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Cocker Spaniel Strange Behaviour


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My parents' Cocker Spaniel is approx 18 months old.

This afternoon my dad rang me in a panic. Mimi had suddenly gone crazy, jumping on furniture digging up cushions back legs twitching, heart going very rapidly. Rubbing her face along the carpet. So we went straight there, and of course by the time we got there she was back to normal, except she did rub her face along the floor a couple of times. My dad said she had had a similar attack a couple of weeks ago and he thought it may have been a spider bite. Both times he laid her down and wiped the sides of her face with damp towels, which she liked. If she was still having symptoms we were goiing to take her straight to ARH.

When I examined her, I found what looks like a badly chipped molar. Could this explain the crazy attacks?

We have brought her home, and I will take her to the vet in the morning, but was wondering if anyone has seen this sort of behaviour linked to a broken tooth?

Or has anyone heard of this sort of thing in Cockers?

As far as we know, each event happened shortly after eating. She had a bone this afternoon, but lately has been refusing bones.

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It could have been some sharp tooth pain....poor little thing .Refusing bones may also be due to toothache.

Good luck at the vets :)..and maybe , if she has been getting leg/shank bones..change to chicken frames , or brisket bones, which are softer....

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In the past we have often had situations where the dog world had referred to a syndrome/disease called 'cocker rage' this was used to describe situations where there was a sudden change of behaviour (usually some type of fitting and sometimes showing aggressive behaviour) for no apparent reason. Then everything would settle as if nothing had happened. Generally it was thought to be in English Cocker and English Springer as well as some others.

There has been research conducted into this and at one point a huge survey was done thru the English Kennel Club to find out more.

However there hasn't really been any conclusive proof that 'cocker rage' does exist as a disease but perhaps more as a behavioural issue. So don't jump to any conclusions.... it may be worth conducting further research.

Edited by alpha bet
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Unfortunately it isn't her mouth as the tooth is fine. Turns out that it was tartar, and not painful at all.

The vet went right over her and physically she appears fine. She is staying with us and if she has another turn, we will record it, or rush her to the vet.

We are also investigating environmental factors.

Today she seems a little less active with our young dog, but apart from that seems normal. She did snap at him when he bowled her over during a game, so I think it is worth getting Barnsleys to go over her too.

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It is definitely not cocker rage, which is more of an urban myth than anything. There were so few cockers with anything like what was supposed to have been cocker rage, but someone brings it up every time a cocker does something differently from what is expected. :(

Had your parents by any chance just put something like Advantix, or some other 'spot on' flea or tick treatment on her? Brianna will run around and rub herself on the floor after I do that. She hates it. It could definitely have been an allergic reaction to something too.

Brianna will sometimes run around crazily and try to dig holes in the lounge, just when she is feeling a bit full of energy and bored. We say she has gone "cracker dog". She just races around the house, jumps up on the lounge, bounces around, scratches at the cushions, then jumps down again. :) She is just happy and wanting to be bouncy and play around, but it doesn't make her heart race. Are you sure it wasn't just that she had been running around energetically and seemed a bit puffed? They can get themselves pretty excited at times! :)

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It is definitely not cocker rage, which is more of an urban myth than anything. There were so few cockers with anything like what was supposed to have been cocker rage, but someone brings it up every time a cocker does something differently from what is expected. :(

Had your parents by any chance just put something like Advantix, or some other 'spot on' flea or tick treatment on her? Brianna will run around and rub herself on the floor after I do that. She hates it. It could definitely have been an allergic reaction to something too.

Brianna will sometimes run around crazily and try to dig holes in the lounge, just when she is feeling a bit full of energy and bored. We say she has gone "cracker dog". She just races around the house, jumps up on the lounge, bounces around, scratches at the cushions, then jumps down again. :) She is just happy and wanting to be bouncy and play around, but it doesn't make her heart race. Are you sure it wasn't just that she had been running around energetically and seemed a bit puffed? They can get themselves pretty excited at times! :)

I have checked re flea treatments, garden sprays etc. I did find out they have been giving her liver treats from China and pet grade meat - wonder why I try sometimes as I repeatedly tell them to only use meatfruit able for humans to avoid preservatives etc, and I buy them liver and lamb treats from Cafe Bones which are Australian products.

I do wonder if my dad just got anxious - when she is here she is very active, but at their place she doesn't get much exercise, so it may have been exuberance. I keep telling them she needs more exercise and they used to have a dog walker, so when she goes home I'll try again.

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Unfortunately it isn't her mouth as the tooth is fine. Turns out that it was tartar, and not painful at all.

The vet went right over her and physically she appears fine. She is staying with us and if she has another turn, we will record it, or rush her to the vet.

We are also investigating environmental factors.

Today she seems a little less active with our young dog, but apart from that seems normal. She did snap at him when he bowled her over during a game, so I think it is worth getting Barnsleys to go over her too.

You can't really rule out tooth pain - many humans get tooth pain without having a tooth issue!

She could have been stung by something...even a bite from a bull ant will cause them to rub the site and often become quiet.

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I agree, it could be tooth pain. But then, without actually seeing the episode, it doesn't sound terribly sinister to me, if she does it a lot at random times, being a Cocker and only 18 months old, it could simply be good old fashioned "zoomies"....

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Agree hard to know - the way you describe it does sounds like zoomies :laugh: though it could be something else.

Do they have a camera with video function/video recorder? Perhaps get them to put it somewhere handy and get them to record it for you if it happens again.

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It is definitely not cocker rage, which is more of an urban myth than anything. There were so few cockers with anything like what was supposed to have been cocker rage, but someone brings it up every time a cocker does something differently from what is expected. :(

Had your parents by any chance just put something like Advantix, or some other 'spot on' flea or tick treatment on her? Brianna will run around and rub herself on the floor after I do that. She hates it. It could definitely have been an allergic reaction to something too.

Brianna will sometimes run around crazily and try to dig holes in the lounge, just when she is feeling a bit full of energy and bored. We say she has gone "cracker dog". She just races around the house, jumps up on the lounge, bounces around, scratches at the cushions, then jumps down again. :) She is just happy and wanting to be bouncy and play around, but it doesn't make her heart race. Are you sure it wasn't just that she had been running around energetically and seemed a bit puffed? They can get themselves pretty excited at times! :)

I have checked re flea treatments, garden sprays etc. I did find out they have been giving her liver treats from China and pet grade meat - wonder why I try sometimes as I repeatedly tell them to only use meatfruit able for humans to avoid preservatives etc, and I buy them liver and lamb treats from Cafe Bones which are Australian products.

I do wonder if my dad just got anxious - when she is here she is very active, but at their place she doesn't get much exercise, so it may have been exuberance. I keep telling them she needs more exercise and they used to have a dog walker, so when she goes home I'll try again.

I really think it is just that your dad is a bit anxious about her. It very much sounds like normal cocker behaviour to me. :)

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temperamentfirst, I was watching Brianna rolling around on the floor tonight, just playing and enjoying herself, and kicking out with her back legs. If you didn't know you could have thought that her legs were twitching. I think your parents' dog was just being a normal cocker. :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, the Vet has ordered a special kit to test for ammonia, and will run bloods as well, including thyroid.

We have also had her staying here for 10 days and by the time Easter is over, it will be more than two weeks. She seems normal and after her neck was adjusted she did get much more energetic so we are wondering if that was a cause. Also,(huge sigh) under my intensive questioning, it came out that despite my firm instructions re feeding, they were giving her pet meat, full of preservatives! The vet said that if she is susceptible, that might have contributed, along with being bored stiff from lack of exercise and socialising .

She certainly hasn't had any episodes here:-)

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