Kelly Sears contacted the centre because her seven week old Cocker Spaniel Puppy, Tia was growling at her and her partner in certain situations. When Tia was in the garden and picking up twigs or other foliage, Kelly was concerned that the dog may choke or be poisoned. Kelly would attempt to remove the objects and consequently Tia would snap, bite and sometimes draw blood.

Kelly works as a hairdresser and takes Tia with her to her work place and was concerned about the dogs socialisation with adults and children entering the salon. She had also read about Cocker Rage Syndrome and this further confused the matter.

Kelly was referred by her veterinarian to this centre.

We tested the puppy and she displayed the same type of aggression when one tried to remove objects from her possession. Although it is unusual for puppies at this young age to show such intense aggression, in itself, it is not an abnormal behaviour, it is simply a puppy demonstrating its control/dominance as it would to its littermates. The Cocker Spaniel breed have a fair amount of this type of aggression inherent in many of their breeding lines.

Because of the number of Cocker Spaniels we see at this centre as adults with severe aggression problems, we decided to act quickly and firmly with this puppy.

Kelly learnt a number of techniques to stop the aggression in Tia.

This took several months and Kelly put in an immense amount of her time training her dog including a full obedience course linked to the behaviour programme that Colin set out.

With a less determined owner, the chances of Tia being fully reformed would have been small. It is only the fact that Kelly sought advice at this centre when she first saw the aberrant behaviour in the puppy and worked long hours on training that Tia has now become such a splendid dog and with a good temperament.

Today, in 2004 Tia is now a top agility trained dog and has qualified in all of the field trials levels. Kelly competes with her in agility competitions and Tia is now highly trained and one of the most obedient cocker spaniels about.

When aggression appears puppies of any breed, some pet owners find it amusing as their tiny bundle of fluff growls. They somehow feel that the puppy is showing vigour or personality when really it is straight forward dominance aggression. Other owners believe that the puppy will grow out of this behaviour which is also not the case.

Kelly with Tia at eight weeks

Tia CDex WDex TDex at 4 years of age