Case Profile: The Spaniel
This case profile is the first in a new series of short blogs which explores so of the most common issues I see on a daily basis up at the facility. Whilst every single dog is different, there are very often trends relating to specific breeds of dog, or specific scenarios - and it can be both a reassurance and a support to know just how common your dogs behavioural issues are. This weeks issue - the dog that has my heart and soul - the spaniel.
BREED(S): Working Cocker Spaniels, Show Cocker Spaniels, Springer Spaniels, Cockerpoos.
Owners most commonly see me for: Hyperactivity, over excitement, anxiety and/or fearfulness - sometimes leading to ‘snappy’ aggression towards people, resource guarding behaviours.
Most Common symptoms include: Pulling like a freight train (!), Jumping, barking, screaming, lunging, growling and snapping in and around certain objects, the crate, when being touched. High levels of redirective behaviour (sometimes described as “the dog is always busy, won’t settle”, or “the dog is always stealing things).
Occasional symptoms include: High prey drive, obsessive or fixated behaviours. Extreme fear, usually towards sounds and traffic. Neurotic behaviours.
Case Breakdown: One of the most common cases I work with is hyperactivity and the plethora of other behaviours that come alongside it with spaniels. The first thing that must be said is that the stereotype of the ‘crazy cocker’ is absolutely, by no means how a spaniel has to be. The reason spaniels so often end up presenting as hyperactive is for two reasons - their exceptionally high emotional sensitivity, and the way that many owners interact with their dogs to encourage (inadvertently or intentionally) the hyperactivity in their dogs. Spaniels are not a dog that needs any help to be motivated. They thrive on human contact and affection, and they need very little stimulation in order to engage. Despite this, many spaniels are subject to huge amounts of over stimulation in their home environment, or given the freedom to practice high levels of excitement towards prey animals at a young age. This excess energy and stimulation has to escape somewhere, which is what owners see as the behavioural issues they are experiencing.
As working dogs, spaniels need to be taught how to switch off and relax, and how to use the skill of relaxation to navigate busy and stressful scenarios. Just like when we teach a young child to use full stops, spaniels need to be encouraged to slow down, regularly sit down, and take a moment to breathe. Often owners fall into the trap of thinking that their dogs just need more exercise, or need to be kept busy with games and toys. But in most situations the opposite is true.
Spaniels also need to be interacted with in a very calm, clear and gentle way. One of my rules is to give them the ‘minimum amount of information required’ - because they are just so good at responding that they don’t need an excess of information in the form of sound or stimulus. unfortunately, most of my clients have been to a puppy class that told them the exact opposite. High excitement, high stimulation, high reward - and spaniels as a type suffer from this over stimulation more than any other dog. Often the ‘sit’ is taught with a high stimulus reward, which rewires an activity which is naturally supposed to slow and calm the brain, into something that holds the dog in a very excited, fixated state. When we block our spaniels main path to relaxation in this way, we trap them in a loop of over stimulation. Dogs that are kept in an overstimulated state end up becoming stressed and anxious, and they begin to relate touch and affection to excitement instead of calm and relaxation - which means that they can end up becoming aggressive in an effort to manage their space and be left alone to switch off.
Steps towards resolution: One of the best skills you can teach your spaniel is to relax, which we do through an activity called ‘place work’. We also work on ensuring that dogs relate our touch to calmness, and how to communicate with them in a calmer way that nurtures a more relaxed state. This incredible breed of dog is the best example I know of emotional intelligence, and what happens when human beings confuse ‘excitement’ with ‘goodness’ and ‘happiness’. Spaniels more than any other dog will teach you how to slow down and calm down - and become more sensitive to the world around you.
Train With Us in Yorkshire
We work with Spaniels every week, and have two of our own in our Pack (Charlie & Luca) - which is why we know them so well, and why theres nothing I love more than helping people to understand their Spaniel better. If you’re local to Yorkshire and the North East, we’d love to speak to you.
Scout is our working cocker spaniel, aged 9. He has struggled with a serious phobia of noise (lots of different kinds) since birth. The best offer from very well meaning vets to date has been to offer us Xanax to null his senses. After his first visit to James we noticed a marked improvement in him, he’s happier, more confident and relaxed and we have the right learning and new skills to properly support him. We were given some very easy to implement advice and whilst it does require patience and commitment Scout is a different dog. Walks are now a joy, fun for us all for the first time. The aim is to enable Scout to manage his fears independently. It’s not a quick fix but progress was apparent immediately. We’ve just had our second visit, wonderful to receive confirmation from James that he can see good progress in Scout too. It’s a journey for sure but this is a real game changer for us all. We highly recommend and only wish we’d found the Dogs Way earlier. Scout is a trooper and deserves the very best. So glad we’ve found that now in James.
We cannot recommend James at The Dog’s Way highly enough. He did a home visit after we discovered our dog was howling when left alone. We were distressed that she was distressed and our lives quickly became very restricted as we struggled to know what to do. Despite trying traditional theories and training concepts, we felt stuck in the se of conflicting advice and weren’t making any real progress. From the moment James arrived, he was easy company, genuinely listened, and clearly understood our concerns. He appreciated just how much our dog is part of our family and how deeply we care about her, while also recognising the significant impact that not being able to leave her was having on our own lives. What really stood out was James’ insight. He helped us understand that our lovely dog didn’t have true separation anxiety at all, but was actually very confident — and quite stubborn! This shift in understanding made all the difference. James gave us the knowledge, confidence, and ongoing support we needed to work through the issue effectively. His time, patience, and regular reviews meant we were supported every step of the way and were no longer isolated by the situation. We would highly recommend James to anyone, his knowledge, experience and attitude are fantastic. We are incredibly grateful for the difference he has made to both our dog’s life and our own... everyone in this home is a lot more relaxed and a lot more content!
James is fantastic! He has a clear approach to understanding your dog and the situation you need help with. We first contacted James for help with what we thought was separation anxiety, but after meeting James and him spending time with us and our dog Lenny, he could see it was something else and he helped us approached the issue differently. We were at our wits end with different methods of training, door is a bore, excel spreadsheets of desensitisation tasks and 'advice' we had been given. I just wish we had contacted James months ago. We had to change our approach a couple of times but James was on hand every step of the way. Within a few months our dog understood what we were expecting and we can now leave him for hours with no issues. He's relaxed and we are finally relaxed and free! We became lifetime members and feel it was worth every penny. To know we have James at the end of a phone if we have any issues, no matter how big or small is reassuring. Plus you get all of the helpful videos online. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend James and The Dogs Way to anyone looking for a great, sensitive and sensible way to work with your dog. It isn't just about training with James, it's about understanding the why, so we can work with our dogs and they can understand us as much as we do them. I love his approach.
James is an incredibly patient, warm and skillful trainer. From the first consultation he listened carefully to the particulars of our Spaniel. We are a family of four and he was expert in communicating with all of us to support a consistent, effective approach to improving problems with barking. Things have already improved markedly for us: James gave us real confidence and excellent, informed advice. (My son compared him to David Attenborough given his attentive and attuned nature!). I'd recommend The Dog's Way to anyone.
I am so glad we found James. We rehomed our springer spaniel and was about at our wits end. She was so fearful of the world but also incredibly hyper and defensive at the same time. the more traditional training technics were too stressful for her, even asking her to sit to calm her stressed her out. James had an incredible insight into dog behaviour and the difference in our dog having met with James is enormous. He not only provided training in the sessions but was a real support in between not just with advice but reassurance to us too. We still have ways to go but now we can enjoy take her for walks and she is able to be a functioning part of the family. And the most wonderful thing is that we see that she is now enjoying life. Thank you James ☺️
"I cannot recommend James enough for anyone dealing with behavioural challenges. Our 16-week-old English Springer Spaniel was struggling with intermittent jumping up and biting. After trying everything the internet had to offer and feeling lost about which way to turn, we realised we needed a different approach. We found James at The Dog’s Way and booked an emergency visit. From the very first session, James provided a calm, structured, and professional approach. He quickly assessed the root of our puppy's behaviour within minutes and then showed us exactly how to bring him down from his reactivity to a calm and placid place. James explained clear, practical training methods and gave us the tools we could use every day, along with the confidence and knowledge to continue our puppy's journey. A truly outstanding trainer for behavioural issues — we are so grateful for his guidance." Steve W.
James has supported us every step of the way in our journey. From choosing our little puppy to guiding us on how to raise a calm, happy dog. We have learnt so much from James and continue to do so. We are hugely grateful for his support and would not hesitate to recommend him and "The Dog's Way" to anyone looking for support.
James has been working on a resource guarding problem with my cocker spaniel. He has an amazing understanding of dogs and the relationship of owner and dog. He has provided me with exercises that have shown me how to react in a calm and positive way, rather than the frustrated manner I have previously used when my dog guards. Because of the work we have done, I'm happy to say that both me and my dog now have a much calmer relationship. I would totally recommend James for any issues you may have with your dog.
We'd been having issues with our new, rehomed dog and had a call and then a session with James. He immediately had a great read on the dog even on the call and a genuine interest in not just resolving the behavioural issues but giving us the agency to resolve, understand and address the root cause. We thought we had a few separate issues with our dog but James helped give a really cohesive view of how and why these issues derived from the same place. This nuance and guidance is something we would never have stumbled upon ourselves without his help. While we might have gotten to a point where our dog was behaving better, the journey to get there would definitely have been more arduous and difficult for our dog I can't fault James on a single point, you could throw a thesaurus worth of compliments at him and every one would be accurate. Reading the other reviews I can relate fully to each one and would recommend without hesitation
James has been open and honest with us from the start about our very confident 2 year old cocker spaniel. We've had several trainers and behaviorists now to help us with Melvyn and I only wish I had found him sooner. The work continues for us, but I certainly would suggest visiting James if you're after someone who can have a holistic overview of the owner(s) and the dog, whilst keeping everyone's safety as the priority.
After an intense 3 month period of stress in our house our 2.5 year old spaniel had become very upset about being left alone in his crate or in the house at all. James kindly fitted us in promptly after my call for help & within 30mins of watching our dog & listening to our story he knew how to tackle it. He left us with a clear plan after spending a good 2 hours with us. 3 weeks later we have our happy, relaxed spaniel back & more importantly, as a family, our lives beyond home as we can leave him again at home & know he’s safe & happy. Honestly James was amazing & so generous with his time & expertise. He rescued us. Thank you!!!! Lindsey
Just back from an excellent session with James to get help and advice on puppy training. Information was explained extremely clearly and he backed this up with clearly a great knowledge of dog behaviour and research. The dogs warmed to him as did we. 100% recommend if you are having problems / just need a bit of guidance. Thank you James 😀 Edit one year on: We went back for a second time for help with some issues with over-excitability in our cocker. James helped me to change my attitude and this has resulted in excellent improvement - I am more confident and Angus is more responsive and respectful. The result is a lovely bond developing. We are still a work in progress but the results are so good! A further 5* review. Thank you James.
Our first session with James was to address a resource guarding issue with our 6 year old cocker spaniel. She had shown signs of guarding a few years ago when we had a visit from a trainer who charged £160 and was in our house less than ten minutes. She managed to get the toy from the dog and then left. Fortunately for our vigilance of keeping the particular toy away from her the problem ceased. The problem started again around 6 months ago and we really struggled because of our lack of knowledge and our frustration with her. We arranged a telephone call with James and we're very impressed with his knowledge and calmness. Our first onsite visit was a revelation as James explained the procedure to enable calmness in the dog and then for the dog to release the toy. The change in the behaviour of the dog was instant. We have practiced the routine a few times a day and have noted the guarding has stopped and we now have our calm dog either laying on the floor or sofa without a care about the toy. We would fully recommend James and look forward to other sessions to cover recall and lead walking. Please note we have spent and wasted a lot of money on so called trainers.
James (and The Dogs Way) work miracles! I rehomed my 11 month old Working Cocker Spaniel 2 months ago and it soon became apparent she really struggled with separation anxiety to the point which I couldn’t leave the room for a matter of seconds without her crying and clawing at the door. At a loss for how to resolve this I gave James a call and after the initial phone consultation I had all the confidence in the world if anyone was going to help Cally it would be James. We had a home visit the following week and I was amazed at how quickly Cally took to what James was teaching us. Fast forward to not even 2 weeks since the home visit and I’ve just been able to leave Cally for an hour and a half with absolutely no whimpering, crying, scratching! It genuinely feels like we have a different dog! I couldn’t recommend James and The Dogs Way enough!
Willow James is a true dog (and owner) whisperer! Willow our 3 year old springerdor was getting so anxious and excited that she was struggling with walking on the lead and being near any other dogs without showing aggression, within a few hours James had assessed Willow (and us) and was able to help us transform what we were ALL doing that was creating this negative situation. With a few simple changes, plenty of practice and a growing confidence, walking Willow is now a totally different experience. she’s become far more relaxed, content and a joy to walk again. Can’t thank you enough James! We fully recommend you and your abilities to anyone seeking help with their dogs (and their own contributing) behaviour!
