hi a friend of mine is desperate for some help with her dog,the dog is about 18mths old i think,yesturday it bit her 10year old daughter,and she had to take her to hospital.she contacted the rspca and explained this to them and asked them to take it away because she has got 2 other children and she is scared for there safety.they told her that they would take it if she could pay £65 she explained to them that she is one parent and that she could not afford this and they told her they couldnt help,so she contacted the police and they told her that they couldnt take it off her. after she had spoken to the police and by the way was disscusted with there attitude she asked me to put it on here.she would not let the dog go to a family because she cant be trusted with other children,but if anyone knows and can suggest what she should do please help,her little girl is out of hospital and is ok,as i said it is a rottwieler.

Hi benyboy,

I'm not going to offer you any advice as to what to do with the dog because I don't know the circumstances in which the dog bit the little girl.

However, your friend can try contacting the Dogs Trust and rottie welfare who may offer advice. Dogs trust will not put a healthy dog down so will advise on the best way to deal with the rottie.

Also, dog attacks can happen for a variety of reasons, one being provocation but seeminly unprovoked attacks can be a result of a physical or neurological condition so if your friend is sure that the dog wasn't provoked (and I don't mean that in a nasty way, kids can provoke attacks without realising) the dog really should be checked over by a vet. If the dog is in pain somewhere and that was the reason for the bite, it would be a shame to part with a dog who was just to all intents and purposes, defending itself from getting hurt (by the child touching the sore spot).

Hope that helps some.

why isn't there a biting lip smiley? :|
My suggestion is she finds the £65 to give the RSPCA to take it away. It isn't really the polices resposibility to mop up her irresponsiblity. stop, I'm biting my lip aren't I! :| Maybe she can get in touch with a Rottweiler rescue? Try and privatley re-home, although I'd be a bit worried who would take this dog on and what it's future might be.
The £65 for the RSPCA is likely to be to have her pts. But hey, I'm no expert, wait for some better responses. Just out of interest, how long has she had the dog? where did she get it from? can she not get in touch with them? Rotties can be lovely, gentle dogs with the right upbringing and training, unfortuantly they have a bit of a reputation.

See, there you go, Lotti beat me to it!

I was just wondering the same, how long has she had the dog'
They dont usually just decide to bite at 18months, which If she hasn't had it very long I would certainly contact who ever she got it from,
But something needs to be done fairly quickly.

:| Think everythings been said that i would've said, although if she's only had the rottie a short time, i'd be more leniant. Dogs don't just start biting, they tend to show signs enough is enough before doing so, Lotti's suggestion about getting a vet to look at him is spot on, maybe he's poorly! If it was my dog, i would do my best to find out why he'd bitten so that i could then see if i could move on with the dog still being part of my family, perhaps if the child was at fault, teaching the child the dog is not a toy would be a start, if i still felt i couldn't trust the dog at least i could rehome him knowing why he bit etc! As a last resort i would make sure i found the £65 to give to the RSPCA but i would also inform them to why he bit so that the chances of him being pts were slim. Just another quick question to add to how long has she had him, if she can't afford the £65 how on earth would she have afforded vet treatment in an emergency or if the dog got an illness? :confused: Sorry to sound a bit catty but i am a single parent household and i keep at least £100 in a seperate account for vet emergencies due to not having much money.

So to summarise, we need a bit more information before we can help properly and offer the correct advice please, thanks! :)

If the dog came from a reputable breeder, this should always be the first point of contact. The breeder is the best person to advise on behavioural issues wrt the specific breed, likely ailments which may have caused the bite, and will take the dog back for rehoming if the current home is no longer viable

If, however, it came from somebody who happened to have a few pups that may be mostly rottweiler, or from a puppy farm, the best course of action is probably to pay the dog warden/council to take the dog, and understand that there's a good chance that it will be put to sleep - though this will cost significantly less than taking it to its own vet

The rescue centres are overwhelmed with the sheer quantity of rotties dumped on them - perfectly placid dogs with no adverse history - and they are struggling to rehome those thanks to the minority of incidents generating a hysteria about the breed, so if this dog is not a KC registered animal from a breeder who accepts their own dog back..... :(

There is a long shot that the breed rescue society may accept the dog (click the link in my signature), but they have a big enough job on their hands with wonderful family pets who are victims of divorce, or abused pets who have been seized too

Please do not be tempted to not disclose the history of this dog for fear it will not be accepted by a rescue, as they may not find out its lack of suitability for a family before rehoming


Are you able to give us any more background on this dog's story? how old are the children its living with, and what degree of training has it had? Is it a house dog? Where does it sleep?

Benyboy, Strix's advice is very good but just to clarify my post, my recommendation to contact breed welfare wasn't particularly for them to take it back, but that they are very experienced in the breed so if the breeder wasn't able to advise on the best course of action, or how to deal with this behaviour, breed welfare might.

Sorry that wasn't very clear and please do try to find out more information, from the info you've provided it's virtually impossible to suggest anything very helpful!

I feel like joining the debate but it would be very un- warm and fuzzy. I trust that all the responsible pet owners are thinking the same thoughts as me, but unfortunately even when those thoughts are spoken there are people who are oblivious to it. :|

:P <<<<<<< biting lip?

this thread isn't a debate, but there is more than one on this breed elsewhere if anybody finds commenting necessary ;)

Note: posts more appropriate to another thread will be deleted rather than moved :thumbsup:

<<<<<<<< the search button is over there ;)

I've sought advice on this from someone who has dealt with it through working for a resue centre (to make sure we're asking the right questions). She has informed me that the following are some of the questions that would be asked and benyboy if you can find the answers to these, it would help a lot:

1. What was happening for the 20 minutes leading upto the bite, and the events immediately afterwards
2. What is the dog's diet? Apparently too much protein (particularly in wet meat) can cause aggression in rotties
3. A rundown of the dog's routine would be of help as well.

Ideally, she should see the vet for underlying medical problems and be referred to a behaviourist, the fees for the behaviourist can be covered by pet insurance apparently.
The behaviourist (or maybe someone from rottie welfare) can observe the dog in the home and see underlying behavioural reasons (maybe to do with how it lives within the family, routine etc) and either advise on ways to help improve the behaviour and prevent further bites, or if the visitor is from rottie welfare or the dog's trust they can decide whether the dog would be suitable for rehoming with somone else.

It is essential that your friend finds the reason for this bite. If the dog is simply labelled as a child biter, the likelihood is no-kill shelters such as dogs trust will refuse to take the dog, and other shelters without a no-kill policy will just euthanise.

Hope that helps :thumbsup: