What would you do? (bit child)

[Missy Mae]

I have a pup (2'ish and weights 92 lbs) that we are fostering, not through any organization but just ourselves. We found him and couldn't find his owner so our thought process was 1) get him healthy, 2) get him fixed and 3) find him a home. He had worms really, really, really, bad. It took 4 months of de-worming to get rid of them. He was fixed and recovered just fine. Finding a good home for him seemed really hard before and now I am pretty sure it will be impossible and I am not sure that I am comfortable re-homing him.

He is crate trained trained, knows leave it and take it, knows sit, stay (work in progress) and overall very friendly dog and good with my children and other dogs. Here is where my problem is. Recently, as in this week, he lunged at a child, in my home. Did not bite her BUT did leave a tooth scratch on the child's tummy. I was standing 3 feet away when it happened, grabbed him by the collar and put him in his crate where he continued to bark and growl. As the child was leaving (had to walk past his crate which is 5 feet from the front door) he lunged again and barked and growled. This child is not my child but rather a friend of one of my children and she is 12. The week before that he lunged (was on a leash) at a man walking by us on the sidewalk. I took him to the vet and they ran bloodwork and checked him over and said he was healthy.

Now I don't know what to do. I am afraid that this is just the beginning of not being able to take him anywhere without a muzzle, constant crate if anyone is over, and then the worry of having as many children as I do (6 currently at home) that someone will not be paying attention and he will get out. Then of course my biggest concern is what about re-homing? How do you make sure that the person or people understand completely what the issue is AND are willing to do everything they need to do to make sure it doesn't happen? I am "ok" with basic training but when it comes to aggression it is way over my head. None of the rescues that I contacted would take him, gave NO advice or help at all, and said he would have to be put down since he bit a child, even though it was a scratch it is still considered a bite. Would sending him to the bridge be the best answer?

I am so torn, heartbroken, upset and, afraid! No answer seems like the right one and I really need some outside (not so close to the issue) input.

[RachelsaurusRexU]

Such a tough situation, and I'm really sorry you're having to go through it. What were the circumatances in which he lunged at the child? All I can say is that I would not adopt out a dog that was exhibiting unprovoked aggression. Whether you're willing to try and work with him under the guidance of a professional behaviorist or not, I don't know, but I wouldn't even attempt to adopt him out as is. If you placed him and the adopter didn't handle the matter as seriously as it should be handled, or some accident occurred and this dog badly injured somebody, you could be held liable and have to live with the guilt for the rest of your life. I can't say whether or not I'd personally consult a behaviorist without being in your shoes and knowing the dog, but the only other option for me would be humane euthanasia...with a very heavy heart, I'm sure. Good luck.

[Maxy24]

More info about the bite incident would be helpful...what was the dog and the child doing? Do you have any ideas what breeds might be in this dog?

For now just don't let your kids interact with him, in fact just you and other adults in the household should be doing that. If you cannot avoid getting near people on walks I would get him a muzzle for walks.


I don't think you could rehome this dog UNLESS it is a guardian breed and he is being rehomed to someone with extensive experience in guardian breeds. If her were actually your dog I would of course suggest a behaviorist, but even if you do get one I would not feel comfortable rehoming him assuming there was very little provocation for the bite.

[Missy Mae]

This was completely unprovoked. The child walked into the house and was talking to my daughter. They were not speaking loudly or excitedly. The child had her hands down by her side and was not even looking at the dog. The girls where standing 3-4 feet away from me. I was in the kitchen and the dog was with me in the kitchen. I was getting some water out of the sink and he was sitting by me. When the doorbell rang I told him to stay, which he did. The girls walked in about 5 feet from the front door and then stopped and were talking. The dog pushed past my daughter (who had her back to me and the dog), jumped up, wrapped his front legs around her waist and I couldn't really see how he did it but managed to scatch her on the stomach. My daughter said he bit her but all I could find was the scatch. My other daughter who is 14 started to cry hysterically after this happened because she knew, just like I do (just trying to wrap my mind around putting a healthy dog to sleep) that when the dog made the choice to bite he (doesn't matter if child or adult) would need to be helped to the bridge.

On another board that I am on (small breed owners) they all made it sound like I just don't want to deal with the issues, shouldn't have dogs if I am not willing to train them, and "am taking the easy way out by killing my healthy dog." This is NOT easy and we are devastated about this! We have had him long enough to be very bonded with him.

For me it boils down to what am I doing wrong, training wise, that this dog would make the choice that it did. The two little ones have never been agressive at all and I train them the same way. Lots of positive reinforcement and praise!

The ETA parts are in italics

[Missy Mae]

He is a lab mix of some sort.

[Maxy24]

Wait, did he scratch her with his teeth or paws? Perhaps I'm misunderstanding but what I gather is that he jumped up on her and your daughter says he bit her (but based on lack of injuries perhaps just attempted to bite her). Are you sure there was actually a bite? Is the dog ever just mouthy, maybe in play? Does he usually jump/try to jump on guests?


He's absolutely beautiful by the way...I am really sorry you are going through this.

[xellil]

What a horrible thing for you to have to deal with. I am so sorry.

I don't know what I would do for sure, but i do know that even though I love my dogs like crazy if there was a chance they would injure a child living in my house, I wouldn't keep the dog around the children.

Not sure about putting to sleep. I put a dog to sleep about 15 years ago for biting a child and I've regretted it, alot. I believe I did the wrong thing but the circumstances were not like yours.

I know some people are willing to deal with an aggressive dog through behavior therapy etc. but that's a large time commitment and it sounds like you have your hands full with alot of children also.

It does seem, though, that had he really intended to do damage with his teeth he had plenty of opportunity, and all she came out with was a scratch. But his behavior in the crate certainly doesn't show that he was just being playful, either.

[magicre]

wthout provocation, a dog who is human aggressive needs just those precautions...and personally, i would not re home him. i'm sorry you're going through this....

we had found a stray who had been hit by a car so his jaw was never fixed right....we took him in, fixed his heart worms, fixed him, and he was about the friendliest dog i'd ever seen...the big lug...a black lab/retriever....and he was just great....until i paid attention to another of our dogs...and then the ugly came out...and he started to guard food, tried to eat a maltipoo we had rescued....

he'd eye my eight pound shih tzu and g'd forbid a dog came near me or came near the food...

so we kept him away from the other dogs....

and then honey hugged me and the dog went after him....the second time convinced us he was so damaged....we took him to our vet who honestly felt that human agressive dogs had little chance of being rehabbed...it was very sad, but we put him down.

i don't regret that decision....although it makes me so sad...it's the first and last time we ever faced that....but in this case, your case, either he has to be watched 100 per cent of the time and never be allowed near children or adults or strangers....or he needs to go to a farm where he becomes a working dog and hope he doesn't eat the sheep or he needs to be put down....sorry to say. but that's my opinion...:(

[DaneMama]

I would contact a behaviorist in you area...start working with them asap. Most good ones are expensive, so its an investment. Takes a lot of time and energy.

My only thought is that maybe this girl reminded this dog of someone he had a bad experience with previously. Or it had something to do with there being too much commotion around the door/entry area. LOTS of dogs have issues with polite greetings at the door.

[Dude and Bucks Mamma]

I'm with Natalie. You have NO idea what this dog's past was like. He could have been abused. He could have come from a loving home where no one knew how to socialize him. There are infinite possibilities.

I know horses and dogs aren't the same thing, but they both have memories and react accordingly to situations they find themselves in. My best friend growing up had an old school baroque morgan gelding named Buster. Beautiful, seal bay 15.2 hand boy. She bought him from our trainer. Great horse. As long as you didn't walk up to him in the dark. Or wearing a windbreaker or cowboy hat. He reacted more strongly towards men in those situations than women. As long as those he was familiar with talked to him when he found himself in these situations he was ok. I would walk up to him wearing the windbreaker and cowboy hat in the dark because he knew my voice. I was a treat dispenser to him :) From that, we can guess that he was possibly kept in a dark stall and abused by a man who wore a windbreaker and a cowboy hat. Everything about his behaviour lead us to that conclusion.

My mare was neglected and was 300 lbs underweight when we got her. She would pace every morning (part of the reason she was SO underweight since she was burning WAY more than she took in) because she was worried that she wasn't going to be fed. She would do this again in the evening, worried that dinner wouldn't come. My mare was never abused, just neglected (which, yes, is a form of abuse, but there is a difference in the general idea). She didn't have any of the little weird idiosyncrasies that abused horses have like Buster. I could do ANYTHING to that horse. She didn't mind. I could WEAR anything. No reaction. It was just food she was worried about.

My point is that they remember everything that has happened in the past. I am not saying that it is a guarantee that he was abused or anything, but I am saying that it is possible and that the situation triggered something in his memories. I see a GSD a tend to freeze up for a second because I was attacked by one a couple of years ago. I don't even have to think about it. I just freeze. But, since time has gone on, I am not afraid of them anymore. It is a momentary, instinctual thing.

I would at least talk to a behaviorist. I wouldn't feel comfortable having a dog like that in my house because even our dog misbehaving could get Nick into trouble with Big Navy. I wouldn't want him put down but he is not a dog you can give to just anybody. Whoever you rehome him with needs to fully understand his issues and have experience in dealing with a dog like this or he will end up dead.