How to surrender my dog to a rescue?

[cornere]

I took him on at 7.5 months from a colleague who could no longer keep him. He's a micro bully, not a breed I would ever choose or purchase.

Up until around the start of the year he had the most placid, lovely dog. He is now nearly two years old and for the last six months has become increasingly aggressive.

He has attacked my mum's dog quite savagely and bit my mum a couple of times when she tried to split them up, she then proceeded to have a heart attack.

I am now scared of him and I have a four year old and another dog I have to keep him away from. I'm devastated that he has to go but I know it's necessary.

Does anyone know the process please? I heard some aren't taking any more dogs as they are full?

Christ, I googled the breed and thought the images were all messed with, but then I looked at a buy and sell page and it really is what they look like, which is a creature that is so distorted with an enormous head and small legs that it surely has to be in pain (and also sells for an unthinkable amount — why?? Admittedly the puppies look more in proportion, but the adults... i actually feel quite depressed now)

OP I think you're absolutely right to keep your young child apart from the dog after it's attacked another dog. But it being crated whenever the child is around sounds a very sad existence, though I'm not convinced it's possible for that breed to have a happy life :(

I would give yourself a short deadline (no more than a week) to find a rescue that would take him - with assurances of behaviourist assessment, training etc, not just put in a kennel and paraded about for would-be adopters. If you don't find such a rescue, PTS.

You can't lie like this. What if he accidentally got loose and went for your child that he barks at? You and your Mum need to be able to enjoy your dogs without worry of them being savaged into a 'state'.

I note how the anti-PTS posters have brushed off the dog-dog fight as not serious, handbags, grandstanding etc. And yet you said the attack was 'savage' and left your Mum's dog in a 'state'.

So if this dog is re-homed without a bomb proof solution to his problems the next time he goes for another dog the choice is to let him rip that dog to pieces, or else another human gets bitten trying to save it. N.B also the victim blaming on this thread of a person trying to stop her dog being tor to bits. Her fault she got bitten, apparently.

Your poor Mum and her poor dog.
Your poor 4 year old.
And poor micro-bully too, who never asked to be bred that way.

bit my mum a couple of times when she tried to split them up,
The 'couple of times' worries me. Our old JRT caught my finger once when she was telling off the then-puppy and I stupidly intervened. As soon as she realised she'd caught a tooth on a human she stopped and fell back - she just caught the skin by a nail, but that was enough for her to stop.

OP, this sounds like a horrible situation, but I echo what others say about PTS. He is reaching social maturity which is a classic time for aggression to start to show, and with his history he will be hard to rehome even if he can be rehabbed.

If he's had health checks and there's no underlying pain I would honestly have him PTS.

This is extremely sad, and its not the dog's fault, its the fault of unethical breeders. But honestly, I think being peacefully PTS is preferrable to the kind of life he would likely have if surrended, probably shunted from one place to another, compounding issues on issues until he attacks someone more seriously. Damn these breeders.

Just googled them as well. They look like born abominations. The fact that breeders make so much money manufacturing such abysmal mutants is yes, depressing.

I think being put to sleep isnt the worst thing that can happen to a dog.

He loves and trusts you...id have one last special day with him, see if the vet can do a house call and cuddle him whilst he is injected. He wont know what is happening, he'll feel safe and loved.

The risk of trying to rehome him is that he will sit in an over crowded rescue, where he will get little interest due to his bite history or because he is quite unusual he will be adopted by someone who cant handle his needs and the cycle will start again.

You have done your best for him but unfortunately it hasnt worked out how you wanted and if you honestly cant feel you trust him around your child, I would not risk trying to rehome

It's amazing the amount of people on Mumsnet who think the life of an aggressive dog needs to be preserved at all costs - even one who bit a human, who was trying to break up a dog fight - that this dog started. "But it hasn't bitten anyone! Aside from that fight!" Some people seem to think you need to wait for the dog to really, really savage someone before getting rid, and even then they'll wang on about all these homes and "breed specific rescues" who are just desperate to take on a badly bred, aggressive dog with a history of biting dogs and people.

It's not suitable to be a pet, it can't be anywhere near your child and you can't rehome, you'll just be passing the problem on. Do the responsible thing and pts. There are worse fates for a dog.

There's a difference, with this dog, between what might be achievable with unlimited resources, and the resources actually available.

I'm going to join the bay for blood first, ask questions later crew. I've seen the error of my ways.

Except that's not what people are doing - they're being realistic.

Rescues are already full to bursting with dogs who don't have any of these issues. If they can't find homes, what hope do you think this dog actually has of being successfully rehabilitated and re-homed?

It can't live with children, it can't live with other dogs or small animals - so it would need to live with a breed-experienced adult with the time and resources and energy to manage it for at least another decade.

No, you're all right and I'm wrong. We didn't need any more information at all to come to this decision.

Did you miss the post where the op says thr dog had been be checked, been to various trainers and is now having to be locked away fromna four year old child?

There are too many nice dogs in the world without homes to give aggressive ones chance after chance.

If you're so keen for the dog to keep living, why not take him?

No, I saw it. Way after the mass chorus of PTS. I just thought it was wise to get all the details before making rash decisions but, as I said, I was clearly wrong to think more details were required. I won't do it again.

Oh, and I do foster and sometimes fail at fostering troubled dogs that might not be everyone's ideal. I'm doing my best.

This.

As it was a completely unpredictable attack when he did it with a dog he was previously fine with I would say PTS. If he was rehomed something terrible could happen

I say that as a dog lover myself

Being all passive aggressive won't win anyone round to your way of thinking.

Healthy, happy dogs with good temperaments don't just savage other dogs out of the blue and bite people so severely that they go on to have heart attacks.

Some dogs are just badly bred and need to be out to sleep for everyone's safety. That's just the reality of it unfortunately.

Exactly and ultimately people's safety has to come first. No dog is more important than that.

👍

@cinnamonfrenchtoast puppy classes and gun dog training is not behavioural support. You cannot expect to teach a dog a variety of commands and never teach it how to behave around other animals/how to behave in stressful situations and expect the dog to miracously know how to deal with fear/stress because it knows how to sit.

Dog on dog aggression is generally not a barrier to rehoming. If it was the vast majority of greyhounds in rescues would all be pts or left languishing in kennels. Bullbreeds are known to dislike other dogs unless they are extensively socialised from a very young age. A breed experienced rescue such as the one I linked will know what to do with this dog.

If OP cannot find a breed rescue with space, then yes, pts should be considered.

puppy classes and gun dog training is not behavioural support.

Okay? I never said it was