dog rage in single colour cocker spaniels Behaviour

Becky is right- there is no warning. I had a belgium with rage. Showed up out of no where. ( she attacked a pine tree while excited about a motorcyle going by. An event that never before did she act excited. ) I asked the vet how we could have found out earlier she had it, and he said " not without an necropsy..."

I have heard of this condition but admit to not knowing much at all about it! I must say it sounds very upsetting and tragic! The glazed over eyes and not knowing what they were doing! It must be terrible! There were a couple of very lucky dogs in this thread that lived a full life with understanding and caring owners!

When I took my cocker(black & tan) to the vet this month he happened to mention that incidents of rage in the solid coats esp golden had dramatically lessened in the last ten years. Mine likes socks and getting up early too!

Are you guys talking about English cockers or are/were American Cockers just as prone?

i honestly dont know

But its something i wouldnt worry about as it seems to be really rare.

A friend of mine took on a GWP , he was 12 mths old, he came from the GWP rescue, he was a lovely dog, so sweet, she had him for about 3mths, then out of the blue one day he just "attacked " her hubby, they gave him the benefit of doubt, at first, putting it down to "something" "anything " , then he did it again cornered her hubby in the kitchen, then again a few days later attacking her 7 yr old son, her hubby had to fight him off with a sweeping brush to get him out of the room.

She said his eyes would glaze over, then after the attack, he would sleep the sleep of the dead, looking dazed when he came round.

She phoned the lady who she got him off and she said (a very well known GWP breeder) she would not take him back , that he needed to be PTS, my friend after much heartache , took him the next day to be PTS, she still feels guilty to this day, as she said, he went out he door wagging his tail, not knowing anything about the attacks.

Both breeds of Cocker can be or were prone to suffering from Rage, but then then are many breeds that can also suffer with "Rage". it's worth doing a search on the internet if you are worried.

Having said that, rage is very very rare and is often mistaken for behavioural problems. Many vets wrongly diagnose a dog with rage when it is testing the boundaries. Have a look at cockers online website. There is a forum on rage.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards
Spettadog

PS: And rightly so what Cockermum says, cockers are not the only breed to suffer from Rage but they seem to be "tarred" so to speak.

Cocker rage is extremely rare these days, as long as you buy your pup from a reputible breeder, who knows the full pedigree history then I'm sure you'll be fine.

We had a couple who had a pup from our Daisy litter last year, they had previously had a solid black show type cocker - unfortunately they bought it from a puppy farmer somewhere in Wales, sadly the dog did have rage, they managed with him for 2 years with a lot of help, but he had got to the stage where he was literally fine one minute then really vicious the next, the last time he bit his owner so badly he needed 23 stitches in his arm, so the only option was to have him PTS which absolutely destroyed his owners as they tried everything to help him. They did think about rehoming him to someone in the country but said they couldn't take the risk.

The blue roan pup they had from me has restored their faith in cockers, he is the dopiest mutt on the planet and they love him to bits!

Agree with all of this, I take into my home only rescue cockers/springers under threat of PTS. I have had cockers for 15 years. I have never encountered true "rage syndrome" yet, only behavioural problems caused by people not realising that cockers are not lapdogs but a "busy" minded, active little gundog which needs to be well exercised and kept mentally stimulated and occupied! :smt002

I had a solid black cocker that had rage syndrome it started around six months of age up untill i had to have her PTS at the age of 6.5, as her attacks were getting increasingly worse. I tried everything from changing her diet to re-homing, without success. When she went into attack mode as i used to call it her eyes would glaze over & look orange. I can honestly say you will know if you have a dog with rage syndrome it is a like living in a nightmare. What annoyed me more than anything is that when i called cocker rescue one lady knew the sire of my bitch and said that he displayed the same temperment and he was a show dog that was used for breeding!

I still feel guilty that i let this beautiful dog down, but i also know it was the right thing to do.

Why did this person think your dog might have it?

Was she diagnosed by a vet who had actually witnessed one of these "rage" episodes?

That is a bit silly because a) it is not a temperament problem it is a medical condition similar to epilepsy absolutely uncontrollable.

That is why dogs with true "rage syndrome" are so difficult to manage, and b) it would be extremely difficult to show a dog with this condition because you'd never know if they were going to have an episode either in the show ring or when being used for stud work. These dogs tended to be hidden away or sold on to pet homes by unscrupulous breeders, not out there for the world to see, which is why the condition went undetected for so long and became such a huge problem. It has greatly diminished in recent years and there are few cases now recorded.

I have a solid black which was to be PTS for biting everyone, his is not a case of Rage but simply an untrained pup being allowed to dominate the elderly couple neither of whom were fit enough to exercise or stimulate a young gundog, which is after all what cockers are.

Hi there

I completely agree Fifer. This is where people get the wrong impression of cockers. They see them as small, happy dogs but they are actually big dogs in small bodies - especially the working type!!!! I am so glad that you took the time to get to know your rescue boy. He is very lucky indeed to have landed a loving forever home.

I have a cross collie that was in the same position. He is still going strong at the ripe old age of 10 years and has never tried to bite anyone. He was simply in the wrong home with unruly children who teased him mercilessly.

Kind regards
Annie

This was approx 5yrs ago - my bitch was diagnosed as having all but one of the symptoms of rage syndrome, and believe me she was obedient and well trained as my other cocker, she was a lovely dog when normal, that could turn for no rhyme or reason - i think it may be something to do with the brain and have heard it may be to with brain tumours but i don't know.
Its not easy to live with a dog like this in a family envouroment i tried for 6.5 years and it was getting worse with more frequent attacks.

I would not have believed of this condition had i not witnessed it for myself and i know alot of vets that do not recognise rage syndrome. I have been around dogs all my life and currently have three dogs, a 13.5 yr cocker (with no problems what-so-ever), a rescue JRT and a show staffie, all are happy healthy, well trained and well exercised.