dog fight HELP .....BIG UP DATE

[Tea Please]

huckster, I am sorry for what you are going through. I know that the decision you made was not taken lightly, and that your vet was consulted. You have a family to think about, and you had to do what you felt was best. I am sorry there are some very judgemental people who weren't there, don't know, and yet feel they should be the ones to make the decisions for your family.

I second what Maleficent said. Not an easy decision, but I'm sure you did what you thought best for your family. As much as I love dogs, people come first.

 

[wdwmom2]

huckster, I am sorry for what you are going through. I know that the decision you made was not taken lightly, and that your vet was consulted. You have a family to think about, and you had to do what you felt was best. I am sorry there are some very judgemental people who weren't there, don't know, and yet feel they should be the ones to make the decisions for your family.

Ditto!!!!! to you.

 

[maxiesmom]

First I want to say that I am sorry that the OP is having such a horrible time.

But----

This all could have been avoided. Responsible dog owners (or pet parents)
take their dogs to the vet for vaccinations. Take their dog to training class. Get their dogs licensed, as per the law in Michigan. You buy a dog, say you love it, but do none of the above? It doesn't make sense.

I'm sorry but it really upsets me when people don't take care of their pets. There is more to responsible dog ownership that putting it in a fenced yard and throwing food and water down for it.

 

[babar]

I'm laughing out loud here....every post i see we are told "don't come here if you don't want to hear opinions" and then told "how can you jump all over the op"???

You people have jumped all over people over the little issue of oh, I don't know TELLING PEOPLE TO LEAVE THEIR HUSBAND!!!! And then you get mad when they don't, I'm assuming you all knew the "whole story" then?.....but heaven forbid someone disagrees with putting a dog down.

please, spare me your lectures.

 

[Maleficent13]

I'm fairly certain I have never told anyone to leave their husbands.

 

[wdwmom2]

I'm laughing out loud here....every post i see we are told "don't come here if you don't want to hear opinions" and then told "how can you jump all over the op"???

You people have jumped all over people over the little issue of oh, I don't know TELLING PEOPLE TO LEAVE THEIR HUSBAND!!!! And then you get mad when they don't, I'm assuming you all knew the "whole story" then?.....but heaven forbid someone disagrees with putting a dog down.

please, spare me your lectures.

I'm not saying that it was right or wrong to put the dog down. That I am staying out of. I am acknowledging that she probably did what she felt was best in the situation. I didn't see it, I wasn't there, I don't know the whole story. But I would think that the decision was very difficult to make. Even if someone makes a decision that I personally don't agree with, I would not "kick them when they are down". Not pointing to anyone in particular, or even this thread, just my general philosophy in life.

 

[Chicago526]

I'm not saying that it was right or wrong to put the dog down. That I am staying out of. I am acknowledging that she probably did what she felt was best in the situation. I didn't see it, I wasn't there, I don't know the whole story. But I would think that the decision was very difficult to make. Even if someone makes a decision that I personally don't agree with, I would not "kick them when they are down". Not pointing to anyone in particular, or even this thread, just my general philosophy in life.

My thoughts exactly. While I don't think I would have made the same decision (based on what the OP wrote I'd have waited and watched the dog like a hawk for a few days to see how he behaved, he might have groweled at the vet because he was hurting and/or still stressed out from the fight) I can see her point of view. If she has young grandkids, it's a risk to have them around a dog that you aren't 100% sure of. Even if you are in the room with the dog and the kids, a lot of damage could be done before you got them seperated.

 

[Crankyshank]

You can still have pity for the OP and the situation and still feel she made pretty bad decisions that contributed to the situation at hand. Yes the situation is horrible and I feel bad a beloved family pet has been put down but it didn't have to be this way.

Not licensing the dog, not have up to date shots, not having the dog neutered, not having a secure fenced in area if there was even a chance of the dog escaping. All of those are examples of irresponsible pet ownership

the neighbors had thier dog loose running around it ran over to our yard paced our fence till one of dogs got out they dug a hole my dog grabs hold of their dog wont let go neighbor is outside screaming in our yard me and dd run out to see whats going on

Based on the OP I am assuming the neighbor's dog was pacing the fence and barking. Her dog being unneutered and therefore extra prone to territory defensiveness got out of the fenced in yard and attacked the dog for reasons that are totally within his nature to do.

Now I have 2 dogs that are champion escape artists. One of mine is a territory protector. I spent lots of money making my yard escape proof simply because I do not want them hurt or injure anyone else. My dogs are not outside unless they can be monitored - I watch them through various windows or one of us is outside with them.
My next door neighbor and the people behind me have dogs and those dogs do pace the fence on occasion. Unless you are deaf there is no way you can not hear the barking and that you don't have enough time to bring the dogs in the house to avoid one of them getting out.

I think the OP made some very poor irresponsible choices. I'm saying this matter of factly, not to berate her. I'm not kicking her when she's down, but I can't help but point things out of hopes something like this won't happen again or to someone else here reading this thread.

I think she panicked and did what she thought was best before talking to behaviorists. The tasting blood thing is a wives tale- you don't attack another dog and turn into Cujo. Honestly what's done is done. I hope there is a huge lesson learned in this situation and all dogs in the house will be neutered, brought up to date on shots, and the OP will not put her dogs out unless they can be monitored and fence repairs made.

If anything I hope this is a lesson to people here the importance of responsible pet ownership. That includes awareness of the breed, obedience lessons, controlling the animal, keeping it up to date, and neutering them!

 

[babar]

I'm not saying that it was right or wrong to put the dog down. That I am staying out of. I am acknowledging that she probably did what she felt was best in the situation. I didn't see it, I wasn't there, I don't know the whole story. But I would think that the decision was very difficult to make. Even if someone makes a decision that I personally don't agree with, I would not "kick them when they are down". Not pointing to anyone in particular, or even this thread, just my general philosophy in life.

Well, I never knew disgreeing with the way something was handled was "kicking someone when they are down." If no one points out other ways to handle things, how else do you learn?

 

[wdwmom2]

Well, I never knew disgreeing with the way something was handled was "kicking someone when they are down." If no one points out other ways to handle things, how else do you learn?

I'm not saying that disagreeing is wrong. There just is a nice way to go about it. I just thought that some of the "disagreeing" was quite strong!!!! Example: getting rid of the rest of her pets???? That is not an answer. Yes there are things that she needs to get caught up on, change, whatever, no arguement there.

Example in my life. My sis, early 50's, says that she can't work, has problems dealing with people. Nervous problems, from a bad marriage/divorce. She sees a therapist, has for many, many years. Therapist agrees with her. Now, she has NO problem going out and kareoking(sp??) at the local clubs, on a very regular basis. My opinion is, and yes, only an opinion, that if she can sing in front of strangers, she can work, and deal with people!!!!!!! Now, instead of me criticizing her for this, I (my other sisters included) keep giving her ideas on jobs that she wouldn't have to deal with people. But she always has some excuse that she couldn't do it. There is ALWAYS an excuse. My other sisters and I feel that she is lazy and living off the system, but we don't tell her this. If her therapist can't help her "deal" with people in the years that she has seen her, then she needs a new therapist. Sis's problem, again, my STRONG opinion, is that she doesn't WANT to work. She gets enough assistance to make it by. This I don't agree with!!!! But I don't flame her, I just keep pushing her in the right direction. Problem is, she doesn't budge.

 

[ajksmom]

huckster,
I'm sorry you had to make the difficult decision of putting your dog down. But considering it was done after consulting with a vet, I'm certain you trusted a PROFESSIONAL who helped guide you to making the RIGHT choice for YOU and your family.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

The first thing I thought when I read the OP was that it's very possible (IMO) that this dog's reaction was fueled by the "pack mentality". This dog trainer explains it better than I can:

The incident in the tennis court is what we call a "pack situation". Whenever you have more than two dogs together and an aggressive situation occurs, it becomes a pack situation, sort of like a barroom brawl, one guy starts and the rest join in. That type of mentality is not really what the individual dog is really like, but instead is what comes about from the pack mentality kicking in during the aggressive situation. It probably was initiated by the stick (your dog probably has high prey drive) and it got out of hand).

If this were the case the dog might never have had another incident and done perfectly fine in a home where he was the only pet.

Having had two German Shepherds for many years pack mentality was something I was constantly aware of. Even dogs that are docile can get carried away if they're in a "pack". Maybe someone else can benefit from this information.

 

[Crankyshank]

The first thing I thought when I read the OP was that it's very possible (IMO) that this dog's reaction was fueled by the "pack mentality". This dog trainer explains it better than I can:



If this were the case the dog might never have had another incident and done perfectly fine in a home where he was the only pet.

Having had two German Shepherds for many years pack mentality was something I was constantly aware of. Even dogs that are docile can get carried away if they're in a "pack". Maybe someone else can benefit from this information.

Absolutely! Especially since the dog in question (unsure of the other dogs) was not neutered!

 

[SugarBear]

Dogs are required by law to have up to date rabies shots. It's not enforced like it should be, but if someone cares to report you, you can be fined up to $350/day for each dog.

 

[wvjules]

I'm still not sure what in the heck huckster said. Cudos to you all for figuring it out.

 

[Maleficent13]

I'm still not sure what in the heck huckster said. Cudos to you all for figuring it out.

No disrespect to huckster, but I think this is one of the problems. Her posts are a little muddled and unclear. Which is why I think perhaps we shouldn't rush to judgement. I think it's clear that we don't have the whole story, since it's hard enough to decifer the pieces of the story we do have.

 

[Aimeedyan]

The first thing I thought when I read the OP was that it's very possible (IMO) that this dog's reaction was fueled by the "pack mentality". This dog trainer explains it better than I can:



If this were the case the dog might never have had another incident and done perfectly fine in a home where he was the only pet.

Having had two German Shepherds for many years pack mentality was something I was constantly aware of. Even dogs that are docile can get carried away if they're in a "pack". Maybe someone else can benefit from this information.

Which is why actually contacting a trainer or behaviorist (not just a family vet) and a rescue organization before killing an animal (at that a PUPPY!) would have been the responsible thing to do.

Thanks for proving my point!

 

[nativetxn]

Huck, I'm so sorry that you have had to go through this. I know it must have been very painful for you.

Katholyn

 

[huckster]

a few facts
ben
1.shots they were due in aug 2005 it was ens od sept, 1 month he was late.
2.he did more then growl at the vet , he growled and lunged he even scared me.As he did the vet
i explained the fight before he came in she said no muzzle needed at this time, lets see how he responds first.
3.Fence is a top of the line fencing , with a walk way type block around the inner perimeter. 5 inches wide (because my other dog 15 years old sib husky digs) Which Ben had to dig and push to get out
4.i never knew about pack thing , but vet explained that lesson learned.
5.Report to animal control was the neighbor stated the dog had been , aggressive thru the fence for the past few months (never told us)
6. our dogs are well cared for and loved , but sometimes you need to make hard choices , if some of you would die for your dogs then wonderful for you ,
7. no, i am not afraid of being sued i was not in the wrong , it played no bearing on my choice.
8.
there are many people who choose to make wrong choices , like believing they can have a few drinks and drive .08 is not much , some believe it is ok to drive over the speed limit just a little , some people choose to hit thier children , many more ...
my dd unfortunalty read this post .we live in a very small town , she is some what protected from out spoken people who only choose to answer a post to hurt not to offer advise pro or con . in a tasteful unjudgemental way , guess she learned her lesson too she thanks you for opening her eyes she will pray for your unleashed lips, . to those who let me know thier opinon in an constructive way thanks , we prayed on this made a choice , and its over .
as for our other dogs they are with us and there they will stay
For those of you you think your dog will never ever be out of control or just loose , things happen in split seconds as this did.
my word of advise
NEVER SAY NEVER..
AND IF YOU TRULEY BELIEVE THIS , remember me .

 

[kellyla]

[/QUOTE]BTW- what's a snoodle? I know a poodle mix but what is the S for?[/QUOTE]

It is a cross between a Poodle and a Schnauzer.