Do Cockapoos Have Aggressive Traits In Them? My 1.5 Year Old Cockapoo Is Very Food Possessive. What Can I Do?
September 17, 2009 by admin
Filed under Care & Training Q&As
It’s is pretty much in the question. He has became less food possessive but he still has his moments if I get near him while he is eating. Do cockapoos have naturally aggressive traits in them? He is also on a leash almost all day because we are not sure how to train him to not eat our socks. I don’t want to spank him and I feel like training classes won’t work. Please answer one of these questions. Thank you! By the way if you need details or have questions just ask and I’ll add details.
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For a while, cocker spaniels were over bred creating poorly bred dogs with aggressive tendencies. Poodles can sometimes be snappy, but not necessarily aggressive. It is possible that the parents of your puppy had these traits which were then passed down to your dog.
To fix the food aggression, when you feed him, measure out the food you would normally feed him. Then put down a bowl with no food in it. Start giving the food that you have measured out into his bowl to eat. If your dog is too possessive of his food to do this, then you can start by giving him treats away from his bowl. Give him treats while you pet him. Then start doing this with his bowl beside you, but still feed him with treats from your hand. For some reason when the bowl is not present dogs are fine to take treats normally from your hand. When the bowl is present and you start putting your hand near it, dogs have a fear that you are going to take away their food. You want to teach your dog that your hand near his bowl means that food is coming not being taken away. While you are still feeding him from your hand with his bowl beside you, place a few treats in his bowl. Let him eat them and then bring him back to in front of you and give treats from your hand again. Continue randomly putting treats in the bowl. Do this every day for a little while. When you are comfortable doing it, try giving his supper by hand into his food bowl. If your dog ever growls at you well you are doing this, leave the room for 10 seconds, taking the food with you. You are not taking it away from him since he never had it. When you go back, again start doing what you were doing. Any growl or snap means you leave. Even though his growl and snap is getting you to leave his bowl which is what he wants, you are taking the food with you which is what he wants more so it shouldn’t take long for him to realize that the hand near the bowl is positive and any growling or snapping means the chance of food disappears.
For the socks, crate training is really the safest and best thing you can do. It gives your dog a safe place to sleep and be when you can’t watch him. It will also keep him out of trouble and eating things that could harm him. You can make the crate positive by giving him treats when he goes into it. If he is a chewer, then don’t give bones or toys unless you are at home and can listen/watch him. He can easily eat toys and choke on bones which you don’t want.
Puppy classes are great to help your dog listen and the trainers often know about these issues like food aggression and separation anxiety (if that is why your dog is chewing socks), but it is usually covered in puppy classes (when dogs are less than 6 months). To have the trainers answer your questions about these topics you would either need to have private lessons or ask them outside of class. Obedience classes will help you with other things though if you need help teaching your dog basic obedience.
Good luck!
Mine was the same way with food and I feed her by hand for a while and that help also I have a wire pen in the house that I bought from petsmart when I go somewhere I put her in it with her toys and food and her bed and she loves it.
Honestly, there’s no way to say because you have two totally separate breeds conglomerated together with totally different “personalities”… cocker spaniels used to have the highest bite rate, poodles seem to be wonderful dogs (guide dogs uses standard poodles as service dogs for the blind) so I can’t say. Nobody can really say for sure with a mutt.
i have one and she loved to run and eat. but now she is calm and doesnt eat as much. i am sure she will turn out fine