Our rescue dog bit my daughter and I today.

[CaraVann]

3 months ago we rescued our dog, Bear.
He was born November 2020. Original owner got him at 7 weeks (I’ve worked out he was a Christmas dog!), it was also during lockdown, when the owner returned to work she crated him for 12 hours every day, she lived in a flat with no garden and never took Bear out, ever.
I believe the owner surrendered him to the rescue when he was about 12 months old.
The rescue worked hard on him as he was scared of the outside world and even putting a harness on him was hard work. They have done such great work with him but he will always be a very anxious dog, bless him.
He was adopted earlier this year, the couple had him for 3 months then gave him back. I was told by the rescue this was because they gave him a lickimat, he bit some of it off and swallowed a piece, he had to go to the vet to induce vomiting and apparently reverted back to his early days as the vets is one of his anxiety triggers and the couple couldn’t handle it, apparently.
So he was returned to the rescue, spent a few more months there and we adopted him early September.
He has been with us for 3 months.
We have had a few settling in issues with him but none of them major. The main things have been him weeding and pooing in the house, being scared of cars, scared of the vacuum cleaner, ripping things up (cushions/throws etc) and barking a lot for food/attention etc.
All these things have been ok to deal with as he has always been a happy and friendly dog, never shown aggression towards us, other people or other dogs.
He is so happy and bouncy that I often say he is like Tigger on speed!
I walk him at least twice a day, on the same field opposite my house.
As per the advice from the rescue and the behaviourist they use, we have kept his world small, just the local walks, just us family. We are a quiet family ( dc are 14 and 17), so no loud noises or lots of people coming and going.
All has been fine and he has been slowly settling into a good routine.
He was barking quite a bit in the evenings but for the last few weeks he has started to settle well and sits and snoozes on the sofa, in between dh and I, very cuddly and happy.
He has always been bouncy and happy and adores DH the most, he is definitely his favourite but seems to like us all.

However, today for some reason something changed.

Today he bit my dd and myself and I am not sure why.

The day started off well. Dh and I took him for a lovely walk over the field. We came home and he pottered around the house as usual then I popped out for a few hours. When I got home he was fine and greeted me happily as usual.
Dd came home from school and he sat next to her snoozing on the sofa, again, as usual.
Then dd touched his head, nothing abnormal there and he suddenly snapped and bit her on the hand. She was obviously shocked. I came in the room and sat with them both and stroked him. He seemed ok but looked a bit guilty. He then went for her again! Dd went upstairs to her room and we left him to settle.
A bit later (around half and hour) he came into the kitchen where I had been and I put my hand out gently to him (again, I’ve done this endless times and he has never shown any aggression towards me before this), he snarled/snapped suddenly and bit my thumb, drawing blood.
He now seems very wary of me for some reason, I don’t know why. He has always been so friendly and happy with us. I am quite shocked tbh as I can’t see what may have provoked this.
I don’t understand why he would do this after 3 months.
He had seemed fine all day, seems ok health wise.

Nothing today was out of routine other than DH was here this morning and didn’t go to work at 6.30am as usual, he is on sifts this winter and went to work at 1pm instead. But that is no different from the weekends when we all separately come and go.

Does anyone have any idea why he would turn on dd and I today?

Breed is key here, if this is for example a lab or a golden retriever then aggression and biting is unusual if this is little terrier or a cane corso at the other end of the scale it’s something else.

As sad as it is I kind of hope there is something up with him health wise which is driving this behaviour I.e pain. All the hard work you've done with him and his poor life until he found you I'd hate for him to go back, it's understandable though.

GettingItOutThere we were told he was a Yorkshire terrier/Jack Russell cross. However, I was a dog walker for a few years and have walked several cocker spaniels, I personally think he has cocker in him. He has cocker spaniel legs.

Obviously, I don’t want him to be poorly or injured at all but I am hoping it may explain his sudden behaviour. Fingers crossed, the vet can enlighten us tomorrow.

This is great advice

Tbh fifteenohfour, I am distraught this evening at the thought of giving him up after these 3 months, we have come so far and he has been such a loving dog up till now, I am gutted. We lost our 10 year old darling dog this year and he has filled the gaping void Archie left. I am so upset.

We had a Labradoodle that had swallowed something, it was lodged in his tummy but I didn't know. I pushed him away from a toy in his tummy and he snapped at my elbow but stopped himself before he actually bit me. He was in terrible pain I soon found out. I also woke him up by touching him once and he initially showed aggression then as soon as he realised it was me, he stopped. I had startled him. He was a lovely dog, and lived a long and happy life with me, husband and two young children and never showed aggression other than these two instances and we had him from a pup.

What @Redt2s is very sensible. Especially the part about looking guilty.
If the bite broke the skin you need to go to minor injuries and get assessed, sometimes the antibiotics can cause nausea. So you can get an anti emetic from the pharmacy.
Its concerning he didn’t growl first as a warning.
Please please be careful. I witnessed an attack from a anxious dog. It was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life. Your daughter has to be a higher priority than the dog. In the current situation I would not allow them in the same room. Please also ensure you have the ability to leave a room should your dog attack you - if there is only one door that might not be possible.

Given this dog's history, I think he was a very poor choice to bring into your family.

I would see vet & suggest they muzzle on examination as it seems likely his head/ear could be very painful given out of character and all incidences happened when head touched or feared it would be.

When dogs are sleeping much like us being shocked in some way we may lash out before fully conscious & aware of the situation. Though often they airsnap as a back off warning & person just happens to be in the way rather than intentional bite.

Understanding that your dog has a terrier breeding I would also say that he may be feeling threatened. I have never known A Terrier who won’t at some point bite (ultimately that’s what they were bred for) and smaller breed dogs will use everything in their tool kit to show you they are unhappy.

can I ask. Was it a quick snap or a bite and hold? This makes a large difference as a snap and release IS often a small breeds warning. Can I ask what the dog did immediately after the bite on both instances. Did he move away and shake, did he stand and stare at you or perhaps sulk off and sit alone. A lot of how he reacted immediately after can tell you about the reason behind the bite.

for now fingers crossed the vet advises something that is fixable x

Blondlashes I have said to both dc that for the time being they are to go about their lives and just gently ignore the dog and not to sit alone with him. They are obviously my priority. I will contact my gp tomorrow regarding the bite.
Aquamarine the rescue ensured me that Bear had shown no aggression at all, it even mentioned it on his bio as the specialise in digs with behaviour issues but assured me this wasn’t the case with Bear and he was one of their ‘easy’ cases. I would never have adopted an aggressive dog.

I don’t think we will ever know his real bred. The rescue said he was a small breed but he’s bigger than the dog we lost this year, he was a Norfolk Terrier.

Agree your DD has to be a higher priority than the dog. You cannot put your DD at risk by allowing her to interact and share her home with a dog who has shown willingness to bite, without warning - and the bite is a real one - making contact with the skin and breaking the skin.

Having a dog doesn't need to be this dangerous. E.g. Dogs can be afraid of the vet without acting up and making it dangerous to take them there.

I understand you're emotionally attached to the dog but please look at the bigger picture.

Hmm ok so he’s a little terrier? They can be quite aggressive to be fair and quite frankly snappy. I think you just need to learn to manage him and understand his signs. Have you had little terriers befor?

my uncle has one, lovely dog, but if you approach him a certain way the little bugger is going to snap at you. But he’s not really a threat because like yours he is tiny.

Absolutely don't disturb a sleeping dog. Ever. And I don't think he should be on the sofa next to you. He's too unpredictable.

He is gorgeous. x

Also little terriers are one of the most likely dogs to bite

www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/family-and-parenting/biting-dogs-2022-these-are-the-10-breeds-of-adorable-dog-most-likely-to-bite-and-snap-including-the-nippy-border-collie-3770323

the good news is it’s a terrier, not a large breed, so you need to learn to manage his behaviour and learn his signs.

vet first off and check for health issues, then I think you need to get some training done.

Penaltyshootoutfan my last dog was a Norfolk Terrier never showed any aggression in his 10 years with us. I have had a Border Terrier, A Hungarian Vizla, Jack Russells also. I was a dog walker for 4 years and walked cocker spaniels, Cokerpoos, a golden doodle and a Parsons Terrier.

He's beautiful!
Echoing other comments.
A full check at the vets to see if he's in pain somewhere.
Don't touch him if he's sleeping.
Set up a bed where no one touches him, so he can choose to either have his own space or to come to join you on the sofa for a cuddle.
I wouldn't write him off for this one incident. He's had such an awful start in life, poor boy. That first owner should be banned from having pets for life!

No I’d not write him off either for this, poor little boy is untrained, generally dogs bite when scared, feel threatened, startled or are in pain.

Pain. Get him checked by the vet.

And don't touch him while he is asleep in case you startle him.

We had a similar issue with our rescue dog, but after about 6 years so knew it was out of character - turned out she had an abcess in her mouth which must have been terribly painful when accidentally touched her face. We had no idea as she was not off her food at all! Once that was treated ithas never been an issue since, so to me it seems like a pain reaction.

Has it been snowing where you are? could the snow/extreme cold weather have triggered something from his puppy days?

Good luck at the vets! Just wanted to add really quickly that a crate doesn't always have to mean a door closed area that they are captive in, sometimes it really can be just a safe space. I think as others here have mentioned, nervous dogs sometimes need their own space. We have a very anxious rescue pup, and we got a crate, put it in a corner and put a black cover on it and nice blanket inside. Whenever he was praised, he got his treat inside the "treat house" which we said whenever he got one. He now chooses to go there when he wants, or needs space. We have never locked him in, but it is somewhere he has that is "his", along with the other 5 beds 😂. If he were in there i'd call him out for whatever reason, but i'd never go into his space. Hope you get it all sorted.

My two boys are your bears age , 2 and terrier x chi , they are really headshy , don't like being touched at all on their head awake or asleep.
They are absolutely adorable dogs but take a lot of management , I've learnt to read their body language , they've never been a big fan of men.
I bet he was expecting you to shout or smack him when he was in the kitchen after he bit you.
Hopefully the vet will
Be able to
Help and you will
Be able
To
Keep him , he sounds like he had a real sad start to his life .. I imagine he's neutered if he's from
A rescue ... I found neutering my two made one of them
Even more reactive which was gutting
He's a gorgeous boy I hope your dd is ok after today too