Oh how awful for you.. I would agree with what everyone else said and definately do not let him off the lead!!

I had a similar problem with my Lab with the pulling and we tried harnesses but they didn't work as he was so heavy (over 6 stone) it may well work for Sam as springers are a lot less heavy!

But if it doesn't try one of these :




It has been fantastic with Riley, it pulls the nose around so obviously they cant run off, and if Sam is anything like Riley he will learn that everytime he pulls he immadiately gets pulled back so will stop it! It only took about a week to get Riley walking perfectly to heel with that, and now we can just walk him in a normal collar

I hope you manage to sort him out, im sure he could be a lovely dog with some work

Deffinately not!
Especially if you are starting training! You are doing the best thing possible for him

i hope so. i just dont want to be in the situation where he is off the lead and attacks another dog. but i also dont want to have to keep him on his lead all the time either! its really difficult having a dog whose history you dont know much about, or you only know a very limited amount. at the end of the day the people who owned him before me could have lied about anything they said about him. i suppose its all strange and new to me because i have had bronte and benson from being puppies. i'll do my best for him anyway and see what happens.

We have similar probs with Thorn. We had him castrated in March and whilst this seems to be working on making him a bit more relaxed when we are out (he now concentrates enough on me to take treats as rewards when we are training in the park - something he never did before), he still hates dogs - he has learnt to react in a negative way, so it no longer matters whether his testosterone is pumping or not! We are working on desensitising him by teaching the 'quiet' command and making him 'lie down' when we can see another dog, and are making slow but steady progress. After 4 months he is now ok (onlead) in the park, but still lunges (but rarely barks now) on the lead if another dog is accross the road. We only let him off muzzled and when there is noone else around - 'hide and seek' is the key to a good recall with Thorn! As soon as he can't see me, he rushes straight back like a loon

Thorn is also nervous aggressive with people, but we are seeing a behaviourist next week for this - although the desensitisation programme is working very very slowly for this too, with exposure controlled at a very steady rate and lots and lots of treats. We didn't realise he was like this until he had been with us for a few weeks - he seemed 'friendly' (read: too terrified to react) with everyone at first, although he never liked hands, but now he has settled in his true mental state has come to light. I'd try to get your new dog to meet as many people as possible as early as possible and get them to give treats - if it is nerves making Sam growl then there'd be no harm in starting the positive reconditioning of a desensitisation programme before any negative behaviours are allowed to be rehearsed.

Good Luck. x x

Hi there,

thanks everyone for your positive comments. i must admit i was nearly ringing up the rescue place today to take him back! i am not used to having aggressive dogs and it has shocked me a bit. anyway, reading all your comments it seems his problems aren't as bad as i first thought, and i will give it my all with him! i will try him with a harness, and see how that goes. i have my dog training class on weds night where he will face approx 30 dogs of varying breeds, sizes and temperaments, so that should be fun!! so thanks all from me and sam xx

Just caught this thread and I think it's great you're doing so much with him. It's early days yet and I'm sure with everything you're doing he'll soon learn how you expect him to behave. I'm sure there'll still be bad days ahead too but keep going, you're doing a fantastic job and you've given this little a guy a future. Well done!!!!

thanks again everyone for your encouragement! its nice to know we're not a hopeless case yet! i will do my best with him and hope it works!!! xxx

Hallo there, in cases of aggression I'd tend to recommend a reputable behaviourist as, once you've spoken to them, you can be assured that all that can be done has and will be

Some behaviourists are more highly qualified than others - for example some will understand behavioural biology in depth, others won't!

I'd also suggest it's worth getting him checked over for health; some medical conditions can cause aggression. To detect them it may be necessary to have blood tests etc. I would think however, that if he is only going for adult males he is being dominant but it's best not to "assume"

Just re your sentence above - oooch! I'd suggest that a class with 30 dogs in it will not be any good for a dog aggressive dog nor for the other dogs, also he may get so stressed up that he wil not learn anything - dogs who are full of adrenalin cannot learn.

I'd be looking more for one to one training and that sort of thing to start and then maybe consider looking at training classes when he is very much improved...

Lotsa luck!!

hi there,

so do you think maybe i'd best not take him to the training classes yet? i have a one to one trainer coming next weds, so maybe wait until she's assessed sam and see what she says re obedience classes? i had him out last night on his long lead and by the end of the walk he wasnt pulling at all, but i'm going to invest in a harness today (hopefully), dont like the idea of keep jerking on his neck! met quite a few dogs last night, and he was fine. was even stood talking to one lady for ages! she had a bitch and a castrated male dog. so maybe its just entire male dogs sam doesn't like. i'm hoping to have him castrated next week when he's had his last jab. maybe that'll work, maybe it wont. i know its going to take time with him as i dont know a great deal about his history, but i'm not going to give up on him just yet

I agree with Wysiwyg - 30 dogs will be pretty overwhelming Surely they are not all in the same class? If they are, what is the age range of the dogs, how many instructors to the class, what size is the training area and would they all be at the same level of training?

I think it would be a good idea to have a chat with the trainer that will be visiting you and, if you feel that you can trust her observations, base your further actions with Sam on her evaluation

It is early days yet so don't think about giving up