Hi
I write on behalf of my sister, she has a 5 month old springer spaniel bitch, she is a lovely puppy great with children and well socialised, she's not left alone in the day and goes to work with her ( she works where other dogs are also ) she is very advanced for her age and would make a great working dog, she is intelligent and will use her nose to find toys hidden whills she is out of the room, she recalls perfectly sits, waits lies down rolls over ect ect...

but she has one problem... when she is in her own home and female humans(mainy blonde) call round she trembles when approached and will snap at them if they come too close, howebver she's ok with the same people when not in her own territory,  she seems frightned and will bite quite hard they have tried visitors briging teats round but the puppy wont take any notice of the goodies.

She has never had any nasty experiances with visitors so we can't understand why she behaves this way, any advice welcomed.

Thanks

Has she been rewarded for this behaviour at any time?  Many owners try to 'comfort' the dog when it first starts to show signs of 'fear', when in fact the correct action would be to ignore the dog and keep the atmosphere light and jolly (think 'jolly hockey sticks' ;))

I think you would be best off asking your vet for a referral to a behaviourist (preferably a member of the UKRCB or the APDT with an interest in behavioural issues).  Any eye test may also be a good idea, to discount any optical problems which can be common in Springers and can affect their behaviour.

She is usually repremanded and put in her basket for behaving badly, I will pass on your comments and hopefully she'll improve, she already goes to puppy training classes, although I don't think the trainer is that experianced beyond the basics as she suggested comforting her and talking in a calm lowered voice and  guest coming with treats which didn't work! 

I'll tell her to seek more proffesonal help and to try comletely ignoring her as you've suggeted.

thanks

I would suggest that your sister asks visitors to totally ignore the dog. Do not approach her, do not try to touch her, do not speak to her, do not look at her.  Your sister should not try to encourage the dog to make contact, she should ignore the dog as well. The visitor can be given a treat and, if the dog approaches of her own free will, the treat can be offered, again with no touching, speaking, or eye contact being made. After a while (maybe a long while) the dog might come to realise that visitors are a source of good things rather than a source of stress. If this does not work then you should seek professional advise from an experienced trainer/behaviour consultant who can observe the dog in her own home.