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

See other posts. I didn't offer zoom dog training, I offered a zoom call. The pou t was to put the OP in touch with someone local who can help.

I’m going to hazard a guess that she’s a Romanian street dog, am I right?

These dogs have no idea how to live as pets unless they are taught to. Mine is terrified of strangers in the house, he’s been on intensive behavioural training courses and is a wildly different dog now, but that’s because I don’t set him up to fail. He doesn’t come into contact with any visitors that he doesn’t know and trust because it would set him back to square one.

Why are you allowing your visitors to be put in the position where they are being attacked by your dog? You’ve described multiple serious bites in the space of two months from a dog that isn’t even a year old. What have you done to identify the cause of her issues and how to fix them so far? You’ve got four options, really:

• Put her to sleep
• Never have anyone visit your home ever again
• Surrender her back to the rescue
• Put in the time, money and effort to work with a behaviourist

You’ve fucked this dog up even more than she already was, so you need to make a decision fast.

I would return to the original owner, in the hope they can deal with the behaviour before PTS.

We have a reactive Romanian rescue, plus a ridiculously unreactive spaniel, and we've had our fair share of incidents but we're wise to her and understand that she can't be put in positions that makes her fearful. She doesn't like new people or experiences, but is relatively open to these if on her terms, I.e. meeting people in a neutral space, being ready with the treats no one touching her until she's ready etc - basic dog stuff. We're lucky we live in the countryside so there aren't many chances for her to meet unknown dogs/people; she was an unbelievable stress head when we lived in town. We would not have anyone in the house who she wasn't confident with. It's hard, we have almost returned her on numerous occasions due to the extra stress, but she's mellowing, and she genuinely adorable with her group of core people.

Return your dog, it's not fair on either them or you.

We're having issues with our new rescue dog too, she hasn't bitten anyone but there are a couple of occassions I think she's come close. We saw our vet this morning, he's recommended we havr a consultation with Jon Bowen, a vet and behaviourist. My vet says it'll set us back a few hundred but we will likely only need one appointment amd he's the best in the country. He said if you go to a regular trainer and what they tell you isn't correct it could make things worse.

Your vet would need to refer you to Jon.

@HappiestSleeping I just don't think anyone should be offering behavioural support while the dog is in such an unsuitable environment - it's highly irresponsible.

This dog needs to be handed over to a rescue centre or PTS responsibly.

I agree this is sounding like a lost cause but if the husband is intent on fixing the issues with the dog they need professional help or someone qualified to say let it go. Without this they will probably just carry on as they are.

the fur baby brigade will just state the dog (which behaves outdoors) is misunderstood. I suspect some questionable breeding is also at play.

@saltysandysea yes, it probably needs to come from a vet or expert in person rather than us.

I'm wondering if this is a foreign import as this kind of behaviour is incredibly common with ex-street dogs sadly.

You've obviously taken on a rescue thinking that you were doing the right thing, but ended up in a situation that you are not prepared for. I've been there. I was also the 'bad guy' (and also the one who would be at home dealing with the situation most of the time) when my partner wanted to give the dog a chance. In our situation, I insisted that if I was going to agree to this then he needed to find an appropriately qualified professional to work with us (luckily enough I know vets who were able to recommend someone locally), 'dog proof' the house and garden (we already had high fences but we put locks on the gates to avoid anyone surprising him outdoors, we added extra high baby gates so we can separate areas etc), muzzle train immediately and finally set ourselves a 6 month limit to see improvement. All on the condition that if the behaviourist thought he was too aggressive to be managed then he would be PTS.

Muzzle training and seeing the behaviourist really helped as it gave me confidence that (alongside training and separating him from visitors) I could manage him safely. The behaviourist really trained us, not the dog- as well as teaching us how to train him we have learned a lot about how to recognise and manage his needs to avoid difficult situations.

The work we have done with him has been expensive (properly qualified trainers who know about reactivity etc are not cheap but are absolutely necessary and worth every penny). You will also need the rest of your household and other people who would visit you regularly to be onboard and do as you ask around the dog. One of my dog's key triggers was older men and it took us 2 years to convince him that my Dad is not a threat. He is now a big fan but it took a a very long time, with his support and cooperation, to gradually and safely introduce them. The work is still ongoing 5 years later. I'm pleased that we made this decision but if you don't have the resources or personal circumstances to do it there should be no shame in admitting that. I would not have considered it if we had young children or needed to have lots of visitors.

@saltysandysea

Could still be caused by fear or past trauma.

Crate training is really helpful and dogs I’ve come across feel safe in their crates and choose to go in them even when you don’t put them there. Plus a good dog trainer, which will take some research

Hi - I'm a dog trainer.

I would say that your dog has only been with you for 2 months. It takes at least 3 months to settle. And about one or two years for a rescue dog to fully mellow out and become the dog that meshes closely with you with training and support.

You don't have an aggressive dog.

You have an anxious dog.

You have a dog that has zero confidence in new people in your home.

You CAN train this.

You can teach your dog to have more confidence around new people.

I'd start by limiting visitors for now and then begin training with your dog. Start with basic obedience training and a few simple tricks (sit, stay, down, place, paw, wait etc). This helps engage their brain and give them confidence that they know what you want them to do.

When a dog is in 'work mode', they can't use the emotional side of their brain. They are focused on you and how to get the treats from you and your instructions.

When your dog can do some basic obedience tricks confidently, introduce an unfamiliar person behind a baby gate. And as the person walks in, engage your dog with the trick and obedience training. Slowly but surely the dog will begin to ignore the newcomers. Eventually you can progress to newcomers bringing treats and toys for the dog, and asking guests to do some little training tricks with your dog to give your dog more confidence.

It will take a good few weeks.

Find a trainer who works with positive methods. Avoid choke chains and e collars or your dog will become more reactive.

Exactly what I have been saying-but to be realistic. Biting is unacceptable and has to stop. Without knowing the breed/history it maybe a lost cause.

Also wondering about where they got this dog from and why they passed it onto inexperienced dog owners.

I'm sorry OP, I wouldn't give her back, I'd have her PTS. Don't leave it any longer.

I am a real dog lover who has been involved with rehoming rescue dogs and usually I am all for giving dogs a chance but I think you have to PTS .
The dog sounds quite frightened and has no bite inhibition.
Is the Rescue reputable or just a "dog nut"? It may be that under the terms of your contract you HAVE to return him to her and she may just try and rehome again with the same or worse consequences.
Sadly some dogs just cannot be pets and its too dangerous to keep trying.

Sorry, but I agree with others, please PTS this dog. It's unfit as a pet. The kind of home this dog needs are hard to find

Givingg it back or to any other well meaning person will just put more people at risk and prolong the issues this dog has.
Plus, it may well end up in a cycle where it is passed from home to home but never settling... and being put down in 6, 12, 18 months or more.

💐

If you read my post, all I was actually offering was a conversation with the owner. At the time I wrote my offer, there was too little information about anything, although there are some indications.

Having worked with dogs for 30 years, and dealt with many issues, all I actually wanted was to speak to the owner (who I read as being completely stressed), and give some options for next steps. One of which may well be the big injection, but it's impossible to say that with certainty without a good deal more information.

You're lucky no one has reported this to the dog warden, I'd give it back or pts, it has the potential to seriously harm or kill someone.

I witnessed a family dog attack after a series of smaller incidents which were explained away. The result for the adult attacked was nearly 100 stitches, blood all over the walls and an aggressive dog who had to be PTS in a emergency situation. Everybody involved was traumatised. If it had been a child it would have killed. You know you need to PTS. Your husband is very naive.

At the time I wrote my offer, there was too little information about anything, although there are some indications.

There is still too little information for anyone remotely qualified - or unqualified as the case may be - to make any reasonable assessment about whether this dog can be helped. Pretending otherwise is disingenuous

Yes, and my point was that nobody on here should be offering any kind of assessment of the situation other than to say "speak to a vet or rescue". To do otherwise would be highly irresponsible.

@stilldazed your dog needs to go back. Urgently. This isn't the sort of situation that can be fixed by an amateur "having a go".

First time dog owners should stick to the reputable rescues, and that's a very shorty list - basically it comes down to RSPCA, Battersea, and Wood Green.

First time dog owners should avoid Dog's Trust, Many Tears, anywhere that imports street dogs, anywhere with a "we never put a heathy dog down" policy. These are either the shelters of last resort for behaviourally challenged dogs, or an absolute gamble when it comes to the history of the dog you'll be offered.

Your husband is being quite unrealistic tbh.

With some professional help, training and very heavy management it’s possible to end up with a dog you can live with… but not one that’s going to be happy to go visit strangers or meet them in your house.

One of my current dogs and a previous dog have been reactive - aggressive with strangers in particular, the previous one was pain related and after lots of medical issues and lots of training we ended up with a very long drawn out introduction process to meet new people, lasting at least 4 visits.

The current one, it’s taken a couple of years, about 1.5k of training and medication just to have him ok with people in the house while he’s in a different room.

Thank you tabulahrasa for sharing your experience.

My husband is determined to follow a course of rehabilitation. This has caused a lot of arguments. I'm exhausted