My dog bit my 12 year old brother & I found out I was pregnant 1 week later!

[Beabopruru]

I've been living in morocco for the past few years & while I was there I rescued a street puppy.
There's a rescue centre set up by a French woman & I saw online that she'd just found 11 puppies in the street. They were just a few weeks old & the children were all using them as toys (the way Moroccans treat street dogs is appalling) & throwing them about- so she took them to her place. Anyway, I saw about it online a couple of days later & I adopted one of them. Less than 1 week after I took her, the remaining 10 all caught a disease & all passed away.
As time went on, our relationship grew stronger & stronger. I took her everywhere with me & I loved her more than anything. She was my top priority.
There was warning signs since she was a baby though- she use to get extremely jealous of the girl I was living with & would constantly growl at her. Even trying to attack her on a few occasions.
Anyway, I had to go to England for around 1 month & I left her with the girl I was living with.
(Another thing to add- I use to own a hostel which I also lived in & so my dog was constantly surrounded by new people.)
Around a month before I left for England, she started barking excessively at anyone that tried to come into the house.
When I got back from England, she'd gotten so much worse. I couldn't even take her out anymore, as I got banned from the place I use to walk her as she started chasing & barking at a young girl (it wasn't in a playing way). I got banned from all the cafes I use to take her, as whenever someone tried to sit on a table close to me, she'd lunge at them. I don't know if any of you have spent much time in marrakech, but the places you can walk a dog are very very limited (there's no big gardens etc- just the one she was banned from).
Anyway, her barking started getting worse & worse & she started getting more aggressive towards people. On several occasions someone would walk past my bedroom door & she'd try & jump out & attack them.
In April my mum & 12 year old brother came to visit me... my brother & dog had been getting on great- sleeping together, playing together etc. Then about 5 days after they arrived, my dog was on the sofa with my our cat & my brother went to stroke her & she attacked him. The worst part was if I hadn't grabbed her & he hadn't fallen backwards, she wouldn't have stopped. He had quite a big cut on his stomach & we had to take him straight to A&E.
Then, in the morning I woke up early & took her for a huge walk (I was trying to figure out what to do) & I sat down in a cafe. She'd been sat the relaxed for around 30 minutes & a boy suddenly ran around the corner & she lept up & bit him. This time the bite was a lot worse.
I didn't know what to do. When it's just me & her, she is the most loving, tolerant & gently dog. She truly is my best friend. She has helped me through some times that i wouldn't have got through without her. For a long time I was severally depressed, & the only thing that kept me going was her.

Anyway, 1 week after all of this happened, I found out I was pregnant.

I had to leave & go to the uk for a while & so I'm paying the woman I rescued her from every month to look after her.
I visited her a few times before I left & I've never seen her happier. She's like a different dog.
I don't know if you've ever been to marrakech, but it's a horrible horrible place to be a dog.
I was planning on getting her passport & taking her out of morocco, but this baby means I'm going to have to stay in marrakech- this time in a tiny apartment.

I've tried rehoming her, but no one wants her. She's a street dog & people just aren't interested.

I can't put her to sleep. I don't believe any of this is her fault, it was just the situation she was in. Being somewhere with loads of space to run around & being surrounded by other dogs just showed me this & how happy she is.

I'm worried to keep her because I can't trust her with a baby & she'll also be having to live in a tiny apartment.

I've thought about leaving her at the place im paying for her to stay at now... she seems so happy.

I just don't know what to do. I've cried nearly constantly everyday for the past few months because of this. She's my best friend.

[Flippetydip]

I don't think there's any choice is there? If she can stay where she is now, and she is happy there, then why is the decision so hard? It's blindingly obvious you CANNOT have her with you when you have a baby.


She might be your best friend, but she's also a dog, and you are soon going to have a baby. Your baby has to come first.

[CaptainBrickbeard]

What happened to the boy she bit whose bite was ‘a lot worse’? What if she goes for someone else’s baby or toddler next time?

[TheHodgeoftheHedge]

I say this as a huge dog lover but if there's no one willing to home her and she has bitten this badly twice - you have to have her put to sleep. With dangerous behaviour like this, if you're not careful that decision will be taken out of your hands anyway.
You knew she was aggressive though and getting worse, why on earth did you have her out in public without a muzzle on?

[catinasplashofsunshine]

That dog needs putting down - what happened to the boy in the café?

[PixelAteMe]

If she is so happy where she is now, could she stay there? It sounds as though she was over-protective of you, which caused her constant stress. For her own good, as well as yours and that of your future child, leave her there. It will be better for all of you.

[GreenFingersWouldBeHandy]

If she's happy where she is now, leave her there. That may not be the best choice for you, but it is the right choice for her.

[CaptainBrickbeard]

Is it the right choice for any children who have the misfortune to run past her?!

Read the description of this dog’s aggressive behaviour. The OP may love the dog but how anyone can be so irresponsible as to let a dog like that near any other people is beyond me. It’s chased a child and been banned from a park, it’s hospitalised a twelve year old and then the following day when the OP took it out unrestrained (!!) it attacked another child with unspecified ‘worse’ consequences. What if next time it’s a toddler who gets in the dog’s way?

[TropicPlunder]

If you had brought the dog to the uk and the incidents you described happened there, the dog would likely be put to sleep. If the dog is safe from harming others where she is now, leave her there. But it sounds unsafe to bring her anywhere else without some intervention (you may not find the right help where you are). To be honest though, attacking the boy who passed the cafe sounds awful and not so fixable.

[ReadytoTalk]

The bloody thing is mauling children for gods sake. Put it down.

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

If the place she is staying at now is is willing to keep her (and can do so safely) and you're willing to keep paying, that is the best solution.

Unfortunately it's likely this dog's first weeks on the street have affected it, and your chances of finding a good behaviourist in Marrakesh are... Low. If you brought the dog to the UK and allowed it to attack a human (or in some cases, another dog) it would be seized by the police, you would be prosecuted under the Dangerous Dogs Act and the dog would be put down. I can't overstate the seriousness of it.

From what you've said, the dog appears to find everyday things very stressful and react with aggression. The dog will not be safe around a baby, particularly not when the baby starts moving around independently. No one is going to sign up to take a street dog with a serious bite history, so if he can't stay where he is now I doubt you have many alternatives but to PTS.

I would, however, recommend the Facebook group Reactive Dogs (UK). They're a supportive sounding board and even those who have tried and failed with their dogs and have eventually had to PTS have been treated without judgement.