Help for growling and barking cocker spaniel?

Question:
 ??? I need some help. I have a two-year-old cocker Spaniel. He is a small and rather sweet dog. I have three children, 10,9 and 5. He has bitten my 9 year old in the face once about a year ago. That was because she had crawled in his doggie bed. However after it happened he seemed very upset and remained by her side to see if she was ok. Since that incident he has always seemed less tolerant of the children. Which we immediately try to divert his attention away from them when he is upset. He also was the only dog on the street and always stayed in his yard. However he has always growled and barked at neighbors and dislikes anyone new in his yard. Of course that was never ok with us and we try to teach him NOT to do that by taking him inside and always keeping him on a lead and he is never aloud out without being on the lead. He will run away and bark at people if he is aloud to run free. About 4 months ago we moved. We now live around dogs on both sides of us. He is very upset with that and if the other dogs are outside he will run up and down the fenced in neighbors yard on our left side. However on the right there is no fence. So we keep him on a run. About three weeks ago the neighbor’s dog on our left side approached our yard and my dog did not see she was standing there. She came right up on my right leg and stood there eyeing him down. He was on my left. When he looked at her she laid into him. It took four grown men to pry her off my dog. The neighbors of course on that side were very apologetic. My dog was fine, shaken but physical unhurt. Now every time he goes out and sees anyone from that side outside he will growl and bark out of control. It is a problem. They have a 10 yr old daughter. Who plays with our children. Our dog was outside on the lead and she came running over to play with the kids on the swing set. He immediately barked. She slowly walked towards him and put her hands out so he could smell her. Bad idea. He growled and snapped at her. If anyone comes to the front door he growls now and barks at them. Tail between his legs and will stand there like he is king pin. He will not listen to us say Come. He will bark until you physical have to pry him away. He also is now growling at my children. He does not like them to touch him or pet him. Any advice? I am sick to death over this because my husband is ready to give him to relatives because he says he is out of control. I was thinking of buying the collar that sprays him in the face with the mist of citra something? Any thoughts on that? Would that make him meaner? I refuse to do anything that causes him harm. He is part of our family. And I really want to work this out. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks for listening…
Answer:
 Kim, this is too serious to be addressed on line - sorry. If you had called me directly, this is a case that I would INSIST on coming out and evaluating the dog first hand. Sadly, Cocker Spaniels are a breed that has been all but ruined temperamentally by less than understanding or caring breeders. It is tough to find a good breeder with Cockers that have good temperaments. I have seen issues like yours all too often. Now, issues like you are describing can have a genetic predisposition. Temperament is part heredity and part what we do with it. Then there are the environmental factors: how the dog is being managed (and this includes the type of discipline used, how people react around the dog, etc.) How we discipline dogs can actually confuse them more in INCREASE the chances of the dog becoming a problem. So if your dog has a genetic predisposition (do you know anything about relatives of the dog?) and is being managed in a way that can be confusing or even making him challenged... See where this is going. Though sometimes you do everything right and the dog is what some refer to as a "rank" dog - basically a dog that just is so weak in temperament due to a bad background that nothing can make the dog even a remotely safer pet. There are just so many variables that can be going on here (along with stress in the dog's life - stresses often cause a regression in behaviors). Now, what I can do is address safety with the dog while you find someone who can work with you directly. 1) Dog is NEVER allowed to be with the children at all unless an adult has the dog ON LEASH. Why? This way the dog cannot actively get to the kids. 2) Children will learn how to behave around the dog - just in case there are actions being done by them that is making the dog feel threatened or exacerbating the issues at hand (again, I cannot observe dirctly what is going on and often in dog bite cases there has been a child instigation - generally unintentionally). Go read these: http://www.safekidssafedogs.com/Why_Dogs_Bite/why_dogs_bite.html http://www.safekidssafedogs.com/Preventing_Bites/preventing_bites.html http://www.westwinddogtraining.com/learningdogsafety/ 4) Look at how the dog is being disciplined and managed: http://www.westwinddogtraining.com/Articles_Etc/Training/Dominance/dominance.html http://www.westwinddogtraining.com/Articles_Etc/Training/NILIF/nilif.html http://www.k9aggression.com/Aggression-Treatment/management.html There could be many external factors that may have helped create the dog's behavior. Now, you need to find a behaviorist - ideally a veterinarian behaviorist who can work both medical and behavioral to help with your dog. How do you find one? Is there is veterinary college in your state or in a surrounding state? Often they are great resources for helping find a behaviorist. A good dog trainer will have knowledge of competant and humane behaviorists in the region (note, you may have to be willing to drive a couple hours). Check out these links: http://www.acabn.com/caninedirectory.html http://www.apdt.com Also, working with a dog with serious issues is going to be time and money consuming. Sadly, depending on what is causing the issue with the dog, he may never be able to "come around." Putting him down may be the only safe and humane recourse. No matter how much you love the dog, the safety of your children has to be first. I have seen very severe bites caused by smaller dogs. I am sorry I could not be more upbeat but I have consulted on more than my share of issues like yours and guided people to resources that can help them. You MUST find a person who can evaluate the dog and work directly with you. Most vets have insufficient canine behavior backgrounds to truly help manage a dog like this unless they went on to specialize in canine behavior. But our vet may know of good behaviorists as well. Best of luck, keep the dog away from the kids and on lead at all times with you (and if he cannot be with you, he must be in a safe area where kids cannot get to him and where he cannot get to others - that lead is a safety line for people and for him). Let me know how things go please.