Romanian dog rescue

[Preciousmemory]

I am in an awful situation that I can find no solution to. Please if any one could give me some advice.
i have rescued a Romanian dog which has turned out so badly.
He arrived 10 days ago and has serious problems I am not able to deal with so am asking if anyone can offer me advice.
The rescue have a policy that I must give him back to be rehomed but are not able to find anyone although it is a short time they are describing him on the advert as a dog that loves humans and children and dogs. A huge part of this is not right I have not tested him with a child but as for people he definitely does not like them , only me.
He attacks my husband in the morning, in the evening when he returns home from work and then randomly at any other time. The attacks are getting progressively worse. But yesterday he met my 80 year old tiny dad for the first time which I had also for the first time put a muzzle on him after 7 days of training with it.
The attack was so ferocious on my dad that he was foaming at the mouth leaping as high as his shoulders to grab him but because he was muzzled there was no damage. my dad immediately left. I despair to think what may have happened otherwise. My daughter turned up shortly after the same thing happened. I was thinking he maybe afraid of men but it seems not.
I have constantly tried to work with the Romanian Rescue which could take months for them to find a suitable home, the only option I have from them is to stick this traumatised dog into a kennel which will cause further damage to him, but I am not able to keep him in my home with this level of aggression.
Dog rescues are full up. I have contacted a few that specifically deal with dog aggression. I do not see how this poor dog can just be homed in a normal family environment as this will happen again. He is a large growing powerful dog that could cause serious damage to a person.
Thank you for reading , this is such an anxious problem that I see no solution to.
I am grateful for any advice possible .

As the rescue place lied to the op, she really shouldn't worry about how they respond.

Dangerous dogs should be euthanased.

The dog has only been with you for ten days and will still be feeling very stressed and confused. You are not seeing the dogs real personality at the moment. I agree with a previous poster that while in rescue the dog will have been shut down and won't have been displaying his normal behaviour and also that he is resource guarding (you). You feed him and he feels safe with you. Please don't have him pts.
You either need to let the rescue take him back or get a good behaviourist to help.
I do speak from experience as someone who has a blind Egyptian rescue dog and I have worked for the last eight years in behaviour and training.

UK rescues need to be rigorous. Imagine if a dog they homed to someone turned out to be aggressive and hurt or killed someone. It would come back on them and they could be sued. They need to take great care for the dogs sake and the new owner's. They've more experience than any of us so know what they're doing.

Please contact New Hope Animal Rescue in Dartford Kent. They help sick animals and those who face euthanasia... they do incredible work and offer a sanctuary home for those un rehomeable. They are amazing

Surely it's a no brainer. Dog needs to be put down before it seriously hurts someone.

This dog is dangerous to your family and other people. You are the only person he has not gone for, so it is probably a very strong protection reflex. But the behaviour is set, your husband cannot use the family home and your dc are not safe. If you return the dog, another family will go through all this and the scam rescue will make more money. No UK rescue will take on a dog this aggressive for good reason.

The only answer is to PTS.

40+ rescue dogs in, from both the UK and abroad, I can say with absolute certainty, this is tosh. Every single one of mine, including the dogs that were feral street dogs, has settled into a perfectly safe family pet. I have also adopted a lot of terribly damaged dogs from breeders in the uk, when they’ve aged out of being able to breed. Those dogs have had as many, if not more, behavioural and health issues than my “street” dogs. “Buying a nice companion breed” is not the answer, because more often than not, there is a female dog being exploited and abused to create it.

What breed is he OP?

I agree absolutely with you. However people are rejected for seemingly superficial reasons. There has to be a balance so a dog doesn’t remain for extended periods in a rescue, further traumatising the animal; and the adoptor is clear a period of settlement is needed for the dog to show their true personality that deemed the dog a good risk for rehoming. Both parties need to accept there is risk involved and a reasonable accommodation made. Otherwise, the stringent policy is driving people elsewhere.

Absolutely. Too many people have been attacked and maimed by people trying to retrain aggressive dogs (yes, even at rescue centres). Sending it back to the rescue will just mean it gets sent out to another family home to attack maybe a child. Rescue won't care as it will have made more money. Rescue has lied and deceived the OP on several fronts and the responsible thing to do is PTS.

I very much doubt it's a breed which could be recognised, the most the OP will be able to say is large/small or that it looks a bit terrier-y or labrador-y.

I also think there needs to be a wider conversation about how actually, keeping dangerous dogs alive at all costs is not the ideal outcome. This dog has repeatedly attacked people. The organisation which sold it to the OP don't care and will just sell it to someone else who will be in the same position. This is a dog which is hugely damaged and cannot be in a family home. So what - it sits in kennels for the rest of its life because people can't bear the thought if it being put to sleep? Or the OP is supposed to deal with her husband having to sleep elsewhere, or have her life totally consumed with dealing with her dog until at some point his behaviour reaches the stage where people aren't being attacked? That's a totally unreasonable ask for anyone.

Please don't take the advice to have the dog put to sleep as you will have a contract with the rescue, they will not respond well to you doing that.

@lalalove But the OP is in the UK and bound by UK law on dangerous dog ownership, this will trump a dog rescue preferences. It has attacked her husband and father. They are not one off incidents and should anyone bitten decides to prosecute the dog may well be put to sleep and the OP not allowed to own dogs in the future.

Under section 3 Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, if any dog is dangerously out of control in any place, including all private property, the owner, or person for the time being in charge of the dog, is guilty of a summary offence. It is for the prosecution to prove that an act or omission by the defendant, with or without fault, to more than a minimal degree, caused or permitted the dog to be dangerously out of control. It is not necessary to prove recklessness or intent. It is no defence that the owner had no reason to appreciate that their dog might behave in this way:

It’s apparent that you want to have the dog cured of his aggression (that won’t happen) and rehomed to salve your conscience. You might feel better in ignorance but he will go on to harm others - shelter workers, trainers, new owners. Just do the right thing by everyone, including the dog, and have him put to sleep.

I have a friend who rescued a dog from abroad, they've had no end of issues as the dog was understandably traumatised by the time it arrived here. Fortunately not aggressive.

This is stupid advice. Are they supposed to wait until this dog manages to seriously injure Op's husband or someone else? Or until Op inadvertently does something it doesn't like and gets attacked herself?
Op - I wonder if it's worth trying to contact your local dog warden. In a dangerous dog situation they would be able to over-ride any contract you have with the dodgy rescue. Keep your videos to show as evidence.

It's like that BBC reporter who adopted a Romanian dog who was so scared and traumatised that she wouldn't come out from behind the sofa. It was sold on telly as a "awww, what a sweet dog, just needs its forever home" whereas in fact it was just a very damaged animal which should never have been trafficked into the country in the first place.

My mostly retired mother went for a UK rescue there rules were

Someone home full time
An independent income (not benefits)
Sealed in secure home and garden
No child in the property
No children visiting for at least 6 months
Live in a quiet area
No other pets
Savings for health issues
Able to afford pet insurance

They refused because she lived on a "main road" this road is a 30mph road like a lot in England
Then they said she was too old
Then it was because she had children and grandchildren (who don't visit for other reasons)
Her partner works (from home and rarely)
SHE works (again her partner is at home)

Basically they didn't want to rehome a dog with her so she went overseas for one (and got a good one luckily) the dog she tried to rescue ended up with a long term foster carer this was the case with every rescue she approached she has had dogs her entire life she is a good dog owner but they just didn't want to know

Why didn't your mum foster? She could well have adopted one after this.

It happened.

With a dog fostered out by the RSPCA rescue.

Similarities to the OP’s case: the dog bit her, the RSPCA didn’t take it back / failed to take action, it attacked her, she had her arm amputated .

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c51ldvw52z0o.amp

Honestly I think the whole Rescue industry needs a shake up. It seems to be full of people high on their own sense of compassion , with no common sense.

I worked for a rescue and still couldn’t find a dog after 18 months.

The system is broken and there are dogs who need homes, desperately.

It's because of tragedies like thus rescues have to be super careful or it will come back on them. I cant imagine the subsequent publicity would do them any good.

Yes but there's being careful, and being so picky that the end result is that dogs sit in kennels for extended periods and people end up importing feral animals from overseas.

Even rescues are not immune to aggressive dogs - in this incident they were working with the police but still got mauled to death and left 5 children with no living parents.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-59781502

Hi op , sorry you have found yourself in this situation. As sad as it is he needs to be PTS for everyone's safety.
The rescue seems useless, I would forget the " contract " and take the dog to the vet.

You can deal with any fallout from that decision if they follow up .

Rescues have learnt from bitter experience of rehoming dogs to homes where the dog is left regularly from the start - such dogs are invariably returned because of their separation anxiety issues and the rescue has an even more traumatised dog to try to find a home for.