My Springer Rage Story

by Suzanne
(US)

I have my own story about Springer rage. My baby Vega is now 7 Yrs. old. At two and a half she attacked me twice within two weeks time, most visciously. She wanted to kill me. I have scars on my left hand and by my left eye which was blacked. I had no clue as to why. Since then she and I have come to a detante. I don't do anything to make her mad but she is not loved like she once was. There have been a couple more onsets but being on my guard avoided injury. I take care of her because I made the commitment but the love is not there. Today I ran into an old friend who is a Vet. I told her I had a Springer and she asked if there was any sign of Springer Rage. After 7 years of dealing with this, thinking it was my fault, I was dumbfounded. It has a name and it is not my fault. I'm Googling everything I can find on this syndrome.Believe me, Vega has it. I just wish I had known it sooner. It's so bad, I'm afraid to groom her,I'm afraid to take her to the vet.
I still pet her but only briefly. She has dreadlocks on her ears that I can't do anything about. She won't let me groom her. I'm so afraid of her that if someone reported her to animal control, I might be accused of abuse because of her appearance. I have her on a schedule that includes going from her spacious lot during the day to going to my basement at night. This is our detante. Before she attacked me she was treated like a god. She is very smart and still remembers everything I taught her and loves to play ball but the trust disappeared for me. I will continue to feed her and shelter her because I took on that responsibility. My next dog will be a pound pup.