Cavalier King Charles aggression issue

[William]

Hi folks,

I have a few problems with my family's Cavalier King Charles spaniel and would really appreciate someone who knows a lot about dogs to give some insight into why he exhibits this behaviour and - if possible - how to stop it or mitigate it.

He is a seven year old male tri-colour who has been with us since he was a puppy (from an honest breeder of the dogs). He has always been nervous around other dogs and people despite being socialised in accordance with a dog trainer's instructions and going to obedience classes. The nervousness is fine and I guess most of it is just down to his breed but lately he has started to show signs of aggression towards other dogs in certain situations (he is for the most part very meek around other dogs and completely submissive except where, I guess, he has a territorial anxiety). He completely loses it around what seem to be dogs with nervous dispositions (regardless of size). He will bark aggressively and chase them. He has done this three times in the last month and I have never seen him do this before (except to foxes and cats). Just to emphasize: when he get into this 'mode' he will bark quite unlike he normally does when - say - he hears other dogs barking and joins in. It is a very aggressive noise coupled with aggressive movement.

In an ideal world I want him to be happy and content - allowing him to socialise with other dogs without nervousness or aggression - but would settle for stopping him being aggressive in the way I described above. Any advise would be really appreciated.

Thanks guys

[Pawsitive]

can you advise what sort of socialisation you are doing?

Maybe he needs to go back a few steps and start again - ie. seeing dogs a long way across a field = no reaction = treat / praise / rewards

Then decrease the distance gently

Perhaps other nervous dogs aren't giving off great signals which then causes a problem with your nervy dog too?

I think trying to build up positive experiences around all dogs, including nervous ones, is a good idea.

You can keep greets short and sweet and don't even have to stop ie. walk past the other dog and praise your dog for not reacting (he can look but no growl / lunge etc) If he does react badly, he needs to be taken out of his reactivity zone (Don't punish the bad behaviour as it could make it worse, he could begin to associate the other dogs with the punishment) and moved further away from the stimulus (ie other dog)

Hope that makes sense but let us know if you need more help

Good luck!