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.

Wow, your bad judgement indeed OP. Poor dog, hope you are going to supervise your child better in future

As before the child is supervised but he is 3 trying to explain to a 3 year old the capabilities of a dog isn't the easiest thing to do of course if you are an expert in this field kilmuir then go right ahead and tell me your secret!

You 'love that dog like a child' ?

Really?

Both of my children have bitten each other OP. Not had either of them enthanised.

You have had a lot of good help here. Make use of it.

I own big dogs and have one autistic 9 year old and one nearly 2 year old. I think the OP has been treated a bit unfairly tbh. The 24 hour deadline isn't the best idea and I think comments about checking if the dog is unwell are justified, but the poor woman is doing her best to keep her beloved dog away from her little child. What if the next time it goes for his throat? Hope your DS is ok OP. Sorry you're going through this.

I doubt any child's bite could be potentially fatal lets be real here all dogs have the ability to maim or worse, I love the dog but I love my son and I cannot risk a more serious incident.
I am in contact with a lady now who is interested in having my dog she is a previous gsd breeder so hopefully it can be a nice ending to this if I could turn back time I would but I can't it happened and yes I am to blame for it but I'm not the first person in the world to do it.
Yes I love my dog like a child I always have and always will

Just please give her a chance poor dog. You don't have to rush this. What does your Dh say? you have enough to work with get on the phone and sort something out if you have"love her like a child" and she is part of your family its the least you can do

Fingers crossed that the lady wil take your dog OP although I understand it will be sad for you. Toddlers can get into mischief very quickly - it's just bad luck that the consequences were so severe for your ds. How is he?

Severe for DS hmm pretty severe for the dog to get killed

You made a mistake and your dog pays the ultimate price for your mistake her life. I am sure that your dog feels very reassured that you love her as your son

Don't make another mistake and act irresponsible and have her killed. You need to ensure that she is keep separated from your toddler (but to be honest if she has bitten your son I am sure your son will stay away from her) and put in lots of research to ensure that you find an appropriate home for your much loved dog.

It would be better also to face up to the truth and not kid yourself "I don't find the responsibilities of owning my dog challenging nor am I throwing in the towel" because that is exactly what you are doing.

cuebill, perhaps you can put in a lot of research to see how easy it is to rehome a dog that has bitten? Then you can tell the OP how it is done. Don't kid yourself, it's not easy. The child comes first.

Put in some research to see how easy it is to rehome a dog that has bitten I am sitting in my office looking at 20 kennels of dogs that are waiting to be rescuedlooking at 16 phone messages received today requesting a home for other dogs.

I have personally taken in two dogs into my home that have "bitten" in previous homes. Funny that my DC's have managed to live to tell the tale without any incidents!

I know it is not physically easy to rehome a dog however to throw in the towel and threaten to put the dog to sleep in 24 hours is ridiculous, cruel and inhumane.

Although it is what crap owners threaten to do to jump the queue in rehoming and pass on their responsibilities more quickly. Their dog gets rehomed as rescuers try really hard to stop the dog being PTS and then other more responsible rehomers have to wait even longer.

When my rottie bit my dd i phoned battersea dogs home where we got him from they said they would pts so could i try and home. It took some time and then fate intervened but i had found him a home. There was no way id have pts unless it was unprovoked . It won't be easy but please don't pts you'll never forgive yourself rehome definitely but not pts

A bite or a snap?

The reason I ask is that one of the four terriers we have had since having babies, toddlers, then school-age children, ONCE snapped at my son when he was a toddler and climbed on her back. There were no tooth marks on his skin and he was very shaken but we told him that he was not to hurt the dog and he never did again and she continued to be a gentle, loved and loving companion to our small children. If she had wanted to bite him she could have broken his wrist, given the power of her jaws. She was warning him not to take liberties.

read the thread.

Perhaps I'm being stupid, but it's still not clear to me exactly what happened, in regard to whether it was a full-on bite or a warning snap. OP has said her son's arm is marked - was the skin broken, is he bruised and have you taken him to dr/A &E?

Homes can be found for dogs that don't get on with DC - one of our dogs would not be homed with children (we don't have any). However, it takes time, and unfortunately this time of year is one of the peak months for many rescues - lots of abandonments as people go on summer holidays or find the combo of kids/dog too much like hard work.

OP, it will be possible for you to rehome this dog and I understand completely that you are shaken, upset and very worried. But emotional blackmail to rescuers isn't helping. Most people involved in rescue will do their utmost to help in circumstances like this (many are parents themselves) but can only work with the resources available and as others have said, you threatening to kill the dog you allegedly "love like a baby" doesn't help. Over the years, I've dealt with several rescue cases where owners have threatened this, and in every single case, the dog has been mysteriously fine and gone on to be successfully rehomed.

I won't repeat the list of specialist rescues you've been given - there are lots of breed specific ones that have already been linked to for you. I hope you are able to find a good outcome soon.

If you do surrender to a rescue, it's very helpful if you can get together your dog's health records, microchip details, whether neutered, vaccination cards,details of training classes attended, lists of any medications, allergies, food preferences etc. It will also help the rescue if you are willing to drive to drop off dog to an emergency foster placement, and are willing to provide a relinquishment donation. Rehoming your "baby" will take a great deal of time, effort and resources for the charity concerned.

Finally, as others have said, DO NOT surrender to a pound - this will be a certain death sentence, with the added knowledge that your "baby" will have spent a week in noisy kennels, alone and very, very stressed before being led to face the needle by a stranger.

The OP says that her son's arm is scarred. I don't think she will pts. I think she said it to pacify anyone on mn who thought she wasn't taking strong enough action.

It's impossible for a bite that happened yesterday to leave a scar. A scar forms after an injury has healed.

If the skin has broken, there will be a scab, and depending on severity, may also have stitches, be dressed etc. There may be bruises. OP has still not said.

OP has also not yet withdrawn her threat to kill the dog within 24 hours.

No shit, Scuttle. Maybe she used the term because she was told it would. Either way, you're acting a bit strong. She has said that she's found a lady to take her dog. So let's hope that works out.

Scuttle, the same went through my mind.

It seems every incident now has a 24 hour deadline before the op will have to PTS the dog.

I think blackmailing people with an innocent creatures life is pretty poor form, and it is happening more and more.

The dog would have a better chance of an accepting home of the op was honest.

I have a good dog, I didn't take the proper precautions to keep my child and dof safe and my dog suffered as a result.

I am not unsympathetic to the op. But the fact is she hasn't tried and isn't going to start.

We all make mistakes. I have. But I have acted accordingly, not killed my dogs.

I think that the OP needs to clarify what the dog did and what injury the DS received

I am dubious as to the nature of the incident etc (I wouldn't classify a 3 year old as a toddler, not sure many of my friends would either). Also saying child is scarred when the wound is only a day old is a little my DS has a very small scar after splitting his head open at 2 years old, at the time he had lots of stitches and we were told his scar would be big, it is tiny and before he was healed I would never have said he was scarred as he wasn't

It reminds of another thread where the OP put a similar deadline.

No wonder rescues are reluctant to rehome to owners With young children. The dog always seems to suffer in the end.

I hope you can rehome the poor sod.

OP, you've said that your DS thinks the dog is his best friend and that its hard to keep them seperate all the time; I'm sorry, buts it's not too hard for a 3 yr old to understand to leave the dog alone, nor is it impossible to say don't open the gate.

My DD is the same age, she spends 2 days a week with my mum and her dogs- one of whom is a rescue who is frightened to death of children. My DD is told the not go near the dog, not to open gates, not to run around screeching etc. It is tricky, but manageable.

You've been given lots of links of rescues, and excellent advice from people who regularly step in to help secure rescue places for dogs in similar situations. If you are the loving owner you make out to be, please listen to the above posters, mainly the very helpful and not at all 'nasty' post from Scuttle.

I had a two and half year old and a fearful, unknown and later proven to be child fear-aggressive ex poundie.

The toddler escaped without scars owing to proper parenting and respinsible dog ownership. Two years on dog and child get on great and child behqves superbly around all animals and smaller children.

I asked DH earlier what he would have done if our child stepped on our dog and it bit them. He answered "Teach the child better and buy the dog a marrow bone. I'd feel terrible if I let that happen to my baby" (his wippety cross dog)

If the home doesn't work out I know a few GSD fanatics who would offer the d9g an excellent home. Give me a PM and I will have a word and in future supervise your child better.

Nuts. It should not be a dogs response to bite for being stood on. My rottie has had little fat bottomed tots fall on him when they've lost his balance, pick his toys up and generally be little kids around him. If it gets too much for him he retires to his bed which is strictly off limits. Your DH would give the dog a bone for biting? Nice.