I adopted a 10 month old Labramatian (Labrador/Dalmatian cross) just over a week and a half ago and he's been settling in really well. His only problem is that he has the most aggressive urges, every day, which seem to come out of nowhere. (we could be standing/sitting/paying attention/ignoring him etc..)
He jumps up and bites our arms and hands, when you tell him to get down and leave he growls and barks at us, then it starts all over again. The only way we seem to be able to get him off is if there is someone else there to distract him with a treat or toy.
We had him castrated within a week ago but I can't work out if this aggression and biting is hormone related, whether it's a dominance thing or just over-excitement.  He's very placid and quiet at all other times.
Any ideas what this could be about??
Also could someone give me some advice on how to to deal with it when it's happening because my arms are black and blue with brusies and covered in cuts! 

Your boy is in the middle of his adolescence - 99% of dogs (and bitches!) are a nightmare at times at this age - which is why so many end up in rescue at this age. Also he's very unsettled still, as you haven't had him very long. How much exercise and training are you giving him? A couple of three-quarter hour walks a day will help, with some training sessions on top to get him using his brain.

thanks for replying! That's one of the major problems for him at the mo - we can't exercise him enough because a) he is new to us and we didn't want to let him off the lead at first and b)the vet limited his exercise because of his stitches.
Although he has been having about 3 half - 3/4 hour walks a day.
He's booked in for obedience training for next week. It could just be a huge build up of frustration on all fronts.
Any idea how we can deal with this until he grows out of it? And do you think he will?

You're quite right not to let him off the lead for several weeks till he's more settled with you. Extending leads are good for giving them a bit of freedom (not to be used with headcollars, though - only buckled leather collars).  There are several books that might help - Gwen Bailey's written a book about living with a rescue dog - they do need different handling for a while than a dog the same age who you've had since a puppy. He'll probably be a bright dog - both breeds in him are generally intelligent - so with patience and effort you'll end up with a gorgeous pet. What does he look like, by the way?

he's very handsome!!! Pure black with a lab's head and a dalmatian's body - I'll see if i can attach some photos.

can't seem to upload any pics which is a shame. He's very tall and slim with a shiny coat and a noble face. When he does come out of this behaviour he'll be a model dog!

No, we can't show pics on this site. I bet he's beautiful though. :)

I have posted on here a few times about my weim (9 months) who does the same! she is getting better but still does when we are out walking. We use a water spray on her which seems to work and are using the word enough (read that on here somewhere) to calm her. She thinks its all a big game but she did it 5  mins ago and i have bruises already!

It's interesting that the word 'enough' would work - i found out to my cost that 'No' is like a red rag to a bull!! Might try that - although he does have selective hearing when he wants it!
I thought that maybe it was sexual frustration but if your bitch is doing it then now I'm not so sure (would girls act the same way??).I'll see if it subsides when his castration begins to take effect.
I hope the behaviour calms down because most of our evenings are now spent trying to prize our hands out of the dog's jaws and to keep him busy elsewhere.
I'll invest in a water spray - thanks for the tip.

Yeah someone else suggested 'enough' and because we are using it alongside the water spray it seems to work! She is doing it MUCH less than a few months ago, but i know how you're feeling!

ave you thought about getting more mental activity into him, rather than just physical exercise?

Just to add on the Lab element ( as is with Dals I would have thought ) give him and inch and he will take it a yard ! :)  You have to be very tough to make sure he is told as soon as he tries to bite you then say NO and make sure he knows that it is wrong ! :) You have to be tough :D That is the Bad cop way :) T

Then the good cop way is to do lots of play and training as he will thrive on this ! :D  Do you know his background at all as you may get a better picture on how you need to continue with his training?

Also me and Mike were talking about Lab /Dallie crosses this weekend to what you would call them and we thought it was Dal-MAD-adors :D JG you have had both so do you agree ? :)

Lucy
xx

Hubby and I used to wonder what a lab/dal cross would be like - we reckoned knowing our luck we'd get the worst of both breeds! Longer hair being continually shed and running away with the retrieve! But at least the breeds are a similar size and 'make', so physically there shouldn't be too many problems.
:)

it doesnt sound to me like hes being aggressive, it sounds like hes wanting to play and hasnt been taught bite inhibition??

he needs to know it is unacceptable, either give him a toy to play with, or complete ignore him.. ie get up and walk out of the room when he does it or if its possible, remove him from the room for 2 minutes for a timeout like u would a puppy.  When u let him back in after 2 mins he might have chilled a bit and u can offer him a toy to play with, if he continues repeat the process. 

Try do some mental stimulation with him like:  hide and seek, teach him to find things, teach him new tricks etc to get his brain working, this will tired him out more than a walk :D

I agree, from your description it sounds very much like play (and maybe uncertainty mixed in with overexcitement) :).

Lindsay
X

Having the same problems at the moment and can't seem to find a "cure".  We've got a 6month old Working Cocker who is 99% fine with my husband, but terrible with me when it comes to biting, jumping and biting.  He's also just discovered love for his toy rabbit (unfortunately).  Spoken with the vets and they recommend having him castrated, although he has been biting since he was about 3 months old - its just that recently he's got his adult teeth which obviously makes for bruises rather than broken skin (think I preferred the broken skin!).  We're having him castrated tomorrow but im really worried it won't make any difference.  We've tried water sprays, leaving the room, yelping, putting him in another room but nothing is working.
Feel a bit better though knowing im not the only one who's having problems!

I've been talking to a gundog trainer and he said castration was the best thing we could have done for him. From what I've been told I reckon you'll see such a difference in your cocker. I know that before our dog was castrated, just having me in the room was enough to send him crazy. Apparently when I left the house briefly, he settled down immediately. I think it's 'the scent of a woman!'
How's your working dog doing - are you a member of a club? I'm the gundog editor for a magazine.

Thanks for that - any words of incoragement are good at the moment cos Im feeling a bit guilty about booking him in for the "chop" (nasty mummy me!).  97% of the time he's the most loving little dog in the world and he follows me around like my shadow.
Training wise, we haven't actually been to any official training classes yet (gundog or otherwise) as he's picking things up really well (apart from biting me!).  Although we were thinking about doing some kind of agility thing with him as we aren't intending to use him as a working dog, and I think he'd like something like that.  Any thoughts or suggestions?
We've also been keeping him on a long lead at the moment cos I think if we let him off he'd be gone - very easily distracted!  He had his first "off the lead" run last weekend with our friends dog and loved every minute of it!
Its hard to know what the right thing is to do, unfortunately you learn by your mistakes!

sounds like we're in the same boat! We're booked in for training next week and I can't wait to get him started! We haven't let him off the lead yet for exactly the same reason but i can really see he's itching for a good dash around the field. I would love to do agility with my dog because of the Dalmatian element, he's a great runner, but apparently what's on offer round my way is not really up to scratch.
I would definately get them involved with one sport or another though - it's great for socialisation, excercise and obedience testing. Cockers are great with gundog training - they seem to be really really popular with women at the moment - fashion dog!! =) You don't have to actually use them in the field but just doing working tests in the summer is brilliant for their health - mental and physical. Hunting out dummies and retrieving them to hand from bushes and water etc... they love it! 

We don't have a lot in the way of training round here - cos we're in the country its all a bit few and far between.  The training does sound good and as though he'd like it, although getting him to hand anything over would be a chore in itself!
Sounds like we've both got fun times ahead with training - keep me posted on how the training goes next week, and if the castration has any positive affect with the biting (my hands and arms will be relieved if its good news!!!!).  Thanks for the advice and I will try and find out about a gundog course.  Dogs hey - don't you just love them (putting me off having children!)

Can't imagine what it'd be like to have children as well...I barely have time for myself at the moment! Will definately let you know how the training goes. If you have any trouble finding a gundog trainer/club then let me know and i'll see if i can help out.
In the meantime I'm sticking to water aversion at the moment to keep the dog off my hands and arms, seems to be working just enough to get him off and distract him with a toy! Take care.

Dee Dee
Just wondering how your dog training is going and the water spray?  Sweep is much better now after his op and seems to have made a difference to his behaviour.  Im currently un-bruised!!  Was using a water spray again briefly but even that doesnt seem to be needed at the moment, so was hoping you were progressing too?!  Be nice to know how its going!

Hiya!!
I thought of you yesterday and tried to remind myself to let you know! So glad to hear things are going well with Sweep.

Things are improving for us slowly. The operation has calmed him down quite a bit and an unfortunate case of gastroenteritis also gave us some quite time =(. (He's much better now) After a time we found that the water punishment was making him very angry and his biting was borne out of over-excitement, not nastiness, so the water was making it worse for us.

I've found that just turning my back and ignoring him now stops him in his tracks and if he's being especially naughty we put him on the lead and make him sit for 5mins or so. If you really get in his face and tell him that that's not the behaviour you want he seems to take note.
The lesson went really well - he taught me the lead trick. I have another one tomorrow morning (can't wait!). But the trainer thinks that the dog is very soft, so should be quite easy to train. We're going to put him into boot camp for a week or so whilst we're on holiday, just so that he's a bit more familiar with commands ect... At the moment we're just learning to sit and walk to heel but eventually we'll have him on the whistle so that when he's 40yards away we'll be able to command him from there too! I'll believe it when I see it!

He absolutely destroyed and ate a pair of my shoes yesterday whilst I was out - even though he is surrounded by dog toys and chews etc.. hey ho - the joys of  being a puppy parent I suppose!   

Sorry to keep pestering you!
Hope things are going well still and improving - and that you've treated yourself to a new pair of shoes!!
We've just had a bout of worms which wasn't nice (when I say we, I mean the dog!) but hopefully thats all sorted out now - fingers crossed anyway.  Oh and Sweeps just learnt how to swim (proud moment I can tell you :-), although he did think the best way to get the best way to steal a stick from our friends dog was to dive bomb him and in the process, almost drown them both!  Maniac!
I was just wondering ...  you said before about working for a gundog mag and that you might be able to find out about training in our area.  We spoke to a lady the other weekend but they need us to know people in the club before we can join and unfortunately we don't know anyone in the shooting world.  We were only planning to do the training purely as a way of getting Sweep trained and I wondered if you would be able to find out about any sort of training in this area? We're near Tunbridge Wells in Kent.  If you can't find anything then don't worry it was just a thought I had!!
Look forward to an update, and if you've got any info too.

Oh don't be sorry!! It's fine!
Well, more shoes have gone astray, just gives me a good excuse to update my wardrobe! I've started trying to distract him by playing "Hunt the Kibble!". Great fun.
It turned out Bradley was allergic to his food and that's why he got diarrhea and gastroenteritis, so now he's on a special medicated dry food (£30 a bag!!!!! Good grief!) but it seems to have made him a bit less hyperactive! Which is of course great for him and brilliant for us!
We took him to Holkham beach a couple of weeks ago to see if he'd swim! Not a chance - he was afraid of the waves coming in to get him! And saw the other ones off as they ebbed back! Very amusing! Well done Sweep for swimming!!
Isn't it as shame that you need to know someone before you can join a club?? Seems a bit pointless to me - you'd think they'd want to encourage new members.
Anyway - I'm on the case and I'll see if I can get some numbers for you - might take a couple of days (we're going to press next Thurs so busy, busy.)
I'm going to the BETA gundog weekend on Sat/Sun - so I might be able to find someone there for you - I'll keep my ears open!

Thank you!
We have the same problem with Sweep - he's got Colitus which really affects his stomach so I know all about the expensive specialist food, expect ours is £45 a bag - definately in the wrong business!  Glad it seems to be helping with the hyperactivity though!
We took Sweep to the beach the other day but it was so misty we couldnt even see the sea, let alone actually let him go in!  Might have to take him back one day and see if he "plays" the same way that Bradley did!
I thought the same as you about the training clubs, but apparently its because of the anti-hunting groups out there - they don't want to get "infiltrated"!!!!!
Thanks again and no rush.  Enjoy the show
Karen

Hey there!
I'm not sure which clubs you've already tried but here is the number for Sylvia Pay - she's the secretary for the Kent working spaniel club: 01795 843 280. She's probably about an hour away from you (hope that's not too much). I've already spoken to her about you and she said they do accept complete novices, do training classes and working tests in summer/ field trials in winter. Sounds perfect to me - and there was none of this rubbish about not letting anyone in because they might be antis.
If you want to give her a call mention that you've spoken to Danielle at the Shooting Gazette and she'll send you a membership form.

If that doesn't float your boat there's the Tunbridge Wells & District Canine Society (they're an agility club from what I can gather). Speak to Jenny Lunn on 01732 352 440. I haven't spoken to her but if you would prefer an agility group that was the nearest one I could find to you.

Hope this helps.  The Kennel Club have a big listing on their website about all the clubs in the country so might be worth a look if The Kent Working Spaniel Club doesn't work out for you.

Good luck - let me know how you get on! (Maybe I'll be able to put Sweep in the mag soon when he wins his first working test!!)

Morning!
Thanks for getting that info for me (and with deadlines looming!).  Just spoken to Sylvia's husband - he runs the training classes and was very helpful (no secret handshakes or specific number of coughs to get any information from him!!!).
We're going to pop down there on Sunday and have a look at what they do etc, and you can bet your bottom dollar that give it 6 months, Sweep will be in your magazine (probably for savaging all the other dogs and handlers!!!!).
Thanks again and have a good weekend x

How'd it go at the weekend with Sweep and the gundog club?