HELP PLEASE. Desperate plea for advice / reassurance...

[JohnK]

Carly

Your head must be swimming with all the advice offered on here, but from my point of view, if the rescue had told me they were going to have Brodie PTS, I would have taken him back and at least tried with a real approved behaviourist.

My wife wanted him to go back after 2 weeks, but I stuck it out hoping I could have controlled him, but his behaviour wasn't as bad as you and a poster on another thread on here.

I know a girl who used to run a specialist springer rescue who offered to help with Brodie, but too late.

John

[Ben's mum]

Carly

I have pmed you.  I have been through issues with Ben when he was young and before I knew about COL where I made a very poor choice of behaviourist that made issues worse, but I was given reccomndations on here for an excellent behaviourist 

Harry my rescue bit both me and my husband several times and quite nastily on one occasion and I was able to get advice from the behaviourist and the issues resolved.   

[cdpops]

Carly, I think you need to do what feels right for you.
I haven't got children but DID have a dog who sounds similar to yours, I had advice from several trainers, they all told me he was dominant etc etc and gave me methods to manage his behaviour, which were hopeless, he just got worse and worse. I took Charlie to the vets, to rule out physical causes and, to be honest, was considering having put to sleep as he was biting frequently, breaking skin and bruisingat times these attacks seemed totally unprovoked. They referred me to a proper positive behaviourist, and that is when things started to change for the better. He was diagnoosed as fear reactive, he is also quite  possessive, and lots of positive methods put in place to manage this. Charlie is now a different dog, on the whole he is happy and confident. However I believe that he would revert to his old behaviours if he ever felt truly frightened and it's down to us to make sure that never happens. It has taken years of hard work to get where we are now.
I wish you well whatever you decide. It can't be easy living in that situation with a toddler 

[Karma]

I really feel for your situation.
As others have said, unfortunately, Bark Busters is not a great source of behavioural advice - however that is absolutely not your fault - the fact that you sought help shows that you have tried hard to help your dog.  If you feel you want to keep trying, I would urge you to find a qualified behaviourist to help (I'm guessing some of the PMs you have will have given you some recommendations).
If you do decide to rehome, please don't feel you have failed him - ensure you use a rescue who will provide behavioural support to a new owner and know that you are giving him the chance of a life where he can improve.  I live with a highly strung dog, who could easily have escalated to aggression, and managing her alongside my toddler is very hard work, so I can only imagine the hard work you are putting in every day keeping your family safe while also meeting the needs of your dog.  No-one can doubt your devotion to him.

[carly_cl]

Tonight Oscar has been to the vets. He said he didnt think there was an underlying health issue but said it may be rage syndrome although he didnt seem to commit to that and spoke of it being a myth. Oscar has never gone for my little boy in fact he has been incredibly tolerant and just walks away when he comes close or bothers him, now though Im totally on edge. Tonight he has been lovely, playing in the garden but my brother went to go out to his car and walked back in. Oscar was laying on the floor and my brother said 'he is looking at me like he is going to go for me' and he was. I had to get my bro back in the hallway while we got Oscar in the kitchen locked away. That is our life now. The vet recommended a behaviourist too which I dont know whether to try. My OH went to the dogs trust and they basically said they would struggle to rehome him so wont take him. Now Im frantically looking for a new home with someone experienced in dog handling, I really dont want to do anything drastic. I just cant bare this, its awful x

[LurcherGirl]

Please do do a comprehensive thyroid test before anything else (please google for specialist vet Jean Dodds and read her articles on thyroid)! Although it might not, it could be the answer to your problems! Hypothyroidism can cause these sort of issues and would be dead easy to treat!

[carly_cl]

I really feel for your situation.
As others have said, unfortunately, Bark Busters is not a great source of behavioural advice - however that is absolutely not your fault - the fact that you sought help shows that you have tried hard to help your dog.  If you feel you want to keep trying, I would urge you to find a qualified behaviourist to help (I'm guessing some of the PMs you have will have given you some recommendations).
If you do decide to rehome, please don't feel you have failed him - ensure you use a rescue who will provide behavioural support to a new owner and know that you are giving him the chance of a life where he can improve.  I live with a highly strung dog, who could easily have escalated to aggression, and managing her alongside my toddler is very hard work, so I can only imagine the hard work you are putting in every day keeping your family safe while also meeting the needs of your dog.  No-one can doubt your devotion to him.

Thank you so much. It is almost difficult to put in to words the unease that we feel around him. If it was just us two I wouldnt hesitate to geta behaviourist and manage it but things have got to the point where if something happened how could we forgive ourselves. It would ruin our lives. It is the most frustrating situation in the world, I would give anything to have him to stay the lovely dog he is most of the time. I have cried so many tears in the last 24 hours, resigning my self to the fact that one way or another Im going to lose my beautiful boy x

[carly_cl]

sorry the bottom half of the last post is me. I am useless at this! we did talk about thyroid issues with the vet but he said he didnt think it was that and his coat was in great condition as is his skin.

[carly_cl]

The behaviourist is from Bark busters and she gave us lots of activitie such as training on the lead, using a 'bah' technique when visitors come round but it just doesnt work.

No sadly it wouldn't - sadly this franchise is not generally recommended if you want expert advice as their "trainers" often have v little experience and only v basic training - they have a tendency to recommend exactly the same aversive techniques for every problem presented to them whatever the cause but charge huge amounts for the privilege. If you wanted recommendations for good behaviourists, someone may be able to help but suspect from your post that you have already made your decision and you have to do what is right for you and your family. Unfortunately a lot of rescues will not take aggressive dogs because they are not easy to home - if you come up against this, please send a message to our Rescue Moderator, Penny B, who may be able to give you contacts for rescues who do work with difficult dogs.

Thankyou for your kind advice, yeah in hindsight Barkbusters was a waste of money and time. Its so frustrating, we did it in good faith. We have been recommended to a behaviourist tonight but is it really possible for us to live a normal life again with our dog, I honestly cant believe that we could. Please can you tell me a little more about Penny and where I can contact her. I would feel relieved if Oscar went to a home where he could have lots of training and rehabilitation from someone who has the ability to deal with him. He is a beautful, sweet dog most of the time which makes it so hard x

[Helen]

PennyB is our Rescue Moderator on Cockers on Line - she is involved in rescue herself and knows rescues who take assess and take on difficult to place dogs

If you pm her she will be sure to answer 

[Pudding]

PennyB is our Rescue Moderator on Cockers on Line - she is involved in rescue herself and knows rescues who take assess and take on difficult to place dogs

If you pm her she will be sure to answer 

PennyB is fantastic she helped me out with a cocker i was fostering... he had some guarding issues... and with her help
she found him a place in a rescue, where they got him to a place he could be re homed

[LurcherGirl]

sorry the bottom half of the last post is me. I am useless at this! we did talk about thyroid issues with the vet but he said he didnt think it was that and his coat was in great condition as is his skin.

Many vets are not aware that coat issues and weight issues are the last stages of the thyroid disease! Neither of my hypothyroid dogs had coat issues or most of the other typical thyroid issues, my American cocker (that showed serious aggression as well) was 18 months old when diagnosed and apart from allergies (and his aggression) showed absolutely no typical thyroid problems! (Google for Jean Dodds to get more info). My red English cocker also is a picture of health... yet, I tested her due to her aggression issues, and she is borderline so she needs further testing!

I do agree that your home with a toddler is not suitable for him, so a new home needs to be found I think. But please do look into the thyroid issue - despite of what your vet is telling you!!!

Whereabouts are you? 

[carly_cl]

Im in the north east close to middlesbrough. Do we need to back to the vets for blood tests? He seemed confident that it wasnt thyroid related. This morning Oscar is the most perfect dog again. Doing as told, leaving treats until I say so and being playful. This really is the hardest thing. Ive Pm'd PennyB. I described that I would travel wherever it took if i was happy he was going to a good owner. I feel like someone has died, gutwrenching pure hurt :-(

[LurcherGirl]

Yes, you would need a blood test for thyroid! And many vet's aren't aware of the first symptoms of thyroid disease. The typical thyroid symptoms only show once around 70% of the gland are destroyed. Before that, it is often just behavioural symptoms like aggression, anxiety, hyperactivity etc!

[MaggieR]

Im in the north east close to middlesbrough. Do we need to back to the vets for blood tests? He seemed confident that it wasnt thyroid related. This morning Oscar is the most perfect dog again. Doing as told, leaving treats until I say so and being playful. This really is the hardest thing. Ive Pm'd PennyB. I described that I would travel wherever it took if i was happy he was going to a good owner. I feel like someone has died, gutwrenching pure hurt :-(

  so sorry you are having to go through this...