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.

......just to be clear - I mean give her away, not put her down!!

If your Uncle wants her & has no kids, let her go.

Ah sorry to suggest if you’re already trying. Maybe for a bit you could go outside with her on the lead in the back garden until you can trust her? Not ideal though. Recommend Zack George on YouTube too!

@Gribbit987 wow. She has also done stage one of the Kennel Club good citizen but we couldn't progress due to lockdown. We also planned to do agility work with her, but again global pandemic.

The behaviourist is fully qualified and accredited actually and could only work with us via a referral from the vet.

She gets at least 2 hours exercise , but I can't exactly prove that here.

There hasn't be zero improvement in the weeks after behaviourist. She has learned to settle more and she has cottoned on that when she is calm she might be rewarded. Her biting on walks has gone down, although it can be pretty random. She did a while walk today on long line without any biting-that's good for her.

Enough is enough op. Time for the dog to go.
Give her to your Aunt and Uncle asap.

@freckles20

I'm so sorry that this has happened OP. Without being there and seeing everything in detail (and ideally slow motion) it's impossible for anyone to be sure why this happened.

I would hazard a guess though that your dog was very aroused by the situation, and felt threatened and as such she redirected onto you alarmist without thinking.

As such, this particular incident may have been more of a reaction to a really stressful incident than anything- and no amount of exercises that your behaviouralist has suggested would have helped.

That's not to say that it was ok, or that you're not right to be very worried.

This.

I'm sure I'll get completely slagged off for this but I dont care.
You've been incredibly irresponsible for this dog, you havent properly socialised it or trained it and have waited until you've created a monster and know you're blaming her and theres people on here talking about PTS?!
I have a German shepherd who is extremely high energy and smart. I researched the breed and the dog and changed my.life to suit him. Can you honestly say you've done this too? we dont have the time but we make it or we pay a dog Walker daily and took him to puppy classes and dog training and rewarded good behaviour and punished bad! Our dog used to go mental at the doorbell or animals.on TV or a bird outside but you have to desensitize them to these noises/experiences.
The dog isnt aggressive its understimjlated and poorly trained. You have to remember these dogs wont get tired by a 2hour walk, that's nothing to them they are built to.go all day and all night. And I know you're going through a hard time with your separation and being a single parent etc but that's not this dogs fault. And tbh I feel.quite sorry for it and think it's quite horrible how disposable pets are to some people. The dog isnt suitable for your house and hindsight is a wonderful thing but please find it a loving family

PTS.
Your wrist is bitten, swollen and bleeding. This time your wrist ... what if next time your dog is upset a child's face or throat is vulnerable? You are taking a ridiculous risk in keeping this dog. Don't pass the dog on to anyone else - they don't deserve to be injured either. Nor should they have to take the decision. You've tried with this dog. It's time to protect everyone around you by making the difficult decision.

It sounds like she gets overstimulated generally which you're working on. Here it happened and she's redirected. It's not a desire to hurt you. But it will need continuous work.

Ouch - I've just seen the photo. That's a proper bite.

I do wonder from your posts whether she's over-stimulated. Two hours of exercise, plus brain games, plus enrichment, plus sniffing - that's a LOT for a young dog. My beagle is three and he doesn't get anywhere near that amount of attention and stimulation - he would be bouncing off the walls if he did.

I know there's a belief that dogs need loads of exercise and attention everyday, but tbh I don't think all dogs suit that kind of lifestyle. Lots of dogs benefit greatly from enforced naps and downtime. An anxious, easily excited, reactive dog doesn't need to be constantly stimulated and exercised and run ragged.

Go to a and e. Get the dog pts. A and E report stabbings to the police but I'm not sure on their procedures for dog bites so you may be able to get away with giving it to your aunt if you really dont want it pts

Although what if you pass the dog on and it bites some poor kid in a park 🙄

OP it sounds like you’re doing a lot and I’m sorry people are bashing you so much. It seems “get rid of the dog” is the new LTB on here.
If you’re confident that the dog is improving their behaviour and you can see evidence of that in your walks then ignore the people here.
If possible, keep the dog on a lead in the house attached to you so that you can keep them under control when around your kids as you say it can be random. You can get leads that attach around your waist.

@Cats4life oh fuck right off. How do you know she's untrained or understimulated? Someone else has just said we do too much.

She has been fully socialised as we got her more than 6 mo the before lockdown.

I have invested £££ in her training. I have read and researched, joined groups etc. So you can fuck right off.

@sunflowersandbuttercups enforced naps are such an important thing that are overlooked so much when it comes to dogs!

Also it wasn't a headband it was part of an egg box she'd just destroyed. It wasn't attached to her in any way.

That bite looks bad. I’m no expert but it maybe looks between a Lvl 3 and 4 bite??

apdt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/ian-dunbar-dog-bite-scale.pdf

Mother

I’m in the destroy dangerous dogs school. It could have been a child. You could face prosecution.
It’s really sad; she’s beautiful, but been poorly managed to the point she’s become dangerous. It might be that your relatives can manage to turn her around, but I’d not tolerate the risks of a dangerous, quite large dog.

@MotherForker this sounds awful, so sorry you're going through this.

My dog (luckily a lot smaller) had a time where he suddenly went psycho when it was just me and him in the house and my husband was at work.

He would go for me and genuinely go crazy, I'd have to get him in the room or hallway and close the door between us, it was like he snapped.

One time he did it and went for me, I flicked him on the nose. I've since read that it's sensitive and I feel a bit guilty but he has never been in that state of agitation and genuine craziness every since.

If he even gets a little wound up, I'll position my fingers as if I'm about to flick his nose and, whilst he tries to "not back down" he will no longer try to bite.

Not sure how your dog will take it, but the genuine shock that day seems to have snapped him out of it, more than anything else I tried.

Not here to give you any advice (but please don't put her to sleep, there are many alternatives) but just thought I would mention this in case it ever became of use. Please do be careful that she won't snap at you worse if you try it.

[quote booandbumpp]@sunflowersandbuttercups enforced naps are such an important thing that are overlooked so much when it comes to dogs![/quote]
Definitely.

I always thought the answer was "exercise and more exercise" but it's totally not true! Mine gets an hour or so of off-lead exercise a day and occasionally another 30 minute lead walk. Otherwise, that's it. If we give him too much, he just goes haywire

Please don't PTS.

The right home/owners/trainers can be found for her. Meanwhile, I agree, protect your children and have her removed from the house either by family or into an adoption centre.

I'm sure you've done everything you can, please get your hand looked at, looks like a deep bite x

Someone contacted me this week about finding their dog a new home because it had nipped their child. The dog had been with them for six years without issue prior to this. I think some dogs are struggling having a houseful of bored/stressed humans at the moment. (the aforementioned dog is now in a new home with experienced dog owners). I think the OP’s dog is a boisterous teenage dog and will grow out of this phase. It was wound up by the other dog when it nipped. It does worry me though, that it didn’t stop biting until inside and also that your youngest child is fairly little. So while I wouldn’t have the dog PTS I do think it will need a fair bit of patience and time, so your aunt is probably the better person to go forward with the dog.

MotherForker, sorry to hear this about your dog, some dogs aren’t easy, and i really do wonder about some of the replies people on here give. You sound like you have really tried with your dog, i agree with PollyRoulson on this doesn’t sound like a dog beyond intervention. Polly gives some excellent advice and i would take her up on her offer.

[quote namechange43210]@MotherForker this sounds awful, so sorry you're going through this.

My dog (luckily a lot smaller) had a time where he suddenly went psycho when it was just me and him in the house and my husband was at work.

He would go for me and genuinely go crazy, I'd have to get him in the room or hallway and close the door between us, it was like he snapped.

One time he did it and went for me, I flicked him on the nose. I've since read that it's sensitive and I feel a bit guilty but he has never been in that state of agitation and genuine craziness every since.

If he even gets a little wound up, I'll position my fingers as if I'm about to flick his nose and, whilst he tries to "not back down" he will no longer try to bite.

Not sure how your dog will take it, but the genuine shock that day seems to have snapped him out of it, more than anything else I tried.

Not here to give you any advice (but please don't put her to sleep, there are many alternatives) but just thought I would mention this in case it ever became of use. Please do be careful that she won't snap at you worse if you try it. [/quote]
Name change I know you mean well, but this advice is really dangerous. Inflicting a shock, or pain onto a dog that is already stressed can turn out really badly.

It worked for you, but it's really really risky. I don't want to be goady, but I'd hate anyone to put themselves at risk doing this.