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

My kids are 14 and 15 I didn't 'omit' that from my post, I have a problem with my dog so that's what I was talking about.

The biggest issue at the moment is that my husband wants to try and work though the issue and thinks it can be dealt with through training. I feel he is being naïve and wanted the opinions of people that have more experience.

I think my kids have accepted that it is not the dog for us, my son was upset yesterday at the idea that he can no longer invite his friends to his house.

I have a reactive rescue dog who would behave like OPs dog if we just let strangers in to our home without any precautions. In our case, fortunately, we identified the issue and he did not bite anyone. We did not expect this and also felt out of our depth when he started to show this behaviour (at first he seemed very placid- we now know he was shut down). It is very scary and I can sympathise with OP feeling out of her depth and also with her partner feeling that the should not give up on the dog.

My advice is that if you have young children you should give the dog back (or take it to a reputable rescue centre if that's not where it came from).
If you don't have young children you need to decide to what extent you are willing to adjust your lives and undergo training to manage the dog safely. This dog may well never be one who will happily and safely interact with guests he doesn't know well. If you can accept that, and are happy to put the work in, I would suggest seeing a qualified behaviourist for specific advice.
I would also suggest muzzle training asap. There are loads of videos online about how to do this but basically you need to start by giving the dog treats whenever he sees the muzzle, then work up to him having his face in it (not fastened) and eventually having the muzzle on. This was a real game changer for us. He quite enjoyed the training and within a couple of weeks was comfortable wearing the muzzle for a while. The muzzle is not a fix- we still needed to train him and be very careful, but it does provide another layer of safety whilst training him. If you decide to keep the dog you need to be aware that there is no easy fix. I know that my dog will never be 'normal' but we have a fairly calm, quiet household with no children so we can give him a decent life without danger to others.

Sounds like these are warning bites. If a dog is intent on biting to injure, even a small dog will do a lot more damage than a superficial injury to skin. That's not to say the situation won't escalate, as the dog is clearly frightened and as you've already identified you're too inexperienced to offer her the right sort of home to work through her issues. Nothing wrong with acknowledging that, but unless you got her from a reputable rescue centre, I wouldn't be inclined to return her to the previous owner, whether they're willing to take her back or not.

How has she been put in the position multiple times where she's been able to bite? After the first bite incident, she should have been separated from any visitors at all times. You've put her in a position of high stress multiple times where she's felt she has to bite, and people have been injured as a result. It's incredibly reckless.

You're out of your depth with this dog. There are homes that may be appropriate, but yours is not one of them.

The pack stuff above is absolute nonsense, she's not an adolescent wolf and neither are you. However, she is clearly really struggling. You might be able to work on this yourself, but to do so, you need specialist help from a force-free behaviourist recommended by your vet, and in the meantime she can't be allowed near any visitors at all. Or send back to the rescue, with an honest account of what's happened.

People on this board are very keen to kill dogs; you have a rescue that hasn't even had a chance to decompress and get used to their new home yet, and her fear-based aggression isn't really surprising under the circumstances.

@stilldazed
Where are you located? PM me and I'll either come to you, or we can zoom. I am a dog trainer.

How the fuck has the dog had so many opportunities to bite? It should be shut away from all visitors until they've left.

The dog should be pts. There are not homes queuing around the block for dangerous biting dogs. Either she's given you multiple warnings with her body language that she's escalating and you've not noticed /ignored them, or she's going straight to biting. Either way, incredibly bloody worrying.

I think the issue with this is that having an aggressive dog is one thing but you need to be 1000% committed and on the same page that this dog can not be ever put in a position where it can bite somebody.

That means muzzling at all times outside. Having it separate from strangers, kids etc Both being on high alert all the time because you have a dangerous dog and a responsibility to keep others safe if you decide to keep it.

Most regulated behaviourists will only work with dogs that can be safely managed. Unfortunately it does not sound like you are able to do this since you’ve allowed the dog to be in a position 5 times without removing it or seeking help.

Rehoming a dog that’s bitten this many times is very irresponsible imo. Euthanasia would not be the wrong thing.

How many people have to get bitten before you take the dog back?

OP if you are keeping the dog you need a qualified animal behaviourist rather than a stranger who says they’re a dog trainer (I’m sure they are, genuinely but many dog trainers aren’t qualified in reactivity and can make it worse).

Find a behaviourist here

What a terrible idea.

OP is a first time dog owner. No one - and particularly a 'dog trainer' - should be advocating she keeps this dog. Even experienced owners (of which I consider myself to be one) would balk at this dog. Really irresponsible to offer your services to someone who is clearly ill-equipped to handle such a dog with such a serious bite history.

No one competent would be offering 'zoom' dog training. There is a reason that vets don't see animals online - and didn't during the peak of COVID - and there is a reason why dog trainers come to the dog; because you cannot be sure of what you are dealing with unless you are able to see and, in many cases, touch the animal.

The dog is 10 months & already aggressive & biting hard (breaking skin). This is its true nature. PTS before it really hurts someone-rehoming just makes someone else responsible for the decision.

@saltysandysea

Or it is in pain /scared/traumatised and is not getting the appropriate care/handling?

If it was in pain I would expect the behaviour to be more consistent, not just when house visitors are around. I expect this is an extreme form of resource guarding. Certainly not been handled appropriately as it has bitten house visitors multiple times.

but not all dogs bark aggressively (warning sign that has been ignored) before biting begins. This is unacceptable.

OP not said what dog is like on walks.

On walks she is fine. she is fine with other dogs and people outside the home. It is just visitors in her space. I am in agreement with returning the dog. I am the first person to say I am out of my depth and unqualified. My biggest issue is that my husband wants us to work together to rehabilitate her, he thinks it will be rewarding. I think he is being naïve but he is adamant. This is going to make me the bad guy, can I send a dog away that my husband wants to keep and rehabilitate? this is in danger of of causing a real rift between us.

I would really appreciate so support that isn't people telling me how shit I am, I know thank you!

OP. Probably the best thing to do is get a proper, qualified behaviourist/trainer to come to your home and get their input on the understanding biting anyone in or out of the home is unacceptable and the line in the sand.

You have totally failed this dog - how on earth has she been in a position where she can bite five different people? That's absolutely shocking.

These threads make me really angry - you have potentially signed this dogs' death warrant by not caring for her properly.

This is incredibly irresponsible - this dog needs an accredited behaviourist who can work with it for a long period of time in person, not a zoom call with a trainer!

I'd rather be the bad guy than be responsible for any further damage this dog would do. I'd be straight down the vets to have the dog destroyed

I think it is important for you and your husband (also a new dog owner?) to accept neither of you are not qualified or experienced enough to handle this dog. Either invest heavily in training (you & the dog), or pts.

This might be unpopular but I actually think it would be very unfair for this dog to stay with OP. She's clearly incredibly inexperienced if this dog has been able to bite so many people.

It can't be re-homed as to do so would be highly irresponsible and I suspect there are very, very few rescues who will take a dog who has bitten so many people, though it would at least be worth asking around.

Unfortunately I suspect the outcome will be euthanasia. There are so many dogs in rescue without a bite history who can't find homes - who is going to take on one like this?

Ok so if you want to try here’s where I would start.

Firstly vet check, rule out health issues or pain. Then look for an accredited behaviourist registered with the ABTC. This organisation is the gold standard for behaviourists and the IMO if someone can’t register with them it makes me wonder why. Get a proper assessment of what you’re dealing with.

In the mean time muzzle train. Get her used to wearing a muzzle at all times outside the home, it doesn’t matter that she’s fine outside. You still need to muzzle her because she’s bitten therefore she’s dangerous, sorry to put it so bluntly but if she injures someone outside of the home and you knew her temperament and didn’t muzzle her a court won’t look favourably here. Remember legally you’re responsible for her behaviour at all times under the dangerous dogs act.

Put baby gates up around your house. Seperate her from anyone that comes in. Crate her if she won’t stay behind a gate when someone’s in. She should never be able to bite someone because there should always be a barrier.

Finally speak to the rescue, but I hazard a guess that this is an import? In which case the dog will probably be passed onto someone equally as inexperienced.

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.

And your DH wants to keep the dog?! He really, really doesn't like his parents, does he?!

I am qualified. Although to be fair you won't find me on the ABTC just yet as I am still being registered.

Well, for starters, you would need to know what my qualifications are, and what I intended to say to the OP.

As it happens, I am just finishing up the relevant qualifications to enable accreditation to the ABTC, and was intending to put the OP in touch with a behaviourist locally.

It's the choice of the OP though.