ago off a family who they say the owner is working longer hours during the day and is unfair to leave him. (they also have an older different breed dog and a cat... not sure if this will bear any relavance later)

My dog has plenty of fuss, walks, fed twice a day, teddies and play things and isnt left alone for more than 3 hours once maybe twice a week (apart from at night time of course)

We also have a cat, they seem to tolerate each other she just generally keeps out of everyones way anyway but we have had to move her food bowl to the top of the stairs as he tends to eat it if its there in his sight.

This past week though he has been sneaking upstairs and when we shout him down or tell him get down stairs he is growling at us and snarling. Even when he eventually goes downstairs he will not go into the living room or kitchen just stands there in the hallway snarling and growling at us until we either ignore him and shut the door or we distract him by opening the front door when he then thinks hes going out for a walk.

Today i had to wrap my arm up just to get him moved into a different room and he did go for me.

I'm starting to think that the previous owners (who had him from 6 months old from a rescue centre) have had dealings with his stubborness and hes gone for them. The kids werent even bothered that he was going.

He pulls on the lead for which ive bought a halti collar which he is slowly getting used to its just i need nip this growling malarky in the bud before he bites any of us. He doesnt seem as bad with my OH so i think hes trying to show everyone hes top dog but how do i sort the situation


Help anyone please!



Sarah


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## Bagrat (Jun 4, 2012)

Hello Sarah and welcome.

Growling of itself is not in my opinion a bad thing as it is a sign that your dog is unhappy and infinitely better than a dog that gives no warning and just bites. If this is a new problem it is probably a good idea for him to be checked over by a vet as he may have a medical issue.
I'm sure you will get lots of valuable advice soon. In the short term you need to concentrate on managing this situation. Maybe have a trailing light lead on him in the house so you can, if all else fails grab the end of the lead to move him rather than grabbing a collar with all the angst that entails.
I wonder if his previous owners could be a bit more honest about the problems they had, now he is "yours" as it would help to knoe what his triggers are.
The vet may know of a trainer or behaviourist they could recommend to help you. Good luck.


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## Spaniel36 (Jan 17, 2013)

Thank you for the reply, the previous owner has just said the only problem she had was around the other animals food nothing else to be honest I don't think she's entirely honest with me!


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## spaniel04 (Nov 27, 2011)

Hi and welcome to Pet Forum! 

Firstly I must say that the previous owners of your spaniel probably had no right selling him on. I worked several years for a springer rescue and it was written into the adoption contract that the dog had to be returned to the rescue and not be passed on to a third party if circumstances ever changed. All the other rescues I know have the same policy.

But that aside, I think your dog is probably still trying to settle into a new situation with a new family. His growling could simply be a sign that he is confused by your command to get downstairs and fear of you shouting at him.
I would try to manage his environment by making sure he can't get into parts of the house you don't want him to go, maybe use a stair gate. Or you could trail a long house line from a harness and simply pick up the line and walk him back into the room he is allowed in. 
Give him a bit of time to adjust to his new life and I am sure he will be just fine.


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## smokeybear (Oct 19, 2011)

Spaniel36 said:


> This past week though he has been sneaking upstairs and when we shout him down or tell him get down stairs he is growling at us and snarling. Even when he eventually goes downstairs he will not go into the living room or kitchen just stands there in the hallway snarling and growling at us until we either ignore him and shut the door or we distract him by opening the front door when he then thinks hes going out for a walk.
> 
> *Today i had to wrap my arm up just to get him moved into a different room and he did go for me.*
> 
> ...


Hiya, firstly dogs are not stubborn, dogs do what works. There is no benefit in dogdom from being stubborn.

Spaniels are notorious resource guarders and this includes space and locations as well as food and objects.

I think there are two distinct issues here.

1 Growling - that is the dog's alarm system and a way of communicating with you that the dog is not comfortable. Normally this comes after the body freeze and the eye stare which has not been noted. If this warning signal is also ignored then if a dog cannot escape it may do the only thing that it has left and bite. A dog that growls gives you an opportunity to make a decision. A dog that does not, is very dangerous.

2 Biting/going for you - this of course is absolutely unacceptable and usually occurs because a confrontation has not been avoided. If he has not yet bitten then it demonstrates that he does have some bite inhibition.

I would recommend that you purchase a copy of Mine! A guide to resource guarding in dogs by Jean Donaldson which has a step by step guide to help you with this.

In the meantime you might want to put in place some environmental management plans

1 put up a baby gate to prevent the dog going upstairs
2 attach a light house line (no loop in end) to dog's collar (only when supervised) so that you can move the dog from a distance if necessary.
3 Implement a programme of desensitisation and counter conditioning by reinforcing the absence of this behaviour in locations that the dog does not feel the need to protect.

You can do this by only hand feeding the dog (easy if the food is dry) and weighing out the daily ration at the beginning of the day and throwing food to the dog AWAY from any location it is in so that it sees your presence as A GOOD THING. It is very important that you do not START this in the problem areas as the dog's arousal will be too high.

The main thing is never to try and trick a dog as that just undermines trust and any relationship.

HTH

If the behaviour escalates then you must seek the advice of a reputable behaviourist via a vet referral, have you taken him for a check up to rule out any underlying medical conditions?


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