Hiya, I have a 14 month old springer that I've had for 8 months.

I am not a novis in the doggy world, and have worked with dogs for the passed 5 years and I am currently a dog rehomer for a large charity.

I rescued Simba from a family member when he became too much for them.

Someone told me about your site and said that you are all very helpful and would be willing to give advice.

Most springers I have worked with have been timid, I havnt met too many that are like Simba yet!!

So, this is how it is:
1) Hes very possesive, anything you drop belongs to him, anything he gets hold of belongs to him, toys belong to him we are not allowed anything, if he gets hold of anything when you try to take it off him he will growl & bite. The only way you can get it of him is in exchange for food.

2) He is obsessed with 1 of our cats, the other 2 live upstairs so thier not a problem, but whenever the cat is around he chases it then trys to play with it like the cat as if its a dog, but he is too heavy and mouthy for the cat.

3) He wakes up at silly'o'clock, and once hes awake he will cry, bark, make lots of noise untill you respond, this we can deal with though as its not all his fault, I get up very early sometimes for work so he just trys to wake up at that time everyday.

He attended training classes that he was brilliant at!! But when he was home what he had learnt didnt matter.

He started to learn to do agility, but i dont want him to do too much at such a young age, i get very concious of young dogs over doing it (I think this is because i already own a dog with hip dysplasia)

He is not yet neutered because I feel its better to get them done at the age of 2!

Do you have any advice? Or can you recommend a good trainer locally? (Im in spalding, lincolnshire)

I look forward to hearing your advice.

As you've discovered that simba will exchange whatever he's got for food, thats the base for training him that parting with something results in a positive reward.
Practice with some really tasty treats, use the same command to get him to 'drop' or 'leave' the item you want and in exchange give him a high pitched 'good dog' and a special treat (a tiny bit of sausage or cheese) - eventually he should give up what he's got expecting a treat, gradually reduce the amount of times he gets a treat in exchange.

No idea re: the cat - have never mixed the two in my household - not because I don't think its possible, just because we've never owner a cat

With waking up early - is it because he needs a wee? If you want a lay in try taking simba for a walk later than usual, and out for his last wee later than usual. My two are programmed to wake up for their wees about 7am. They go down for their last wee at about 10.30pm. If we take them down later at night, they sleep longer in the morning.
Most springers are happy to have their wee then go back to bed especially if its your bed and you get back with them for snuggles

You're right to be cautious with the agility - most classes won't take a dog until its 18 months - 2 years as its not good for their physical development.
At 14 months most dogs go through a stage of ignoring their owners, you just need to keep on with the training, small amounts every day to reinforce it. Spend evening practicing the basic commands, but use an extra tasty treat as a reward. Most springers bend over backwards for a special food treat

I'm from down south so can't recommend any good trainers - but as you've already been to classes and found simba responded well, why not see if they do a class the next level up.

Good luck

Thank you for your response, i really appreciate it!

Regards the possesiveness that is currently what we are doing with Simba, and we do it time after time after time, but he still will not do it without a treat, which wouldn't bother me BUT what worrys me is if he gets something dangerous when we havn't got a treat to hand which in my household isnt often but you never know and also everyone that comes into my house is very understanding but it would be nice to say "yes he's lovely, dont worry about him" but i cant!!

Also we did try putting him to bed later, we tried sleeping him upstairs, and we tried sleeping him out of his crate, but still he wakes up early, but as i said i can deal with this problem over time, he's still young and eventually we will get through this!!

Also... Simba has sore eyes at the moment, the vets are taking him in a couple of weeks to sedate him and have a good look and examination because so far we have found nothing!! As eye problems are common in springers does anyone know if bad eyes lead to aggressive behaviours??

I'm no expert, but I'd definately think that sore eyes could lead to him being overly grumpy. With regards to training, how far are you prepared to travel? I live in Boston, and travel about half an hour to a training class in Great Hale. It's by far and away the best training class I've found in the area, and I've tried quite a few! She does KCGC to platinum level, agility, Rally-O, and competitive obedience classes. She also works with a behaviourist who comes to classes and will give free advice and then if you/she feel it is necessary will arrange a home consultation (for a fee). I have a very busy sprollie, and I've found her classes to be great - there's always something new to train at and keep their minds busy.

I might consider that, travelling isnt really a problem to me it would just be what times it was on, because I dont get home from work till 6pm, so it would depend if my mum was ok with taking him on her own. If you could give me the details of that place I'd be grateful.