Local dog behaviourist disappointment

So i've mentioned Rio's dog aggressive behaviour before, and we saw a couple of adverts in our local pet shop yesterday for dog behaviourists, we thought it'd be nice to get their take on things.
One looks much better than the other, i dropped the preferred one a voicemail this morning and yet to hear back. The other i e-mailed and received a call this morning from them.

She basically said that as he's 3.5 year old rescue and a staffy, his behaviour is going to be ingrained into him and it's a case of management now rather than helping him with his fear.

Now to me that doesn't sit too well, and i just wanted to know if anyone thinks this is a normal response?
Firstly i thought the mentioning of him being a staffy is irrelevant and I said that i don't have unrealistic views and i don't expect to get him playing with other dogs, just to a point where he doesn't get so stressed but again was mentioned that it's a management problem rather than training now. She offered to work with him with a stuffed dog, which i know he'd never react to, but other than that her work load is too busy with "these kind of cases" and she's not sure she could help much.

I think that may indeed be a common response. If he does have DA or nervousness issues it would be difficult to cure him of them. There have been a number of success stories though so no one can say for sure. They can be managed though which would indeed help reduce his stress. I'd shop around and maybe contact the rescue shelter to see if they have a recommendation as well.

Something doesn't sit right with her response Kerry. It may well be a case of managing this behaviour but to offer a toy Dog to work with

I would certainly wait for the second opinion, especially as Rio hasn't been seen in person. Surely a judgement can't be made over the phone as they wouldn't be able to see the body language.

I don't agree that you can't retrain fear aggression. Ask Rach, she'll tell you how far she's come with Bug, and the progress I made with Bobbert was massive. Both of these dogs came with severe issues due to extreme maltreatment.

Even within the stressful environment of the rescue centre we have dogs who go from strength to strength. There are some video clips on Danaher's website that prove the point. This is Tyson, who came in very young but very under socialised and reactive:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=973171969360042&set=vb.279315258745720&type=2&theater

He's playing with our lovely Akita, Chico. Big dollop of a dog.

The next clip is Shadow. You should have seen how he reacted when he first came in - lunging, barking and really quite intimidating to the point that some volunteers wouldn't walk him.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=888890401121533&set=vb.279315258745720&type=2&theater

Shadow is the mainly black collie type dog, now rehomed and very happy.

No video, but Teddy who is a huge bull breed lurcher and was 'blue' status for months and months, is now nearing a home with another dog. They've had 2 dog meets that went well and are next going to do one off lead.

And I could go on. All of these dogs could easily have been dismissed as uncurable but they have proved that you can turn even a seriously reactive dog around.

So, picking polite words, the trainer is talking rot. There are cases where there are underlying issues, where you are talking of severely abused dogs, dogs who were very early weaned, that sort of thing, you may not be able to make a full reversal of the behaviour but even then you can improve.

Jog my memory if you've already mentioned it, but where are you? Is there someone here who could recommend someone? And if you've posted details of Rio's behaviour, could you put a link so I can have a look.

You may get from all this that I've got a bit of steam up here! I used to be a horse behavioural trainer and the number of horses who are put down because they're 'too naughty', who are written off by other trainers, is sickening. I'm a trustee of a rescue centre up in Liverpool and most of the horses we have in there were scheduled to be destroyed. One we had until recently was even rescued off the ramp of the knacker's lorry. She died last year of natural causes. Yet Shy Lowen's horses, some of which arrive really quite dangerous, are trained by kids! They do it incredibly well, but they are still kids. So how come these professionals can't do it then??? And not just horse trainers but dog trainers as well.

Off your soapbox, Liz...

See that i was what i was thinking too, and although i don't agree with all his techniques, i've seen Ceaser Millain turn "red cases" around before too, so i just couldn't understand why she was so dismissive of trying to help
Clearly not very good!

I'm based in Hampshire but Rio's behaviour with other dogs is he'll pull on his lead towards them barking very loudly and whining, although when a dog came too close the day, we held him back and his barks got more high pitched which i know he does when scared. But then yesterday we walked past two dogs on the other side of the road and he looked at them but just turned for his toy that i used to distract him instead of reacting.

It's lovely to see those dogs being rehomed too!