Your Cocker may be attempting to interact with you and with your husband at that time, but her interactions are inappropriate. Hey, that may be why she needed a new home!

Many Cocker Spaniels may be very sensitive to touching; I'm thinking of "learned behavior" relating to some bad grooming experiences for this breed. The good news is that learned behavior is amenable to modification, over time, with the proper techniques for training.

Can you give us some more information? Is the Cocker on the sofa with your husband before you attempt to sit down there? Has the dog had a chance for an evening walk after dinner? I mention that because dogs can become mighty irritable and antsy if we forget their most basic needs. I'm not saying you forget; it's only a thought.

If you're with the dog all day, then it's just possible that she wants some private time with her new human Dad!  Perhaps that's the pattern she had learned in her former home. Sometimes a dog will bond very, very closely to the adult human of the opposite gender. That's not unusual.

Attempting to object guard her person is unusual.  But we don't know for certain that's what is occurring. Instead it may be that the Cocker is very, very sensitive to being touched.  Dogs with strong grooming requirements may oftentimes develop a strong aversion to patting and stroking.  When a dog starts growling, it's really time to pay attention!

In her book, Culture Clash, Jean Donaldson helps us to understand that dogs have great means for communicating with other dogs, but they are somewhat limited in

communicating with people because we simply don't understand their language! It's normal behavior for dogs to give a growl, in an attempt to communicate. The growl may mean, "You're crowding me -- I need more personal space." Or the growl may mean, "I'm getting frightened/worried/anxious." Other canines recognize that dog language, and they honor it.

If people misinterpret the warning growl as defiance, then we can get in a whole heap of trouble. We start acting dominant and getting aggressive ourselves. By doing so, we escalate tensions rather than reduce them. When we react in such a manner, we cause our own adrenaline to rise, and we start to put the dogs in a defensive posture. Then they get an
adrenaline rush, too, if they feel their personal safety may be in jeopardy. At that instant, reasoning goes out the window.

Attempts to physically punish a dog for expressing its feelings are counter-productive to the goals we're trying to achieve. You've seen that. Scolding the Cocker didn't work. Applying physical punishment in the form of a spray mist in the face or a newspaper applied to her butt merely escalated tensions, made things worse. But that's important information for you. It's information you did not have before.

This dog has only been with you a week and a half!  She's really brand new to your home. I wonder why she has already been granted living room privileges. I doubt you've had time so far to work on teaching her sit, sit-stay, down, and down-stay. That takes a while. Maybe you've started to teach her to "settle" on a mat while you talk with your husband during the evening. But you really haven't had enough time with her yet to help her understand your expectations for her.

Let's try to think through how you want to start this new relationship with your dog.

Suggestions:

(1.) Contact the rescue group from whom you adopted this dog, and ask for a written evaluation of her from the former foster care provider. If you do not already have it, obtain a complete copy of the dog's veterinary record while she was in the organization's care.

(2.) Ask for the name of the rescue organization's local representative in Kentucky, so that you'll have a person to talk with about breed-specific questions.

(3.) Obtain information about the dog training class you plan to attend before you begin instruction there. You have the right to know the goals of the course and the methods which will be used. Instructors usually have a typed hand out sheet they provide before class begins.

Type of instruction: Here in this group, we recommend positive-reinforcement training. That would include lure-reward, motivational training, and clicker-training.

We do not recommend command-based training with compulsion by means of physical corrections, such as use of a chain training collar and leash-jerk corrections. That's because confrontation over issues is not an effective means to address behavioral problems. Of course, efforts to suppress unwanted behaviors "work." But such confrontational approaches could exacerbate the rising tensions, not diminish them. Then, too, oftentimes unpleasant side effects results from punishment-based methods.

     We've come to these conclusions by reading and studying the veterinary literature pertaining to behavior modification techniques for dogs. Some of the prominent people in the field, such as Dr. Karen Overall at the University of Pennsylvania College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Nicholas Dodman at Tufts University College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Katherine Houpt at New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University, and many others who have contributed a great deal to this advancing field of companion animal behavior.

Now many problem behaviors may be addressed very quickly with safe home management techniques and careful teaching. Your new dog Sophie simply may not yet understand your expectations for her behavior.  A dog who's uncertain will often exhibit some anxiety. Maybe you've had some difficulty reading any behavioral signs from her to indicate that she really doesn't want to be petted right then.

I would be a good idea to make sure your cocker has had a complete physical exam. The rescue organization should be able to provide that information for you. She may have had one just before the adoption placement. If not, see to one promptly to have the veterinarian rule out any possible physical cause for the behavior problems, such as hypothyroidism -- a common problem which has been linked to aggression in dogs, any spinal injury, hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, lameness from any prior injuries, allergies, etc.

Perhaps you could ask the obedience instructor to make a home visit before that class, so that you could go over some of these questions. You may decide to hire the instructor for some private lessons -- at least for an evaluation.

You're off to a good start getting Dr. Dodman's book, The Dog Who Loved Too Much. One thing I really appreciated when reading it was that he doesn't apply cookie cutter, one-size-fits-all-problems  solutions. Another thing I really admired was Dr. Dodman's humility, his openness to continued learning about dogs. A number of the folks here in the group have used his PetFax service for help. Here's the URL. <http://www.tufts.edu/vet/petfax/index.html>

We appreciate what you're going through. It can be challenging, we know, when bringing a new adult dog into the household.

© 9/4/2000, Barbara D. Brill, North Chili, NY. All rights reserved. No further reproduction permitted without express written consent.