# Some advice please



## Jennywren63 (Jan 8, 2017)

Hi there
Am new to the forum and have enjoyed reading your posts over the last few days. We are looking for a puppy but was a little unsettled to read about Cockapoos being aggressive, having separation anxiety and guarding. Can anyone give me some tips to stop any of these behaviours. I'd really appreciate the benefit of your experiences. This will be our first puppy and looking forward to it. Thanks.


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Hi JennyWren and welcome

Pups play with other pups mostly through their mouths and need to learn that humans are more delicate and prefer our skin bite free. Many pups can be quite full on with this and cockapoos tend to be lively and bouncy and can be hard work initially. Not proper aggression - more just a phase that they have to go through to learn - but when you are getting up in the morning and being bounced on by a full on bouncing biting pup with razors for teeth it can feel like aggression and many puppy owners do suffer from the puppy blues initially when the dream of a lovely cuddly fluffy puppy becomes a reality of a full on bouncing biting pup with added toilet mistakes to clean up.

My best advice is find a good positive reward based puppy class - for the UK I recommend classes run by an APDT trainer http://www.apdt.co.uk/dog-owners/local-dog-trainers they will help with basic training and also be able to offer advice about any issues you may be having or worries. It also helps to meet other people in the same position as you with live wire pups!

Resource guarding and separation anxiety can both be avoided by sensible building up. A confident happy pup will be content that owners are coming back and pups who learn that giving things to their owners is a good thing will not feel the need to guard.


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## Sephora (Nov 15, 2016)

Hello there, I put a post on here a few months ago when we had just brought Poppy home with us because we were having a similar concern about her biting. 

While Poppy was never an agressive biter, like 2ndhandgal mentioned pups play with their mouths, I was concerned that others may not think it playful and if she were to bite someone a bit hard that would mean trouble. Poppy is 4 months in 3 days and she has come such a long way. 

We got her toys which allowed her to play a little bit rough with like rope toys and used a few tactics when playing such as; saying OUCH loudly and stopping playtime if she bit too hard, or if she came up to us biting our hands wanting to play we would replace our hands with a rope toy showing her what is the appropriate toy for that kind of play. With patience and constant positive reinforcement (and treats!) she now brings me the rope when she feels like playing tug. She did have a tendency to jump up and get in your face which led to her sharp baby teeth sometimes clashing with a nose (LOL) but that happens with babies too, they want to touch and explore, and her mouth is how Poppy explores. I was assured she would grow out of it, and she is, again with constant reinforcement. I can now touch my nose to hers and just get kisses no biting. 

Seperation anxiety was another thing Poppy had, and still has a little since both my hubby and I work from home and are with her almost all day. But that too came with patience and quite a bit of self control from our end. We crate trained her to begin with and during the day while she was having her crate time we would play a game where I would put on my coat and leave the room for a minute (without making a fuss about leaving or telling her). Poppy would cry the minute I left her sight but when the minute was up I would go back into the room (again no fuss, you dont want your pup thinking that if it cries enough you will come running). I did this several times during the day and everyday I would increase the time I was out. Then one day my hubby and I went out to lunch and left her in her crate for about an hour (we put a camera on her just so that we could keep an eye on her and make sure she was oki), she cried and howled most of the hour we were gone. This is where your self control comes in and staying put and fighting that instinct to go to her and comfort her. It was torture but after the hour we went home, did not acknowledge her until we had taken off our shoes and coats, then we praised her for such a good job. Doing this regularly really helps her realise that yes, you will be going out without her BUT you will also be coming home to her at the end of the day. Poppy also had anxiety when we decided to move her out of our bedroom at night. Slowly we started moving the crate further and further away from our bedroom until she was able to sleep alone in the livingroom downstairs (she did not wake up at night to potty by then). It also helped that we covered her crate (with a towel on one side and left loads of room for air) when it was time to sleep at night, this is her sign that we will be out of the room but in the house sleeping. 

Having these little signs of routine really helped Poppy. 

Guarding, Poppy thank goodness never showed signs. But I did have another dog (not a cockapoo & we got her from someone who was moving and didnt want to take her with them) which guarded her food a lot. So when we got Poppy I made sure that when she was about to eat I would put my hands in her food bowl, even while she was eating. I did not disrupt her meal time but it made her OKI with me being there. Also had her eating treats from my hand. 

At the end of the day puppies are puppies, they need to learn and you need to be patient and teach them. When it gets too much, take a step back rather than getting angry. Cockapoos are very smart and loving dogs they will pick up on your moods fast and will love you and be loyal to you. Neither my hubby nor I would ever trade Poppy, she is such a loving pup.

Reserching a good breeder also helps with knowing the parents temperment and again like 2ndhandgal mentioned, classes can also help. Start training your pup the day you bring him/her home.


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Just to add, putting hands in the food bowl whilst the pup is eating can cause the pup stress, I prefer to be left alone while I eat and most dogs are the same. Adding extra tasty treats to the bowl though will be appreciated by the dog and can lead to happy relaxed dogs


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

2nd in theory that make sense, but if you live in a home where a toddler might crawl by and compete with the dog for it food it is safer for the dog to be comfortable with people "sharing" its food. Here the advice is to sit with them while they eat from the get go and have it be completely normal for people, even strangers, to be taking things in and out of their bowls. Our dogs look perplexed when people remove their food but since it always means they are adding a tasty extra bit there is little to no stress.


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

A toddler potentially crawling by would be even more reason for adding food not otherwise interfering - a dog who expects humans to leave alone or add good stuff will not be overly concerned when a toddler blunders past.

Conversely a dog who has had owners messing with the food and not adding things and not reading the dogs body language will create a tense dog who may not react - but may well decide when a toddler blunders past on day that this is the very day they will react.

Taking things out of bowls and taking bowls away from dogs is creating the very tenseness you are seeking to avoid.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Hmmm you might be right. But I was also always taught that from a very young age puppies should be taught that nothing is theirs. So any one in the pack, no matter how low status, can take something from them whenever they want. We don't go around randomly taking things from our dogs, and none of them has any issue with resource guarding at all. I wonder if it was just dumb luck or our technique when they were puppies?


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

fairlie said:


> Hmmm you might be right. But I was also always taught that from a very young age puppies should be taught that nothing is theirs. So any one in the pack, no matter how low status, can take something from them whenever they want. We don't go around randomly taking things from our dogs, and none of them has any issue with resource guarding at all. I wonder if it was just dumb luck or our technique when they were puppies?




Not learning to share was not an option. First, Lexi would have eaten everything as Beemer was picky and took his sweet time. So she had to learn not to just take his food. But when I fed kibble I would often pick up the kibble from their bowl and then feed a few bites by hand. Now I can take a half eaten rib or duck neck and they just watch me take it. What Beemer didn't want to share was his bully sticks. Now mind you I buy them by the caseload from amazon but they both want the one stick. So Beemer learned that the stick can go to anyone and the stick can come to him. They swap beds. I switch things on them all of the time. Toys too. Along with all of that was a lot of training, both Lexi and Beemer getting used to my fingers in their mouths, a lot of bite inhibition work. And now, even when they snarl, growl, bark, snap toward another dog or kid, I'm not worried that they would but anyone but I do understand that they are trying to communicate and keep an eye and try to avoid problems from arising as I am concerned about how other dogs and people will respond. 

Now my biggest pet peeve is when my dog is barking people responding with "oh don't be like that" or "I have dogs so I'm ok" and then reaching their hands toward the top of their heads as they are barking. I still don't worry that they will actually cut skin - but I wished people didn't assume just because they look cuddly that they can cuddle them. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

fairlie said:


> Hmmm you might be right. But I was also always taught that from a very young age puppies should be taught that nothing is theirs. So any one in the pack, no matter how low status, can take something from them whenever they want. We don't go around randomly taking things from our dogs, and none of them has any issue with resource guarding at all. I wonder if it was just dumb luck or our technique when they were puppies?


I see it differently - we are a unit and I am the provider of all good stuff (mostly as I have opposable thumbs and the car keys) and good stuff is plentiful to family members under my control. I ask for and expect manners from the dogs but also respect their right to some choices about space and their food. Neither dog is allowed near the other one while they are eating but bowls can be inspected once the bowl owner has finished (Chance offers a superb bowl cleaning service) Likewise I expect to be able to eat my food unmolested by thieving or begging dogs. 

Many dogs will be fine with a process where they will happily accept things being taken from them but some will be more stressed about it and most resource guarding starts as stressing and not wanting to lose the resource they value so I would rather stack the odds in my favour and create a dog who views humans near a food bowl as a very good thing indeed. Once you have built a positive association lifting the bowl if you have to become possible. Without that you have a dog who may or may not be stressed and sadly the signs dogs give out are usually subtle and not noticed especially by novice owners.

Molly is the first dog I have had who has guarded and when she first came to me at 17 months she was very stressed and probably would have bitten if pushed. She had so much taken off her that she was very worried and wanted to hold on to everything. She does still guard things from time to time, but it is usually a pretty token effort and I have taken things like bones off her when I have had to. She does not guard her food bowl but a while back had to have a months worth of antibiotics which she had in chicken twice a day. I gave them her at the same time as he meals and dropped the rest of the chicken in her bowl after she had the tablet. Although she had never been too bothered by me near her bowl while eating this had a clear effect on her and she now greets me if I walk near her while eating with a look up and relaxed waggy tail which is exactly what I want.

Just to add - I believe resource guarding does have a genetic element too with some breeds more predisposed to it, including cocker spaniels and hence cockapoos. Not a problem to stop you having the breed but something to be aware of and to make sure you have a happy dog who learns that giving things up to their human is a good thing which will be rewarded


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## Tiggy (Sep 2, 2015)

Gosh, this is the very first time ever I have seen "aggressive" and "cockapoo" in relation to each other.

I would say in general the opposite applies if mine is anything to go by, they love everybody and all other dogs so much so that they do not realise it is reciprocated in every case, which can be a shock to them. The only thing mine gets a little disgruntled about is a visiting pooch getting too near to his chewy hide bone, a frozen raw chicken wing or his food bowl. I do not mind this at all, we ourselves have things we consider sacrosanct so why not our pooch? By the way he never reacts badly when a human goes anywhere near those same items.

Separation anxiety - yes they suffer from this but as we are retired we do not have to leave him alone, he goes everywhere with us (except shopping which my husband hates so he is more than happy to stay at home with the dog!!. He comes on holiday with us (we only do them where dogs are welcome) and when we stay with family and friends. I know this doesn't suit everyone and the next best option is to have 2 to keep each other company - it really wouldn't be fair to expect a dog of any breed to spend long periods on their own in a home where the owners are working and away all day.

I would add to this that if you do not have the time to take them out for a very long walk once a day (2hrs or so) or two hour long walks they are not the right dog to bring into your family. They are very very active (hence mine loves his bestie, my 4yr old grandson, coming over or visiting - they run around for hours together) but if you want many of the same cuddly loving traits in a much calmer pooch go for a Cavapoo instead.


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