# Aggressive cockerpoo



## nuk1

Hi all. 
Looking for advice, if anyone has any, on what to do with our pooch Murphy. He's 15 months & since we had him he's always been aggressive over bones & certain treats. We've tried to train him ourselves to no avail & it ended up we just didn't give him the bones & stuck to treats he was ok with such as the denta sticks. 
But lately he's started to become the same over his dry food. When I say aggressive I mean he would rip your throat out given the chance & has gone for both me & my partner. His eyes change, he fully bares his teeth & growls like something possessed. 
It's at the point he's going to have to be rehomed. We dont have a lot of spare money hence the 'family friendly dog' which we paid more for to ensure he would be good with our girls. 
We've tried blocking him with our bodies to show are pack leader. It works as you are doing it but then he's back to the same old the next time. 
My partner works away so although he is trained in every other aspect this scares me & I'm worried for my children 
Any advice welcome & pls ask any questions as I know I'm rambling.


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## Tinman

Hi welcome.....
Oh no - sounds like a serious case of food resource guarding.
Is it use with food? Or is he like it with toys etc?
I'm sure there will be a couple of our "experts" along to give you some sound advice, marzi and 2nd hand girl and fairlie are all quite good at this.
Try the search thread to the left of the page, this has come up before.
X


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## Marzi

How does he behave if you give him a treat? 
Does he sit first and take it gently?
What food is he on?
I think that 2nd is the person to advise, but if he was a rescue that I had I would be inclined to sit down with a bowl of his food on the table (not his bowl) and I would then ask him to sit and hand feed him in small amounts, I would avoid eye contact and any verbal stuff. I would also make sure that my kids were busy in the other room, watching the TV or something so that his food time was calm and quiet. If he is on a dry kibble I would close my hand around a piece and not open my hand until he has stopped trying to get it to open himself.
I would hand feed him like this for a week.
Then I would put his bowl on the floor by my feet and I would give him one bit of kibble in my hand, and then drop one bit into his dish, then one in my hand, one in his dish.
All the time, calm and quiet.
Slowly I would increase the amount of food in his dish, but I would also have food in 'my' bowl too and certainly still be feeding him in 6-8 dollops. If at any point he starts growling again I would go back to more hand feeding than bowl feeding.
I had one rescue who was nuts about food (he had been a street stray and starved) he was probably between 6 and 9 months when he came home and this was how I taught him to see that food came from me when he was calm.
Your dog is older and you sound a bit scared of him, if you do not feel confident to tackle this on your own then you must get professional help. The most important thing is to keep your children safe and be kind to him.


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## 2ndhandgal

First thing is forget any attempt to show him you are pack leader - this will make resource guarding much much worse in the ling run and may be the reason things have got worse.

How long have you had him and how have you dealt with previous guarding of objects? Has he ever actually bitten or just done lots of threatening? 

What does he get in the way of exercise and stimulation - so stuff he enjoys doing?

You need to back right off from any confrontation now and definitely keep your children safe so I would be keeping them totally seperate unless you are supervising 100% not just in the room to make sure things don't happen.

Dogs who guard are generally worried dogs and you need to build his confidence. Marzi's exercises are good - but from your description it is not clear at what stage he is showing aggression so he may be a bit beyond this.


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## tessybear

I feel for you nuk. Your priority must be your girls. Personally I would re home him to someone without children who has lots of time to really train with your challenging dog.


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## fairlie

I'd rehome him too, depending on the ages of the children involved? 

Resource guarding is another highly adaptive dog behaviour that every wild dog on the totem pole needs to ensure they get any food at all. New puppy owners should take note and spend *alot* of time now to avoid this problem in the first place. It is a great example of how an ounce of prevention can be worth way more than a pound of cure.


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## nuk1

Thanks all. My children are 7, 4 & newborn. This is what worries me. He literally could kill them. 
I just feel so bad. They'll be devastated to see him go. 
Who would want him though in reality, I wouldn't want an agressive dog ?


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## tessybear

You sound like you have done everything. Try a shelter and see if they will take him. They should be able to assess him and see if he can be rehomed. Sadly it may be that he has to be put down, tragic I know but better than your or another child being injured. I'm so sorry for you but I think it has to be done.


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## 2ndhandgal

Are you just looking for a home for him? In which case where are you located?

This does not sound like an aggressive dog, it sounds like a stressed dog resource guarding which can be helped if you are willing to consult a good positive reward based trainer and work with them but not if you try to show you are pack leader - this is going to make things much worse.


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## fairlie

Rehome him, your new born will be crawling around on the floor in no time and it is simply too much risk. People here can point you in the right direction.


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## wellerfeller

Sorry to see you are in this situation. I really can see both sides here, absolutely your children are a priority, completely agree BUT just because you rehome the dog doesn't mean he stops being a problem. It just means the problem is being passed along. The stress of him leaving the home may make him even more aggressive/stressed. I agree with Dawn, he sounds totally stressed, fearful and therefore is guarding and it's getting him results in his head anyway.
Please PM me and I will put you in touch with someone I know can help you. I look forward to hearing from you.


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## nuk1

I don't want to pass the problem on. Hence me saying how can i rehome him. Who is going to want a dog that is so viscous. My oh has tried hand feeding him since we talked seriously about him going. We've tried it before but maybe not for long enough. 
We got the 'pack leader' thing off the dog whisperer. He said that they see this as a pack. It made sense? 
I'm new to this forum so not sure how to pm?


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## Tinman

nuk1 said:


> I don't want to pass the problem on. Hence me saying how can i rehome him. Who is going to want a dog that is so viscous. My oh has tried hand feeding him since we talked seriously about him going. We've tried it before but maybe not for long enough.
> We got the 'pack leader' thing off the dog whisperer. He said that they see this as a pack. It made sense?
> I'm new to this forum so not sure how to pm?


You need to have 10 posts to be able to PM someone, maybe if Karen PM'd you - you may be able to reply??


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## nuk1

Not sure why he would be stressed or scared? Of what? & surely if he was he would be the same the whole time. But hes a lovely dog the rest of the time. X


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## 2ndhandgal

Have a read of Mollys story - she was a similar age when I got her http://ilovemycockapoo.com/showthread.php?t=56210

Please forget any ideas for the Dog Whisperer on any dog training - but especially for resource guarding - any attempt to reduce the rank of a dog using his methods will increase the dogs stress levels and more stress will lead to more guarding in the long run.

Molly rarely guards things now but if she does it is usually a response to something earlier which has stressed her, she then clings to her stolen thing a bit like a child to a security blanket. I could now take things by force without her biting me - but she would be unhappy and even more stressed if I did that. Instead I call her away and only when she has relaxed do I remove the item - leads to a less stressed her and me 

If you do decide you can not keep him there are people who will take on dogs like him - has he ever actually bitten?


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## nuk1

He has bitten my partner but I don't get close enough when he's like that. I open the door, get him outside & then sheg he is I ask him to sit & lie which he does & then you see his demeanor change. 
How did you go about the changes in Molly?


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## 2ndhandgal

You sound like you are working along the right lines when you ask him to go outside and get him to sit and lie down - you say his demeanor changes - that sounds like him relaxing and calming down.

You need to reduce his opportunties to guard things, so keep stuff away from him that he may guard. If he is now guarding his food it sounds like he is worried about that too. You need to find somewhere calm and quiet for him to eat where he will not be disturbed. Definitely no children near when he is eating as you do not want to put your children at any risk at all. You can start by gently throwing something tasty to him while he is eating, so something really high value like a tiny bit of chicken. You want him to be very comfortable with him with people when he is eating and sure good things will come from them rather than bad.

As you have children and he has bitten I would really recommend you take some professional advice from someone who can come and meet you and advise on helping you whilst keeping your family safe. 

I can thoroughly recommend http://www.waggawuffins.com/behaviour.htm


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## DB1

2ndhand is very experienced when it comes to this problem - you say who would take him, well she took Molly and there are other people both here and over the pond (if you have said where you are I missed it) that are prepared to take on a dog with issue's as it is so rewarding when you can help them and save them from being PTS but these people are not likely to have a young family at home and can really concentrate on the dog. so to go to someone like that could be the best option for him. Oh and Victoria Stilwell is the celeb trainer to follow, not Ceser, sadly those methods have caused quite a few problems, as you say it seems to make sense when you follow him and I'm sure for a few dogs his methods work but for a lot more it doesn't as it is more about controlling the behaviour rather than changing it - it is suppressed but not resolved.


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## 2ndhandgal

One extra thought - you have 3 young children and your partner working away so I would imagine life is very busy - how much time do you get to give him what he needs? Does he get regular walks and a chance to run free? All of that can contribute to a stress free dog but I would imagine time could be very tight?

What is he like when out and about, how is he with other dogs?


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## nuk1

Hes not been taken out by me as much as I used to but now the baby is older & we are in a better routine I can take him more. We live a short walk from a huge field so it's good for letting him run. 
He's fab with other dogs. Actually they chase him & eventually he hides behind us when he's had enough playing. He jumps up at ppl which is something else we need to address. Not out but at home. I know this is easily solved though so I don't worry. 
I am in Bolton. We will try a dog specialist to see what they think & then that will be the last thing. 
It's good to know that someone would take him if it came to that as the last thing we would want is to have him put down


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## 2ndhandgal

It could be the change in routine is contributing so hopefully Wagawuffins will be able to put you on the right track. 

Just try to keep things calm and avoid confrontation until you can see her and I will keep my fingers crossed for you all - let us know how things are going.

He sounds fab otherwise so hopefully if it comes to it a good home can be found


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## Peanut

I would also add that it takes a lot of patience, routine and hours to change his behaviour once that he has it within him, but if you want to keep him, you must make the effort. Hours of repetition with positive reinforcement will pay off, never forget that. 

Usually we give up too early and despair. Give him a chance and persevere and you will have a good dog. But look at professional guidance. César TV programs are not your option if you want to seriously work this out. 

Good luck.


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