Hi all,
We got this wonderful dog from a very respectable breeder in New Jersey. He's 15 months old, and we got him 2 months ago. He used to be a show dog for this breeder, but he is a little too shy for these kinds of events. He's wonderful with us, playful, your typical Cavalier. He's a little scared of strangers, but will become friendly after a short hesitation.
The biggest problem with him is that he's deadly afraid of other dogs. Even other Cavaliers! Even Cavalier puppies! We live in Manhattan so it's really hard to avoid dogs on the streets, he'll just try to run for his life every time a dog comes towards him. He gets curious after we pass dogs (he'll want to "follow them" from behind), but if a dog runs towards him, he acts as if he'll have a heart attack!
One time at a dog park, he was cornered by a small dog, and before I could get to him, he kind of attacked the other dog (it was the only and the most aggressive behavior I saw from him) - but whomever I tell this story tells me that this is the most normal response that he can give, as he's cornered and has no room to run.
Any advice? I don't really need him to be very very social, but it would be nice if he just didn't try to run away ever time a dog passes by.
Here's a picture of him sleeping.
We got this wonderful dog from a very respectable breeder in New Jersey. He's 15 months old, and we got him 2 months ago. He used to be a show dog for this breeder, but he is a little too shy for these kinds of events. He's wonderful with us, playful, your typical Cavalier. He's a little scared of strangers, but will become friendly after a short hesitation.
The biggest problem with him is that he's deadly afraid of other dogs. Even other Cavaliers! Even Cavalier puppies! We live in Manhattan so it's really hard to avoid dogs on the streets, he'll just try to run for his life every time a dog comes towards him. He gets curious after we pass dogs (he'll want to "follow them" from behind), but if a dog runs towards him, he acts as if he'll have a heart attack!
One time at a dog park, he was cornered by a small dog, and before I could get to him, he kind of attacked the other dog (it was the only and the most aggressive behavior I saw from him) - but whomever I tell this story tells me that this is the most normal response that he can give, as he's cornered and has no room to run.
Any advice? I don't really need him to be very very social, but it would be nice if he just didn't try to run away ever time a dog passes by.
Here's a picture of him sleeping.