desperate. He attacked him again. Can anyone rehome him?

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hannah87

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Just wrote a long post and deleted it. In short he just attcked Louis again, unprovoked and in a flash when i though i had hold of him. Out final decision is made he needs a new home. We said if it happens again unprovoked hes gone. Louis is terrified. It was pure luck I got him off him without any more serious damage. I really now think he has it in his head that he must "sort" Louis out.

Can anyone help me? He is a really lovely doggy apart from this vendetta against Louis. This is the last ting i want but i have to put Louis first and tbh im worried for his life atm. To clarify Gizmo is an 8 month old JRt x fox terrier (maybe) .
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Never got round to replying to your previous post, really sorry it has come to this but living in fear of 2 dogs fighting is not fun. I don't know a lot about terriers but for an 8 month pup to be so determined to "sort" out an older dog seems unusual to me and it sounds as if this is escalating so personally I think you are doing the right thing. Good luck in finding him a home.
 

So sorry it has come to this. You have certainly given him enough chances.

I would contact your local animal shelters and try and get them to take him. They will be experienced enough to evaluate his character and find the most suitable home for him.

Good luck, it must be heartbreaking
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xx
 
Sorry to hear of your situation. I have looked back through some of your previous posts to see what has happened.

All I can do is tell you what our situation was when we took on a 12 month old unneutered male dog who had lived outside in a kennel and had not been taught how to behave so he didn't have a clue. We already had a 5 year old male who we have had since a pup.

At first there were many, many 'scraps'. I thought I'd done the wrong thing. He was neutered after 8 days. I can say that I hadn't made my mind up he was definitely staying till 3 months down the line. Now I wouldn't part with him. They still have the odd scrap when the focus goes off the toy and I have to separate them but it's few and far between now. Removal of all toys, always separated when we were out, time out until relaxed again after bad behaviour (no more than 2/3 minutes), lots of walks together and equal attention (do not make one dog more important than the other as this will cause competition for 'top dog'). 10 months on we love him to bits but it was very testing initially. I would also give it 2/3 months to see the maximum benefit of neutering.

The difference with us was that our older dog was never injured. I can understand that's hard to take and may have changed my mind.

If you do decide to rehome him it is absolutely VITAL that he is properly assessed before being rehomed again and that the home is thoroughly checked out. I know it is a horrible thought that he would have to go to a rescue centre but it would be better to spend a couple of weeks in kennels so that he is successfully rehomed to the right people so he doesn't have to move homes again. He would then have rescue back up for the rest of his life.

Have a look at dogpages.org.uk there is a huge amount of advise on their forums from people very involved in dog rescue and rescue centre info. Good luck with it, I know it's very difficult.
 
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Never got round to replying to your previous post, really sorry it has come to this but living in fear of 2 dogs fighting is not fun. I don't know a lot about terriers but for an 8 month pup to be so determined to "sort" out an older dog seems unusual to me and it sounds as if this is escalating so personally I think you are doing the right thing. Good luck in finding him a home.

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Knowing terriers as we do (had or bred them for nearly 50 years), once this has become ingrained behaviour, you'll have the devil of a job to sort it out without someone getting hurt as seems to be happening here. Terriers are like elephants and they never ever forget a grudge. I've known them be separated for months, even years in one case and once they meet again, the same war starts up again, usually worse. Being a Jack cross fox terrier is not a good mixture either; fox terriers are known to be hard s*ds, so cross that with a belligerent Jack and you have a nightmare, very irresponsible breeding I feel.

I posted last time that sadly, I wouldn't give the dog another chance at all and this just reinforces it. I wouldn't even think of rehoming it because I wouldn't want to feel responsible when (far more likely than if, IMHO) it started doing it with something or somebody else. It's not fair or responsible to pass this trouble on when there are so many nice tempered dogs in centres that can't find decent homes.
 
Thanks for all your replies.
There is not going to be another chance, he is being kept seperate from Louis until we find another home.
I do not beleive he should be PTS. He is a lovely dog who is not people agressive or even dog aggressive to any other dogs. It is a grudge/jealously/vendetta agianst Louis in the home environment.
He just needs a home where he is the only dog, and I am going to try my damnest to find him a lovely permenant home. I feel I have let him down but I know i have done everything I can. I will not see my other dog hurt again or live in fear of him. If anyone knows of anyone who may be interested in rehoming Gizmo please do let me know, I want only the best for him
 
I had a simular problem with my two Staffordshire bull terriers. Both were un neutered and fighting for top dog spot. We decided to have both neutered and it calmed the situation down a hell of alot. My older of the two (rip) kept his top dog spot and the younger (his son) left him alone and kept out of his way. It didnt calm down until around the 6 month point i must add - they say once a Staffie taste blood they will always gun for it but mine didnt in the end. We did make sure that they were never left on their own in the same room just as a precaution.

I put rip in there, just to make you aware he didnt die fighting he had a brain tumour and was pts last year.
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Thanks for all your replies.
There is not going to be another chance, he is being kept separate from Louis until we find another home.
I do not believe he should be PTS. He is a lovely dog who is not people aggressive or even dog aggressive to any other dogs. It is a grudge/jealously/vendetta against Louis in the home environment.
He just needs a home where he is the only dog, and I am going to try my damnedest to find him a lovely permanent home. I feel I have let him down but I know i have done everything I can. I will not see my other dog hurt again or live in fear of him. If anyone knows of anyone who may be interested in rehoming Gizmo please do let me know, I want only the best for him

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I'm sorry to hear this, I tried to think positive when I replied last evening and I understand that you see his positive sides in a different way than us, who only reads about him. I hope you do find a solution that works for Gizmo but in case you don't, here are some things that I did not mention last night.


As far as I understand, you don't know the temperament of his parents/ancestors and sadly not everyone views their e.g. brood bitch's temper realistically before breeding. Maybe he was not bred to develop into a mentally stable adult dog, even with proper socialization and without spending too much time in a crate.



For me, a dog that is very submissive when meeting other dogs are not happy and comfortable in the situation but a dog can be clearly submissive and still happy and comfortable in the situation. You say Gizmo is very submissive when he meets other dogs and I don't know if I would describe him that way if I saw him in real life, I do know that you've only had him for about 6 weeks and that things can change with time but sometimes they don't change.



You've said he was nervous when you got him (quite understandable going from mostly living in a crate to living in a normal home) but that his confidence have been growing. Still new things, like your OH trying to play with him in the barn makes him drop straight on his back and look terrified.
However understandable that reaction is to new things and situations for a dog having had such a start in life, until he becomes more comfortable living in the ''real world'', it will be a lot of nervousness and stress for him. Are you sure it is worth that, if he now have to change home again, maybe even first go to live in a rescue?



You've said he has [ QUOTE ]
shown slight aggression to me when told off - growling/lip curling etc. He also reacts very badly if someone accidentally hurts him - for example I stood (very lightly) on his tail once accidentally and he went crazy attacking my foot very aggressively.

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Maybe it is caused by stress, by not being properly socialized, by feeling uncertain and overwhelmed because of all the new impressions and situations but what if it isn't?






I understand the feeling of ''I feel I have let him down but I know i have done everything I can'', exchange he to she and possible JRT x Fox Terrier to a Doberman cross. I was young and thought anything could be cured with proper socialization when I bought her 8 weeks old, but she should not have been bred, she had behavioural and medical problems that vets, training classes and behaviourists could not help us cure.
It still happens more than 17 years later that I wonder if there was not something more I could have done, but I can only accept that I did the best I could do then and there, before euthanizing her only about 2 years old.


As said, I hope you do find Gizmo a new home and that he can live happily ever after but I know that sometimes, that just don't happen.

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Sorry no advice as I have never been in this situation. Just wanted to offer support though-you are doing the right thing. I just looked at the pics of them together and its quite sad that Gizmo has changed his opinion of Louis.
Good Luck.
x
 
I read your previous post and it sounds like a sad situation but I wouldn't give up on him yet. My rescue collie is the softest thing you have ever met but she and my mum's rescue (doberman-staffy-labby-cross thing) have had some horrendous fights when we first got ours. It is so so scary and hard not to panic. In the end I carried a squirty water bottle with me at all times and as soon as there was the slightest growl or curled lip or hackles up, I woud squirt my dog strongly in the face. This worked brilliantly and they largely tolerate each other now. I see you have tried the freezing water but I think a direct squirt in the face is pretty effective.

Also have you considered one of the electrocution collars? They are expensive but are remote-controlled and you can up the intensity as you need to. Consistent messages that the behaviour equals pain or discomfort can work pretty well. It might be worth it, if it were successful it would be a wonderful outcome for you all.

As MFH has said though, terriers are seriously hard b"stards and perhaps this therefore won't work but I think it would be worth a shot. Also it looks like the neutering might not have kicked in yet so if you could try to give it a bit more time it might be worth it.

A very sad situation, but bear in mind if you're thinking of re-homing that you would be passing this problem on and he might just have as much a problem with any other dog or even try to channel his anger at people eventually.

I know how it feels when you are at the end of your teather and this horror keeps happening in your home to your beloved dog who was here first but I think it sounds like it's not Gizmo's fault and I know it's a gamble but if you could bear to give it just a little bit longer it might really be worth it.
 
An electric collar could easily wind him up even more, the timing must be absolutely precise or they will have the wrong effect.Once the unwanted behaviour has started it is too late to apply a shock, you need to give it when the very first thought enters the dog's head.

CC has mentioned before how some people use them to wind up guarding breeds and increase their aggression.

OP, this is a horrible situation for you, and there is no shame in calling some rescues to ask for help. They have much better facilities to find Gizmo the ideal home for him than you do.
 
Thanks, but an electric collar is definately not the right option for Giz. It would make him more scared, nervous and probably more aggressive to Louis by redirecting his pain at him. The huge problem now is that there is NO warning signs. He doesnt growl, lip curl or snarl it goes from wagging and all happy to full on attack. Therefore it is incredibley hard to predict or correct before its too late and hes trying to kill Louis.
 
Hi there, sorry to hear you have been having more problems, poor wee men!

As Spudlet says, some people who use e-collars to heighten attack drive in dogs, spurring them on to take down the 'criminal'.

So as you can see, using it at different times can change meaning.

If you cannot predict when he will go, if there are no overt warning signs, then using one would be a nightmare!
 
Defo do not put him to sleep.... advertise in your local saddler etc. sounds like he needs a home without any current dogs so he can rule the roost without causing chaos.

xxx
 
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