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Callig Card and Aggressive Cavalier

Brian M

Well-known member
Calling Card and Aggressive Cavalier

Hello All

My good friend Tania has kindly had some Cavalier calling cards printed for me with which I approach all owners and distribute them but last weekend I spotted a lady who had a little friendly Blenheim and a Black and Tan boy who was on a lead and upon walking up to her she advised me to watch that none of my girls go near the B & T boy as he was overly jealous and could be quite aggressive ,this is the first Cavalier of this nature I have ever encountered and I sincerely hope its the last and not a sign of things to come ,though I am fairly confident if she had allowed me to approach we would have become the best of friends .


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I must admit Luke thinks his old fella is a bit of a loon ball as I always stop the car upon sight of a Cavalier out walking then approach their companion for a natter then leave them with a card and suggestion that they join CT and have a good read of all the good things Cavalier that can be found there .They are all typical friendly Cavaliers (apart maybe from above but am sure I could have been best mates if allowed ) but I hate to say the vast majority all seem well over weight .:(
 
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Never met an aggressive Cav but you have to trust the owner to know her own dogs. Have seen plenty of porky ones though! I let all my dogs run crazy over the back fields & woods but any wee dogs I see around seem to be always walking on the lead round streets - they need to run free too :dogwlk:
 
Hello Brian,

I have yet to meet a bad tempered cavalier.
I think that owners can have a big effect on their dog's temperament. Maybe the lady has inadvertantly made the black and tan behave in a aggressive manner because he's not allowed to act normally and feels restrained by her.

As an extreme example -Look at the really aggresseive breeds that have bad press - they are owned by thugs who have encouraged and trained their dogs to be killing machines!:x
 
That is strange, but Dave has made a keen observation! I've never heard of or met an aggressive cavalier meself. I always like to say that cavaliers are so well-behaved that you've never even seen them on those shows like "It's Me or the Dog" and the Dog Whisperer... as far as I know anyway. If any small creature (children too) is treated as though they are bad anyway, they just start acting like it, if easily influenced, somewhat like a self-fulfilling prophecy, if that makes any sense at all.

Brian, I think it's really dedicated and brave of you to be approaching and educating people about their cavaliers!
 
It is great that you are directing Cavalier owners to this site, we all know what a great comfort and source of good information they can get from here. :p

I have met a little Cavalier who growled at people and in particular was very snappy with children. This was due to the pain this little dog was suffering. The dog displayed aggression because she did not want to be touched, particularly on her head and neck area.

If you think about it, what do most people do when they see a sweet little dog, they want to stroke or pat around the head neck area.

This little dog has been diagnosed with sm and is now on medication and is happier about people approaching her.

Just worth considering when you encounter bad tempered Cavaliers.


This little lady has decided she has a problem with people wearing hats, she growls at them through car windows and in the street :confused:icon_nwunsure:lol:
 
I must admit that Oliver is protective of Aled with other dogs (especially staffies) when both parties are on lead - he lets Aled sink or swim when off-lead in the park! But then he hates staffies on-lead, having been attacked from behind three times when waiting at bus stops - but his dislike is confined to barking, never attacking, and he's fine with them off-lead. And he's great with people, especially children. My B & T, Rowley, suffered from fear aggression with me - no I didn't kick or beat him, but he'd never been socialised as a pup (and may have had hydrocephalus) and hated being picked up, and just went bananas, snapping and snarling in total panic. He finally decided he liked being cuddled - 6 months before he died of heart failure! It took us 9 years to get to that stage... The lady Brian met may have had a similar problem with an unsocialised dog, or a rescue dog who had been ill-treated and didn't trust humans.

Kate, Oliver and Aled
 
When I first got Harley, my little black and tan, who is a rescue, he growled at other dogs. It was fear and insecurity. With a little training, socialization and lots of love, he is a doll baby with other dogs now.
 
There are many reasons for cavaliers behaving out of character,and believe me,they do! Put a cavalier under stress,be it a strange environment like a park or a rehoming situation and you just don't know how they'll respond.Our Daisy has recently bitten my daughter on a number of occasions, but that's down to the fact that she's sore and doesn't appreciate being pulled at and teenagers just sometimes don't take instruction.
Cavaliers are dogs and dogs have teeth and if something has teeth then it can bite!
Also I've had two incidences of bitches fighting, Daisy and Lola of course...and Holly and Daisy fought when one was in season.
Sins
 
Calling Card and Aggressive Cavalier.

There are many reasons for cavaliers behaving out of character,and believe me,they do! Put a cavalier under stress,be it a strange environment like a park or a rehoming situation and you just don't know how they'll respond.Our Daisy has recently bitten my daughter on a number of occasions, but that's down to the fact that she's sore and doesn't appreciate being pulled at and teenagers just sometimes don't take instruction.
Cavaliers are dogs and dogs have teeth and if something has teeth then it can bite!
Also I've had two incidences of bitches fighting, Daisy and Lola of course...and Holly and Daisy fought when one was in season.
Sins

Calling Card and Aggressive Cavalier.

Unfortunately this can be true, I know of one Cavalier at a Show, who had always to be covered in his cage with a Rug,he would attack any Cavalier near him.

There seems to have been eye-witnesses at the recent Blenheim Palace Show who saw Two Cavaliers fighting ,so is the Cavalier Temperament beiginning to be a Problem.

Bet
 
I wouldn't think there's a temperament problem Bet.There's no better family dog than a CKCS.
Having seen two soft coated wheaten terriers fight at an open show this year,I wouldn't bat an eyelid if I saw two cavaliers throwing shapes at each other.
I don't know the circumstances regarding "fighting cavaliers" at Blenheim so we shouldn't criticise but it could be that two seasoned stud dogs detected a bitch in season close by?? Who knows? Your guess is a good as mine,but cavaliers like any dog can embarrass the life out of you:lol:.
The trick is to separate normal dog behaviour from abnormal temperament problems.
Behaviour can always be modified of course. Sometimes I feel we expect too much from our cavaliers,they're not infallible little beings,but actual real live dogs and we should sometimes expect them to behave like dogs,and that includes hormonal swings,retaliation for being mauled by children or just sensitive to pain.
I decided ages ago to take mine down off their pedestal and just allow them to be dogs instead,it's much more fun that way!
Sins
 
Cavaliers do have ideal temperaments, It is not fair to take isolated cases and suggest it's becoming the norm. I have had the same dogs that one day will will stick up for themselves, and the next day will roll over and play dead; though none have ever got as far as fighting.

We probably all can react to a similar situation differently on different occasions, depending on our mood, if we have a headache, or are tired and irritable. Afterwards we wonder why we behaved in that way.:lol: Dogs are prbably not too dissimilar,
 
Our Sophie is the sweetest little dog and goes mad for people to pet her, when we're out walking. She has never been aggressive, lets me remove her food and rawhide chews, and is very patient.

However, she was Horrible Hostess this past weekend. Our son and his wife came for a visit with their 4-month old mixed-breed puppy that currently weighs 37 pounds (almost 17 kilos) and quite boisterous. Sophie didn't like having her own butt sniffed (but had no problem sniffing Belle's) nor did she like Belle bothering her by lunging for play or a sniff.

Our Sophie is not quite 2 years old, so still a puppy herself. At one point, Sophie snapped and growled at Belle and we were all quite surprised. Belle was not observing canine boundaries after 2 days, and possibly not recognizing that Sophie is dominant dog in her own house as far as this pup was concerned. The look of pure hate that our sweet (?) little Sophie was giving Belle, as she (sophie) sat across the room by herself, had us all giggling, but there you have it.
 
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