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2 aggressive labradors

79 replies

Anonymous612890 · 10/11/2024 08:36

We have 2 labs that both have fear based aggression. The black lab was rescued from a farm at 14 weeks and has displayed fear based aggression from the get go. We have tried a dog trainer and a behaviouralist but nothing has ever helped. The younger fox red lab has just learnt by example and she is exactly the same. If a stranger comes into our home we have to put them away otherwise they just bark and lunge at whoever it is, even if it is one of our children’s friends. We live rurally and therefor they don’t see that many people outside our house but if we are ever caught off guard and someone is walking past the dogs have on occasion run up barking aggressively and lunged at the person, yesterday they went as far as biting our neighbour. They were in our front garden not on a lead as we had checked no one was around, but were obviously wrong. We walk them in our local forest which is usually very quiet and they are on a lead but will still try and lunge at anyone who walks past. They do go to a dog day care and have been going for past 2 years and because they know everyone there they are great and the staff can’t believe that they behave the way they do with strangers. In our home with our family they are the sweetest most loving dogs. The neighbour they bit yesterday is obviously livid and wants them both euthanised. I’m at a loss as to where we go from here. Any advice would be very welcome, I’m an emotional wreck over it they are both young dogs and I love them dearly. I’ve been in contact with a few reduces and they’ve all said they wouldn’t take on dogs with any aggression as they’re struggling to rehome friendly dogs with no issues at present.

OP posts:
DustyLee123 · 10/11/2024 08:38

Are they the same sex? Are they neutered?

pilates · 10/11/2024 08:41

What led up to the biting, did your neighbour come into your garden? Not saying that’s an excuse though.

ReadingInTheRain583 · 10/11/2024 08:42

You say you've worked with a behaviourist which didn't change anything but also that they're young dogs. What work exactly did you put in? Resolving these issues properly will take months/years of continual work, not none or two visits and no follow up.

How did your neighbour get bitten in your front garden? Or do you mean you let them out the front and it's not enclosed?

Swimmingatdusk · 10/11/2024 08:42

Sorry to hear that. I have a dog and understand it’s sad but also it sounds like no way for you, and most importantly your children to live , surely it’s dangerous to have their friends visiting? someone could easily let a dog out by accident one time. Was it both who bit your neighbour? Or the older one? If you put down the older dog might the younger one be trainable without the older one reacting? Might be worth giving the younger one a reprieve if they didn’t bite the neighbour to see if training is possible

Anonymous612890 · 10/11/2024 08:47

We’ve been working with both of them from the start, we’ve had the behaviourist in several times from the older dog was 5 months old. They were in the front garden and the neighbour walked past the dogs ran out to him we just didn’t see him so it was our fault. Neighbour was at our gate. They are both female and both spayed. Even thought the black lab was the one to start the issues the fox red is the more dominant of the 2 and I would argue is worse now than the black lab. We think the fox red lab was the one to bite but it was a lot of Chaos and both dogs were over at him so it was really hard to tell.

I know we have made mistakes with them and properly should’ve done things differently we’ve only ever tried our absolute best with them and love them both so much as do the kids. I’ve had dogs all my life and never had these issues before.

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fdwthuj · 10/11/2024 08:52

Your dog bit your neighbour
They were not in your control
Neighbour could call police and your animals seized.

If behaviourist hasn't worked you need to PTS.

cansu · 10/11/2024 08:56

Having someone out several times does not sound like much tbh.

They really need to be on a lead all the time and the garden needs to be fully secure if they are going out there.

However it sounds like they are likely to bite again. You have children. It might be kinder to pts.

Anonymous612890 · 10/11/2024 09:02

how many times are we supposed to have a behaviouralist that charges £150 per app out to assess our dogs and give us advice on how to improve things?

they usually are on a lead it was in our garden and we didn’t think anyone else was around but we made a mistake.

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Vettrianofan · 10/11/2024 09:02

Leashed at all times IMO is the way forward after the biting incident.

SweetLittlePixie · 10/11/2024 09:03

I would first get them used to a muzzle and have them both muzzled outside your home.
I also dont understand why you would get a second dog when you already have issues with the first.

Have the dogtrainers been working separately with the dogs? I think training 2 dogs together is almost impossible. You will need to do all sessions separately, walk them separately etc.
Its gonna be really hard work.

Vettrianofan · 10/11/2024 09:04

Yes to muzzling as they can't be trusted from now on. Euthanasia seems a bit extreme but certainly muzzling and leashed at all times when outdoors where there's a risk around others getting mauled.

PinkyAndTheBarnacle · 10/11/2024 09:06

fdwthuj · 10/11/2024 08:52

Your dog bit your neighbour
They were not in your control
Neighbour could call police and your animals seized.

If behaviourist hasn't worked you need to PTS.

I am a dog lover but I agree with the above post. A lot of people think labs are nice, friendly family dogs, but if they’re out of control then they’re big dogs.

Stressedout150 · 10/11/2024 09:09

Oh for gods sake put them to sleep before they bloody well seriously injure someone. I can’t stand people who think keeping dangerous dogs is a god given right

Icannotremembermyusername · 10/11/2024 09:10

I always feel so sad when I read these kind of posts and the replies. Obviously human behaviour has caused these dogs to be protective and fearful like this and whilst I wouldn’t want anyone ever to be scared or bitten by a dog, you have posters saying PTS. Such a throw away society where if something is not right, oh just destroy it then. And yes I have a fox red lab, grandchildren and mine is a total softie but we have trained extensively around strangers and children. She’s not allowed to approach anyone unless she has permission. All I can say, is that having two may be a problem as they react to each other rather than to you and definitely more training consistently is needed. They are clever so should learn. Can you split them up for a while? In the house ? Concentrate on one at a time and train? And like PPs say, definitely make garden dog proof. I would not like to come across two dogs coming at me like that. Yes not easy and takes ages but PTS is not easy!!

Simonjt · 10/11/2024 09:12

They’re very big dogs, at a minimum you need to make sure they are both muzzled when outdoors and only allow guests if the dogs have been completely removed from the property.

Its quite obvious a puppy would copy an older dog. If the older dog was still aggressive when you got the puppy, how long was the older dog seeing a behaviourist for and having daily training sessions? Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but waiting until the older dog was five months old was setting them up to fail, changing ingrained behaviour is so much harder.

If you decide not to PTS you need to make sure walks and training are 1:1, you won’t have any success if it isn’t.

You should probably get taller gates and fencing as well, if a dog can reach to bite someone it can jump over the fence.

Anonymous612890 · 10/11/2024 09:14

Thing is in our home with us they are the loveliest most friendly dogs u could meet but outside it is very different. Our dog trainer has worked with them
Together and separately. When the black lab was younger the issues weren’t anywhere near as bad she was anxious but the problems have got a lot worse and they seem to make each other worse. Totally right should never have got a second dog in hindsight if we knew then what we know now but we obviously didnt 🤦🏼‍♀️

I feel like we’ve already put so much work into them, we have 3 young kids oldest is 9 youngest is 3 and the reality is that the dogs are dictating our entire family lives and now the added fear of the kids friends ever coming round and being in our house I don’t know how we move forward with them without sacrificing our entire lives and the lives of our kids.

OP posts:
2024onwardsandup · 10/11/2024 09:15

Anonymous612890 · 10/11/2024 09:02

how many times are we supposed to have a behaviouralist that charges £150 per app out to assess our dogs and give us advice on how to improve things?

they usually are on a lead it was in our garden and we didn’t think anyone else was around but we made a mistake.

Until the problem is solved? There is not a financial limit until you’re relieved of your obligation to stop your dogs from biting people

how bad was the bite?

check out honest hounds in Scotland - they are amazing and do intensive residentials with extraordinary results

Simonjt · 10/11/2024 09:15

What training/conditioning have they been doing and how often?

Anonymous612890 · 10/11/2024 09:19

We only got the older dog at 4 months old so we tried with her ourselves for 4 weeks before bringing someone else in help. The older dog is 3 and the younger one is 2 so they were really both puppies together. We probably naively thought another dog might help ease some of her anxieties (we had an old rescued Yorkie when we first got the black lab who died age 13 when the black lab was 1 and we felt the black lab was a lot calmer when she was there so we got the 2nd dog but things have slowly escalated since

OP posts:
SnuffleTruffleHound · 10/11/2024 09:19

Anonymous612890 · 10/11/2024 09:02

how many times are we supposed to have a behaviouralist that charges £150 per app out to assess our dogs and give us advice on how to improve things?

they usually are on a lead it was in our garden and we didn’t think anyone else was around but we made a mistake.

Until they are no longer a biting risk!

Anonymous612890 · 10/11/2024 09:23

I think that’s great in an ideal world but we don’t have endless funds available to do that unfortunately and wouldn’t imagine the average person does?

The bite wasn’t bad and didn’t seem to break the skin. I think it was more the neighbours reaction that was very extreme which I don’t blame him for.

the dog trainer has done work with trying to desensitise them to strangers about us being the lead in the household and making sure dogs have a safe place to be, we’ve done walks out with him walking on the lead, positive reinforcement, distraction when out on walks we’ve seen really good improvement with them but our house seems to be a different story and they are still very territorial and aggressive.

OP posts:
Anonymous612890 · 10/11/2024 09:24

the behaviourist we use has told us that the dogs are likely to always have anxiety and that we can put things in place to help them but it won’t ever be completely ‘fixed’

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Ebabllisstggoffor · 10/11/2024 09:25

Dog trainers and the like are not regulated. Anyone can set themselves up as an expert. Finding an actual expert is difficult but rather than PTS give it a last go.

Quitelikeit · 10/11/2024 09:26

Gosh I would never in a million years have dogs who bite around my kids.

You may think these dogs only get riled up by strangers yet what about all of those dogs who got riled up by strangers but then turned on children within their family home - or their owner.

It’s a no from me!

I did see a article once from a vet who said Labs were high on the list for being biters.

One of my own dogs is an occasional biter - he weighs a few pounds tho so is not capable of any damage - I’ve always said if he was a bigger dog he’d be long gone

BlastedPimples · 10/11/2024 09:27

Muzzle whenever you have visitors or whenever they are outside. And tied up when you have visitors over.

How can you be absolutely sure they won't go for one of your dcs?

This sounds really stressful and it will take over your life for at least another ten years.

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