help with biting dog

[dugger13]

i have a 2 year old dog that has bitten, nipped 3 people in thje last month. neighboors.

the dog was not very well socialized as a puppy and i didn't get her until 5 months old. the dog is fine around me, but i have 3 kids, and am very nervous that eventually something will happen. what can i do, who can i contact for possible rescue options.


the dog is a trained gwp. i hate to put it down, but my wife is now uncomfortable with her in the house. What do i do? She is fine with my other gsp.

[RayGubernat]

A dog that is aggressive and will nip or bite must never be allowed to run freely. Such a dog should also not be in the house, but should be in a locked kennel, for which only responsible adults have the key. If the dog is fine with you...then you must care for the dog and assume total responsibility for it. Whenver the dog is outside it's kennel, your hand must be on the other end of the leash. If the dog bites the wrong person, or tears up someone's child, you could get sued for all you are worth...not to mention the misery that the attacked person will have to endure.

If you cannot or will not keep the dog under complete control at all times, you need to put the dog down. I wouldn't burden a rescue group with a dog they cannot place because of aggression issues.

RayG

[Sharon]

i have a 2 year old dog that has bitten, nipped 3 people in thje last month. neighboors.

the dog was not very well socialized as a puppy and i didn't get her until 5 months old. the dog is fine around me, but i have 3 kids, and am very nervous that eventually something will happen. what can i do, who can i contact for possible rescue options.


the dog is a trained gwp. i hate to put it down, but my wife is now uncomfortable with her in the house. What do i do? She is fine with my other gsp.

This happens. I had to put a dog down for similiar reasons. Do a Google search for GWP rescue organizations or maybe someone on here has such information. Do tell the resue group about the dog's problem. I adopted a dog once whose owner hadn't shared everything. It was a horror story.
Good luck; it's a hard problem for a family to solve.

PS Actually I agree with Ray's excellent post but thought I'd give you some other possibilities.

[kninebirddog]

The dog is a liability no matter the reason why it bites the facts are it will resort to biting/nipping and even a rescue program will have a hard time to try and place this dog provided the dog doesn't nip at the rescue family as you are already stating the dog doesn't deal well with strangers

Sorry but either kennel it as ray suggest or you can try seeking some professional help ,watch the dog whisperer for some ideas ...but bottom line the dog is a liability and You need to restrict the dog from having access at nipping or biting anyone else specially a child ...

[Shadow]

something happen in that 5 month to 2 year old stage?

if it's a trained dog and you like it- I think you should take it to a pro trainer for evaluation- think you-all should go

[ACooper]

Possibly find a home for the dog without children, is the dog biting strangers? people who live in your household? What caused the dog to bite, fear? over protectivenss?

[dugger13]

i am sure in a hard spot. the dog is very hard to read, and has always been skiddish around people. i have reached out to gwprescue.com but who knows what they will say.

i think the dog would be fine in a single person situation. But then again who knows. i am going to mull it over for some time.

[Hotpepper]

Ray G has it right, no contact can be trusted. Isolate or put it down.

Another will be there.

Not fair to the dog but you have to be safe.

Pepper

[rockllews]

Dugger, There is no "single person situation" as inevitably there is going to be contact with another person- very few humans live in complete isolation.

I've been in a couple similar situations, but once someone gets bit, the decision is easy- the dog goes. 0% toleration of human aggressiveness. An aggressive dog is not worth the devastating results of an attack. You know now that you have a problem, IMHO, I think it'd be in your family and the public's best interest to put him down before something happens. Some have suggested isolation and only on-leash time out of containment, as the other option and it is an option, but for a high-energy GWP, is it really fair to the dog?

Now, if the dog is 100% okay at home (and you know what you are dealing with/how to deal with it), I've seen this situation handled differently. The brother of our GWP has aggression issues, too. I think he's bitten three or four kids, including my younger brother. I don't know why they didn't put him down, but they ended up isolating him to the dog room in their house attached to an outside kennel whenever their were people over. He's about 13 yo now and I'm sure it's been awhile since they've had an incident. I believe he bit out of protectiveness of the family's children.

If you aren't willing to put him down and you can't keep him, talk to the person you bought him from. He may have room for a kennel/hunting dog. And he should know that a dog he's bred has aggressive tendencies, regardless of the possibility of it being caused by environment/socialization/training and not breeding.

You didn't really expand on what triggered the bites on the three neighbors, so these are just some observations from what I've experienced.... I don't blame your wife for not being comfortable- dog < children. Let us know what you decide. Good luck.

[dugger13]

have called the breeder, he stated he doesn't want the dog back. I really do believe the dog would be fine in a single person situation. She is an excellent hunter. All of her fear is from not being around people until i got her at 5 months of age. When i first got her, she wouldn't even go up to a person. She would run and hide in the corner of our fenced in yard. Slowly she accepted me and the family

Now she is fine with my family. The nipping occurs when someone is entering the yard. She will bark, spin, growl, and nip when the person gets close. After the person is there, she is fine with them. I don't know how to get over this behavior. She is in my estimation, scared to death of the person entering the yard. She is afraid of people, and not aggressive. She is a very submissive dog, gets along great with my shorthair female (3yrs old).

I would love to help get this dog placed in a home. i do not want to put her down, i feel it isn't necessary. Please let me know what you think.
Brodie

[kninebirddog]

hmm wonder why the breeder won't take a problem dog back



Think about it...how would you feel if you gave the dog to some well intentioned person and the dog bit them. by what you say how the dog reacts to strangers i would count on someone getting bit that is the way you have to look at it because the dog has a history already
animal control and rescue if the dog has already been known to bite they can't adopt those dogs out

I am truly sorry you were caught up with what sounds like a poor breeder in the first place. puppies need to be socialized and if a person is not going to see that the pups they allow to come into this world are taken care of until the day physically emotionally and and even started in some structured training of some sort until the day they sell them then that is a person who should not be breeding dog. sorry but this poor dog sounds like the most important imprinting stages of her life were neglected at best and there is very little that can be done to change it completely

[Sharon]

I know exactly what you are feeling Dugger.

Before I knew better, I bought a 5 month old GSP from a pet store.
Of course she came with "AKC" papers.
She was also a fear biter but great with my family and I.
I had to muzzle her whenever we left the home after several near disasters made me realize what I had.
At 2, when the vet was no longer able to check her out or give shots, even when she was muzzled, I put her down.

I did some research on this dog as I joined a group fighting to stop the sale of dogs in pet stores. We were successful in putting an end to American brokers selling dogs into Canada.

This dog was born in a puppy mill in Missouri.
At 5 weeks of age, the litter was shipped by train to a broker in Michigan. He sold the pups into Ontario.
My dog was sent to a pet store in Niagara Falls. She spent 4 months living in the big window and a cage out the back.
She never say the outdoors and defecated in her cage.

At 5 months she was sent to another branch store in London.
In my uneducated ignorance, I bought her and for the next two years wondered if my training methods were the problem.

I glad I gave her two , happy years of enjoying the out doors. However, It still bothers me to know that puppy mills still exist.

Don't blame yourself. Those crucial weeks/months are essential.

[dugger13]

With a sad heart, i made my decision and put the dog down. Thank you for the words on this forum

Brodie

[kninebirddog]

My heart goes out to you and your family

You did what you could and you gave the dog the best chance. From the way it sounds the poor dog stood no chance with the neglectful breeder

please don't second guess your self either It just isn't worth someone getting bit So please don't beat yourself over it either


Condolences

Take care

[Sharon]

X2 I'm very sorry. Your decision showed you to be a mature, responsible man. Many folks keep hoping and trying and wishing until there is a serious incident.

[rapid fire]

Very sorry you had to make that decision. I work for the fire department and we had a 6 year old boy bit in the neck today by a dog. He was very lucky and got out with about 10 stitches, but the outcome could have been much worse. Again, i'm very sorry you had to make that decision, but I do believe that it was necessary.

[Setter]

With a sad heart, i made my decision and put the dog down. Thank you for the words on this forum

Brodie

I am very sorry. I too have been through your situation with a problem dog. At 14mos and way, way too many close calls I did put the dog down. At least for me I realized due to my feelings for the dog I was kind of like an emotional hostage. I kept wanting to give the dog yet "another" chance...it's a crazy and painful cycle to be in. But finally the day came when the dog decided he would bite me, put me in the ER in fact with injuries to my hand. By the grace of God I didn't suffer any long-term injury and more thankfully it wasn't one of my kids. Strangely in a way it was still very hard to put the dog down. Now two years later my only regret was I didn't end the issue earlier. Our dog now is a great joy to me and my family. From that experience I also don't believe a dog with aggression problems like that are happy either. Always on edge, always ready to snap, not a good life.

You made the choice to protect your family...I really respect that, I know it was hard. BUT don't second guess yourself, really...it was the right decision and as time goes along that will become clearer and clearer to you. IMO life is too short to have to share it with an aggressive dog.