Resource Guarding - bad bite

[Rubberduckytwin]

Last Thursday ny dog bit a relative. Gave no warning- they had given him a bowl of food, went to add a biscuit to it and with no warning dog flew at him. He is elderly but dog left his hand with a nasty cut, probably about 3inches long, and left the tendon exposed. Hes had a course of antibiotics and 3 trips to minor injuries at hospital- they have now referred to GP to keep an eye on infections.

I am trying to get my partner to realise we cannot keep this dog. We have a newborn baby, 2 1/2 year old and 6 year old. We have had him for over a year. I dont think I can take the chance with the kids as he cannot be trusted with food- how can I get my partner on board? I'm so upset and need his support. It's making it so much harder.

ooh @adaline we actually agree on something!

“The severity of the bite is hard to judge,”

Except a gash that length through flesh (not just skin) means the dog has either clamped down or shaken its head...

So unless it’s a Great Dane and there are some very extenuating circumstances during the actual bite, that sort of would is easily a level 4 on the bite scale.

It’s the sort of wound that means the dog has an issue that would have been resolvable a couple of years ago, but now your only real options are finding a professional willing to rehome it because they have the expertise to deal with it or having it PTS.

He is a German shepherd/ labrador cross so not small. And we have consulted with behaviourist before, as well as watching videos etc for training. To be honest he has improved a lot from when we first got him- so much calmer. But I dont know if we can overcome this. My OH will not support rehoming and is looking at laying for a specialist behaviourist again.

And relative is aware of his history and warnings given around food and that he steals food (for example an entire rotisserie chicken in the bag on the side). But they thought they knew best and say its because he is obviously hungry when he is fed the right amount according to his weight.

My OH will not support rehoming and is looking at laying for a specialist behaviourist again

Good about the rehoming.
You cannot pass a dog like that on, it's not right.

I see threads on there about rescues gone wrong and I often think to myself I wonder how many of those dogs were handed in to rescue due to aggression but the previous owner either lied or downplayed it because they couldn't face PTS, just passed the problem on to some poor unsuspecting fucker.

Course, if your DH won't rehome he definitely won't PTS.
I don't know what to say really.
I don't see this having a happy ending.

As tabulahrasa said, I can't imagine many behaviourists taking the job on in the first place.
Too unpredictable and gone too far.

As others have said the issue here isn't so much the resource guarding itself but the severity of the bite, it's very important that nobody is minimising how serious the situation is. This article by Dr. Sophia Yin covers the tendency of owners to minimise bite incidents and also gives a good breakdown of Dr Ian Dunbar's very widely used bite scale.

As tabulahrasa has said it sounds like you could potentially be looking at a level 4 bite here.

If the dog is staying you need help from a properly qualified and experienced behaviourist as a matter of urgency. Your vet should be able to provide a referral to someone appropriate and in the meantime you need to implement strong safety measures to prevent a repeat incident.

Both you and your OH are prioritising the dog above your dc and minimising the risk of harm to them. And I say that as someone who is a crazy dog lover.

If I had an OH like this, a big dog who has bitten and bitten badly and small unpredictable kids I would leave and take the kids with me if OH refused to deal with the dog.

I am concerned about the severity of the bite as well
Our dog has had resource guarding issues previously but is fine now. He only ever actually bit once as we knew how to handle him but given that he could have bitten DH finger off he was controlling his bite
Around children I wouldn’t risk it

That's a powerful cross you've got there OP - is there any reason you decided to go for that mix of breeds?

I think considering you have small children at home you really need to consider contacting a rescue centre. Please don't rehome the dog yourself - most people won't be able to deal with this level of guarding and you'll just be passing the problem on to someone else.

I wish you lots of luck.

Probably an unpopular opinion but no way would I consider keeping any dog that has bitten this severely (or at all) regardless of circumstances. This situation should not be minimised. Yes it’s not the dogs fault but it can’t be trusted full stop regardless of the ins and outs. There’s no excusing this behaviour, I had a client severely disfigured when her very carefully managed food aggressive dog stole a piece of food nobody had even seen and bit her. Sometimes life can’t be avoided and dogs should have some sore of resilience about them in order to be a member of modern society.

I also wouldn’t rehome it either. Where on Earth are these wonderful homes who want a large powerful dog with no bite inhibition and food aggression

A family dog shouldn’t behave in this way. A growl, a warning or leaving the situation is fair enough behaviours but a dog that reacts like this is a danger to everyone around it.

I'm sorry you are going through this. I can't imagine how hard it is to deal with. I am a massive dog lover and think very little of people rehoming without exploring every option.

But this dog cannot live with children. Kids drop food, they will walk around with food in their hands. It's great that the dog has had help before and has improved. But he can't be safely managed in your house. It's just not worth the risk.

If I had to re-home him, I would start looking at breed rescues, yes I know he's a cross but the GSD rescue near me does re-home crosses. Of course you would have to be 100% honest about everything. And if a rescue did agree to take him I would be giving a large donation too.

They may not take him. And then you will need to put him to sleep. It's shit, utterly shit. But he won't know and he won't be living with the stress he must feel having to go so far to guard his food.

I wish you the best of luck.

I think you would really struggle to rehome a dog with that history. So your only choices are pts or manage it.
My kids never eat anywhere except the dining table.
Kitchen door shut when preparing or dishing up food.
No one touches or bothers dog when eating.
No food left out. Ever.
I would also be careful with visitors. Very. Stairgates are useful too.

To not expect your children or their friends to never have food in their hands is unrealistic. If it were mine I'd be at the vets already.

A dog with a serious resource guarding issue could possibly be managed in the hands of a very knowledgeable and careful owner, but not with children around. Your children will make a mistake and the dog will bite them, it’s not a matter of if but of when.

Show this thread to your DH, he is being negligent.

Given the dog’s history and size PTS is the only responsible option.