Please, please, please can somebody suggest a way forward with my fear aggressive terrier. He is so scared of other dogs he defecates and pees; or growls and snaps. He refuses to walk to the local park as he's so scared of dog encounters. I have tried obedience training, Dog listening and Bark Busters. I need a recommendation from somebody in the know to a good and effective behaviourist in the merseyside area UK.

Thanks in advance.

Try looking here for reputable behaviourists:
http://www.apbc.org.uk/

There are several in your area:
http://www.apbc.org.uk/help/regions/area/25

one of my dogs has a fear of the other dogs and would get aggressive if they wouldn't leave her alone but over time she has learnt not only to ignore other dogs and enjoy her walks but also after a number of months even got used to a new dog living with us.
everything needs to be done very slowly at the dogs pace but it can be done in a lot of cases. i found asking someone with another dog in our village if she's come walking with us really helped. the dogs were never allowed to touch and were kept at a small distance apart so my dog new she was safe. the more walks we did the more my dog got used to the other dog, i don't mean they became friends but she ignored the other dog and accepted having another dog as company.
i also used to take a walking stick out with me so that no other dog would be able to jump on her if we bumped into anyone when out walking,so as long as they didn't annoy her she would ignore them and carry on with her walk. this way her fear became less and although she only plays with my other dogs she is not panicked by another dog appearing.
for now i would stick to walks where other dogs are not off the lead but you do need to have dogs around your dog in a controlled way other wise the problem will not go away. getting used to seeing other dogs over the other side of the field etc is a start.
hope you get some help soon, i'm sure this will be ok if it's handled in the right way.   

What breed of dog is it?

Dog listeners and bark busters will make it worse as they are essentially punishment based, so do locate a good behaviourist. Good luck!

I agree that none of what you've tried will really help :) Sorry, not trying to be negative!
Agree too that the APBC are the way to go.
Also, a great little book called "The Cautious Canine" by Pat McConnell may be  helpful as it describes a process called desensisiting and counter conditioning, which improves the dog's conditioned emotional reaction to other dogs and so on.

Lindsay
x

thank you for all you help and suggestions. I have a vet referral now for Sarah Heath. I just wish i'd taken this route months ago rather than waste £1000 on the likes of West Lancs or BarkBusters..... they are all sooo convincing at the time, and know how to smarm and charm (yes i'm angry) I just wish the field of animal behaviour was better moderated.

Thank you all

Please let me know how you get on as I am just about to start with a behaviourist myself, for the same problem (although mine focuses on being aggressive rather than being scared, which is terrifying). 

yes I will do. Are you in the same area? Who are you using? You can PM me if you want xx

It's not often I recommend this magazine, but in the latest issue (March) of Dogs Today there are several articles about training, and they explain why kind, reward based methods work so much better for both aggression and fear, as opposed to the likes of Cesar Millan and NILF for instance. (Where it is often said that harsh methods "are the only thing that will save this dog or it will have to be put down".) I was very impressed and there was a lot of interest in to read there. It won't help somebody who has a genuine need of a behaviourist, but it should help people be able to pick out good trainers from bad.

Hi lottnbess, we had our initial conultation with Sarah Heath and now under the guidance of one of her trainers. We have been very happy with them.

Well we have found a lady on the APBC site, she's also a vet and I am going to book her up for the next month.  My ex has left now so its just me and the dogwalker and we will follow whatever she says is the right way.  I started yesterday by making sure they are not allowed on the chairs or bed (my ex always let them up there for a cuddle) and I feel really bad but I know its the right thing to do, they often hop up and start using me as an armchair, on one occasion I woke up as one of them was sitting on my head!  Yuk!! 

Its quite expensive, about £170 for her to visit us at home for a couple of hours and then follow up with emails and phone calls, I think this is the going rate, am I right? 

Lots of people cuddle up to their dogs and so long as when Mum says its Friday, its Friday, you should have no problem. I know lots of people who let their dogs up on the sofa, by invitation only, but whos dogs still respect them. Consistancy, and never giving a command without making sure its carried out is far more important.

I agree with this. My dogs are allowed up on the sofa for a cuddle upon invitation and are allowed to get on without asking if there are no people on the sofa, like Gaby says consistency in your rules is more important than the rules themselves I believe. However if the dogs won't get off when they are asked to and are just climbing up and sitting on your head etc. I would ban them from the sofa while you re-establish with them the rules you want.

My OH got the sofa business completely wrong when I was away, he thought he was only letting the dogs on the sofa by invitation and couldn't understand why they were pestering him more and more. Not being the most observant of lads he hadn't noticed that the dogs had asked him if he would let them on before he had invited them so really they had trained him: e.g the terrier bitch started to ask him if she could come on the sofa by staring at him hard, shaking and crying and the lurcher would put his head on the arm of the chair and wiggle.

After a week of finding these two behaviors very rewarding I had two absolute pests when I returned, there is nothing more annoying than dogs pestering you ALL the time you are trying to relax. So I banned all sofa sitting for dogs (even by human invitation) for at least two weeks until the dogs realised they were wasting their time either crying or wiggling, it was a very hard process with the terrier as she thought 'well staring, crying and shaking got me on the sofa before, obviously I just have to do it harder, louder and better' so with her the behaviour got a lot worse before it got better. But within the month they had realised that the sofa is a privilege not a right, but I am lucky in that when I am about my OH does what I say, if he had ignored me and carried on it would never have changed!

I call him Rich the Great Un-trainer!
Good luck with your own doggies!

Its quite expensive, about £170 for her to visit us at home for a couple of hours and then follow up with emails and phone calls, I think this is the going rate, am I right?

Yes, that's about right, esp. if they are also a vet; and if you have insurance, it will sometimes pay out for a behaviour consultation, too :)

Lindsay
x

The cost of our first consultation was £235 for a 2 - 2 1/2 hour appointment with an additional cost of £78 per hour if it went over time. This was not a home visit. Our insurance did cover this as Sarah is on their list as an approved behaviourist.