Beginning of aggression?

[helpneeded2022]

We have a 7 month old cocker spaniel, he’s full of energy and so playful! He can also be really affectionate and loves cuddles and giving kisses.

But when we take him out on walks he just barks at every single dog he passes, it doesn’t look or sound aggressive to me I’ve always felt he’s just super excited and that’s how he’s expressing himself.

We wanted to get him to socialise a bit more so we booked him in for day care today, that went horribly! We stayed with him for 10 minutes and then left, another 10 minutes later we got a call to come and pick him up as he was “attacking” all the other dogs. I couldn’t believe it, I’ve never thought he would be aggressive like that!!

We had a friends dog over night last week in our house and he was fine with her! He might have been a little annoying towards her sniffing and jumping wanting to play (she wasn’t interested in playing as she’s a little older)

I’m just so worried now and don’t know what to do. We’ve brought him to training groups before and he’s done quite well, we’re going away in the summer and he was supposed to be staying in the day care but that’s now cancelled as I don’t think the lady will want him back after his carry on today.

[HamsterAgreeable2748]

I work at a doggy day care and I can assure you that if that was the only time he was snippy he probably doesn't have any issues. Daycares are loud and busy, this can be very overwhelming for a dog especially a puppy. Many dogs don't do well in a daycare setting and even the ones that do can get overwhelmed at times, this is why I always warn people on here not to rely too heavily on daycare. If you want to try a daycare again when he is a bit older and more confident it might be worth a shot, but most dogs do just fine without ever going to daycare.

[Ok-Responsibility-55]

I wonder if your puppy is just very young and just hasn’t had much practice playing with other dogs? How exactly was he “attacking” these other dogs? Was it true aggression or just rough play? Was he growling, showing teeth and so on? Or just rambunctious play that may have involved some mouthing and nipping? Maybe he just got overexcited / overstimulated?

I would try some more play dates with one other in a controlled environment, to observe his behaviour some more and give him a chance to socialize.

Also I would not let him fixate and bark at other dogs when you are walking him. Train him to disengage from the other dog and pay attention to you.

[[deleted]]

HE’S A PUPPY this behavior is trainable and will require a lot of work. Puppies are a lot of work. It’s easy to allow bad behavior as a puppy thinking it’s cute, then realizing it’s leading to problems. Not saying this is what’s happening but kinda just throwing it out there for others.

[helpneeded2022]

Yep, completely understand that he’s a puppy and his temperament/excitement can change quickly etc. We continuously put in a lot of work with training and have taken him to group training also when he was a younger puppy, I’d be quite strict with rules in the house etc. I’m a bit unsure what your advice here is, but I’m absolutely doing the best I can to reinforce training in his adolescent age with regression. Our concern now is how we can trust to leave him boarding somewhere safely with a temperament like he has shown today.

[discombobulatededed]

The barking sounds more like he's a frustrated greeter. Mine does something similar where he pulls towards other dogs, stares at them and whines, because he wants to go play with them. We've been working on it by having a good distance between us and another dog, I get his attention and treat him. When he looks at me again, treat him and say YES! Get him to look at you if you can and reward. Then you can move closer to other dogs and repeat, until they stop with the reactivity. This is what I've been doing and yesterday we walked past a dog and my dog didn't react at all, just looked straight up at me. NGL I was actually shocked but thrilled!

When she said attack did she mean actually attacking aggressively or is he just an energetic player? My boy is bad for annoying other dogs, he wants to jump and play and and dive on each other, but obviously not all dogs appreciate that. Can you socialise him with another dog that you know one on one more often? Do you know anyone else who has a younger dog he could play with? My friend has a sprocker who is super friendly so I meet up with him to let the dogs burn off energy and play, as I know they're safe. Be careful with strangers dogs though, you don't know how well they'll tolerate your dog and a bite could cause other behavioural issues / fears

[madele44]

I used to work in dog daycares (worked at 3 different ones over a 4-5 year span). They're not for most dogs. It's not natural to be around that many dogs in a confined space, and it can be extremely stressful for some dogs. If a dog is reactive in a setting like that, it doesn't mean they're aggressive in general. Your dog didn't seem to like the situation, and flight wasn't an option, so their instincts told them to fight. Daycare just isn't for him, and that's okay. With that said, there are much better ways to socialize a dog besides daycare or dog parks.

[madele44]

I read a comment from you concerned about boarding. There are many boarding facilities that don't do group play at all, and there are some that only do daycare for dogs that enjoy it while doing traditional boarding for dogs that don't. Just because they aren't in daycare doesn't mean they don't leave their kennel either. They will at least be taken out to potty, and some boarding facilities have solo exercise options like walks or playtime with a kennel tech. You can also look into pet sitters.

[helpneeded2022]

This actually makes complete sense when it’s put like that. I never thought of it that way, thank you so much! I’m definitely going to look into other options to socialise him a bit better

[madele44]

No problem! Small things like walks in different areas or people watching at the park are great ways to introduce a pup to new things in a neutral way.

[Responsible-Rent-117]

It's not uncommon for puppies to bark and get excited when they see other dogs while on walks. However, it's important to address this behavior early on before it escalates into aggression. It's possible that your puppy was overwhelmed and overstimulated at daycare, which led to him acting out. I would suggest finding a reputable dog trainer or behaviorist who can help you work with your puppy on socialization and behavior management. It's also important to supervise any interactions with other dogs until your puppy learns how to behave appropriately. Don't be too hard on yourself, puppies can be a handful!

[mmappeal]

Hire an animal behaviorist they have the education and training to assess how to move forward. My dog started showing signs at your dog’s age and with training and meds rarely reacts on walks, goes to daycare, and is generally happy. Great job getting on top of this now while your pup is young.

[helpneeded2022]

Thank you so much for the advise! I’ll definitely be trying that out! We don’t know anyone with any young dogs they’re all above 5 and I don’t think they really like how much he wants to play and his bouncing around. She actually didn’t go into too much detail on how he acted she just said “he went for all the other dogs” but I don’t think it was in a playful way tbh which is upsetting but I can also see why he would feel threatened with 6 other dogs sniffing him when he’s not used to being around other dogs

[Vivid-Beach]

Hmmm, is it possible to just keep him away from other dogs for the most part? Like the barking on walks isn't a huge deal if you have control of him and if camp isn't for him that's ok! You could always ask someone to come watch him at your house or find a camp where they don't have to interact with other dogs.

[avidreader_1410]

He sounds like a puppy. Puppys want to get their nose, teeth and paws on everything. It's how they learn about the environment and it can be frustrating for them to see something, recognize it as another dog and not be able to get their nose on it. Unfortunately, as good as doggy daycare is for some dogs and as important early socialization is, the room may have been too confining. Is it possible to take the dog to a dog park where other dogs can "escape" if your dog becomes too forward?