Tough situation, aggressive dog...

[mikeferg75]

Originally Posted by the

Me personally, I'd get rid of it, as soon as possible.

Yeah, it'll be hard for the first few days/weeks, but in a couple of months you'll be glad you did.

If you don't, you'll have months/years of dealing with this, which may very well end up in someone (a child who is not your own) getting hurt. It isn't worth it. You tried to do a nice thing, it didn't work out. Move on.

I'm gonna have to agree... I'm a huge dog lover and had a similar situation with a Airedale I rescued. He was not as skittish as you describe, but never had all his wires connected if you know what I mean.

He did turn on one of my kids, actually my 12 month old at the time, without warning. I was there it intervene, and I actually don't know what would have happened if I was not there, maybe nothing, but my loyal 10 year old Wirehair Pointer, then faced off with Him, and pinned him, they were best friends, She (the wirehair) never could be in the same room with him again. I brought him in to the humane society the next day, he failed their adoption tests and Airedale rescue placed him with a nice retired gentleman out in the country.

I loved that stupid dog, but he crossed a line.

Ferg

[Steve Viegas]

Was your dog fixed? Our pound puppy was fixed and she became dog agressive around the age of 2. The vet said this could be due to the fact that she was not producing female hormones but still producing testasterone.

Our fix was a dog behaviorist. She came to our house about 6 times. She was amazing with our dog (Doppler) and our Doppler was a different dog around her.

Today, Doppler is 8. She is still too agressive to take to a dog park but she is fine around people who we introduce to her and we do not worry if she gets out of the front door, as she does on occasion.

In short, not a perfect solution, but really made the situation more liveable.

[Bill Douglas]

I love animals, but I recommend getting this dog put down before it attacks someone. The fact that you know it's a problem will make you even more liable if you are sued.

[Laneco]

Nathan's Dad,

The problem is that this dog is basically afraid. Frankly, it's alot easier to correct the temper of an animal with bad manners than with one who is reacting out of fear. The fear reaction is a hard-wired survival instinct. Possible, but very difficult and time consuming to change... She very likely had a horrible early life...

If you keep this do, she is going to nail someone's child. She won't do it out of malice, she will do it out of fear. But it will feel all the same to the little kid whose face she bites...

I'm sorry Nathan's Dad, but this dog needs to go. The kind part of my soul says to take her to a no-kill shelter. The other part of me does not wish such a dog on anyone and suggests a humane euthanasia.

No one wants to believe that their dog would hurt someone, but all dogs, even good loving dogs, are capable. The big issue here, is that this one is not only capable, she is LIKELY...

angela

[Tobra]

If this behavior was going to change, it already would have. The dog whisperer says dogs live in the moment, I don't think that is 100% true. I do think almost all dogs can be salvaged.

Unless you have a lot of time to devote to training the dog, it needs to go. Both my dogs are rescue dogs, the second is a pit bull mix that started out pretty aggressive, had been neglected, more than abused. We let her know her position, bottom of the totem pole, from day one, she is sweet as can be now. Female dogs tend to be a bit more territorial, protecting the home.

I pity the fool that breaks into my house. That dog would damage someone pretty severely defending either my wife, me or the other dog we had first.

[Rodsrsr]

Worst case scenario would be to take the dog back with full discloser regarding his behavior. However I think that most dogs can be turned around, with the exception of aggression torwards other dogs. People should be seen as alpha, so this is usually correctable with positive reinforcements. Treats do wonders. If all else fails, at least the dog may find an owner that might offer a better living situation. (single person with no kids) Remember she is only a year and a half old, which means she is going through puberty and hormonal changes. I would think that with training and patience she will most certainly grow out of this. Many dogs go through this around this age, just like teenagers. My 6 year old GSD went through the same thing at 2 years old. A few people said to put him down, but with training he turned out to be one of the best dogs I have ever owned.

[Oracle]

Originally Posted by bill Douglas

i Love Animals, But I Recommend Getting This Dog Put Down Before It Attacks Someone. The Fact That You Know It's A Problem Will Make You Even More Liable If You Are Sued.

+1

[Rodsrsr]

I forgot to mention that you don't need to do specific training to address that problem. General Obedience training is a must, preferably with the kids involved. That way the dog will find his place in the pack and see the family members as alpha. General Obedience training will most surely correct this.

[Jagshund]

My wife and I have two Dachsunds (recently named "Most Aggressive Breed). It takes a lot of work to train the dogs to act appropriately; it took several months for me and the elder dog to 'adjust' to living together (seven years ago) because he apparently saw himself as king daddy. No more, and I'm glad we didn't take him to a shelter because he's quite the dog now that he knows his place. Try letting guests feed her scraps when they come over (do this repeatedly over the course of several weeks) so she'll associate guests with food . . . in a GOOD way . . . and not be so aggressive, with any luck.

[KaptKaos]

My sister "rescued" a Rottweiler (sp?) from a neighbor that was moving and couldn't take the dog. Big animal, 115lbs. My sister has 2 kids; 8 and 6 yrs old.

I found out through my Dad (sister didn't tell me) that she adopted this dog. Called her and read her the riot act.

Even if the dog was awesome, it wasn't hers since it was a pup, and would assert itself as the alpha at some point and the dog would make a "mistake." Problem is, with a dog that size and kids that small, that mistake might be terrible.

My sister poo-poohed me, told me I didn't understand how nice a dog it was, blah blah....

2 weeks after our talk, the dog growled at Bob, my brother-in-law, one night when he came home from work. Thankfully she heard the words I had said, and got rid of that dog. God forbid if it had turned on one of the kids. A dog that size only needs a second to really hurt or kill a small child.

I'm sure its hard to deal with the prospect of putting her down, but the consequences are too high to not.

YMMV

Good luck.

[krichard]

putting the dog down should not be an option. If you want to save the dog you need to commit to putting the time in to training it. it will take lots of time and patience but it is worth doing and you will not regret it. If you cannot commit to training the dog you need to turn it over to a rescue group so they can find it a proper home.

[DARISC]

Barring any physical/medical condition, I'd hazard to guess that this is a an example of your dog assuming the alpha role and that the solution to your problem is to teach the dog that you are the alpha dude in the pack (your dog sees you and your family as her "pack" and she's the boss).

Dogs aren't that complicated (unlike humans ) and I'll bet that needing to understand that she's not the leader of the pack is all she needs to be shown.

Sounds corney, but check out that Cesar Milan guy, "the dog whisperer". He's dealt with the situation you describe on a number of his TV shows.

It would be a shame for you and your family, and the dog, to turn her out if this is the problem.

Good luck.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Kids & People >>>> Dogs. Though some people don't seem to agree with that.

Best case, the dog just snaps at somebody, or lands a weak bite. Worst case, the dog actually hurts someone. Even worse, the dog hurts someone and you get sued.

You know the problem, but don't want to admit it. I have no doubt that you love the dog, but you should love your family more. GET RID OF THE DOG. To even have the question at the back of your mind is unacceptable. If I ever had any thought that a dog might bite someone, it would be gone. Don't be foolish, you know the right course of action here, you just don't want to take it.

[Nathans_Dad]

So after doing some research on the net yesterday I think the issue comes down to a couple possibilities.

First, Lucy is a very submissive dog. My wife and I were working with her last night and we were able to put her into a submissive position (on her back feet in the air) without any difficulty at all. My wife was holding her paws (which she says dogs usually hate...she works with dogs more than me). My neighbor, who trains dogs as a hobby, said she thinks Lucy is naturally an "Omega" dog (i.e. the opposite of Alpha). She wants to just be at the back of the pack, letting everyone else be in charge.

I think the issue is that Lucy, who wants to be an omega dog, feels like it is her job to protect the house from intruders and this makes her very uncomfortable. She gets nervous and scared and does the only thing she knows how to do in that situation which is either hide or growl.

So, hopefully with training and with myself and my wife showing her that we are the alphas and it isn't her place to defend the house (ie pack), the behavior will go away.

We're going to get her evaluated by a professional trainer this week and I bought a book called "SitStayFetch" which came very highly recommended by multiple sites on the net.

After a long discussion, my wife and I have decided that we will give Lucy and honest and thorough attempt at training. If her behavior does not disappear with training or if we feel at any time that we are putting a child at risk by keeping her we will turn her over to a shelter and get a pure breed Labrador (which is the breed we usually have). I completely understand the position of those on the thread who are advocating either just putting her in a shelter now or euthanizing her. My issue with that is I don't think it would be right to euthanize her before we even give her a chance at proper training. If she is simply confused (which is our fault, not hers) at her role in our pack then correcting that confusion may well eliminate the problem. Let me emphasize that Lucy has never actually bitten anyone and weighs about 30 pounds. We aren't talking about a large powerful dog here.

Her training in the past has been hit and miss. I worked with her with a clicker for a couple weeks for a while and got her to sit and lay down. We've never done stay and come only works sporadically. She walks on a leash reasonably but certainly not perfectly. I haven't worked with her on training in about 6 months now.

In short, I think a lot of her behavior is our (ie my) fault for not training her consistently and letting her know her role in our house. For this reason I don't think it is right for me to just take her somewhere and dump her in a shelter or have her put down. Again, if she is still acting this way after training we will get rid of her.

Thanks for all the input guys.

[sammyg2]

You already know what the answer to this is, it is just very painful to admit.
There are some dogs that are not socially acceptable. No matter what you do that tendency will still be there and the chance that something bad will happen will always be prominent.
Be strong and do the right thing.

The shelters are full of very good, very well behaved dogs that need a home.

[Rikao4]

The downside to your idea of training are your kids, they are simply to young and don't understand. .
I wish you and Lucy well.

Rika

[tcar]

FWIW.

Friends had a dog that behaved similarly... dog bit a neighbor's kid on the face.

Neighbor sued them out of their house. Got way more than covered by insurance.

[Rodsrsr]

Nathans Dad, you just said exactly what I was going to write. Some dogs, you luck out on and are turn key, just awesome from the start, no training needed, others simply are not and need training, but eventually turn into the awesome dog. You dog is simply the latter. Training is all she needs, period. I am referring to a structured training session that is away from the house, where she will also interact with other people and dogs. All the people telling you to get rid of a dog you have had since it was 7 weeks old, or even worse, put him down is simply ridiculous. These are the people that obviously know absolutely nothing about dogs or their normal behavior. Never once did these people even ask if the dog received the proper training, but out of fear and ignorance suggested to "put him down" (a bit extreme to say the least) Anyway, I know that you are an intelligent person and I am glad to hear that you are going to work with the dog. Keep us posted on the progress. Heres my beautiful GSD that all my friends said to "put down" when he was going through his adolescence. He's 6 now

[aigel]

You dropped the ball on your part of the work. You stopped training a 1 year old dog for 6 months!? What did you do with the dog for 6 months? Keep it in the back yard? Maybe it is time to return the dog to the shelter but reconsider getting a new one. You may not have time to properly socialize and train a puppy right now.

Dogs need a lot of work when they are pups. Daily obedience training is one thing but the most important thing is proper socialization. You and your family take the dog literally everywhere it is legal - daily: Playgrounds where kids are petting it, family BBQs, kids birthdays, stores, dog parks etc. If you do this, it is very unlikely you get a dog that fears strangers and turns into a fear biter. It is work - people will be annoyed and you will get annoyed by everyone commenting on the cute puppy. But this is where the dog learns that people are fun and positive.

I hope you can turn this around. Unfortunately the dog now is already fearful and you can not socialize it any more as openly as you could have 15 months ago ...

Good Luck,

George

[Rikao4]

Racer, we want to be wrong!
we want Nathan's Dad to be right and Lucy become a full member of this family.
Lot's of dog owners gave input and hx of personal encounters.
NO ONE here wants to say..we told you so.

Rika