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Old July 15th, 2007, 08:21 PM
gtexan gtexan is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2007
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Scary Possession Aggression? Need some advice!

My wife and I recently moved to a much larger house with a huge 1/3 acre fenced in back yard and access to a lake, and so decided it was time to add a new member to our family! We had both grown up with dogs our whole life, but as we've lived in apartments for the last 5 years, we decided we would wait until we had a yard and room to run before getting a new one. We also have 2 cats aged 2 (male) and 1 (female), so we anted to give them at least 3 months in the new house before bringing in a new puppy.

Our waiting time was over, so this past weekend we made a trip out to our local SPCA, and instantly fell in love with a smallish little cocker spaniel boy aged 1 year. We took him for a walk at the shelter, played fetch with him, and tested his interaction with the other dogs and the kittens they had up for adoption as well (we have 2 cats). He passed every test with flying colors, and we just knew he was the dog for us.

We took him home, bought him a bunch of toys, and played with him outside for at least a few hours. He soon grew tired, so we brought him inside. He is a very cuddly dog, who loves to lick your face and have his back, face, etc petted. Nothing seemed to bother him as long as you were givng him attention, and he loved it all.

We gave him a rawhide and another squeeky toy, and after a few hours, he was ready to play again. We both sat on the floor and took turns throwing his toy and letting him bring it back to us.

This was when the trouble started.

For what seems like a completely non-provoked reason, one time my wife went to take the toy to throw again, as we had done every other time, and he seemed to "snap." He growled and lunged at her neck. In the process he actually broke her necklace and definately scared her a lot. he's not a big dog (only 20 lbs), but the action was terrifying. I've had dogs with possession aggression (growling when you get too close to their toys), but this seemed different. He went from tongue out, happily playing, to attack dog. Not just growling, but lunging like you sometimes see when dogs that dont like each other get too close.

I was a little wary of him, but decided it was probably a one time thing, and that he was just not used to her yet (i had been playing most of the day with him). So we decided to give him a few minutes of playing by himself (he chose to sit in my lap) and test him again. I gently took one of his toys away form him, and he eagerly waited for him to throw it. Things seemed back to normal. And then, out of nowhere again, he lunged at me too. I went to take his toy to throw, and he did the exact same behavior towards me that he did towards my wife.

I should say that while he did lunge at both of us, he never bit either one. He was sitting in my lap when he went for me, and thus I know he was in range and could have if he wanted. It was more like a nasty, snarling attack that he instantly knew he should not do. He snarled, growled, went at me but stopped short. Never any actual contact. Despite this, the action was still terrifying.

Instead of backing up, I stood up and yelled "no" firmly but not loudly. He seemed to know he had done something wrong, and instantly rolled over and acted submissive.

We were both a little scared at this point, and decided not to play with him with his toys. We still gave him attention, but didn't interact with him and his toys the rest of the evening.

As I said prevoiusly, we have 2 young cats who we are very nervous about meeting a new dog. While we also dont' have children at the moment, they are definately in our plans within the next 5 years. As such, we were (hopefully understandably) very nervous about what to do with this dog. Never having witnessed a dog display this kind of "unpredictable" behavior, we decided it was too risky to introduce him to our cats (what if he actually did attempt to hurt them).

As such, we brought him back to the shelter this morning with tears in our eyes. We assumed that he would have more luck in a house where he was maybe the only dog, and where the owners could teach their dominance or alpha status to him. We were afraid that even if we could assert our dominance over him, we would not be able to teach our cats to treat him the same way, and definately not a child.


This morning before we brought him back to the SPCA I played with him for at least an hour or two more, and he was again the sweetest dog I have ever encountered. All he wanted to do was love and be loved in return. He let me play fetch with him the entire time, and I once again startetd taking his toy and throwing it. No problems at all again, but I couldn't help but be extremely wary that whatever set him off the first time might return. It was unnerving.

Since dropping him off, we've both been a wreck. Even though he only stayed with us for one night, we both fell in love with him. He really was the sweetest dog, and we both can't drop the feeling that we may have reacted out of ignorance rather than logic.

Is this a behavior that is very normal in dogs? Can it be trained? Can their behavior become more predictable? (I know all animals have a bit of unpredictability, but at least enough for us too trust?)

I think the attachment that we developed will pass as I know the SPCA shelter, and know that he will be placed with a great family if he isn't able to live with us. But at the same time, what if he could make the change?

Did we do the right thing? We aren't willing to risk the health (physical or mental) of our little cats, or ourselves for that matter), if this isn't the right situation for him. Please help!

Last edited by gtexan; July 15th, 2007 at 08:27 PM.
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