Cockerpoos, Aggression and Resource Guarding - why it’s so common and what to do about it.
“High energy, Excitable, Intelligent, Possessive, Vocal Hunting Dog” is a very different story to “Small, Friendly, Hypoallergenic family pet that looks like a teddy bear.”
If someone were to tell me that I have a resource guarding case, and I had to place a bet on what type of dog it would be, I would bet on a Cockerpoo. Whilst resource guarding can happen in any breed of dog, it’s Cockerpoo’s that I see cropping up time and time again, with issues beginning around 4 months old and becoming severe by about 6 to 8 months. It’s also quite common that these dogs become snappy and aggressive with their owners in a more generalised way. So why is this supposedly perfect family pet so prone to this kind of issue? Why does it start so early, and what can you do about it?
Not so Perfect first time Dogs - What IS a Cockerpoo?
Cockerpoos are a very common choice of pet for first time dog owners, particularly young families - and the decision making process is normally something along the lines of “Small, Hypoallergenic, looks Cuddly”. To put it another way, first time owners are attracted to Cockerpoos because of the practical, physical attributes of the breed. But when we look into the breed and ancestry of Cockerpoos - Spaniels and Poodles - what we have are a number of key characteristics that tell a different story. Spaniels are hunting retrieving dogs. Cocker Spaniels in particular which are one of the most common parents are exceptionally good at retrieving things, which comes with the caveat of also being very good at possessing things. Cocker spaniel owners are normally well aware of this, and take the time when the puppy is young to teach a good relationship with carrying and releasing objects, but this little nugget of information seems to have been dropped in the creation of Cockerpoos. Of course, the other side of the Cockerpoo story is the poodle. Its the poodle that gives cockerpoos their hypoallergenic coats. And poodles, like spaniels - are hunting, retrieving dogs. High energy hunting dogs, with a fair amount of ‘bite for your buck’. These dogs are confident, intelligent working dogs and tend to be more vocal than their spaniel counterparts.
Emotional sensitivity and excitability
One other key behavioural characteristics of Spaniels and Cockerpoos to mention is their emotional sensitivity. There is a stereotype that these dogs are “crazy”. Over excited, neurotic dogs which bounce off the walls and never stop moving. In fact, the stereotype is false, or at least inaccurate. Neuroticism and over excitement in Spaniels and cockerpoos comes from their higher emotional sensitivity. Owners that behave in a highly excitable way with a Cockerpoo are going to have a neurotic, highly-strung dog - but owners which focus on absolute calmness enjoy much, much calmer dogs as a result. This relationship with excitement can quite literally come back to bite you, more on that later.
The Key lifestyle ‘symptoms’ that lead to Aggression towards owners and Resource Guarding
One of the benefits of being an outside eye on resource guarding cases is that it’s much easier to see common trends and patterns in terms of how young puppies are raised that develop resource guarding issues. And the same lifestyle choices and habits also tend to be reflected in the emotional relationship that owners have with their dog, and the emotional response to when their puppy starts to show aggression. There is one sentiment that i hear paraphrased time and time again, and it sounds something like this:
“I don’t get it. I give my puppy all the food, all the treats, all the toys, all the excitement and play in the world. I’ve shown them nothing but love and affection. I treat them like my own baby. Why are they being so aggressive towards me?”
Some of you may already be able to see it, but it’s worth explaining. When we look at common lifestyle symptoms, we usually see some combination of the following:
The Toybox - which represents a bounty and excess of toys, usually without any limitation on access, or any structure or teaching involved.
Treat heavy, high excitement training - over use of food and treats in a very excitable way, leading to a food obsession - a puppy that is constantly anticipating their next treat whenever they are asked to do anything.
The scatter mat / scatter feeding - commonly advised by puppy schools to combat puppies which eat too fast (see above), scatter feeding means frantic, competitive, bouncy-grabby behaviour across the kitchen floor.
Over excited owners - also advised by puppy schools, owners do everything in a very excitable way, with lots of high pitched noises and frantic affection - to ‘motivate’ their puppy and make them ‘happy’.
Persistent invasion of a dogs personal space - to put it bluntly, owners who just won’t leave their dog alone. where the ‘cute’ factor is just too much, to the extent the puppy has nowhere quiet to go.
The “5 minutes for every month…” Rule - which means a working dog that is not getting nearly enough exercise, putting all their boredom into what they have available to them. Possessions.
Not properly addressing unwanted puppy biting - relying solely on redirecting a puppy bite, or always walking away means that puppies never experience any disagreement or consequence for mouthing and biting at a young age - and learn to ask for space with their mouths.
Worrying about everything they put in their mouths - and trying to solve that problem by yanking, pulling or prising open your puppies jaw. Really bad idea.
When we look at the paraphrase above, the answer is that your dog is being aggressive towards you because you give them an excess of food, treats, toys and excitement, without rules boundaries or limitations. Because you treat them like a baby, and because you don’t fulfil their needs as a dog. And because you don’t respect their space.
Piecing together the Puzzle and some Hard truths
Piecing together these key lifestyle symptoms, and translate them into the dogs perspective, what we have are puppies that from a young age are simultaneously given huge amounts of stimulation from their owners, in the form of food and affection, whilst being given very few if any rules, boundaries or limitations to follow. Every new skill is taught with excitement. Every issue is dealt with through food and excitement -scatter feeding, exchanging objects for food, inviting your dog to you for food, giving food when they go to the toilet, giving food every time they sit, or using food to try and stop them pulling on the lead etc. Every time the owner comes home, they get greeted in an incredibly excited way, and the same happens when they wake up in the morning.
Puppies are allowed to jump up and climb on their owners because their owners see it as sharing affection, and often owners will rough and tumble, wrestle, paw swat and chase their puppies. Their owners will also approach them when they are asleep on their bed, stroke them when they’re eating, and continuously reach to them to touch them, pick them up (for affection or to solve a problem) and otherwise invade intimate and personal space. When it comes to objects and possession, owners panic, and try to get objects back by manhandling their puppies. Your puppy is only ever going to perceive that one way - thieving and aggression.
We treat our puppies like toys, and our puppies perceive us as annoying, relentless siblings. Sooner or later they’re going to bite back.
These puppies learn to relate to their owners in an excited way, and anticipate that the presence of their owner is going to mine high levels of excitement, and the invasion of their personal space. What they also learn at a young age is that if they mouth teeth or bite, all their owners will do is either redirect them onto a toy, or stand up and walk away. Which means that if the owner is doing anything that puppy doesn’t like, a bite is a highly effective way of getting their owners to leave them alone!
At a young age, one of the key reasons puppies mouth is to express discomfort or to manage their space. Its their way of saying “you’ve come to me and wound me up, and i don’t like your hands all over my neck, rolling me over and picking me up, please leave me alone”. When we look at the tone of the relationship, what this also means is that the puppies see their owners more like littermates than parents. and like littermates, its all fun and games until someone gets hurt (or feels overwhelmed) then things very quickly turn sour when your puppy decides to tell you to back off. And here’s the catch - they’re allowed to tell their littermates to back off. Not their parents.
A Lifestyle Change to work back against Aggression
Resource guarding is not something that can be resolved by continuing in the same relationship you have with your dog, and there are no quick fixes. You need to provide a structure in which to teach, elevate your own value, and treat your dog in a way that nurtures the behaviour you want instead of the behaviour you don’t. Here are my 5 Rules*:
Calm Down. Right Down.
When you reunite with your dog, practice No Touch, No Talk, No Eye contact. Ignore excited behaviour and teach your dog to relate to you in a much calmer way. When you ask your dog to do something, cut out the baby voices and talk to them like a young adult. Stop roughhousing with your dog, and keep any excitement to outside the house.
Fulfil your working dog.
A 6 month old puppy needs more exercise than half an hour a day. A year old puppy needs more than 1 hour - working dogs even more so. (Consider that your dog exercising for only 10% of their day is around 2.5 hours). Get your lead-work skills sorted, get out and get exploring. Learn to walk with your dog in a way where your dog learn to follow you, take direction and protection from you, and share experiences with you. More exploration and purpose outside means more calm when you come home. The walk is your best opportunity to bond and establish yourself as a parent. Not teaching your dog ‘paw’ in the kitchen.
Get rid of the Toybox - and most of the toys… and the scatter mat…
Your dog is not going to love you more if you buy them more toys, they’ll love you if you take the time to form a proper trusting bond. A toy or a chew is there to teach. Teach them to share, teach them to fetch. Teach them to release. My dogs don’t have toys in the home as adults, and as puppies they have a rope toy and a chew - which are always shared and supervised activities. You only need as many toys as there are different activities, and as many as toys as you can participate in at 1 time. For me that’s a ball, an Antler Chew and a rope toy for puppies.
Invite, Invite, Invite.
The Basis for all interactions when it comes to affection and interaction is Invite. What we mean, is if you want affection from your dog, never go to them - invite them to come to you. This opens up choice - if your puppy is uncomfortable, they can stay where they are. Then it’s up to you to follow through if you’re asking them to come to your for something important. Have a lead which they can wear inside the house, so you can take a hold of it and encourage them towards you gently if you need to - without having to go right up to them. When we flip the tables, it also means that your puppy should not be coming into your intimate or personal space uninvited, for any reason. That means not sitting at your feet when you are eating, not jumping straight up onto your lap on the sofa, or climbing all over you when you reunite. Personal space is about manners and respect - its a two way street. If your dog is invading your space, either walk into them so they have to back off, or use the lead to move them away. (Use a normal collar and lead or a loose slip rather than a harness).
Be a Parent, not a Sibling.
No one is asking you to be the “alpha”, the “pack leader”, the “master” or the “boss”. We’re asking you to be a parent, be a coach, be a tutor - be a leadership figure that provides Calm, Confidence, love and Joy in the way that you set a structure with your young dog, instead of trying to be your dogs best friend. That means putting in place rules, boundaries and limitations which you can be consistent with. It means teaching your dog consequences instead of allowing them to do things which cause harm.
I teach my clients “Correction, Direction, Outcome”. Correction is simply the expression of disagreement, normally sound or sometimes a touch/tap with the lead. The point of a correction is to immediately interrupt the behaviour you don’t want - nothing more and nothing less, which is why we provide a Direction to show your dog what they should be doing instead (e.g use the lead to move them off the sofa to their own bed, move out of your space, use your body to herd them out of your way or back off etc). This means its easier for them to create an Outcome (lying down calmly on their own bed, waiting in a sit outside of your personal space) which relates to their state of mind. How the Direction makes them feel.
*A quick note on food. There is a balance when it comes to resource guarding in terms of the relationship your dog has with you and food. Generally it is a good idea to hand feed your dog, instead of giving food from a Bowl or scattered across the floor. However, if you fall into the category of owners with a seriously food driven dog, you need to practice feeding in a controlled way, and remove food from the majority of other activities. Hand feeding means taking your dogs daily food allowance and feeding it to them directly from your hands a few times a day as part of a training session. These sessions need to be focused on teaching calm and self control, whilst allowing you to bond with your dog in a way where food is given - not competed over.
Summary
Whilst these principles certainly don’t account for all resource guarding cases, this picture is something I see time and time again - particularly in Cockerpoos that belong to young families and first time dog owners. Of course, these principles are by no means breed specific, nor are they exhaustive (Nervous and insecure temperaments for example), but they should give you a base point to begin to work on. Of course, if you do need more assistance, we offer free phone calls and one to one behaviour modification to assist you in your relationship with your dog.
