Hi, very sorry to hear about your situation.

We have had rescue dogs before and have one now, but because we have a cat, we have always ensured that any dog we adopted had been living with cats peacefully before; at the risk of sounding like I am telling you off (which I am not, believe me!) you should have ensured that before taking this dog - if there was no history of living with a cat then it was a big chance to take in choosing him to be your pet. We walked past countless lovely dogs at the rescue centre simply because they had not lived with cats.

Even if they have lived with cats there is no guarantee that a dog will take to YOUR cat (or mine, or anyone else's) just like humans dislike certain other humans, but with this one it was a total unknown. Sadly, if he is being aggressive towards your cat then it doesn't sound to me like he will be suitable to stay with her. Our cat is 13 in October and has lived with a dog all her life - it was a gamble rehoming two dogs over that time but both had previously lived with cats and been OK.

The priority also is to make your garden escape proof. Ideally you should have six foot fences all round at least; no gaps! If the dog is a digger, you really need to have fences with concrete bases.

It will be heartbreaking for you if you have to return him to the rescue centre but his aggression in the past to the other dog and his aggression to the cat, make me feel he may not be the dog for you. I can understand your worry about your child as well - that of course must be watched very carefully.

I shall leave it to someone with more knowledge than I regarding how he may have been affected by being neutered; it seems to have kicked off since then from what you say. However, I do feel that with the cat in particular, he may not be the right companion. The best thing would be if he ignores her - that is the behaviour you would want to see .... if he seems to be staring obsessively at her then that is a warning sign.

At the same time 3 and a half weeks is not long. Maybe your behaviourist can help - I do hope so. Good luck!

PS Our present rescue dog we have had for a month now - he has only barked twice and that was in the last week... it takes time (I now know) for them to settle down and feel secure enough to do that in a new home... I had to post on here because I thought too that his vocal chords were faulty, LOL!!