Bad parent or bad dog mum?

[bellbellb]

I have really found myself in such a tricky situation and was hoping to get some input in what other parents/dog parents would do in this situation.

We have three children, 10, 4 and a 6 month old baby. We also have an 11 month old Weimaraner called Vinnie. Around 2 weeks ago now, Vinnie had a bad seizure during the night which resulted in him becoming delirious and aggressive, giving my partner quite a deep bite. I'm so grateful that my partner was there though as if he wasn't it would of just been myself and our 6 month old trapped in the corner of a room with him. This obviously was not Vinnie's fault and 100% the effects of the seizure, he normally does not have a bad bone in his body and has not ever even once growled at a human nor dog.

In the morning we took him straight to the vets who have said they believe it was a one off seizure, however they cannot guarantee this and even blood tests could not fully determine it. I am now however living in fear that he will have another one of these seizures whilst my partner is at work (he works long hours) and I will be on my own with the children. I understand that if he did have one then chances are I would be able to get us all out the room before he came too, I just can't stop thinking in the back of the room all these 'what ifs'. I also have people making me feel like an irresponsible parent for keeping him when he could pose a risk to the children, yet also have other people making me feel bad for considering contacting a rescue to find him an adult only home. It breaks my heart the idea of finding him a new home, we all love him to bits, yet I would never forgive myself if something happened to one of my children knowing that I knew there was a risk.

Can anyone please give some input on what they would do?

I really feel for you OP but for me, heartbreaking though it would be, I’d have to put the children’s safety first and rehome the dog.

It's sad but I'd rehome/pts. Kids before dog every time

I’m sorry about his seizure and him biting your DH and I’m sorry you’re in this situation.

What made you pick that particular breed? Weims are known for being territorial and can be aggressive - they are working dogs with a high prey drive. Without meaning to be rude, at 11months old he isn’t “acting out of character” he’s a juvenile puppy who is finding himself - you don’t know what an 11mo old dog’s character is yet.

Do they know what type of seizure it was and have they suggested controlling it with anything? I think based on your post I really would be considering my options with rehoming. If you do decide to rehome please go back to the breeder first - any decent breeder would want to know and may offer a solution.

Thank you for your responses @ItsCalledAConversation & @Screwcorona - I have been leaning towards this, as sad as it will be. I think I just needed a bit of validation that I wasn’t awful for thinking about rehoming him, so thank you.

I would rehome him in this situation. But yes, contact his breeder first - they may take him back or have a suggestion for you.

@Withnailandeye the thing is, it wasn’t a case of him just ‘acting out of character’, it was the seizure which made him act like this - lack of oxygen to the brain which made him delirious. I’ve actually seen it in my partner who used to suffer with seizures due to heart issues, then when he snaps out of it he hasn’t had a clue what happened. So it isn’t a behavioural issue as such, but a health issue.
We chose a Weim as we live in the middle of the countryside, with fields infront of us, woods behind us and a beach five minutes down the road and wanted an active dog to get us out in it more, which he definitely does. I also grew up with Weimaraners and they were always amazing family dogs.
They couldn’t tell what type of seizure it was and they also said that they didn’t want to start him on epilepsy meds because if it wasn’t epilepsy then it would do more harm then good, so it is really hard and would just be a case of a waiting game to see if one happened again. I do think rehoming him is the best option as devastated as we would all be. I’ve tried his breeders number and unfortunately cannot seem to get hold of her. However I will be contacting the breed specialist rescue if I can’t have any luck in finding her as I would only want him going to his forever home.