Aggressive springer

Friends have two springers, they're both the same age, a year old, but not litter mates, although they are from the same breeder, they are both entire males.

Neither have been socialised or had any training

The problem is one of them is biting the wife and drawing blood at times. He doesn't do this to the husband

At night both dogs sleep in a room with a stable door to it, when the wife opens the top half of the door, the smaller springer attacks her when she reachs in to open the bottom door, the way she avoids this is to feed them both a biscuit to distract them.

Reading this back its obvious where they've gone wrong, but the husband and wife have had springers all there life and think they know it all so won't be told.

I wondered if any one had any suggestions, they've suggested I bring Heidi round for socialisation, but there's no way Heidi is going to be terrorised by two hooligans.

That's a tricky one Robert. It seems as though whatever advice is offered it will not be acted upon.

Obviously the problem lies with lack of training. I would say that this is a situation where a professional would actually need to see the dog & the interaction between the dog & owner/s to assess the seriousness of the problem & to work out a solution. But if they think they know it all themselves then this recommendation would fall on deaf ears.

All I can suggest is that she should at least get the dog to do something for the biscuit, e.g. sit. By using food as a distraction she is not actually addressing the cause of the problem. In fact she could well be reinforcing & rewarding the nasty behaviour.

I certainly agree that you should keep Heidi away. Perhaps if you could do a bit of bragging about how well-behaved Heidi is, & mention some really well-trained springers that you know of, you could steer the conversation around to the importance of training. It just might touch their pride/competetive spirit & get them interested in doing something with their poor dogs.

Does she tell the dog no when it goes to bite her? This may sound extreme, but have they tried grabbing the dog by the scruff and telling it NO in a firm voice and making it sit/stay? A time out in a room alone in a sit/stay for 10 minutes? Feeding the treats to divert the biting may only be reinforcing the behavior...

Good luck and keep Heidi away. I would tell them there's no way you're bringing Heidi to play with their ill mannered vicious dogs. lol

Thanks for the replies.

I've passed on your advice, whether they act on it is another thing.

There is no way in a million years Heidi is going any where near them.

I lent them a video of Heidi taking part in a scurry when she was 14 months old and that went down like a lead balloon with very little comment on it.

Whilst I'd agree with everything that has already been suggested particularly the training, I would also like to suggest the lady screaming 'NO' as loud as she can when the dog goes to attack her. The treats should be given as rewards for good behaviour (sitting), not as a distraction.

She could try the atomizer or can of stones methods, but I really think she's best seeking proffessional advice since the dog is obviously a liability to her and others.

Theres two springers near us that are soo dog aggressive they wont even let another dog walk past their house without going berserk.when candy was very little i took her for a walk round the block,. and one of them rushed out of the house and jumped on her to attack her, the owner who was washing his car was v unapologetic about it and didnt really reprimand him.now when we see them on the park candys growls at them, she will never forget the attack!!

poor candy sally !!!

i think the owners need training first!

I think training the owners is often the hardest part Azz

Robert you can only do your best..if they won't listen..their loss and a shame for the dogs too.

libs

This dog needs to shown he is not above his owner in the pack, she needs to really growl a very definate NO!!! when he goes to attack her, and isolate him for a couple of minutes away from everyone, dogs being pack animals hate to be taken away from the rest of the pack.

Also she needs to only give the dog attention on her terms, if the dog comes to her she should totally ignore him and carry on doing whatever, but when she calls him for attention she should really fuss him and get him to work for his treat i.e. sit, down, or a game of fetch.

Hope all works out for your friends