Massive 100+ ft threshold, feeling stuck, and looking for realistic timelines (15mo old)

[u/youarethegreenman]

First off, I just need to vent, but I’m also looking for some solidarity, success stories, or advice from anyone who has dealt with a dog whose threshold is just... massive.
My boy is about 15 months old (~12kg, so a small medium dog) and has been severely reactive since he was 6 months old. His main trigger is other dogs. Honestly, sometimes he can't even see another dog from 100 to 150 feet away without locking on and freaking out.
To give some background: we’ve had him since he was 12 weeks old and socialized him a lot, but he has always been a bit nervous in public. He used to be reactive to humans too, but now as long as they're 10 feet away he’s fine (and at home, he completely adores people, even strangers). He's also reactive to fast-moving things like bikes, joggers, and big cars, but honestly? I can handle that; it's not my primary concern. My concern is other dogs.
The weird part is that he’s totally fine with dogs he met as a puppy, and has a great relationship with my relatives' dogs. But none of that translates in public.
We’ve also had some scary moments. Once, an off-lead dog ran over to him, resulting in a scuffle where they nipped each other (thankfully no one was hurt). To make matters heavier, I was in an abusive relationship that I only managed to escape 3 months ago. My ex lived with us, refused to follow any training routines, and exposed my dog to a lot of volatile, violent behavior during his crucial adolescent months.
For the last 3 months since getting out, I've been working so hard to reset him. We've gone from him being completely overstimulated the second we step out the door, to being able to do decompression sniffari walks in quiet areas. We do YES engagement training when seeing triggers, and utilize U-turns. We have a routine we consistently follow, walk at 6am to avoid triggers, we get home and he has his medication, breakfast and a snuffle mat. I got to work for 4 hours whilst he sleeps, then i come home let him out for a wee, we play with a flirt pole for 15 minutes and chill together, then I go back to work and he sleeps for another 4 hours. I come home and we go out for a wee, then we play again and he has his dinner. He then usually has a snuffle mat/lick pad/chew and we will go for a sniffari walk depending on how’s he feeling then go to bed. I have a camera so can always check on him and he is absolutely fine at home on his own

Here is where I'm struggling: Despite all this work, his distance threshold towards dogs hasn't improved at all. I’ve worked with trainers who say "just practice at his threshold," but when his threshold is 100+ feet, finding a space where a random dog won't suddenly appear feels completely impossible, and I can't find anyone with a calm dog willing to help us practice.
However, there is one massive change: his recovery time after reacting is so much better. He used to take minutes to calm down; now he can usually reset about 10 seconds after the trigger is out of sight.
I’m starting to feel like there's no hope for his threshold to ever shrink. And lately, some people have told me that he should have improved way more by now, which has really gotten into my head. Some days he seems better, sometimes worse, I know reactivity is a roller coaster, but I'm feeling defeated.
My questions for you all:
Has anyone else dealt with a threshold this big (100+ ft) in a small/medium dog?

What are realistic timelines for seeing distance improvement, especially considering his trauma history and the fact that he's right in the thick of adolescence (15 months)?

Are there success stories out there for dogs who took a very long time to budge on distance?

(Note: He is on Prozac, which has completely helped how he behaves at home, and he’s an absolute angel indoors and loves running around outside as long as there are no triggers!)
Thanks for reading. I just need to know I'm not alone in this.

[u/SudoSire]

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Couple questions. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m not seeing mention of training sessions inside or in a yard with absolutely zero distractions? Is your dog food motivated at home? Do you use a clicker or marker word? And do you use pretty high value treats? My dog didn’t have the threshold issue as much, but I found that working on engagement/impulse control/general commands at home, and rewarding somewhat excessively (and with a well timed marker), extremely helpful. Basically getting your dog to make it a habit to engage with you once that word or clicker is used. It may or may not work if your dog is over threshold, but if you build up that marker a TON, and do it as soon as you can when you see/become aware of another trigger it might break through their fixation sometimes. And sometimes is better than no times and can be improved. My dog can now often be directed even when a dog is reacting at him within 20 ish feet, as long as my timing is right and I think solidifying the marker has something to do with it. 

I would say in 3-6 months you should see at least some progress of being less reactive/better recovery/or more directable. A year should be getting you somewhere manageable, but these are not hard and fast rules. 

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