Aggressive Rescue Dog - Help!

[stilldazed]

We got our 10 month old rescue dog that has been with us 2 months now. She is great with us, a lovely dog in the house and great with other dogs. The problem is when visitors come, she is very aggressive. Barking incessantly and then biting, she bit the cleaning lady, she bit my husband's 2 aunts when we went to visit them and this weekend it escalated. My parents in law came to visit. It started as usually with excessive aggressive barking and then when my mother in law got up to go to the bathroom she followed her biting and her, when she came out of the bathroom she was bit and fell to the floor. The bite was superficial but there was a fair bit of blood. The dog then bit my father in law.

I worry the aggression is escalating as she is defending what she now feels is home.

The lady we got her from says she will take her back, my husband wants to keep her and see if we can work through her problems, seeing a behavioral specialist etc.

This is my first dog, I have no experience and honestly I'm ready to give her back. should I persevere? I would really appreciated your opinions.

She is medium size, crossed breed (we don't know what) she looks a bit like a mini golden retriever, to give you an idea

If there was blood then it broke the skin and that is not superficial. The dog needs put down.

If you keep that dog, no matter what changes the dog makes or how long since the last bite, do not ever have children.

No do not keep the dog, as you have zero experience and so many people have been bitten. You are way out of your depth.

And you clearly knew about the aggression and biting. Why wasn’t the dog crated or put behind a stair gate in another room while you had guests?

You don’t have a clue what you’re doing.

That dog needs to be put down, I’m afraid.

So she’s bit 5 times? She needs PTS, she sounds like a very unhappy dog.

thank you for your replies, I am out of my depth!

PTS

Return to the person you got the dog from with an accurate description of the biting events. This dog should never have been allowed to interact with other visitors after the initial event.

If your dog has broken the skin, then that's not a warning nip, it is full on aggression. I think you will have to rehome with a specialist or PTS, I'm afraid.

I've taken on an 8yr old rescue and she's nipped (not broken the skin) of my builder. Since then, whenever anyone comes round, I shut her in the kitchen, and, if the visitor is staying, I put her in her harness and on her lead and keep her right next to me.

Your dog thinks it's pack leader. Your family being the pack. It takes a lot of training to remove that behaviour, I know because that's what I'm working on 24/7 with mine. It's not something you can do in a busy family home.

I don't think she's suitable for first time dog owners, so I would give her back to the previous owner.

At the very least, while you're deciding what to do, don't let her interact with your guests. She should be on the other side of a door from them at all times. I feel sorry for your PIL, dog bites really hurt.

I’m going to be blunt.

You and your husband are way out of your depth and have failed this dog.

She shouldn’t have been in the position where she could bite multiple people.

After the first signs, you should have been working with a specialist, keeping her leashes to you or behind a gate, so that she never had the opportunity to bite anyone.

Now, I doubt you will be able to salvage her- she’s developed a habit that’s worked.

I’m sorry.

Where did you get her from? A rescue centre? Or her previous owner? Were you told about her history? Did you research the breed? Has she been checked over by a vet? What measures have you put in place to try to prevent biting incidents?

I wouldn't jump straight to putting her down, but I do think she needs to be rehomed through a rescue centre. To be like that at 10 months old, poor things must have already been through a lot. her behaviour may be due to being adopted by owners who don't have a clue what they are doing or how to handle that. Something in the way you are behaving could be triggering it. It sounds like she could be scared, a rescue centre will be able to get to the bottom of what is causing the behaviour and address it. Or if there is no fixing her problems, if she is too damaged and can't be safely rehomed, they will act accordingly. It is better to give her to a rescue centre let a professional take over and decide what is to be done.

I can’t quite understand why the dog was put into a position where it’s been able to bite multiple people. One of my dogs isnt generally aggressive but can be overbearing with guests so when we have them he’s crated until I’m content that he’s calm enough to come out. The dog should have been locked away for the guest and the dog’s safety.

You’re way out of your depth.

The time to take action was after the first bite. You’re five bites in.

Did you get the dog from a rescue centre or an individual?

Oh FFS. Come on @stilldazed. This is just stupid. Put the dog down.

Another saying PTS. A life in kennels etc is far worse than a short but content life with your family. Biting that many people is not something you can overlook.

Although it will no doubt be hard for you I think you should have the dog PTS. This isn’t a dog with a one off bite history, it’s a big which poses a risk to everyone who comes in to your home, everyone you interact with, your kids if you have any.

Having a dog is supposed to be fun, rewarding and they’re supposed to be part of your family. This dog will never be any of those things.

I would never give a dog back to someone who’d rehome it again knowing it had a bite history. You’d just be passing on the problem to someone else.

There are lots of wonderful, safe, family dogs out there. Most dogs don’t bite.

Don’t give her back - have her PTS. This is a dangerous dog: if you give her back, some other person will think they can take her on and the cycle will repeat itself. Someone I know had a dog that bit: she put up the full story on Facebook and someone else took it in - and surprise surprise, it bit again and had to be put down. I’m sorry but your dog is dangerous, and you don’t really have a choice here. What if she were to bite someone like the postman, or someone coming to your house for a legitimate reason? Then you might well find yourself on the wrong side of the law. You could hardly pretend she’d never done it before.

@sesquipedalian

There could be a trigger for her behaviour. A rescue centre will be able to get to the bottom of it. A good chunk of the problem could be that she has been placed with first time dog owners who don't know what they are doing/ inadvertently making the problem worse. An experienced dog might manage her perfectly fine. We don't even know if she has seen a vet to check for underlying health issues that are causing her pain. If fear is driving the aggression, experienced people can work out what the trigger is and address it.

With everyone else, needs put down unfortunately