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.

I am of the opinion that you can own difficult dogs and keep your child safe.

I was the one who mentioned the dog getting bone. I never said it is what Op should do. I said it was what DH said if his dog had placed in a position where she felt she needed to defend herself. It would not be a reward for biting, not unless the treat was given within seconds of the bite occurring. The dog would not associate the bone with any behaviour. It would be a way of DH appeasing his guilt for allowing his dog to be hurt by children. Which is not something that would happen anyway in our house. As another poster just pointed out my dogs are trained to follow the adults around house, ensuring they are never left alone with the children. On the rare occassions this is not possible, they are kept behind a locked door and I keep the key on me.

The children also very clear but simple rules to keep both themselves and the dogs safe from one another.

It is not hard to keep dogs and children in a happy, balanced household without one or the other suffering.

I do not think that rehoming is the only option Op has. Nor would I rehome my dogs under similar circumstances. It is not the dogs fault nor is it the childs fault.

I did give the option to Op to PM for further help. There is a family a few houses down from me who keep GSDs and they've just lost one to old age.

I see you had a lot of offers of practical help Seeker?

"To be honest seeker, I am not even getting annoyed by you today. I will just agree with everything you say and hopefully people will take notice of the regular poster on DH who , you know, own dogs."

What have I said that could possibly annoy you?

And why the hell should owning a dog mean your opinion is more valid than anyone else's? Do all dog owners look after them perfectly and have loads of knowledge? The OP is a dog owner, and the consensus on this thread seems to be that she's pretty crap at it.

And what if the owner just didn't feel able to do that? What if her life would be miserable because she was constantly worrying about the dog/child interaction? What if her time with her child was ruined because of that interaction?

And what if she felt that it was irresponsible to rehome ( I realise that for many people on her rehoming is the work of the devil) a dog that had bitten(for whatever reason) and hurt a child so that he needed 4 stitches?

www.biggsd.com has a forum where there are lots of gsd rescue organisations helping rehome dogs, if you post for help there Charliesmum then you will get it
best wishes