I realise all my posts here have a common theme about my puppy's reactivity, but I'm worried that it is getting worse. I am going to see a trainer soon but in the meantime I really don't know what to do to work on this. The basic problem is reactivity to other dogs, but whereas before it seemed more like excitement now it seems more like fear, and at times a reaction that feels to me very close to (or actual) aggression. A bit of back-story might help. Last week we were staying at my partner's house and a dog across the fence kept barking every time Jess was in the garden. The first time it happened I saw her hackles rise (the first time I'd seen this) and her barking took on a really tense and intense tone. Over the week, I worked to try and stop her reacting to the other dog - distracting her with games and treats. It worked probably 75% of the time, but there were quite a few occasions where she would react and I would have to carry her inside and calm her down. We came back to my house on Sunday and there is now a very noticeable difference in her behaviour when she hears other dogs barking (which is ALL the time, as a park is outside my garden fence). She barks furiously and her hackles are up from neck to tail. Sometimes I can stop her and distract her but not always. Before last week she certainly noticed other dogs barking but she rarely responded. Tonight I tried to take her for a short walk. To avoid the dogs in the park, I took her along a street so that any other dogs would definitely be on lead and we could cross the road to avoid them. Two collies in a house went ballistic against their window, and both Jess and I got startled. Her response was quite extreme: again, hackles up from neck to tail, standing her ground and barking and lunging on the lead. She is just a small puppy at the moment but I definitely don't want an adult dog behaving like that. Another concern is that she had a puppy playdate today with another dog. It was going fabulously but after about half an hour Jess turned on the other puppy (a male dog). I know puppy playing can be rough but this didn't seem like play at all and after I pulled her off the other dog was quite taken aback. She didn't draw blood, but I think if I'd not separated them she would have. She was with her litter-mates until 10 weeks (though some of her siblings went away at 8 weeks) and until about 9 weeks old they played really nicely together. In the final week (9-10 weeks) she became quite noticeably the "dominant" pup and was quite harsh with the other pups (all bitches, if that's relevant). I don't know what to do, I feel like I'm getting this all wrong and I've been trying so hard to do everything right. I read Control Unleashed puppy book and have started training "Look at That" and working on her attention but I've only been doing it for a few days and it's obviously not had any effect yet. Is there anything else that I can do? I really am worried that I'm producing a difficult dog and that it is my fault rather than her nature.
Hi there I don't have much experience of spaniels, perhaps @editor, or @bbrown or @heidrun might be more use to you.... But as I understand it, you have a working cocker spaniel, a small garden, and no safe space in which to walk her off lead. You've been struggling for quite a while on lead with her (from your previous posts), and you still haven't seen a trainer that might help you with this kind of dog. I'd say you should go see a trainer without delay now that has experience of this type of dog. Really, please do this - frustration can easily turn into reactivity (based on fear, as is aggression) and it seems like you could do with an experience eye in helping you to manage Jess now.
thanks @JulieT . I was a bit overwrought last night and the reality probably isn't quite as extreme as my first message suggests. But you're right that I need some experienced help. I've spent a lot of time with dogs, but turns out it is massively more difficult to train a dog in crowded public parks than on private rural fields. Who would have thought it?! Anyway, I talked to my dad, who had some good advice, I've got an appointment in ten days with a top-notch spaniel person and am waiting for a local behaviourist with a vg reputation to call me back and hopefully can see her this week. So between all that I can surely identify what I'm doing wrong and how to stop it.
