# Sudden Rage Syndrome



## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

Anyone have any first hand experience dealing with this condition in Cockers? A vet friend ask me if I had any dealings with it and having none, I thought this might be the "forum" for success. The dog is 9 years and well mannered up until about a month ago. It's tearing wood off the walls and doors, being a costly pain in the ***.


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## Candy Eggert (Oct 28, 2008)

Howard Gaines III said:


> Anyone have any first hand experience dealing with this condition in Cockers? A vet friend ask me if I had any dealings with it and having none, I thought this might be the "forum" for success. The dog is 9 years and well mannered up until about a month ago. It's tearing wood off the walls and doors, being a costly pain in the ***.


I've heard and seen it in Springer Spaniels....called "Springer Rage". Not sure how much of this is a specific breed thing?! Can't help but wonder if there is some kind of short circuit in the brain though?!


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## Stephanie Perrier (Feb 7, 2008)

What you are describing doesn't sound like rage. Rage is typically defined by agression/attacks on people. A normally friendly dog will suddenly go "insane" and attack/display agression, generally to anyone who happens to be near it, then just as "suddenly" return to normal, often acting as though nothing as happened (theory is that the dog doesn't know anything out of the ordinary has happened). Having said that, I would imagine attacks on furniture could happen? It usually manifests by age 2. There is thought that it may be a form of seizure. Some dogs have responded positively to anti-seizure meds. It is also thought to be genetic.


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## Wawashkashi Tashi (Aug 25, 2009)

I saw a Bull Terrier who had it *many* years ago.. he would attack people, furniture, whatever. It did wind up being controllable with anti-seizure meds, FWIW.



Stephanie Perrier said:


> What you are describing doesn't sound like rage. Rage is typically defined by agression/attacks on people. A normally friendly dog will suddenly go "insane" and attack/display agression, generally to anyone who happens to be near it, then just as "suddenly" return to normal, often acting as though nothing as happened (theory is that the dog doesn't know anything out of the ordinary has happened). Having said that, I would imagine attacks on furniture could happen? It usually manifests by age 2. There is thought that it may be a form of seizure. Some dogs have responded positively to anti-seizure meds. It is also thought to be genetic.


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## Anna Kasho (Jan 16, 2008)

Never seen it in dogs but I knew a cat who matched the symptoms. Sweet as ever one moment, suddenly blindly attacking anyone in reach for 1-5 minutes, then sweet and normal again. The owners went to all kinds of vets and behaviorists, even got the cat declawed, but never got it under control. Finally had to have the cat PTS. Cat was around 3 years old, I think.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

My old maid aunt's Cocker had it. This goes back when I was a kid.
Got me one time and it got a boot in the chops. Aunt didn't talk to me for a yr.
After he bit 5-6 people he was finally put down.
No warnings. He would just freak out and go for anyone near. My poor aunt had been bit numerous times but that was her baby. 
I understand there is a link with blonde and red Cockers but this dog was black.


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## Tanya Beka (Aug 12, 2008)

Has the thyroid been checked?


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## Jo Radley (Jun 19, 2010)

Tanya Beka said:


> Has the thyroid been checked?


Hi Tanya, what would the link be?

thanks


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## Alice Bezemer (Aug 4, 2010)

Howard Gaines III said:


> Anyone have any first hand experience dealing with this condition in Cockers? A vet friend ask me if I had any dealings with it and having none, I thought this might be the "forum" for success. The dog is 9 years and well mannered up until about a month ago. It's tearing wood off the walls and doors, being a costly pain in the ***.


At 9 years couldnt it just be old age setting in ? Vets like to put a lable on things these days and it being a cocker tends to hit the Rage syndrome button with every vet these days.....

I had a springer and it was always well behaved untill about 10 years of age it went from one disaster to another biting me and my husband to breaking stuff or taking chuncks out of it for no apparant reason at all, first thing flung at me was the Springer rage syndrome and at first i went with it and thought hes the vet so he must be right when after a year or so it calmed down to like nothing at all...we did a lot of research into the whole rage thing and it didnt feel right to me so we decided to go to utrecht veterinairy university and get more info and let them check into the dog...a smart thing to do since they checked the dog 6 days from sunday and found only one thing wrong with it...its left pupil was slightly blown and set indicating it must have had a small stroke at some point...it was hard to notice since the dog had very black eyes so i never checked it, my vet probably missed it...they said at the university that it probably happend (not sure ofcourse) in the last 6 to 12 months since the dog was so well behaved...the thing is when they get small strokes they tend to freak the fk out and start lashing out around them...the whole insecurity thing comes into play...ad to this its age and the fact its more vulnarable to strokes...and yiou get my idea  maybe other things in the dogs behaviour have changed as well ? it might be subtle that you hardly notice it at all...i missed most of it thats for sure...i wouldnt be convinced here that its SRS especialy at this age


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## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

Thyroid issue is something they might look at today. When the dog was chewing up stuff, someone clapped their hands and yelled at the dog, it stopped the chewing. Epilepsy then wouldn't be the issue as the behavior was stopped on command. Thanks all, I passed the info on!


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## Stephanie Perrier (Feb 7, 2008)

Howard Gaines III said:


> Thyroid issue is something they might look at today. When the dog was chewing up stuff, someone clapped their hands and yelled at the dog, it stopped the chewing. Epilepsy then wouldn't be the issue as the behavior was stopped on command. Thanks all, I passed the info on!


A lot of things should be checked health wise, but also there should be a look at the dogs situation. If anything has changed, that could also be causing behavioral issues...


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## Sarah Atlas (Dec 15, 2008)

I have had first had experience with cocker rage. I was hired by a client to work with their 2 year old house pet. I had thhe dog get vet checked with full chemistry pannel inc. thyroid. Dog was fine one minutes and then raged the next. I have spoken to many vets on this and they say it is genetic and was seen more many years ago when the cocker was high in AKC registrations. in breeding, etc. This dog was put down after attecking my clients head and neck causing a transport to hospital with severe bits. 
I have also seen it in a corgi/basset mix that was adopted from the shelter. The dog would race accross the room and attack its owner. The adoption aggreement required the dog be returned to the shelter for evlaluation. the first 15 minutes the dog was all lovee dovy. the dog then went for the evaluators face. the dog was euthenized that evening.

sorry for the bad news. just relating personal experience.


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## Kristina Senter (Apr 4, 2006)

Ive had one experience with it in a client's 7yr old Cocker. The dog wasn't the sweetest to begin with, not very tolerant of many things that Cockers are typically not tolerant of, lol....hated his feet messed with, didn't like kids in his face, some food aggression, etc...but would change drastically for truly no reason (like everyone would be watching tv in the living room and the dog would just flip into aggression towards the closest person or their other dog, a very sweet golden x) and then return to "normal". We tried to replicate it or seek behavioral triggers with no success, they did some basic health tests and their vet suggested Rage Syndrome (I had mentioned it, but wanted veterinary screening). The dog eventually tore the wife up pretty good and they euthanized him.


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## Maureen A Osborn (Feb 12, 2010)

first things to check with abnormal, new aggressive behavior is thyroid and lyme.if those are negative and the problem continues even with behavior modification training , medication may be in order...also maybe looking into doing ct and or mri of brain....rage syndrome has been classified as a neurological disorder and is much like seizures, it is an overfiring of the synapses in the brain and some dogs do respond to anti seizure meds. some dogs may need to go on ssri's or trycyclic antidepressants (increases the serotonin in the brain and can decrease aggressive behavior in certain types of aggression). I have also read that there have been some studies done that show there is a possible link to a high protein kibble diet that is deficient in the amino acid l-tryptophan, and supplelmentation with l-tryptophan or 5-htp has helped, as well as decreasing the amt of protein in the diet. so LOTS of possibilities.


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## Gillian Schuler (Apr 12, 2008)

Without reading all the posts thoroughly, I think it is time people understood lthat the Cocker Spaniel, in all its variations of colur is not the "dear little dog to be taken into the family."

It has often been named "not first time dog" and with reason. It is a "picturebook dog" and often bought by people as a pet because of its looks.

The "Rage Syndrome" was often attributed to the golden cockers but I have known all-black cockers that will attack you if challenged - I nearly had one at my throat and was just chasing him back to his owner. However, he was easy to catch!

My parents bought me a Blue Roan and this dog was so timid with people but held it's own with our 2 JRT's when they stole his favourite toy.

Another dog that should not have become popular as a pet.


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## Thomas Barriano (Mar 27, 2006)

Wait a minute, do you mean Cocker Rage isn't about Joe Cocker?


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## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

Thomas Barriano said:


> Wait a minute, do you mean Cocker Rage isn't about Joe Cocker?


And I thought my English translations were bad...
It does seem that the end result MUST be to put the dog down from what I am reading and learning. You would think with modern RX that these conditions would be things of the past, like B&W TV...:razz:


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