Anxious pup growling around men

[mumnosbest]

We have a 6 month cockerpoo with some odd behaviours. He's been with us about 6 wks.

He is very timid when we have visitors and hides on his bed or next to me on the sofa. He doesn't like to be left and howls. I'm working on this as I need to leave him for a few hours for work by February.

The biggest problem is his behaviour around the men in the house. He seems afraid of DH and adult DS so won't go to them, walk past them and definitely won't play with them. He will sit with them and be stroked by them if me or DDs are sat with him too. He has now started barking and low growling if they walk into a room, even if he was sat with them 2 minutes previously. It's as though he's forgotten who they are every time they leave the room. He reacted the same way when we had a male visitor over the weekend. At the moment, he retreats back to his bed after but I'm worried that he might become aggressive as he gets older.

He is going to the vets for the snip after Christmas. Will this help? What else can we do?

At this point I wouldn't recommend neutering, neutering nervous male dogs can in fact make their behaviour worse not better.

You need to reach out to a registered qualified positive-based behaviourist to work with you one on one. What works for one person on the internet may make your dog worse, you need to have someone qualified to sit and watch this behaviour and the behaviour of the humans to assess what is happening in the dog's mind.

Dogs Trust have some advice on finding on a behaviourist on their website here:
https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/dog-advice/understanding-your-dog/finding-behaviour-and-training-support
They also have a free Behaviour Support Line you can call on 0303 003 6666 which might be a good starting point.

Thanks, I'll take a look at dogs trust now. I'm hoping to find some support online first. I have the time to put into training at the moment but money is tight and I'm sure one to one training won't come cheap.

I do know that might end up being our only option but want to try to resolve his issues ourselves first.

Give the Behaviour Support Line a call, number above, that's free and you'll get advice from a qualified behaviourist too. It's really hard to offer advice without seeing the dog and behaviour in person though.

I have a very nervous dachshund - vet recommended chemical castration as a trial and it made him much worse.

I know all dogs are different but I would be cautious about having him done if his anxiety hasn't improved by then.

Please please get behavioural advice asap.

Do not castrate - this will make an already anxious dog much more anxious with the removal of testosterone.

Do not waste time trying to "Fix" or train this. Your dog needs a behavioural plan in place to change their emotion to situations.

This will not go away on its own it will accelerate and become much worse without trained professional help

Absolutely this.
Cockers are very prone to separation anxiety and both cockers and poodles can be really really nervous, which can lead to agression.
You absolutely need professional help.

Please do not castrate your dog. Honestly. It's the worst thing you could do at the moment.

You need proper, professional help from a registered behaviourist who can work with you and your dog in person. Not some random "trainer" from the internet - a proper behaviourist. Good luck!

Thing is, you want to do it ASAP, while he’s still young, if you wait, it could very well get much worse.

Unpopular view I’m sure but I’d be speaking to rescue about rehoming

if you can’t afford a behaviourist (most insurance companies would cover this) this behaviour won’t go away and could’ve escalate further making it even harder to rehome the dog

I would also be getting a full vet check inc eyes and ears and I absolutely would not neuter yet

sounds like the secondary fear phase to me and it is not the time to neuter

What is his history? Where was he prior to you getting him?

Have you joined the Facebook group dog training advice and support (make sure it's the one with actual behaviourists on it - it's NOT a discussion group but somewhere you can go to read advice and post if you have more questions - there is a fake one with the same name - you want the one with Sally Bradbury in it)
I suspect one thing she'll tell you is to stop letting the men in your family stroke him. He's clearly uncomfortable and needs a lot more space to decompress poor thing. Six months old and already in a new home. He needs time and not rushed into leaving him alone or being okay with being touched when he hasn't asked for it,

It's not recommended to neuter anxious dogs. It will likely make him much worse. Put the money you were going to use to neuter him towards a session with a behaviourist