BehavioRx Case of the Month
for March 1998

The Lucky Run-Away

A 2-year-old intact male Springer Spaniel arrived for a consultation with his new owner, Ted.Ted had found him two days earlier running along U.S. Hiway 1 south of Monterey, California. "Hunter's" paw pads were quite raw from his lengthy trip along the pavment. When Ted picked him up, the dog was wearing a collar and had tags, including a name and a South San Francisco telephone number. So he phoned the number. The man who answered said Hunter was always jumping the fence and running away and he would be quite happy if people would quit bringing him back, since he was going to have him put down this time. Reason: Hunter had bitten him when being disciplined (hit) for growling at the family children. One of the children had jumped on the dog when he was napping in a corner of the living room. The owner said Hunter was the worst dog he ever had.

"Do you want him," the owner asked.

"Hey, he seems like a great dog. He is gentle as a lamb," Ted answered.

"Then take him... but I have to warn you. He really went into a rage with me. I've got the stiches to prove it. My vet calls it Springer Rage Syndrome."

Ted was referred by his veterinarian for a consultation to evaluate the dog's disposition. Observing Hunter's behavior in a consultation didn't reveal any aggressive tendencies to people or our own dogs. He allowed the dogs to sniff him and, after the usual preliminaries, the dogs started to roughhouse. No apparent dominance contests occurred. He was a little hand-shy if you reached to pet him on his head, but didn't show fear or signs of impending aggression. At the veterinary hospital earlier Hunter was deemed physically sound. Ted even lifted him onto the table with no problem. He was self-controlled and quite pleasant to the doctor during the examination, which included otoscoping the ears and expressing his anal glands, which can create discomfort.

At his new home, Hunter warmed up immediately to Ted's wife and two sons, 8 and 10 years of age. He lived in the house, was house trained and, when left alone in the back yard, didn't jump the fence---his favorite pastime in San Francisco. He knew the command to Sit, but no others.

The preliminary diagnosis: Hunter was one of those dogs who wouldn't take a physical beating, even from his owner. Defense reflexes to physical aggression in dogs have three expressions: 1) Active flight; 2) Active fight; 3) passive (freeze). These basic defensive responses are not easily diagnosed unless they have been facilitated previously by physical threats or punishment. Also, they tend to be species-specific; that is, a dog may respond to threats from other dogs aggressively, yet roll over and urinate when a human threatens him or her. The opposite reactions have also been noted, but not as often in our experience. Other dogs often respond consistently to both dogs and humans.

During the next five years Hunter was never to show and signs of aggression to either adults, children or dogs. He graduated with a Companion Dog degree from obedience school with Don and his wife alternately conducting training. The children interacted normally with him---they told me they even roughhoused and played tug-o-war now and again and Hunter never became aggressive.

Hunter's new family was very fortunate. Had Hunter suffered a few more beatings he may well have over-reacted aggressively to physical handling and certain movements by people which he could have interpreted as threatening. Hunter was also fortunate. He found a new home with a family that had been contemplating another dog. Their former dog, another Springer Spaniel, had died a year earlier at 13 years of age.

It's nice to report happy endings.

Previous Cases

February 1998
January 1998
December 1997
November 1997
October 1997
September 1997
August 1997
July 1997
June 1997
May 1997
April 1997
March 1997
February 1997
January 1997
December 1996
November 1996
October 1996

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