u/hisosih

We adopted the sweetest, most loving cockapoo almost four months ago, and he's been my adorable little shadow ever since.

When we adopted him, the shelter said they had checked him out and that he was fine. He had some small cysts that we were reassured were checked and not causing him any issues, just cosmetic.

Two weeks ago I noticed that he was yelping when some people were giving him scratches, and he started to shake his head. I scheduled a vet appointment for the day after as I figured he had an ear infection.

We get to the vets, and the poor baby has almost a complete blockage in BOTH of his ears. I felt like such a failure that I hadn't noticed any signs of him being in pain or discomfort prior to that week. He let's me clean his ears, do his nails, and he's never yelped or shown me any signs of discomfort, aversion or anger when I've done so.

The vet said it was likely that he had this issue longer than we have had him. I'm a combination of angry and deflated because did the shelter even give him any medical checks or care? When we adopted him, his entire body was entirely (and poorly) shaved down while his face/head was in absolute overgrowth, matted and smelly with his eyes not cleaned in a while. We got differing accounts on whether he arrived to the shelter like that or not, although he was only there for a couple of days.

So now I'm disappointed in every human (including myself) that has failed him thus far. Is he even reactive, or does he just hate having dogs near his severely infected ears and is acting accordingly?

He's been on meds for the last week, we had another check up and while the blockage is better, it's not cleared up just yet.

His behaviour has been worse the last two weeks as he is irritated and uncomfortable - and I can't say that I blame him. Walks have been difficult and instead of the long explorative walks with training thrown in that we both enjoy, I've just been bringing him on small excursions around my home and laying off of the training while he's agitated and in pain.

We start reactive/behavioural training with him tomorrow but the school thought it'd be best to put him with non reactive dogs in basic training as he isn't aggressive and struggles to retain his training while triggered. I know I should be excited for it, but this is just adding a lot more anxiety to my plate - if we're the only people there with a reactive dog, we are gonna be vibe killers/stress enducers and I am going to feel even more out of place and apologetic. We were told if he can't handle it we can do 1:1 behavioural classes, but I'm afraid it's going to set me back mentally just as much as the poor pup.

Has anyone noticed that their dog is more reactive due to illness? Am I living a pipe dream attributing his reactivity to infection?