[sabrina]

I am a very worried grandmother. Bernice my daughter- in- law. bought 2 beautiful Ruby King Charles Spanials. Winster the male is so sweet and very good with the kids but Poppy is a nightmare. She bites all the time and now the kids are scared of her. Bernice has been training both puppies but finds Poppy very hard work. Her latest carry on is to go for the kids throats. She bullies Winsten all the time. Now Bernice has to put her in her cage so the kids can play with him. If she is not shut in the kitchen when being fed Winsten would get nothing. Puppies are only 12 wks. Vet has checked them out and can find no reason for Poppy to be so nasty. Children are never left with the pups but even so it is a worry when you read so many horror stories with dogs and kids.

[in the hills]

I have no experience with the breed you mention.


Is the pup showing real aggression or is it play biting. Our Flat-coated Retriever used to get very "carried away" when playing with my son but it was only play. He would play growl, jump on him and bite quite hard.


My sister has 2 cocker spaniels. One of these had a spell of growling and snapping at visiting children (not playing). It was at around 12 weeks and she was very concerned about it. Luckily it seemed to be a phase that he quickly grew out of.

[doganjo]

The breed is not really relevant.  At 12 weeks all pups should have had bite inhibition instilled into them by their dam - were these taken from her when they were very young or did they stay with her till your daughter got the pups?  Has your daughter spoken to the breeder about the problem - he/she may be willing to take the pup back and either refund or replace it - I would.


Your daughter needs to take the bitch pup on its own and retrain it.  I realise this is time consuming but it is that or euthanasia.  She must let the pup come to her and if she makes ANY attempt to bite or even mouth her she must give the command no and squeal loudly - as another pup might do.  If this doesn't give any improvement in a couple of days then for the peace and safety of the family she needs to talk to the breeder, either rehome it with a non child owner (although even then they can come in contact with other children) if the breeder is no help, or send it away for training to a specialist in behaviour.


ps Cavaliers are not generally known to be aggressive so I suspect it is a bite inhibition problem rather than anything else, in which case it is definitely a retraining issue

[Sylvia]

I thoroughly agree Dogandjo. Puppies find out how far they can go by the reaction of the dam and littermates. My OH brought home a springer pup, many years ago who had obviously been taken too young from the litter. In those days when the children were teenagers we had many visitors to the house and I would tell people to squeal loudly and turn their back on him when he bit hard. It didn't take long for him to learn. Dear of him, he died of old age two years ago

[in the hills]

My Flat-coat was with his mum until 14 weeks - she obviously didn't keep up with his lessons 


I understand what you are both saying but even at a young age there is in my opinion a difference between a puppy showing real aggression and over-boisterous play - as my pup did. My sisters spaniel was growling and snapping in an aggressive "leave me alone" manner. He is fine now though and as trustworthy around children as any dog is.


I think you would need to watch this pup, Sabrina to try to determine the type of behaviour being displayed. She is still very young so unless there is a real aggression problem, hopefully her behaviour can be modified with careful handling. As you say she needs to be watched carefully for a while around children.

[Moleskins]

I fully expect the manure to hit the fan but I offer this link for information. I'd rather try it than have the dog PTS as has been hinted at.

www.westielovers.com/westieworld/westiewisdom/alpha_roll.html

[Sylvia]

Yes, I'd go along with that   I know a woman who had her dog in the bedroom at night. Her poor husband had to hover outside the door until the wife enticed the dog to her side of the bed, then he'd to open the door and leap into bed. If he wasn't fast enough he got bitten Can you believe some people!!

[in the hills]

That's an interesting article, Moleskins. I was thinking along those lines. My father has trained many gundogs and 12 weeks is a bit early to be thinking of anything too drastic unless there is a real medical problem and you would need to speak to a vet about that.

[YorkshireLass]

I think the behaviour needs to be pinned down more.


Is it rough play gone too far?
Is it resource guarding from the other pup?
Is it resource guarding from the kids/people?
Is it a "leave me alone" response to kids trying to play - in which case I'd wonder if there was a medical problem (though she's been to vet).


I wouldn't necessarily intervene too much if she's determined to be the boss of her brother (within reason of course!). If there are enough adults to supervise, perhaps the kids' playtime with Winston could become Poppy's one-to-one training time? I bet it's frustrating for her to see them play from her cage.

[sabrina]

Just off the phone to Bernice, When she went to see the puppies Winsten was with his mum but Poppy was in a cage by herself. she has been working with her for a couple of weeks now and there has been no improvemeant., if anything she is getting worse so Bernice has decided to try and find a trainer in her area. If this fails then she will get in touch with the breeder.

[doganjo]

That sounds very suspicious to me.  I'd guess that the breeder knew she had problems.  I'd go to her first and ask what she wants to do about it.  A trainer/behaviourist is expensive - for good reason - so if there were issues before she got the pups then the breeder should pay for it - I would.  A good behaviourist has a pretty good chance of sorting a baby puppy out, using recognised calming techniques which can be taught to your daughter.

[in the hills]

Mmmmm ....... Are they litter brother and sister? Same age?


I think that I would ring the breeder for a chat. A good breeder would be helpful and want to discuss any problems of this sort.