6 month old cocker spaniel scared of other dogs

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Hi
I have a wcs. He is 6 months old. He is scared of other dogs and walks are becoming really difficult.

I got him to a place where he was ok with other dogs walking past when the other dog is on a lead but off lead dogs keep approaching him and he is clearly very scared but the owners of the off lead dogs normally can't recall their dog and they keep coming up to him and my dog has his tail tucked under and trying to get away. He is now scared of pretty much any dog he's sees.

I can't practice his recall or him being off lead as I'm worried he will bolt when coming across another dog. Im also worried if he runs from another dog then they will chase him and make the situation worse. All walks around us are really busy and it's difficult to walk him in quiet areas.

Been in tears the last two days after walks as it's just making him worse. I feel like I am making it worse. I've tried giving him treats when seeing other dogs but he's not interested. I walk in the other direction if possible but sometimes the off lead dogs follow us. I try to move out of the way but the dogs still approach us. The other day I stood in front of a dog coming towards him and said no but the dog kept coming and didn't listen to me or his owner so I tried walking away and I got an ear full off this owner saying I'm making my dog worse.

I am started to dread walks and seeing other dogs and I know my dog will be picking up on this.

We have no one with a friendly dog he can interact with. Family live far away and two of them have reactive dogs and I have not seen them since getting our puppy as he is so scared of other dogs I think it could make him worse. So a lot of interactions with other dogs are negative.

I'm sorry this is long. I've not had a fearful dog before and I'm finding it extremely difficult.

Thank you for reading.

Oh that sounds so tough! What was the trigger for him being so nervous? What was he like when you got him from the breeder (confident, playful?)

Are there no quieter walks you can go on where your poor boy won't encounter other dogs? Or getting up earlier/going out later?

The first thing to do should be to speak to your vet about a recommendation for a behaviourist/trainer (too many people claim to be a trainer/behaviourist and know nothing about dogs). And then work with them to try and manage this. But it will be management, not cure.

This sounds very extreme for 6months old, even if a dog is having a 'fear-stage'.

However, you are right that your boy will be picking up on your reactions. Dogs are great at reading body language and puppies take a lot of social cues from their owner. If you really don't think you can cope or don't want to be managing this for a long time (timid dogs rarely become 'normal' and the best you can do is manage their nervousness, so it is a life long committed), then you might wish to consider re-homing through a breed specific rescue such as Spaniel Aid. They'll be able to properly assess him and re-home him to an house that is a lot more remote (for example, so he doesn't see other dogs). That is of course last resort, but one to think about as managing such levels of fear is exhausting.

Someone will probably say medicate him. But that's not a solution and would be grossly unfair. Lots of dogs live full, happy, lives not encountering any dogs on their walks - it's all about location and environment. If his issues is other dogs, then an environment where he won't meet them should be tried first before you medicate.

Oh no, did something happen or was it gradually deteriorating?
You need to go to a qualified trainer/ behaviouralist and work witth them through the issues. Be prepared to attend some form of training class for the next 12- 18 months or longer.

WCS are sensitive little souls and will need lots of reassurance and guidance. Some are not coping well as pets and do need a lot more training that leads to a "job". On the plus side, once your WCS knows what is expected, he'll exell at most things!

Are there any good gun dog or obedience training classes near you that you could take him to? Then he could be around other on lead dogs, but kept at a safe distance.

And hire a freedom/private field, so you can both enjoy some off lead, relaxing walks and can work on his recall.

Counter conditioning is good for fearful dogs, but it needs to be done in more of a controlled environment than you are describing. Puppy needs to be kept at a safe distance and rewarded for looking at a dog. If he's reacting, you are too close.
My dog started with watching a training class from outside of the field. Over many weeks/months, he was able to enter the field and eventually join the class. It's not a quick fix, unfortunately.

Also, if you have a garden, take a few days break from walks. I think it takes 48 hours for a dog's stress levels to return to normal. So walking every day is piling stress on top of stress. It's not doing either of you any good at the minute.

Practise recall in the garden. Play retrieving games with him. Hide and seek. Exercising his brain will tire him out just as much as a walk.

That's quite concerning. Working cockers are bred to be reasonably sociable- they have to get on with other strange dogs (and people) on shoot days. What was his mother like, temperament-wise? Did you see and handle the sire (often not possible if the breeder doesn't own him?) Had the breeder any older dogs out of the bitch or by the sire, and what were they like?

Anyway, you're here now so yeah, behaviourist right away and then puppy classes or kennel club bronze good citizen.

In fact, I would strongly recommend puppy classes to everyone, particularly if you don't have other dogs yourself or very easy regular access to pleasant dogs for playdates or at least a bit of relaxed proper interaction rather than walking past other dogs being walked in the park . Keeping a youngster of any social species without conspecifics is a bit fucked up, when you think about it, and you need to plan how to counteract that deficit.

Hi

Thank you for your replies everyone. Have been having a long think about the situation.

I did see him with mum and siblings and he was fine and Mum was fine with us as well.

He is also very nervous of strangers. I did socialise him as a puppy and would go out every day and sit and watch people and dogs from a distance but he didn't want strangers anywhere near him and would panic if a dog came too close. He is bomb proof with traffic.

In the house he is amazing. Toilet trained very fast. He's very playful not been a big chewer and loves his crate and has since day one. In the garden he is a nightmare. He eats and destroys everything.

On walks he's always been difficult as he pulls like a train and eats anything he sees. I think it is him being anxious but I try to keep walks calm and positive and work on the pulling as he is still young.

On one of his first walks a pug ran at him twice and he hated it I think it could stem from this. I can get him to walk past dogs on and off lead if they ignore him. If a dog comes up to him he panics his tail is tucked in and he wants to run away. I am praising him if he looks at the dog and his ears are up and tail is normal. But these last few days he has been a lot worse but I've had about 5 or 6 off lead dogs coming right up to him and he panics and I think I do as well as I don't know what to do for the best. He also panics if he hears a dog barking even if it's no where near us.

He isn't my first dog but I've never had a nervous dog and I'm worried we are not the right home for him. All the walks I know have lots of dogs. I tried to google quiet walks near me and it brought up the ones I know and are using.

I am really worried he will bolt so I'm too worried to let him off lead. Having a wcs that is not off lead is very unfair on him. He loves sniffing and his walks as long as we see no one which is not possible.

I don't know what to do but I feel like I'm failing him.

Thank-you for your replies everyone. I'm going to look into the suggestions you have made and have a think and speak to my Dh.

I would get a behaviourist. Part of the problem with cockers is they are too clever for their own good. Our 6 year old cocker got spooked by a feral cat when he was a puppy. He is a large male cocker (and big for his breed) and a happy relaxed dog and even he will go trembly at the site of an unfamiliar cat. They have long memories and I suspect the pug lunging at your dog when he was a puppy is what set him off.

I definitely think this is one for the professionals. I would also see if you can take dh on walks with you. The other thing your dog will be picking up is your fear and it can help having another person with you. Good luck, they are such wonderful dogs.

I think he's extra nervous because he can't get away while on the lead. I've seen loads of spaniels off lead and a lot of them seem to do a sort of wide sweep around other dogs. If you get his recall sorted, he may stop being so nervous once he knows he can pass at a comfortable distance. Spaniels are very, very, sensitive souls, and sometimes training recall is more about being their safe space.