Looking for behavioural advice/information

[GrumpyMenopausalWombWielder]

I have a 2 yr old King Charles cavalier spaniel with behavioural problems. He's been an anxious dog from the outset but started to ease up a bit as he matured. Still nervous around other dogs but was coming round by the time he was about a year.

Separately he had an undescended testicle & appeared to have some sensitivity around his back end - he would whip round suddenly as though he'd been bitten & wasn't keen to be handled/touched. He was never distressed by this, but I figured that it was possible linked to the undescended testicle being in the wrong place & as he'd need it out at some point, we'd get that sorted & maybe his sensitivity would resolve too.

When he had that done, he also got an implant to block the production of testosterone as we were thinking of getting him castrated but were told that, due to his anxiety & nervousness when he was younger, it might impact his behaviour if we had the op done with no way to reverse it. So he had the temporary chemical block/castration for 6 mths to see how he would be without testosterone etc.

Within about a week of his op, he became very aggressive towards other dogs. It was apparently too quick a change to be the result of the testosterone block kicking in, but we didn't know what the cause was. He became unpredictable on walks as he'd pick up on other dogs before I saw them/noticed them & would react by pulling & trying to get to the other dog.

We got a referral to a behavioural vet for assessment & treatment & that started around January. We've been going regularly since then & we're not getting very far. We've a report with recommendations on things to do to try and train various behaviour changes but it's proving very difficult. He's in pain killers as he was diagnosed with back pain which either was there before the op (possibly the reason he would whip round as though he's been bit) or as a result of the position he would have been in for the op. He's also on 20mg fluoxetine (originally on 10 mg) to try and calm him, so we can work on the training part of the treatment.

It feels impossible. His anxiety is so heightened that nothing distracts him from focus on any other dogs approaching. Not even his absolute favourite treats work when his anxiety is so heightened. The engagement with the training is very hit & miss, mostly as he seems either so stubborn it doesn't get though, or the anxiety is so strong it can't get through.

He has a pretty miserable wee life day to day. He's happy at home & in the garden, but hates walks. He wears a halti muzzle which he hates, he can't get off the lead & get a free run anywhere.

It's pretty stressful all round & I'm looking for any advice on anything else that could work. It feels like I can't train him properly as he just doesn't listen/engage when he doesn't want to - again, either stubborn or anxious - but we can't progress past this point as he needs to be trained out of all the things that make the anxiety worse before we can move on. And we've been at this since January.

I guess I'm looking for some hope that there's a chance we can train him well enough to be able to control the anxious reactions/distract him enough. I'd love to be able to try and socialise him with other dogs but have no idea how to given how aggressive he is & how unpredictable it would be for him to be as aggressive as he is. But it feels like the fear of other dogs is so all consuming he can't get past it.

I've asked about 1-2-1 training for him but we can't get there until the recommendations in the report take hold & that's where we're stuck just now. He's just a stubborn wee bugger!

I should caveat all this with the fact he's a lovely wee boy, loves people, is funny & great company - it's just a nightmare 3 times a day taking him walks, getting him out on a walk & his drama afterwards too. We went on holiday recently, somewhere he's been (before his op) but he was freaked out the whole time. Growling at shadows & making me think the place must be haunted 🙄

Any suggestions? Advice? I'm either spectacularly crap at training him (possible) or he's such a stubborn/anxious wee thing, trying to train him out of the reactive aggression behaviour is futile.

Do you need to walk him or can he get the physical exercise and mental stimulation from different activities in the house and garden until his chemical castration wears off?
Another dog in the household usually helps but you need an older totally chilled and trained dog.

He's used to going walks even though he hates it. So he agitates to get out a walk, but it's the fact he gets all 'trussed up' with his halti & coat to warn off approaching dog owners, that makes him try and avoid it - he's the only dog I've ever known that runs away when you mention a walk. He basically climbs the walls if he doesn't get his walks, but is contrary about it cos he loathes his halti.

His implant would have worn off around Feb or March, but the aggressive behaviour has stuck.

All the signs of anxiety are there as strong as they were when we started. And even though he wasn't aggressive when he was small, just anxious, that's now manifested in aggressive reactive behaviour.

We tried to get the referral in quickly to try and get the right treatment so that the aggressor behaviour wouldn't become embedded. But it was there for about 3/4mths, & I think it was too late to stop it becoming his default setting.

We do need another dog to be the right one to help him socialise, but I haven't a clue where to start with that.

Have you tried walking him very very late at night or in the early hours when there is no one else around? Or depending where you live going somewhere that you won’t meet anyone else? Hiring a dog field and there’s just him in it. To try and break the association of walks with stress about other dogs.

It can be difficult to find the right dog to be a companion to an anxious dog. Getting a puppy doesn’t work as the puppy learns behaviour for the existing dog. A failed (due to lack of interest) gun dog or a retired (due to age or injury) gun dog works as they are usually calm and well trained.

Yes, we try to go out at times that are less busy/less likely to meet someone else, but it's never dog free - there's a lot of dog ownership where we live. I take him in the car to places that are good for walks but there's always other dogs no matter what time of day we go.

We've done the enclosed field thing too, but he doesn't get it! He just looks at me & clings to me even in the field. It's the only place he has the chance to run free & he never does it. We do throw & fetch the ball (we do that in the garden at home as there's a long run from the back of the garden down the side of the house so he runs back & forth & that gets him exercised) but for some reason just doesn't get it. I end up being the one having to fetch the ball cos he just looks at me & then ignores the ball 🤦🏻‍♀️).

Thanks for the suggestion on what types of dogs might be suitable. Do you know if there's anything like a set up for help with socialising dogs like mine? That's what I'm struggling to find. I do think if he can get an experience of how not scary another dog can be, it might help him recalibrate his reactions, but I just don't know if that's a pie in the sky hopeful thinking on my part.

We tried a puppy socialising group when he was just under 1 (they'd been stopped due to the pandemic/lockdown) and he hated that. He had no interest in any other dog there, and we went about 3 or 4 times. Other puppies younger than him were curious & playful, and he just wanted to hide in the corner behind me. He wasn't aggressive then, just scared/not keen.