Recently, one of our social media posts went viral. Algorithms aside, I believe the reason this particular video garnered so much attention is because the dog depicted in it is an adorable King Charles Cavalier Spaniel that was trying his darn best to bite me. Not nip and walk away. Nope, the is a dog that had been practicing this behavior pretty much his entire life and I just happened to capture it in the video. Had it not been for the muzzle, yours truly here would’ve ended up with a nasty bite or (most likely) bites. The juxtaposition of this cute little dog going full-on Defcon 5 was enough to send people over the edge. The amount of comments saying that they had never, ever, in their life seen a Cavalier act like that was overwhelming. There were plenty of accusatory comments about the dog being abused, multiple saying the dog was suffering from Syringomyelia Syndrome (a neurological disorder), a few saying that the video was AI and all the way in the back of the line, people saying their Cavalier also acted like that. Never mind that if one watched the entire video, they would’ve seen the transformation from a dog that resource guarded his intimate space and anything around it to one that became social and happy go lucky. What no one, not one comment highlighted is that before being a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel, this animal is a dog. All dogs, no matter the breed, have the capacity for biting. They are, after all, predators.
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Welcome to the age of social media, where everyone has a opinion and miraculously, everyone is right. No one has ever lost an argument in these platforms. It is an echo chamber of one’s own opinions. Nevertheless this video really surprised me by the sheer number of comments it received. But not one of those comments talked about the actual dog in the video. All the comments mentioned, highlighted, focused on the breed of the dog. As if that alone can determine the state of mind a dog is in at any given moment. I am not saying that breed is irrelevant, if one doesn’t fulfill the animal, the genetics will make a huge difference. The probability of a Cavalier Spaniel becoming aggressive when unfulfilled is, as a matter of percentages, smaller than a Rottweiler. Since one is a gladiator breed and the other, purely a companion breed. But that does not mean that the Cavalier is never, ever going to act like a dog when and if they are not given rules and boundaries. It doesn’t mean that particular dog is sick, it just means that they are (as many other dogs) unbalanced in the relationship with their human. Teach them a different way of being and that unwanted behavior goes away. Cavalier or Rottweiler.
By no means am I trying to minimize the real possibility of a dog having serious medical issues acting in a way that is “out of character.” Pain, as we all know, can cause havoc in even the most placid of personalities. However, when one watches the video until the end, they can see that this particular dog was simply resource guarding. That behavior, unchecked for many years, resulted in him biting his elderly owner multiple times. The video clearly shows him doing a 180 once the resource guarding behavior was addressed. I am very appreciative for all the people that alerted me to the possibility of a medical disorder, specifically Syringomyelia Syndrome. I wasn’t aware that Cavalier Spaniels in particular have a high incidence of this disease. Nevertheless, besides this dog not showing any of the other possible symptoms of this disorder besides the aggression, he has been treated like a prince his entire life. That includes the best possible vet care. We, in the Western World, have become overly dependent on medical diagnoses to justify unwanted behavior. It makes sense then that his owner spent thousands of dollars trying to find a medical explanation for his behavior before trying any behavioral modification. The dog is in perfect health. Nevertheless the vet put him on Prozac. When he came to me, I had to first wean him off the medication before the work could truly begin. Thankfully the owner trusted me enough to allow the entire process to unfold in its due course. I am very grateful to her for trying everything to help the little guy.
I hope that video in its entirety can teach people the value of not judging a book by its cover. That a dog that is acting differently is not necessarily sick, but maybe, just maybe unfulfilled. Before coming to conclusions about a specific behavior, how about we at least watch an entire 1 minute and 20 seconds video to see if we can learn something. So many people said that they never, ever saw a Cavalier act like that, while at the same time, at least a dozen of the comments were from people saying that their Cavalier resource guards as well. Would that also be something that one can learn from? It is not because one has never seen something, that that something doesn’t exist. I’ve never seen air – but I do know it exists. Maybe the people that never saw a Cavalier act aggressive before can consider themselves fortunate?
The aim of this blog is not to shame anyone. On the contrary, my biggest aspiration is that more and more people can learn the true magic of dogs: they can change when we change. Like humans, dogs practice behaviors that work. Unlike humans, dogs do not rationalize their behavior. If one doesn’t take charge, the dog will. That’s how they survive. If rules and boundaries are not set by the pack, the individual dog will create those. The way they enforce those rules is, often times, by biting. All dogs do it. In the absence of direction, dogs will give direction the only way they know how. Even a Cavalier. The allure of dogs is that nothing is set in stone. Once shown protection and direction, they will change very quickly. Specially an insecure dog like the one on the video. He didn’t want to be in charge. He was “forced” into it for lack of direction. Dogs teach me everyday that we can transform and become better versions of ourselves once we surrender and accept the right guidance or learn a better way of being. It is so inspiring to see a dog flip a switch once they feel seen for who they are and not by the label we humans insist on putting on them. That is true of all dogs, not just King Charles Cavalier Spaniels.
