Ddog attacked and bit me

[MotherForker]

For context, I've asked for advice before, ddog jumps and mouths/bites when she is highly aroused. It's playful, apart from the fact she is 25kg and 18 months old. We have been working with a behaviourist on this.

Tonight, I let her into the garden without realising that our NDN dog was out. Their dog is lovely, but terrified of other dogs and jumps and barks at the fence. We have added to the top of the fence to prevent them ever meeting. Ddog used to just wag her tail and look bemused by this, but recently has started jumping and barking back and launching at the fence. She's been mouthing me in the house for the last hour.

NDN was trying to get their dog in and I went to fetch ddog, as no amount of treat was going to tempt her. As I went towards her she turned and launched at me, bit my hard on my wrist. She kept going until I managed to grab her collar and bring her in. Then I was trapped by the door and she carried on barking and jumping at me. My wrist is bleeding and swollen.

I am doing everything advised by behaviourist. She has been checked by vet for pain several times. I've sat and cried feeling sorry for myself. I have two children and will soon be sole parent in this house (stbxh is moving out in a week).

I don't want to give up on her. But it more and more feels like she is beyond my capabilities. Any advice welcome.

You have children, and cannot keep this dog in all conscience. Heartbreaking, truly, but you have to let her go. And you should get treatment for the bite. Dog bites are highly likely to get infected and take ages to heal. I know only too well, having a rescue dog who sometimes bites. I don't have any children living with me.

Would your aunt and uncle be willing to look after your dog for a couple of weeks - to see how things go there, to allow your dog some time away from the neighbour dog and to decompress, and to give you time to replace / reinforce the fence so they can't see each other?

Giving your dog to your aunt and uncle wouldn't be a bad option from what you've said, though I think it's only fair to them that they initially foster the dog and see how they get on together.

18 months is when some dogs go through a 'teenage' phase and can calm down into adulthood.
You could wait and see, with the support of a behaviouralist.
Another option is asking the vet to try an anti-anxiety medication. Some dogs do very well on on a low dose of Prozac to manage their high arousal levels.

Looking at your situation though, it does seem the wrong time in your life to be coping with a dog with such high need, especially when you have a suitable alternative.

I would rehome to your aunt.

I’d rehome her with your relatives OP. You need to protect your children. And get your hand sorted!

I will get my wrist seen to. It doesn't look that bad now.

Please take up the offer of rehoming. You are v lucky to have the option. You will never forgive yourself if she bites one of your children. I love my dogs but if they bit they would be PTS.

Oh OP that does look bad and she bit you really hard.

Let your relatives take her. She needs something you can't give right now and this will give her the best chance in life. You'd be doing the right thing for everybody. And you can still see her in time. Such a difficult time for you.

My son got bitten and his thumb bled after guinea pig nipped him last thurs, He has to take antibiotics for a week as GP said that’s recommended after any animal bite.. sorry for your dog, but kids first..

Op that isn't mouthing, that's a proper bite.

Yes do get it seen OP, it will need cleaning - when this happened with me I was told it has to be done as quickly as possible.

Hope you're ok

First of all, please get your bite checked. There was a story in the news recently about a woman who lost her hand after a dog bite became infected and turned septic. You'll need a tetanus booster and probably antibiotics.

You're clearly massively struggling with this dog (I remember your previous posts) and I really don't think you're the right home for her. Labradoodles are big, energetic and very clever dogs but if the energy isn't harnessed properly (and if the dog isn't trained properly), then it leads to frustration, bad behaviour and biting.

If your aunt is able and willing to take her, I think that would be the best option. Personally, I don't think she sounds dangerous, you just sound (in the nicest way) very out of your depth and I think she needs to be in a home without children and with an experienced owner.

If she's muzzle trained, then I would also make sure she's muzzled in public for now.

Please get it seen to OP. I have an acquaintance that is back on life support in hospital after organ failure and a tracheotomy. She will most likely loose the fingers on both hands due to sepsis.
Her dog nipped her in the New Year, it was no bigger than a cigarette burn and she thought no more of it, a week later she was fighting for her life.
I know that sounds completely dramatic and I don't want to scare you but please, get it seen to.

Rehome with your aunt & uncle, on the proviso that the dog will always be muzzled in public and also that it is her last chance. If she bites either adult at any point then I’d insist she is put to sleep.

Hiya!
Have you had this dog from young age? Like 8-9weeks? The dog obviously cant stay in your house with the kids however I wouldnt call what that dog did aggressive either, she was over stimulated and you got in the middle. A dog like that needs to burn of some serious energy, not a 2hour walk, I mean like hours of running around. My dog has caused me some injuries and hurt me when hes accidentally bitten me and barks like a lunatic at NDN dog and birds and smoke and clouds etc but labradoodle are extremely intelligent high energy dogs and I think she sounds like she could do great in another house. I'm not trying to be mean you've done your best, I'm .just being honest, the dog doesnt know boundaries and might be going through a rebellious stage. Dogs have stages like humans too, such as a stubborn teenage stage etc and sometimes they need to be reminded of their place in the pecking order.
Please dont put your dog down, please give her to a shelter or family who can help her.

Ddog? You mean dog?

OP I have a labradoodle who used to do this when we tried to get him in from the yard, when he went off lead and got zoomies and when he was over stimulated. Unfortunately it did go on until he was about 2 years/2.5 years when he suddenly just settled completely down. In the meantime we used stop spray which gave a short loud blast of noise which was enough to gain control and a halti head halter when lead was attached to be able to get control of his head.

It was a hard slog but we got there in the end and he is now extremely chilled.

Hi OP - I have a very easily over stimulated goldendoodle who can mouth and jump up. We found a stuffed kong and scent work REALLY tired him out.
What we do is we have a few boxes and half of cocktail sausages. We get all boxes on the floor - first step is showing the dog us putting the sausage in the box, let them find it. Once they’ve got the hang of it, get them to sit outside the room with someone, hide the sausage in a box, then let them in to find it. Do for 10-15 minutes. He’s so calm after.
There’s also a book and Facebook group called canine enrichment that has a lot of good ideas to exercise a dogs brain. It might help.
Happy to chat if you want to about our (cute/ridiculous/exhausting/lovable) doodles!

Posted too soon. Yep, you need to see someone about the bite. And this is not normal behaviour for a dog you own.

Hey OP- sorry to hear about your dog issues. We have a bernedoodle (bernese x poodle) and he's a bit crazy too. He's very friendly with other dogs and doesn't bark but he does nip and jump.
Have you looked into dog camps? I'm in Ireland and there's a K-9 training camp that takes dogs full-time for a minimum of 3 weeks and they have daily training sessions.
It might sound a bit extreme but it could be worth looking into? Sometimes you just need the dog to be in a structured environment to learn (obviously not saying you're not providing structure but just saying sometimes dogs learn better when removed from normal home environment).

I feel for you, I took on my daughters dog, he had aggressive guarding issues, which I knew how to handle. I always thought if he attacked me I couldn't keep him. Anyway he did one night out of the blue, wasn't guarding anything and I needed stitches in my leg, a few years later it's still badly scarred and tender. I didn't give up on him but my life was very difficult for a few years until he was PTS, for a separate health issue. I managed to keep him only because I NEVER let him near any children ever. I loved him with all my heart but I look back and don't know how I managed to live the way I did .

Sorry haven’t t read all so apologies if you’ve e said: what breed is she?

Wow it’s pretty horrifying to see some would kill a dog because the owner is hopeless. Hopefully the vet would intervene if you tried.

You don’t describe an aggressive dangerous dog. You describe a dog that is getting progressively worse because you can’t or won’t address small issues that have intensified. Next door’s dog definitely doesn’t help. But i really don’t think you’re doing 2+ hours intensive exercise with the dog and anyone can call themselves a dog behaviourist I would be looking elsewhere if I saw zero improvement after this point.

Also, puppy class is nothing. Why didn’t you follow on with DOG training? A structured high excitement environment intended to correct issues as they appear. My problem dog also did agility training to exhaust him and redirect his intensity.

Please give the dog to your aunt and uncle. You cannot give it the focus or understanding it needs. It deserves to live a life where your daughter isn’t allowed to put rubbish on its head. That isn’t how a living creature should be treated and your daughter should be taught boundaries. That picture illustrates all that is wrong with your expectations of a dog.

Imagine how much worse that could have been if the dog had gotten hold of your 8 year old's face rather than your wrist!

I couldn't live with a dog like that. The risks are just too high.

It's heart breaking but I think you know what you need to do.

We've had her since she was 8 weeks.

She gets lots of exercise, running and playing with other dogs and lots of brain work, like with the boxes. We play hide the treats too.

I've calmed down a bit now. She was clearly wound up by next doors dog and I startled her. But it is part of a bigger set of behaviours.

I'm trying to work out how to get bite seen to. A&E is not necessary but can't get through to out of hours.