German shepherd has to go!

[Charliesmum09]

My 8year old German shepherd did the thing I always feared yesterday and bit my toddler, he opened the baby gate and I think he stepped on her and she has turned, I have searched most of the night for a rescue centre to take her but they are all advising that they are full, if I can't find a new home for her in the next 24hrs I may have to have her pts!
Either rehoming her or having her pts are equally heartbreaking decisions but I have to put my little ones safety first, I know a lot of people will say keep them apart we have tried that but Charlie thinks the dog is his best friend and for the most part they are really but a bad judgement yesterday has changed all that, does anyone know of a home for her or a rehoming centre I need to do this quickly and I will travel with her, I'm in Manchester currently.

sorry but I think I would put her to sleep unless you can DEFINITELY rehome her without ANY children

You let your toddler be "best friends" with a GSD? So that reads to me like you let him harrass the poor dog, then he treads on her foot and you are giving her 24 hours before you have her killed

Have you done all the sensible things first - like checked if she is ill?? My rottie bit my DD because she trod on his leg (admitedly DD was 17 at the time) It turned out that the poor bloody dog had bone cancer in that leg :(

No way are you going to rehome a dog in 24 hours, i suggest you put a plan in place to ensure that the dog is kept separate. It doesn't sound like she is going to launch herself at your on anytime soon - her hurt her and she bit in reflex.

I suggest you find your local GSD rescue (your vets will have the number) and get some advice. You can't make this problem disappear over night, you made the problem, it is your responsibility to sort it out. Fuck sake

Do you think rehoming a dog that has bitten a child is fair, you could end up passing the problem on, what about children who visit the new house or live next door, or happen apon dog in the park.

What would a vet advise is this instance ?

If it is just a one-off bad incident, I would try to find ways of being able to think twice about rehoming. Any dog is capable of biting if it is suddenly exposed to pain, though I appreciate that some dogs leap to that solution more readily than others. What is the dog like in general, in this respect? Does she quite readily resort to snapping when surprised or hurt, or was this out of character for her?

Clearly if you kept her you would have to be very very careful about supervising them together until the toddler can reliably understand how to behave around the dog, but once that understanding is ahcieved things would get easier.

This is tough OP. I'm so sorry. Was the baby gate keeping them separate and did the toddler undo it and step into the dog's space?

The dog bit the child because it stepped on her foot. The OP should have kept the child away from the dog, if she couldnt do this she should have rehomed the poor bloody animal before hand. It is perfectly reasonable to rehome the dog in a home without children, where she can get a bit of peace and quiet. But of course, its only a dog!

If it was an unprovoked bite then i would agree that the dog had to be pts, but this sounds like the child doesn't leave the dog alone (dogs are not toys!) as the OP struggles to keep them apart as the child thinks the dog is his best friend the OP said that the child trod on the dogs foot, so the dog snapped in retaliation.

Yes, the dog needs rehoming and that wont be easy now that the bite has been allowed to happen, but christ on a bike, surely she should at least TRY!!

I found myself in a very similar situation when my rottie bit my DD (see above post) i knew i couldnt keep him as i had a baby, dog came along before baby did, and i coudlnt garuntee to keep them separate - but i did everything in my power to find that dog a home, unfortunately it turned out that he had bone cancer and must have been agony for him when his leg trodden on (by accident - dog laying at bottom of stairs DD tried to step over, misjudged - 17 yo DD! not a toddler)

But hey, maybe the OP can get shot of this dog and get her child a new best friend I dont care if i sound harsh, but had the OP came on saying anything other than i'll give the dog 24 hours and if i can't rehome then its PTS she would have gotten sympathy and advice.

LucyEllen as her child is small and has been bitten I imagine she posted in haste because she's looking after him and taking care of the dog.
As we don't have any background and this is something she 'always feared' has the dog shown agressive signs before? Small children get up to mischief. You are being unreasonable. It's not a normal response for a dog to bite. To yelp and step back, yes. So perhaps it's ill, perhaps it's too dangerous to keep.

Sorry OP, is your DS ok? I think the vet is your first port of call but if you have been worried for sometime then perhaps rehoming is the real solution.

It is a perfectly reasonable for a dog to snap if they are hurt - especially if they are already feeling harrased. Or it could be that the dog was asleep and didn't realise it was the boy that trod on her foot and just snapped out at the cause of the pain.

As you said, it sounds the dog had been aggressive before, so the OP should have rehomed BEFORE the bite was allowed to happen.

The dog needs to be rehomed, i agree 100% but not PTS this was not an unprovoked bite.

Anyway, do you know of a home near Manchester? I knew of two but they've both said that they're full and in any case would not be willing to take a gsd that has bitten above other savable dogs.

I'm sorry your DS was hurt.

But you let the child approach him unsupervised and he trod on the dog - it wasn't an unprovoked 'attack'.

You need the vet first, to check the dog isn't unwell. And perhaps you should look into a better home for him than yours, it doesn't sound like you are the best place for him.
www.germanshepherdrescue.co.uk/index.html
www.dogpages.org.uk/nth-west.htm

But to consider having him PTS is totally overstepping the mark - you have responsibilities as an owner and killing your dog because you are finding those responsibilities challenging at the moment is really crap.

Lucyellen, I don't think there is any need to be harsh towards the OP. It seems like she had a good regime to try and keep the toddler from interacting in the wrongs sorts of ways with the dog, but that it went wrong on this occasion. Saying that dog is toddler's best friend doesn't at all imply that she let the toddler harass the dog.

The key thing to think about in relation to the dog's future seems to be the question of whether she is a biter by temperamental, or a biter only as a result of an unfortunate set of events.It is natural that a parent's reaction to a dog bite will be coloured by their perception of the dog's character overall, and perhaps this is why OP has moved quickly to the idea of rehoming (and since rehoming is so hard, to the extreme idea of PTS, which I would hope could and should be avoided). I used to have the biggest softie dog in the world. If he had bitten my child I would have regarded it as a one-off and entirely the fault of the specific circumstances that lead up to the bite. I would have changed my routines and carried on owning the dog. These days I have a wary, somewhat defensive dog. If I still had a toddler, and if that toddler got bitten by the dog, I can imagine thinking "Oh God, this isn't going to work out and I have to act fast." Sometimes managing a dog and small children is very very stressful, and a bite is the most stressful thing of all. I hope, op, that you will give yourself time to stop and think calmly for a few days before acting. Things might start to seem less stark. Good luck.

www.biggsd.com/

vigilgsdrescue.org.uk/

Please find this poor dog a new safe home, it doesn't deserve to be PTS

There was a babygate inbetween them. She didn't 'let' the child approach. She thought they were separated.
A dog should not bite as a first response in a household. It's not normal.
We don't know the history. I doubt the pts option came out of the blue.

I have recommended that the OP contact her local GSD rescue, her local vets will have a directory of breed rescue. That would be my first port of call if it were me. full but willing to advertise while owner keeps dog at home free advice www.dogstrust.org.uk/ It wont be easy, but with care the dog can be rehomed. Im sure there are plenty of sources of advice - it is the OP's responsibility to do the leg work on this one.

Was it a nip, or a serious bite? How badly injured is your DS?

I appreciate you may want to 'get rid' in either case, but it's relevant as it might affect whether a rescue/home is willing to take her.

I'm afraid you are likely to struggle to find a home in 24 hours in a situation like this, I think you need to give it more time. Surely you can supervise your toddler to make sure he isn't playing with the baby gates etc?

The child opened the baby gate - a baby gate is not sufficient, a dog gate is required. I do understand how the OP feels, but to give the dog 24 hours? thats just throwing your hands up in the air and not dealing with the situation. I have been in a similar situation - my dog bit my DD, yes it was an older DD and it was an accident but i had a baby and knew i couldnt keep the dog. As it turned out, the dog was ill, and died, but i woudlnt have kept him - i wouldn't have had him PTS though, it wasn't his fault :(

www.germanshepherddogrescue.com/
www.garbosgsdrescue.co.uk/

these two come highly recommended by someone in the know about GSD rescue. Don't consider Cheshire Dog's Home, they are a pound rather than a no-kill dog's home and the likelihood of being PTS is huge

There are a few things in the OP that make me

We obviously don't know the whole story, but it sounds like better preventative measures really should have been in place here, and now the dog is going to be PTS for defending itself when hurt :/

OP - let us know how you get on trying to find a rescue place - we all want to help the dog. If you can't find anywhere to take her please update us so we can see what else we can come up with

I get your shock, OP, but I really hope you rethink the 24 hr deadline. I'm sure someone can help you find a rescue place, but it might take a little time. I hope your son isn't badly hurt.

A GS can easily clear a baby gate if the GS was remaining behind the gate than the dog is not at fault.

Who ever left the gate unlatched and / or the toddler unsupervised long enough to open it and tread on the dogs fault is at fault.

Of they were close enough to see it was actually the toddler treading on the dogs foot they are more at fault.

If you come on the Internet and give your dog a 24 hour death sentence because you fucked up, don't expect fluffy responses and a cheery "go right ahead".

www.poplarfarmkennels.org.uk/ or 01353 777399- they are particularly good with GSDs

www.mutts-in-distress.org.uk/index.php or PM me for an alternative phone number if you cant get through to them

Wow some people on here are a little harsh, I have had this dog for eight years and cared for her more than some other people do their dogs, saffi and my son have always gotten along but I have never been stupid enough to allow them to be alone together. My son has helped me to feed her comes on the
Walks with us and when my son was a baby she used to alert me to him being awake before a full cry was heard, this is not an easy decision for me to make I love that dog like a child, the gate that separates them is always locked shut but for some reason last night by boy managed to open it. She has never shown aggression before but when I found out I was pregnant a lot of what people were telling me was to re home the dog as they are not nice dogs - not my opinion I love her to bits, I have had her at the vet this morning and from what he can tell she is perfectly healthy but he can't provide details of anyone to rehome her too as they are all full, I now have a little boy with a scarred forearm who is now frightened of the dog so she is now having to be kept completely separate from us all. I say think he stepped on her because I have no idea we got our coats on I heard the latch open and then a scream that quickly but stepping on her is the only thing I can think happened he didn't hit her with anything or catch her with the gate. I don't find the responsibilities of owning my dog challenging nor am I throwing in the towel but if my son were to be bitten again or another child coming to the house it could be so much worse next time around. When I asked my little one why he was crying in the split second he said saffi bit me and honestly I could have cried I never wanted her to prove people right with their perceptions of the gsd 20 mins before this we were the 3 of us playing with a football in the garden she is a part of my family but I can't take any risks.