Hi, My ESS is now 15 weeks old and for the last week he has been growling occassionally at my two youngest children, i know sometimes they startle him when he is asleep and thought that was the reason. Normally he is reallyplacid, apart from when he is excited and he mouths/bites, however this is getting less. Last night my 10 year old son bought Harvey in from the garden and said that he had bitten his leg for no reason. Harvey was really wild growling and going for me and my husband, luckily because he is still relatively little i was able to control him and put him in his crate for 10 mins, when i let him out he was fine. My son would not tell me what happened in the garden to upset Harvey, but said he may have kicked his head by accidnet, instead of the ball. Anyway today he was under the table and he went a bit wild growling and snarling, i again put him in his crate and he went to sleep, when he came out he was fine. I know my two youngest children tend to maul him a bit when they think we are not watching and sometimes wake him up, although this is only by cuddling him. Also when they play with him he gets very excited and tends to growl and nip them. Could he be behaving like this because of them winding him up as i initially thought? My concern is that he has never shown any aggression to me or my hasband before. I have explained to the children that when he is asleep they must leave him. I have also noticed that he now tends to sleep under the table, where the kids find it more difficult to get him, when they are around. When the kids are not here however he will sleep on his blanket or under the fish tank where he is easily accessible. My youngest daughter tends to feed him and give him treats because we were having problems with him trying to dominate her and this did help the situation, but i am not sure if this new growling and biting is normal behaviour because he is frustrated or what. If anyone has any advice or personal experience of this sort of behaviour please reply. Sorry this post is so long, but i wanted to get everything in.
Thanks
loraine

I think from what you have said in your post that the problem may indeed lie with your childrens interractions with the ESS, especially for example if the dog was kicked accidentally in the head and they are rough with him, a dog like a ESS will have the strength of character to say "I don't like this".

Everything you have observed yourself, including his rest habits (under the table when kids are near) etc points to me to the fact that the children must learn to treat him with respect and kindness and not maul him as you have said. I know it is easier said than done and that children dont always realise what they are up to, but I suspect your kids may be a bit "naughty" where the pup is concerned - after all, pups are exciting and fun to wind up from thier point of view!! ;)

The trouble is that if the chilcren dont start to behave with him, either the dog will be spoilt or a child will possibly get snapped at or bitten and that would be a great shame :(

Lindsay

Hi Lindsay,
Harvey has bitten both of the children before and it has always been their fault, but i do not understand why he went for my husband and myself. The problem is that the kids, especially my 6 year old love him and want to cuddle him and play with him, but in the past he has just growled at them and come to sit with me and i make them leave him alone. We waited this long before getting a dog for this reason and i have told the children that he will have to go to a new home if they keep upsetting him (this is for their benefit as i have no intention of giving him up). This has helped especially with my little girl to an extent, but Harvey does not seem to like my 10 year old son much (Chris has learning and behavioural problems and finds it hard to express himself). I can stop the kids from upsetting Harvey i just wanted to be sure that this was the problem as i was a bit concerned by him going for me, when he is normally so gentle with me. Anyway i will work on the little horrors and hopefully if they show him more respect Harvey will be fine. Thanks for posting
Loraine

Hi Loraine

I have 2 kids, a manic 8 year old and a 3 year old. I have 2 dogs, a rescue Staffie and a Great Dane.
My advice, for what its worth, is to try and get the kids to be more constructive with him - give them jobs to do. So, ask Chris to feed him and walk him, give the others some training to do with him, and also let them do some research on the internet in his breed/go to the library etc. I have always let my children be involved with the dogs, and never had a problem. I have always enforced children first, no matter what they do, but always *within reason*. I would never, never tolerate one of the children jumping/mauling any dog, but nor would I tolerate a dog growling or snapping at either of them - you have to strike a happy medium.

I fear you are getting to the stage where things could be more difficult to rectify, as prevention is better than cure. Do you go to a training/puppy class with him? I am sure more experienced people will be along here to offer further advice, but this is how I have always dealt with it with the dogs I have had, and touch wood, I haven't had a problem. Hope this helps.

Best of luck
Chloe

Hi Chloe,
yes i do take harvey to dog training and he is really well behaved, catches on quickly and is very responsive. He has also never shown any aggression to other dogs and is very well behaved on walks coming back when called. The reason we got a springer is because they are supposed to be so tolerant, especially with kids. The reason for my concern is that although my 6 yr old daughter cuddles him and plays with him a lot apart from the occasional growl if he was asleep and normal puppy nipping he has never shown her any aggression. But since posting he went for my 15 yr old son, last night for no apparant reason and i do not know if he is reacting to something they have done to upset him or there is some other problem. I think i will get him checked out at the vet and also check with the breeder. All my children are very involved with feeeding, training and caring for him as he is very much a family pet and up untill Saturday we had never had any sign of aggression. I will let you know how we get on, but would like to know if anyone else has had this problem especially with ESS. Thanks
Loraine

We had a ESS when I was younger. He was vicious! He had to be put to sleep in the end because he bit my step sister ( I don't mean to scare you - SORRY). I think that it was because my mum didn't socalise him properly when he was little. When we had visitors he was always shut away in the kitchen and if he was sleeping/eating we weren't allowed to go near him. He saw my dad as the alpha male and when my dad left home, our dog thought that he was leader. However he was a pedigree dog and when we looked at his family tree there was a lot of interbreeding. I think that as long as your puppy knows that he comes at the bottom of the pack things will be ok. I know it's easier said than done. We've got a 3mth old b/collie and 3 kids the youngest being 2 1/2 and trying to get the kids to understand is hard enough let alone the dog! On a brighter note we had another ESS when I was even younger and he was a darling! Soft as a brush. There's pictures of me as a baby sitting cuddling him and I can't ever remember him being vicious or even just growling at me and I was 10 when he died. Let me know how you get on with him because I'd love to have another ESS in a couple of years (when I've forgotten how much work a puppy is!)

You've got some great advice here (and I've not read it all yet). But it definitely sounds like it would be a really good thing to give Harvey a space that is a NO GO area for the kids. Perhaps a crate (even if you don't close it) would be good - can you fit one under the table since that seems to be his favourite spot? Make the rule that when Harvey is in his crate or under the table NO ONE (meaning the kids) are to disturb him. That is his very own sacred territory and his being there means he wants to be left alone.

Whatever happened in the garden seems to have really traumatised him - and perhaps he went after you because he felt you, as pack leader, should have protected him? There could be some of those types of issues. I'm just guessing really though. But it sounds like the kids truly need to learn to respect the dog. I would even go so far as to say at the moment they should never be left alone with him - both for his protection and theirs. They have not earned the right to be trusted alone with him and he, in turn, cannot be trusted with them.

Wendy

Harvey does have a crate which he goes in himself and the kids know to leave him alone when he is in there. i think maybe i have made the kids sound like little monsters, ok Christopher the 10 yr old is, but he has got learning and behavioural problems. Jess my 6 yr old has never had any problems with harvey, she cuddles him and plays with him and he adores her. I really think the problem is that something happened when Chris took him outside and now we have to work on chris being able to regain harvey's trust. On a brighter note we have had no repeat episodes and chris was able to play with harvey today, under our supervision, without any growling or biting. So maybe we are slowly getting somewhere. I think i panicked initially as i know spaniels have had a bad press with some form of rage, which i am certain my puppy does not have. I feel more positive now and would like to thank everyone who posted, just talking (or writing) about problems really helps. Plus i am under a lot of stress at the moment, just finishing a degree, and that does not help. anyway i will keep you posted as to how it all works out.
Regards
Loraine.

I didn't mean to sound harsh on the kids - I was trying to make it a two way street - for the kids and for Harvey. It's obvious from what you've written there's issues on both sides, and the safety of Harvey from the kids and the kids from Harvey is important. I'm probably still not saying it right. Anyway, I'm sure your kids aren't 'little monsters' - they're just kids. And Harvey is being a dog and protecting himeself when she wants his own time.

I'm glad to hear you had a better day today! Hang on to that and try to stay positive. Dogs pick up on our emotions, so if you're feeling stressed that may just be adding that bit extra to how he's feeling.

I hope it works out - it sounds like you're trying really hard.

Wendy:)