Maddie Posted October 29, 2011 Posted October 29, 2011 Me and my husband adopted 'Bob' from Mill House Animal Santuary a couple of weeks ago (although we had actually renamed him Strider). He is an absolutely lovely dog and we were really enjoying his company. Unfortunately he has shown some unprovoked agression with very little warning, and bit a lady in the park. This has been a big shock to us and to the santuary as he is so well behaved 99% of the time, and the reason we chose him was that we were told he'd come from a home with young children and was a big softy. As we want to start a family during his lifetime, we had to make the very difficult decision to take him back to the sanctuary before we became any more attached to each other. He really needs an experienced owner who can train him and ensure that he does not bite again. The sanctuary have put him up for readoption already and I am concerned that they will underplay his issues and rehome him with the wrong family. Is there is anyone out there who can offer this gorgeous boy the right home? animalsheltersheffield.co.uk/re-homing/animals-for-rehoming
Evei Posted October 30, 2011 Posted October 30, 2011 Sorry to hear about your experiance Unfortunately no rescue can tell how a dog will turn out, but they do have the power to be honest when they know of a problem. I am seeing it more and more, that problem dogs (ones that have bitten) are being rehomed without the full details being disclosed or them underplayed and I find this a very worrying trend. Some of the rescues appear to think they know best and that it is all the owners fault. Sometimes it is poor ownership or lack of experiance but the information should still be disclosed. If not it will only result in the dog being pts further down the line so they really have not helped the dog, just prolonged it's life and caused a lot of heartache for the people involved. I think the sanctuary have done the right thing and disclosed this on the write up which should be applauded. There are not that many people out there who can deal with aggressive dogs and ensure the dog is safe and I have very strong veiws that dogs that are given up that are aggressive should be pts instead of being rehomed. I can say that even though I know you can train it out/ control aggression. I have had to train out dog aggression out of my own rescue and people look at me in disbelief when I explain how bad he was and the fact we nearly had him pts, as he is the perfect dog now and we constantly get positive comments. However I would never go through the 2 years of hell we had getting him to be perfect with another problem dog. Hope Bob finds a home he is very handsome and ozzie looks like a cute companion.
Grandad.Malky Posted October 30, 2011 Posted October 30, 2011 He really needs an experienced owner who can train him and ensure that he does not bite again. The sanctuary have put him up for readoption already and I am concerned that they will underplay his issues and rehome him with the wrong family. Is there is anyone out there who can offer this gorgeous boy the right home? animalsheltersheffield.co.uk/re-homing/animals-for-rehoming Looks like they are reporting what you have told them, is there something wrong with his paw or is it just the camera angle. Bob is a cross lab alsation. He's about one and soft as a brush. He recently had an operation to have an ingrown testicle removed and was then rehomed. During his recuperation he apparently bit someone and has been returned to us. He is nevertheless as delightful as ever, extremely friendly, playful, and desperate for a loving home for life.
Maddie Posted October 30, 2011 Author Posted October 30, 2011 Thanks for the replies. Grandad.Malky - nothing wrong with his paw thats just the photo, we had him checked by the verts and he's healthy. Had lots of people commenting when he was with us how fit he looks and how handsome he is. It is good that they have said he bit someone, but we are just concerned as they said they would wait 6 weeks and see how he is before rehoming him. I don't think they necessarily need to do that, but I do think he really needs to go to the right home. They seemed to dismiss the agression as being due to his recent operation but from speaking to the vet and Katie Patmore, it is much more likely to be an underlying issue that needs addressing. Despite this he is incredibly friendly with other dogs, has been perfectly good with strangers most of the time, was fine with me and my husband over the 2 weeks, doesn't have any food aggression, and isn't even interested in chasing squirrels. If it wasn't for the fact we want kids and will possibly foster children in the future (with their own issues to deal with), there's no way I would've given him up.
Elizabeth13 Posted October 30, 2011 Posted October 30, 2011 It's a shame you weren't prepared to work with him and his issue, but it's not for everybody and it can be a tough job. I am sure he will go to the right home. Perhaps his more Alsatian side, defensive side is the side you saw.
medusa Posted October 30, 2011 Posted October 30, 2011 I do think that describing him as a lab cross is a bit misleading, if he's as much GSD as he is lab. The difference in temperament (both expected and demonstrated) if he was described as a GSD cross would be huge. At just a year old a GSD is having one of the biggest phases of learning and growing emotionally that he will ever have, and during that phase they boundary test in a pretty dramatic way. With a lab you expect chewing, boinging around like a mad thing and the like, but you wouldn't expect a dog for whom it is natural to defend and guard trying out their boundaries and working out who they are meant to be guarding against and who they are meant to be defending, which is what you get with a GSD. I hope that the issues that this lad is having can be worked on and seriously addressed in order for him to have a good future
Maddie Posted October 31, 2011 Author Posted October 31, 2011 Believe me, I want to go and pick him up and bring him home so badly I put lab cross as when we adopted him they told us the description was wrong and he was actually a lab collie cross. He is too big to be just lab collie so not quite sure - think he's just a mix. No doubt he is a lab cross though, hence my description.
angel22 Posted October 31, 2011 Posted October 31, 2011 I know Bob and couldn't believe that he'd actually bit someone. He really is a big softy and he's so gorgeous. He's also very big! I personally can't see any GSD in him. I'm sure Pat and Jane will make sure he goes to a suitable home.
Maddie Posted October 31, 2011 Author Posted October 31, 2011 Thanks angel. No we wouldn't have believed it either with how he had behaved around people for most of his stay with us! It wasn't just a one off incident though. When you see him give him lots of fuss from me, would love to go and walk him but don't think I could stand the emotional torment
angel22 Posted November 1, 2011 Posted November 1, 2011 Yeah, it'd be really hard for you to give him back again if you went to walk him. You did the right thing though so please don't feel guilty about taking him back. He's a lovely dog and i'm sure he'll find a good home where he'll get all the training he needs.
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