OT: Thoughts on how to handle our dog situation

[juliana_sd]

If I'm understanding right - both dogs are in the yard together, right? You can't have one on a tiedown and the other loose. That is a recipe for a fight if I ever heard one.

I don't have personal experience with an electric fence, but I've heard of stubborn dogs "gritting their teeth" and running right through.

Why not fence a smaller portion of your yard for the dogs to 6'? Doesn't need to be the whole acre.

 

[momamy]

We just adopted our lab/collie 2 year old pup a few months ago! She was jumpy and running at first! Labs are very curious and they do learn very fast. We took our dog to pet smart and did the puppy class! she loved it and i loved seeing the change in her!

Labs are very smart and they have soooo much energy! they need lots of exercise and play to keep them satisfied at home!

 

[ellenmiele]

My sister has an 8 month old lab/shepherd mix (acts more like a lab than a shepherd) and her DH purchased some kind of wireless invisible fence - maybe from Home Depot or someplace like that. It was much less expensive than the traditional invisible fences and she says it works great. There is some sort of centrally located device that emits a signal - sorry I don't have more details but I just wanted to say that there are other options out there. If it weren't so late here I'd call her and ask specifics - I find out more tomorrow.

p.s. We have an 1 year old german shepherd and just lost our wonderful 16 year old black lab to old age this past January. And we've had 3 other dogs over the past 18 years. We currently have a regular 6 foot fence but we had an invisible fence in our old house. Good and bad points for both. And I cannot say enough good things about the classes at PetSmart - excellent training at a good price.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

My thoughts may not be what you want to hear, but... When you adopted this dog, you agreed to provide for her for a lifetime. So many people get pets, and then when things get hard, they get rid of them. To me, you made a commitment, and that means you need to do whatever it takes to get her trained. I would look for books on labs, or Cesar's book, and go from there. Labs want to please so badly, you should be able to get her under control.

That said...now that I have read further, I have to agree. If the dog is biting my child, that's an entirely different scenario!

No, she agreed to try and see if the dog fit in with her family.

They are not humans, and having gone down the rescue route and had it end badly (rescue dog attacked our dog), I don't have a lot of sympathy any more for bad rescue dogs.

There are too many good dogs out there needing a home-people (including myself) are afraid to try rescue dogs because people lie about the condition/behavior of these dogs.

Bad dogs need to be put down, period. That way the good dogs have a better chance.

 

[JacobsMommy11002]

No, she agreed to try and see if the dog fit in with her family.

They are not humans, and having gone down the rescue route and had it end badly (rescue dog attacked our dog), I don't have a lot of sympathy any more for bad rescue dogs.

There are too many good dogs out there needing a home-people (including myself) are afraid to try rescue dogs because people lie about the condition/behavior of these dogs.

Bad dogs need to be put down, period. That way the good dogs have a better chance.

I'm not sure you actually read my entire post Because at the end, I conceded that a dog that bit was an entirely different story. Also, had you read the whole thread, you would note that her rescue dog isn't a "bad" dog. Its her original dog that is doing the biting. The rescue dog simply needs some good house training.

Personally, I have tremendous respect for those that choose to do animal rescue. It is an extrememly challenging job. Rescuers, in my experience, don't "lie", but rather tell the truth as they see it. If they see a good dog that seems to be getting along with others, etc, that's what they will report. People are the problem. They forget that these dogs, while family members, are animals. I work as an OR nurse, and we have had kids come in with facial trauma from the family golden retriever. It happens. No matter if its a rescue dog or not. I am not a fan of putting ANY animal down, but if they attack another human, that is another story. Dogs are animals and they will fight with each other.

 

[Momvic5]

I'm going against popular decision - again - see trampolines - but if you have tried & it's not working, I would find her a new home. It raises red flags to me that the previous owners wouldn't take her back. They know how she is & sounds like they tried to hide that & hope the next owners would be ok.

We gave back not one but TWO dogs that weren't right for our family. I'm sure I will get backlash for that but I have no regrets. We were looking for a sibling for our older retriever mix (from the pound) & I put up w/years of separation anxiety with him & he HATED crates, still does & we don't use one. So I am willing to put up w/dog issues but there are limits.

The first was a 5yo chow/lab mix with medical issues from a non-kill shelter that had been fostered. They said oh, she's so sweet, no aggression issues, etc. Well, she about attacked my dad when he walked in our house after knocking one day & fought w/our older dog more than once. As soon as DH had to pull them apart once, I said that was it. Back she went. Her foster ended up adopting her so she got lucky.

The second was a lab puppy from a shelter. Adorable, loved her & still miss her but not a lab, pit bull. I don't care what anyone says, I was not willing to see if she had good or bad genes. I cried the whole time but still don't regret it.

We finally got another mix from the pound & she is great. Some annoying habits but ones we can live with & call her the princess.

I love animals but in our house, they are part of the family but still animals. So if you are looking for someone to say, it's ok if you try & it doesn't work, it's ok and do what you have to do.

I So Agree!!

 

[susykt4]

I worked as a vet tech for years and am currently a zookeeper. I love animals, especially dogs. I have spent thousands of dollars on vet bills over the years and have done things for my pets most of my friends and family find ridiculous. I have also had a rescue dog euthanized when he was terrorizing the neighbors and jumping our fence despite installing chicken wire extensions, an electric wire, buying a "no jump" harness and spending obscene amounts of time training him. He spent the first year of his life (not with me!) in a small kennel and became "cage protective" (barked violently and looked ferocious when the neighbor kids teased him from the other side of the fence.) He was fine with my kids and any kids in our yard. I'm 99.9% sure if he had gotten into the yard with the neighbor kids he would have wanted nothing more than to play with them.

However, he was jumping into a different neighbor's yard and they called the shelter several times. I was being faced with fines and lawsuits. I was spending tons of time and money upgrading the fence. I was faced with putting him into a crate any time we weren't at home (fine for other dogs, but after spending his entire first year crated, not so good for him.) It totally sucked, but I had to put him down. Before this situation, I must admit I would have sided with the "Pets are a lifetime commitment" gang. Now, I say, Do what you need to do!

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

I'm not sure you actually read my entire post Because at the end, I conceded that a dog that bit was an entirely different story. Also, had you read the whole thread, you would note that her rescue dog isn't a "bad" dog. Its her original dog that is doing the biting. The rescue dog simply needs some good house training.

Personally, I have tremendous respect for those that choose to do animal rescue. It is an extrememly challenging job. Rescuers, in my experience, don't "lie", but rather tell the truth as they see it. If they see a good dog that seems to be getting along with others, etc, that's what they will report. People are the problem. They forget that these dogs, while family members, are animals. I work as an OR nurse, and we have had kids come in with facial trauma from the family golden retriever. It happens. No matter if its a rescue dog or not. I am not a fan of putting ANY animal down, but if they attack another human, that is another story. Dogs are animals and they will fight with each other.

What you don't understand is that DOGS don't think your kids are any different than other dogs in the family other than where they are on the dominance totem pole. I disagree with your statement above; dogs fighting each other and dogs attacking humans is a very, very short walk...

The dog that we brought home spent the first day being fine with being at the bottom of the totem pole, which is where he needed to be to fit in with our family. On the second day he went after the cat, who he (correctly) interpreted to be one up on him on the scale. The next day he went after our other dog, who I will add was a certified therapy dog and Canine Good Citizen and would rather chew off her own paw rather than hurt anyone.

So, this was a dog that had no qualms about trying to up himself on the totem pole. He was very submissive around me and my DH, but definitely felt the rest of the family (two and four footed) was fair game and he would wait until he was out of my sight to try and better himself.

My two year old daughter was very obviously next on the totem pole, and there was NO WAY that dog was going to get even the ghost of a chance to try and work his way up any further than he had done already, so buh bye.

Dominance issues are at the heart of many, many dog problems, and dogs who aren't content to stay on their spot on the pole, and people who don't know how to reinforce that spot, are usually the problem.

I'm still bothered by it, all these years later, because I'll never forget the sight of my sweet white dog all covered in her own blood because the rescue dog had torn off half her ear and she needed emergency surgery to stitch it back together. Most expensive "free" rescue dog ever. And why did he attack her? Because he felt like she was sleeping in the bed that he wanted-he jumped on her when she was asleep!

Sorry, OP, bad thread spread on me, I get all stressed about rescues...

 

[Camno's Mama]

No, she agreed to try and see if the dog fit in with her family.

They are not humans, and having gone down the rescue route and had it end badly (rescue dog attacked our dog), I don't have a lot of sympathy any more for bad rescue dogs.

There are too many good dogs out there needing a home-people (including myself) are afraid to try rescue dogs because people lie about the condition/behavior of these dogs.

Bad dogs need to be put down, period. That way the good dogs have a better chance.

I think it's hard for people, not only because we're taught that dogs are part of the family and you shouldn't treat them any differently than your kids. We also have shows like the Dog Whisperer telling us that we can fix dogs that are completely ruined by people. But he's got a ton of training and has a special ability that we don't all have. Maybe if we could all be Cesar Milan, there would be no "bad" dogs. It's such a sad thing, really. We always want to help the underdog, no pun intended, and I think it gets us in over our heads sometimes.

(Not that this dog is a "bad" dog, just commenting on the plight of "bad" dogs as a whole!)

 

[JacobsMommy11002]

What you don't understand is that DOGS don't think your kids are any different than other dogs in the family other than where they are on the dominance totem pole. I disagree with your statement above; dogs fighting each other and dogs attacking humans is a very, very short walk...

.

I DO understand that. I am so very sorry that you had a rough experience with a rescue dog. But the fact remains I stated in my orignal post that if the dog was biting, its a different story. Action needs to be taken at that point. I have the utmost respect for dogs as animals...becuase that is what they are, and I treat them as such. I did say the dog was a lifetime responsibility...at the point, the OP had not yet revealed she had taken the dog on a trial basis...simply that she wanted to give him back. I read the OP post and responded to that...I hadn't read further yet. Once I had, I edited my post. The OP's rescued dog is NOT the one biting. Her first, family dog is. This rescue needs training. Furthermore, I never said there wasn't a short walk, as you put it, between dogs biting dogs and dogs attacking people. I acknowledge that there is...however, not all dogs that fight with each other will hurt a human. I respect your taking the steps needed to keep your child safe...I absolutely would have removed the dog from my house as well. I have a problem with why there are so many dogs in shelters. So many people get them and don't want the responsibilty and work they entail. That is how the OP's original post sounded to me...which was why I responded as I did.