When my brother (who is an ex-police officer) calls round and my 7mth old Cavalier KC Spaniel starts to play rough with him, he presses his thumb against his chest/collar bone to suppress his behaviour.  What exactly is my brother doing as my pup won't let anyone, including the vet, examine his chest now and he no longer goes near my brother when he visits.  Does anyone know what he is doind to stop him playing rough (as rough as a cavalier KCS can play, obviously.  Not like he's a wolf or anything!)

:( I've no idea, but I certainly wouldn't let him do it again, in fact I wouldn't be letting him near any of my dogs.

I'm with Tigger.  I'd throw a fit if someone did this to any of my dogs, and I wouldn't let them near any of mine again.

Hmmph....we have 'officer friends' ex colleagues of OH. One in particularwas a dog handler who wanted to pinch our boys ear!
Karen 

He's probably hitting a pressure spot which can cause the dog pain, hence he stops playing. Not surprising that your pup doesn't like being touched their, he will be expecting pain. No matter who he is I wouldn't want a person who could do this to a puppy within a mile of my dogs

I don't know either but humans have a sore spot there too, that gets very tender if doing sports/exercise that relates to the area e.g. lifting weights.  Maybe it is the same thing?

Perhaps your brother is looking for the on/off button?  Very unusual method, and not something I would recommed anyone do. I've never seen a police officer use this method on a dog?

Is he laying the pup on his back whilst doing this? It sounds as though he is holding the pup down to be submissive, pressing his thumb is causing pressure at the very least and pain at the most, no need to train a Cav in this way, you only need your voice and time outs, Cav's as many Spaniel breeds are very easily upset and a stern voice is enough for them to learn from.  No animal needs pain to train and Cav's are one of the easiest and most laid back breeds to train.

You will have to desensitize your dog from this behaviour now, every day stroke him all over his body offering a treat and good boy to send the message that touching him is not going to be painful or a bad thing, but nice, friendly and good.

Let your brother use his tactics on people and animals his own size, if your pup gets overly excited pop him in time out for 5 mins to calm down. :-)

Hi hillsj,

dogs do not have a "collar bone" (or "clavicle" as it is known in the human skeleton) - so effectively the dog is possibly having pressure applied to it's throat

>What exactly is my brother doing as my pup won't let anyone, including the vet, examine his chest now and he no longer goes near my brother when he visits

As explained above, he is causing the dog immense distress, difficulty in breathing and most probably also pain - were he related to me he would not be permitted in my home again never mind allowed to go near my dog.  

Particularly to a Cavalier which is a breed often very sensitive around the neck / throat area - sounds like a nasty thing to do to any breed, but he could be causing a lot of pain and damage to this young puppy. Stop your brother doing it at once (assuming the dog will ever let him near him again!) and as someone else said, start on desensitiving your poor puppy by rewarding him for allowing people anywhere near his throat area. :-(

If my brother did this I think Id be pressing him in a painful place to see how he likes it. This is unnecessary and bordering on cruel, and you should stop him from having access to your dog unless he can behave more appropriately.