I recently adopted a 8mt old Am Cocker Pup, he is a tri (at this stage Im not sure if the colour makes a difference), he is a sweet boy typical cocker, but occassionally he will just fly at me for no reason and when he is in a mood like this there is no stopping him, if I went near him I would get bitten,

This morning for example I was grooming him, pulled away to get my scissors and as I moved up to him he attacked me, I didnt hurt him, he has been checked out by the vets so there is nothing medically wrong with him, he isnt 'dominant' or generally badly behaved,

He likes my child (who I NEVER leave alone together), and adores my other dogs (I have 9 in total), any suggestions of why he is acting thgis way, for the record he is fed twice daily on Burns.

Please help I am getting desperate seeing my boy like this!

Guest, can you describe more about how he attacks you - for example does he break the skin, is he serious etc - and also how is he immediately afterwards. I appreciate he has been checked by a vet, but some medical problems may need a more in depth investigation.

Have you contacted his previous owners, wondered if they had ever had trouble or how they groomed him? Some dogs are treated not very well when groomed so this could have something to do with it, just possibly. However i take it he is not always being groomed when this happens?

Lindsay
X

There is a condition called 'cocker rage' I hope your young boy doesn't have this, like Lindsay say's can you find out why he was rehomed to start with?  Or even contact the breeder?

I'm also adding, that although there is a condition called 'cocker rage' I have never experienced it, I also think it's more common in solid colours, maybe your boy is just feeling a little scared and upset at being rehomed.

I hope he's ok, but like I said before try and find out why he was rehomed to start with, maybe this was the problem :-(

Yes :) I'm not a cocker expert at all so hopefully someone will be along who may know about rage in their breed. There is a website, www.cockerspanielrage.co.uk.
I'm fairly certain someone has previously mentioned the breed club was looking into it too.

I know a very little about it; that often the dog may display confusion before and after the attack; the dog may appear blank or have a glazed stare immediately prior to attack. The attacks are often particularly violent and unpredictable :(

Seems to appear most often in dogs 1 to 3 years of age but this is also unfortunately the ages at which idiopathic epilepsy develops.

Some types of epileptic seizure may affect the area of the brain which controls  behaviour and and the dog may show unprovoked aggression or fearful behaviour.

Lindsay
X

Hi, sorry to hear about your problems, but first to reassure you, we dont not have any incidence of "Cocker Rage" in American Cockers.  However, Parti colours are often a lot more highly strung in this breed, and unfortunatley this can lead to problems with some dogs.  Woluld first need to know why the dog was rehomed - had the previous owners had this sort of trouble with him.  Next, do you know his breeder, and if so have you contacted them?  They should be able to tell you if they have had any similar problems with parents/litter mates.  That way you can work out if it is an inherited temperament problem or behavioural.  There are, sadly, one or 2 lines of Yankees who are non too stable.  To continue you will have to register with the site, or if you want to contact me privately you can mail me at gwen.oake@virgin.net.  I will try to help.

bye
Gwen

Hi ive had a cocker(english) with rage and let me tell you first of all it is very very rare often you see agressive points to rage at about 8 weeks old this isent always the case though i suggest you read about rage on the rage website given , if you think your dog has rage contact linda and wendy at rage they will try there best to help . they will ask where you got the dog from , pedigree info if the rescue gave you details on pedigree and kennels he came from id get them handy , they may like to talk to the rescue you got him from too . not to hinder but to help find the problem .
there are medication and training that can help dogs with the problem ,
I dont belive in cocker rage but rage as many other breeds do get it . A few of the bull terrier breeds dobs , st bernards , and some of the softest breeds you can think of.
Rage is normaly seen in solids but lately there have been a few more parti colour that have the problem ,
Dont rule it as rage yet let one of the rage girls decide if it is .

Just to add that the site is www.cockerspanielrage.org.uk not .co.uk, sorry! :)

Lindsay
X

Hi ....i'm with Gwen here............in my 30 odd years in Americans i have never seen or heard of "rage" in a yank....i have however, seen some very "iffy"..parti colours with other dogs (not just parti's here either)...and only one parti that was agressive to people.....but with firmer dicipline it seems to have righted its wrongs !...please contact the previous owners and if possible the breeder.i know if it was a pup of mine i would want to know!.....why not join the forum and we may be able to help you further...if not i am happy for you to email me or leave me a message on my champ dogs mail box
good luck
Pauline

i supose american cockers are getting more popular now in england . Im not sure if its mentioned on the rage website I wish i had of saved the american site for you to look at .
As everyone has said it may not be rage as it is so very rare . speak to linda or wendy at rage they will probably help you find someone who can help with your dogs agression weather its rage or not.

Hi Lovelady,  not that this helps the original poster at all, but I am in touch with many, many breeders of Am. Cockers in the USA (and world wide) on a daily/weekly basis,  and on various web lists too.  We visit the Nationals in the USA each yearas well.  Rage in the American Cocker has NEVER been mentioned, it is certianly not a known problem as it is (but for a small minority) in the English Cocker.  I appreciate that the link given does mention that it has been seen, by the writer, or at least reported to the writer, that it exists in the breed, but I really feel we could be leading the original poster up the garden path by suggesting what may be a very real, and hopefully curable behaviour problem is part of this syndrome.

Unfortuantley the original poster has not registered and come back to us for more help, but I hope they are still reading the replies, or perhaps managed to get helpful advice from the dogs breeder. 

bye
Gwen

It more then likely isent rage . I know you know american cockers very well but i posted saying to get in touch they can at least put the poster in contact with a behavourist or peace of mind that its not rage at least there sent to the right place to get help with agression like there seeing in there american. It may not have been metioned to you about rage but as said before there was an american website with american cockers .I dident look at it too much but it dident look from the start to be a huge problem ,rage is often linked to bad breeding /puppy farms mills so mabe this is why it hasent been mentioned to you im sure your probably in contact with very reputable breeders I think rage exists in most breeds but its as said is very very rare .
I think you can only imagen what you could do with a rage dog ,unless you have actully owned one . rage is like the dogs in a totaly different world it wont listen its eyes are glazed . medication is really the only thing that can help and training the owners what to do , I see it as more of a mental problem .
If its true american cockers do suffer it would be nice to know wouldent it I know id like to know i might try and search that website out . Id like to know why are parti american cockers so highly strung? mabe who ever made the website mixted up rage and these dogs being highly strung who knows but hopefuly the poster will register so we can help him/her

Hi Loveleylady,  yes I hope they register too.  The thing we all must remember is that anyone can put up a website and post anything they want on it, depending on the wording personal opinions, even downright innacuracies, can sound like verified facts!  In fact, I often do searches for all sorts of subjects relating to Am. cockers, as do many of my friends worldwide interested in the breed.  We also often share web site details of people who are less than ethical breeders, and have long (sometimes strethching on for weeks) discussions on the varied problems within the breed.   And, fortunatley, Rage is not one of them!  It is, I understand, not unheard of   for some of the less experienced "behaviourists" to label temperamaent problems they cannot cope with as rage

Not all parti colours are highly strung, but as a variety they are generally less settled than the solids (you should bear in mind that in the USA the 3 varietes are seperate, and are shown seperately.  Of course, tradiontionally the solid vaireties have been mated together (Blacks & ASCOBS) but less often are the partis added into the mix, so that variety is a little more isolated from the other 2.  Generally, the temperament which makes the partis amoung the greatest show dogs can also make them less suitable as an all round family dog,  this is a very sweeping generalisation, of course, as I also some know some delightfuloly laid back partis.  But generally, faced with someone with a highly strung Yankee, it turns out to be a parti.  I am not saying they are inherently nasty, this is not at all the case, but they can be more nervy, more  active, possibly a little brighter (I think all of those dogs currently working in the field in the UK are partis).  Unfortunatley these very traits can cause problems for an inexperienced owner.

bye
Gwen

Thats very interesting its still strange why colour makes such a big difference isent it a shame as well.
Well i couldent find that website but on asking i was pointed to thomas jefferson (tj) a little black american cocker
http://www.cockerspanielrage.org.uk/memoriam.htm
I dont quite know how breeding works with americans . with english you breed parti's with parti's and soilds with soilds . if you bred a soild with a parti you would end up with a mis-marked cocker with white patches in the area's thomas has on him .it normaly indicates a breeder who dosent have much knowlege on breeding or puppyfarm. so i dont know if thomas in american cocker terms is mismarked .but the rage site do go into alot of detail to find out if a dog has rage. I dont think they would put a pic on there website if it wasent true .

I thought you may be interested in looking into it too since were on the topic
there is another  golden cocker called maddison on there  again with these white markings? , Anyway his pedigree name is put on there i dont know if you know of the affix ? Rage is a particular topic I like to learn about its a real shame we cant figure out what causes it .If you want to find out more linda and wendy do spend time on replying to emails there both really nice so im sure they wouldent mind a chat :)

Hi Lovelady, thanks for the link.  Having looked at the pictures of the pups I would says it is highly unlikely that Thomas Jefferson is actually an American cocker!  Regardless of his mismarking, his head and ear set are certainly not typical (to be polite about it)  He looks to me as if he may be Am Cocker x Working cocker?  Even poor breeding/puppy farm breeding would not account for the way he looks.  Madison certainly looks like an American Cocker, and may prove to be the one who breaks the general rule, however, it is not a case study posted, but a sad in memory from her loving owners.  She doesnt have an affix, they mention that the Haley in her name is her mothers name.  It is hard from the photo to say what colour she is, but at a guess she is a very heavily marked sable & white.

The different colour personalities in the breed are not viewed as a problem, because the partis are more highly strung it does not make them less desirable, as I said, they are often the best show dogs and working dogs. Hybrid colour breeding is not very commmon in the USA, although there are many reasons when it can be useful.  In the UK we have a much smaller gene pool, so look at it this way, if we have a wonderful parti dog, who complements a beautiful bitch, and both are eye clear and with no other potential health problems, then we consider mating them.  In this way we do run the risk of mismarks (and not just in the first generation, you can still get the white marking cropping up in subsequent generations too) however, the quality of the dogs we have produced in this way make the mismarks worth the effort, and they make wonderful pets anyway.  From that generation we can then either mate back solid or parti, and yes, we run the risk of mismarks again, but can utilise the gene pool availabe in the widest sense.  Not a lot of UK kennels utilise this tool, as a lot of people dont take such a long term view of their breeding prospects as we do, and dont consider the mismark a worthwihle price to pay.

Biggles, who won DCC and Bob at this years Northern club show, aged 8 months, and is now well on his way to his title in the USA, is a parti colour son from a Black mother to a parti dog.  His dam is a Sh Ch, and is the result of mating a Parti dog (another Sh Ch) to a Black dam (an Am Ch).  Macey, who recently finished her Sh Ch title, is another hybrid bred Black. In the litters from which these dogs came were 1 or 2 pups who were mismarked, but still beautifully bred. So, in Am. Cockers in the UK a mismark is not necessarily a sign of poor breeding, (although it may be, of course).

Wish the original poster would let us know if anything has been resolved.

bye
Gwen