Case Study: Henry The Cocker Spaniel

Henry the Cocker Spaniel:

Dogs are opportunistic animals, so if given access to a perceived valuable object they will take the opportunity to grab and run. This typically alerts the owner who then sets chase after the puppy and this can result in either a fun game of chase as far as the puppy is concerned or become a very negative experience for the puppy when they are caught and forced to relinquish their prize, this is when the potential of biting increases. The other issue with stealing objects is if the dog perceives the best way to keep his prize is to swallow it, the potential of an internal blockage increases and this can be detrimental to your pets health.

Henry needs to start basic obedience training and his owners need to start teaching

This training should start at home with minimum distractions, as soon as Storm is engrossed in playing his owner should approach and take hold of his collar, praise him and reward with a tasty treat, then allow him to resume play, Once they are confident he has mastered the first step they can begin the second step, which is the same as the first except than once they have taken hold of his collar they are going to use the treat to lure him into sitting. The next step is to get Storm’s attention without taking his collar and ensuring he can sit without any handling from his owners, the final step would be teaching him to sit without you approaching him. When relaxing at home they can tell him “Storm, sit” once he has they can rush up to him and in an excited tone repeat “sit,sit,sit” then take hold of his collar and reward him. With each of these steps they should begin at home and once he learns each step they can advance into an area with increased distraction such as his puppy classes. This is a technique that they should re-enforce often to ensure he will still

Towards strangers (usually fear or territorial)

2. Towards Family members

Aggression towards strangers can be approached in different manners depending on the type of aggression being displayed. Territorial aggression can be tackled by using a combination of desensitization and counter-conditioning. Aggression motivated by fear is more difficult, A counter-command such as “go away” can help train a dog to move away from whatever is causing the pet to react in this case it would be the children.

Resource guarding in an Adult dog can be very difficult especially if the dog has not been taught bite-inhibition as a puppy. To begin this training the owners will be required to change the way Fudge is fed, the first step will be to start feeding Fudge in a more controlled manner.

Fudge’s owners will need to start by filling the bowl by hand in small quantities while she is eating, then begin to lift her bowl to fill it with food before returning it, once she becomes more relaxed to hands near her food bowl they can move onto more advanced steps, these steps need to be taken slowly and not rushed. It would also be essential for her owners to ensure her food is not on the floor when grandchildren are around. Once they can get Fudge more relaxed around the children they can perhaps start teaching the children how to treat Fudge when she performs simple obedience exercises like “sit” this will start to help Fudge perceive the children in a more relaxed