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Dog Trouble....

Oh, Aki! I'm so sorry you have to deal with this stress... and I DO understand .... We had a situation very similar to Dragonfly's... ours was a shelter dog, some time before we got Lucy.

Jasmine was ok at first, though never particularly snuggly or friendly. As time went by, she started going after people. At first it was young boys and men, so we thought she had been abused by a guy.

We paid to get her evaluated at a dog training place. We paid to have a dog behaviorist come to the house and work with her. And it only got worse. I could tell when she got that look in her eye, when she stared at someone and was going to lunge.

Eventually she went after anyone, EVERYone, who came over. We had to have her on a leash anytime anyone came over. She would bark and struggle wildly to get them from across the room. DS' friends didn't want to visit. Jasmine even got that look in her eye for DS once.

The shelter people told me it was my fault. That Jasmine was getting the vibes from me, because I was scared and unsure and she was reacting to my fear. Not true,.... I never expected her to act like this .... I felt how I felt because of how SHE acted. I worked really hard at being the alpha dog, not letting her .

I felt we tried our best to get Jasmine to change, but she was determined to be our highly aggressive protector dog and it was just too much. Like people have said, it's a constant living in stress and fear that someone will round the corner and you won't be quick enough or paying attention and they'll be attacked.

The shelter took her back and placed her with a dog behaviorist lady who was going to work with her for a few weeks. I kept checking on her progress online and saw that she had eventually gotten adopted again. Within 2 weeks, the people gave her back because of aggression issues. The official wording was something like the dog "wasn't comfortable with the people's visitors".... sadly I knew EXACTLY what that meant. The only good thing about that was the confirmation for ME that it hadn't been MY fault. I don't know what happened to her after that, but I KNEW that she couldn't have stayed with us. Our life totally changed because of the constant stress ... it was awful. And she was only about 2 years old,... it could have been another 12 years of living this way.



Another, much shorter, story... the church I pick up inserts at occasionally,... the pastor has a rescued shelter dog.... she lunged at me a few weeks ago, out of the blue, as I was dropping something off on the lady's desk. They told me she has done it a few times before... I don't know how many times it has to happen before you realize it's a serious problem. If I hadn't gotten the door closed in time, I would have gotten bitten no doubt at all. Her face was right up at it.
 
Awww, Cookie, we know it couldn't possibly be your fault that a dog would act that way because we know how you love Lucy. :huggy:

We did obedience training & the behavior therapist thing, too. I forgot about that. (How many thousands of dollars have I insisted we spend on our dogs? :lol:) Like someone else said, some dogs are just not good dogs. Our dog had an intense fear of basements...we had a finished basement in our last house. It took me 6 months to get him to go down there, but he would go up & down the other levels of our house all day long. I figured some man had abused him in a basement. :pout: He was a sweetie pie dog to me...If I was single & living alone, I'd still have him. I remember early on my Ex-H walked into my house unannounced (not unusual) and the dog really jumped on him. At the time I thought that was GREAT- he would protect us from unannounced males. But it got way worse after that. :(
 
All of our dogs growing up where straight from the breeder and were great dogs. Dh's family always got theirs from shelters and they were all good dogs. When we eventually get a dog, of course dh wants to rescue one but I have always been hesitant for the reasons discussed on this thread. I know it's wonderful to help rescue dogs but sometimes you never know what you are going to get.

I cannot wrap my head around people who abuse dogs....just so sad.
 
Lucy is a rescue dog.... she was abused :pout: ..... she bit the toes off her foot to get rid of the infection her humans didn't get medical attention for.

At first she was afraid of men .... she would cower, try to get away, pee, cry ... but she got past it very fast. Dogs handle fear differently... some get aggressive, some slink away .

She's very smart... she learned quickly that we would not treat her like her previous humans had.... the whole time here she has been the sweetest, most loving dog imaginable ♥♥♥

DS does crazy, though not painful, stuff to her, that I tell her he would not get away with with other dogs :lol: She has never ever EVER growled at any of us.

I often think how amazingly it worked out... we had to go through our experience with Jasmine and gave her up at just the right time and after not being able to think about adopting again right away, I searched for a collie/shepherd dog at JUST THE RIGHT TIME for Lucy to come into our lives. One wouldn't have happened without the other... Fate is wonderful sometimes ♥♥♥
 
There are so many great dogs out there to adopt. Put this one down and move on. Ya it's tough but (i'm not a dog whisperer) but it cannot be in a happy state if it is always biting. Think about how you would feel if it seriously hurts someone.
 
Regardless of why the dog got that way, I would euthanize a biting dog.

That said, I have watched my stepmom take a perfectly nice dog from puppyhood and through lack of exercise, Munchausens by Dog, and nearly constant doggy day care and turn him into a completely unsocialized, biting, bullying, dangerous dog. But, she knows best so she thinks he's fine.

Anyway, you can't fix a biting dog. Once they get the taste, they only escalate. There are trainers/rescuers who can "fix" or "learn to live with" such dogs but those efforts are beyond the capabilities of the average family.
 
Such a tough choice, but I think you know in your heart you can't keep the dog and risk it biting again and again. A neighbor of ours adopted an abused dog--and we never know when the dog will decide to bite. My animal loving child won't go to their house because you just never know--we have been there when out of the blue the dog comes out wagging his tail-you think it is fine--and then boom the dog starts biting you.
You have no idea what happened to the poor dog before hand--when I was growing up my Dad was in the military, and we lived off base. We had adopted 2 dogs from a shelter--and they were fine with us-but if anyone of a different race came to visit us (we lived in Africa) the dog was dangerous. We found out later that the previous owner had locals throw stones at the dog so it learned to hate the locals--and that is why it acted that way.
We rescued our dog Piper from my sister--she had 2 dogs--her daughter brought home this adoreable puppy. My niece couldn't take care of the dog-so my sister kept it--and things were fine for 3 years--then our dog started biting their dog--My sister said it was her mistake that she should have made one of the dogs the alpha dog--and it would have ended the problem-but since she had not in the beginning it was too hard--so we took her in. Our dog is the sweetest dog--great with kids--needed no training--never leaves the yard even if the fence is open--can be walked without a leash--
she is fine with smaller dogs--but dogs her own size-we just don't go near--she doesn't like them and we don't want to take a chance
My sisters dog died--and they got a smaller dog--we have taken our dog to visit--and she has been fine--so it had something to do with the other dog-
My sister spoils her dogs--so both were spoiled, loved, etc--never abused--but it just came on--
We take our dog on walks and she doesn't pay attention to larger dogs etc--but we just never bring her to a place where they would be alone together.
So--praying things work out--and that you can make a decision you can live with, so hard because we know you love animals.
 
People have to come first. The responsible thing to do once a dog bites someone is to put him down. My mother had a similar situation and it was heartbreaking. The dog bit a few people over the years, finally a child. No one was seriously injured and the dog felt threatened every time he bit. You have to make the hard decision before someone is seriously hurt and/or sues you.
 
aki your son is getting to the age where he'll have buddies come over when you may not be home. What if a kid walks into your house and scares the dog?

When I was about 9, I went to a pool party with my Dad (I had never been to this house before). Everyone was outside. Well I had to go to the bathroom so I went into the house looking for the bathroom. All of a sudden I found myself cornered in the kitchen by a snarling Doberman. I was there for a couple minutes until my Dan came in looking for me and hit the dog really hard so he went wimpering off and we got out of there. I hate to think what might have happened if my Dad didn't come in.

Your dog has to be safe with everyone who might come into your house when you're not there (for any reason).
 
This thread is really hard for me to read. I've been struggling with Sophie for nearly as long as I've had her. Living by myself it allows me to be able to isolate her more (yet still trying to introduce her to people in the outside world slowly in hopes that eventually a bit of her fears will subside.) If my uncle was still living at home I'm not sure what I would have done. The daily barking was so hard to take. Even at this point I still struggle with trying to socialize her vs. throwing in the towel. For now, I'm continuing to try my best with her.

Alicia I know you love this dog and whatever decision you make will be the best for all of you. Know that we're here for you - no judgements or flaming.

:flowers:
 
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