Dog kept in small cage - also in dogs

MrsElle

MrsElle

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We do a bit of dog sitting in our village and one customer has two dogs, a lovely lad and a medium sized mongrel bitch who she inherited when a family member passed away.

Local proffessional dog sitters refused to come back after coming off second against this little bitch who is rather agressive at times. However, we have always got on with her and most of the time she is a dear little thing.

We hadn't seen her for some time and when we were called upon last week we were shocked. She is now living in a small cage upstairs (with no human contact for much of the time) as the big lad and her have started fighting. This cage is tiny, she can curl up to sleep and there is just enough room for food and water bowls. She is very very food aggressive and will fling herself at the cage bars if you go anywhere near it which makes letting her out and putting her in difficult. Out of the cage she is a sweetie, lots of waggy tails and licks.

Her behaviour is getting worse, she is getting more and more aggressive, which is hardly surprising given she is in this cage for 23 and a half hours a day The owner asked if we would help rehome her but to be honest no rescue centre would take her for rehoming given her aggression and we advised it might be best to have the bitch PTS as she has no quality of life. I doubt our advice will be followed however, and I am just so sad for this little dog.

Is there anyone I can speak to regarding her care? Will the RSPCA do anything?
 
if the dog can stand up and turn around in the cage then it is within the law.

i would try and see if the dogs trust will take it as they are very good at retraining aggresive dogs
 
What a horrible situation!

It sounds like the current owners are not really coping but they need to address this issue. I think they only have limited options:
- rehome her to a very experienced person who can deal with her aggression.
- sign her over to a welfare charity, but I suspect they may PTS if she is aggressive as they may not have time to deal with her.
- PTS. This may sound harsh but the poor doggie sounds like she is having a horrible life.

I would try to discuss this again with the owners and if they do not do anything I think you may have to report them to a welfare organisation.
 
Talk to Dogs Trust. Don't assume that a welfare agency would have her pts, but if they would then maybe that would be the best thing for her.
 
I would approach the dogs trust too as they won't PTS if they can help it. I think dog aggression can be worked on and it sounds like this dog just doesn't know her position in the household and sounds stressed. If she's nice an waggy and friendly once out then I would imagine there is hope for her but it sounds like she would need rehoming to someone with more experience and maybe where she is the sole dog in the house.

If you've ever watched dog borstal you will know there are a fair few dogs out there who have these aggression problems and, more often than not it's due to the owner not being knowledgeable enough and the result is a confused dog that uses aggression as its defence.

They could try a behaviourist if they want to keep the dog but obviously that costs and it sounds more like they want to rehome and I think that sounds the best option for the dog too.
 
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will fling herself at the cage bars if you go anywhere near it which makes letting her out and putting her in difficult. Out of the cage she is a sweetie, lots of waggy tails and licks.


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That doesn't sound like food aggression to me but rather that she is 'guarding' the cage. Our Rottweiler bitch would do this if she had to go in a cage at the vet's. If they fastened her to something to wait for us without a cage she was fine. If she was in a cage we had to go and open it ourselves. If there was no cage involved she had the most wonderful temperament at all times. The best cure for this little dog would be to keep her out of the cage. I don't understand why she has to be in a cage if the two dogs are being kept in separate rooms but certainly agree that she would be much better re-homed. I would try the Dogs Trust.
 
The owners are cruel full stop! Shut them in a cage and see how they like it!
There are plenty of other ways not by keeping her in a cage, Im sorry Im not going to say a lot as I think these people are nasty however the RSPCA will do absolutely nothing, go to the dogs trust and see what they do, tell them that if they dont do anything then you will be putting her to sleep. They probably will take her though, they are good with retraining agressive dogs, good luck.
 
Where are you?

Please do find a Dog's trust or some other rehoming scheme. I will ask a friend as they foster dogs and try and find new homes for them, i will find out the name of the organisation.

All this dog needs is common sense and some attentive owners. Not to be locked away. I am sure this little dog can go on to have a lovely life, there are plenty of knowledgeable people out there (just need to find them)

x
 
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