I have an 18 month old cocker spaniel and we love letting him run on the beach every weekend. He isnt the most obedient when he sees another dog to play with but on the whole he chases his ball and comes back to play after having a little explore on his own never letting us get out of sight.

However this weekend has been a nightmare. We let him off his lead as we usually do when we are well onto the beach and he happily chased his ball until we came to a rocky part of the beach. Off he went to explore the seaweed stuck in the rocks and then off up the rocks he went, when I realised he had got a scent of something I started to walk after him, which is something I have never needed to do. Little did I realise that this part of the beach adjoined the coastal path and before I knew it he was off down the path off the beach and out of sight. Thankfully about 50 yards along he was in the bushes sniffing about and I grabbed him.

Today we again went to the beach and decided to walk down towards the sea edge to avoid the rocky bit where he ran off yesterday. I let him off the lead, threw his ball, he ran after it, left it, and then ran back passed me back up the beach. I knew that he had again got hold of a scent because he was darting back and forth so I gave chase. This time he ran right off the beach by the main entrance onto the main promenade by the road. By now I was frantic but thankfully some tourists grabbed him and held him until I got there.

Talking to other dog owners and my local vet and they have all said he's at an age where his hormones are kicking in and he's probably picking up the scent of other dogs on heat. If thats the case is castration the only option because I want to be able to let him off the lead again but if this weekend is anything to go by it's like having a completey different dog who's only mission is head down and sniffing as he runs into the distance!

Yes Castration may help....

But also have you done some clicker training with him? He idenifys the click with a tasty treat and therefore knows to return back to you.

Also try changing his toys etc, not always taking the ball. Something new, different so he remains interested.

Can I also point out a possible side-effect of castration that might bother you.

We had a Springer Spaniel castrated and his beautiful coat disappeared over the following months, he is now a massive fluffy, scruffy mess. His lack of adult hormones means his coat tries unsuccessfully to grow as very fine puppy fluff.

Just a thought.

The second dog we have we didn't get snipped, and don't have recall heat issues really, but do have dominance issues instead, so 6 of one half a dozen of the other.

But fluffy coats can be an issue with castrated spaniels.

Ruining his beautiful coat was the main reason why we didn't want to have to have him castrated.

Re the clicker training and treats.....he just isnt food orientated. We met a dog trainer ages ago and he said it is either one or the other ball or food orientated. Prior to this we had been known to go onto the beach with cooked chicken, cheese and allsorts of tasty bits but he never returned for any of them. Success has been through playing with the ball to keep him close by.

I'm soooo confused and dont want to do it.....but I want him to be able to run free on the beach without disappearing and facing danger.

Most of the working Spaniels I know are entire and they are pretty well behaved. So the trick might be to use and redirect his natural inclination to follow a scent. You could look into field training in your area - if you get in touch with your nearest Cocker Spaniel breed club they might be able to point you in the right direction.

In the mean time, you might want to pop him on a long line so he has freedom but you have control - best fixed to a harness not a collar otherwise there is a risk of damage to the throat.

I've found castration makes boys more responsive to training, but the training is what actually cures the problem. Castration just makes it easier sometimes - but it is never a guarantee.