You say he's 17mths he is getting to the age of adulthood and the testostrone is kicking in and him senting everywhere he is marking his terrority and him snapping at you and taking his time to complete commands sounds like he is trying to challange you as you are the alpha leader its what they would do in the wild so he has to learn who is the boss again. Maybe there is a bitch in season nearby have a word with the vet and get him checked out it will put your mind at rest.

Thanks folks, he's very much back to normal..crashing around with a cone on his head nearly killing everyone in his path.
In regards to the chemical castration, the vet did talk about it..but also said he knew Ralph well enough and added with what we were telling him, to feel it was hormone related and whilst castration isn't the magical fix, it would help.
Not ideal, i'm not a fan of castrating males 'just because' and have never had a problem with other entire males before, so it took a lot to bite the bullet and take him down, believe me.
Once he is up and back on his feet it's back to basics, and see how it goes from there.

How is Ralph getting on Luke?

Hi Luke, so sorry to hear your having problems,

I think it's a testosterone teenage testing thing,

I get it with the rotts, vinnie has had a stage of being pushy, never actuly snapped at me but silly things like when he is on the bed and I told him to get off he growled,,,,

I never back off, but I dont recomend others doing it,

I always win a face off, If I backed off the dog wins and you could bet there would be alot more of it in the post first class,

Vinnie is still only 13 months old so I may well have another spell of him testing me

In the mean time I must be consistant with him, eg, if I tell him to leave something, but he continues to chew it, I will not repeat the command I will get up go over and inforce it,

If I didnt he would begin to ignore all commands, Its just basic training, but often people will sit when there dog is chewing something it shoud not be, then just keep moaning on at the dog,

they dont see the importance of backing up there commands,

if you tell a dog to sit,,,given it knows what sit means and the dog does not sit, if you keep saying sit sit sit sit, your training the dog to sit on the tenth command if at all,

make sure your not falling into this group, its easy to do without realising it,

If you want to know more pm me but again its not for the faint hearted, then again I own rotts not spaniels,

just incase anyones thinking I beat the tur d out of them, sorry its not how I cope with it,,,


I take on aggressive dogs out with the club, have taken on some for breed rescues too for re training and to see if they are suitable for re homing,

being one of the few in the area that takes problem dogs for training I see a fair few, the most of them are rotts/ gsd's/ bull mastiffs / and similar,

I did however get a SS brought to me about four years ago, I have too admit it was by far the most worrying,

it went from totaly nought to 60 on the aggression scale in 0.01 seconds, as soon as I put him under pressure to do what he had been asked to do he just went mental,

no build up no warning growl no stiffening of muscles, nothing just stood wagging his tail untill I asked him to sit, went mental,

had my reactions not been as quick he would have had me, he wasnt just going for a one off snap either he was gona take my face off,

Dougie my OH whos 6'5" flew out the back door, he really got a fright,,lol,


I dont think your dog is like this,,,but Im guessing this dog had started with the odd snap, the owner has backed down, hence the dog wins gets his way and will ultimatley use it again,

this makes his confidence grow, so the behaviour snow balls,

I have always been told by my vet,,, for castration to be of any use it should be done around six months old,

once a behaviour is learned castration is highly unlikely to help,
he said many people come when the dog is between 12 months and 20 months and castration never really solves the issues they hope it will,

Thanks Shona that was a good post and sums up my way of thinking

Can I just ask what you personally do when one of yours is having a moan and growl about getting off the bed.

My lad has no other problem around the house - I can pick his food up while he is eating etc etc no probs.

The only thing he does is the growl at having to move of the bed.

I mix taking in a treat - commanding him to get off the bed and to lay down when he gets his treat and other times I don't give the treat all the time but give loads of fuss. Sometimes he will havethe treat then persist to try to get back on the bed but I reinforce not to (not that once i'm in it I care but just to keep it all consistant to avoid confusion)

Without the treat he can take a long while sometimes - I in no way want to physically remove him or pull by his collar - What do you do in this instance?

Thanks

I wouldnt use a treat, it would make things worse with the rotts, they would do it more to get the treat, I will pm you

Hi, Just wanted to post my reasons for not giving answers to questions on the thread, its not because I use harsh or nasty methods, its more down to what works with some would upset others, I would hate to think a new member would read this thread, then think oh my dog does that I will try this method, it could be the totaly wrong thing to do, small dogs may be worried about getting off the bed as its fairly high, I know some may say oh they can get up so surely they can get down,,,not always the case, some older dogs may find it painful getting off the bed if they had arthritis,

Just thought I would clear that up,,,shona x

Sorry for not updating sooner, been hectic. He's doing okay..goes back next thursday for stitches out.
He definatley seems different already, which I admit is odd but I have noticed a change in him.

I am glad he is doing well!
It must have been a bit of a shock!

A bit late I know (as usual ), but it does sound like the hormones were surging, if it was just the one off another reason could be found, but the combination of slight changes seems to indicate hormones to me!

Hope he continues to recover!

I hope he continues to settle down.
Becky