Help please, hoping to rehome

This isn't a small dog. This is a dog with a history of being capable of having a go at another dog. She also has a history of having lunged at a person. She has now killed another dog. Accident or no accident, a dog has died and not a strange dog, a dog that she has lived with long term.

Now, dogs living together can tell each other off. I have four, they are all very different and our little JRT can get so excited sometimes that he literally cannot stay still. If he does his little excited dance under the male collie (all my dogs are neutered) the collie will pin him. That is, he will pin the JRT to the floor, using his front legs, not his mouth. The JRT will scream like he is being killed, but actually, the collie is just making him stay still. One word to the collie, "leave" and he lets go and the JRT has calmed down, it's pack behaviour and I don't get involved other than to say leave as nothing bad is happening.

That is one dog telling another dog to stop. It is not a scrap and it is not dangerous. If one of your friends dogs died of injuries sustained by the DDB then accident or not, it could happen again.

I don't like the idea of otherwise lovely dogs being PTS, but...I also don't think the current owners can rehome the dog and be safe in the knowledge that the dog will be ok.

If this dog is rehomed, there are no guarantees that the new owners will ALWAYS be careful. There will always be a chance that concentration can slip and someone could get bitten or that after a few months of the dog behaving well they allow a friend to bring their dog over and bang...the opportunity is there and something could again go wrong. A responsible person would send her back to the rehoming centre.

What if they don't though. What if the dog does kill a dog again or bites again?

What if the new owner just gives up and chucks the dog out, dumping her somewhere. Maybe she will be picked up by a well meaning rehoming centre that doesn't know her history, keeps her for a week in which she seems fine and puts her up for rehoming. What if the person that rehomes her ignores any warnings or advice and allows her in a home with a young child. Sound familiar?

The dog that killed little Lexi was dumped by someone. How can your friends guarantee that a home they or you find for her won't do that one day?

It would absolutely break my heart, but I would PTS for the sake of the dog.

If anything happens to Dan and I, three of our dogs would be fine to be rehomed. Luckily, my parents will take them all permanently, but...if anything then happened to them, all of my family know that Stig must be PTS. Dan and I have insisted on this. He is fine now, but he has shown fear aggression in the past and so, with the upheaval of losing us and my parents, I do not trust that he would be safe for others, so my conscience won't allow me to take that risk with him.

I really do say this with a heavy heart, but I do think there is only one responsible thing to do if your friends don't want to keep the dog. It's a very hard reality, but a reality nonetheless.
 
Goodness that’s a serious amount of dog to be blipping, for incredibly soppy I read unpredictable. Don’t doubt the dog is very much loved but sometimes that means making the hardest call of all.
 
Aru said:
The dogs trust do.Some of the dogs I treated there almost 3 years ago are still in kennels awaiting rehoming. One was so aggressive two people had to enter the kennel every day to catch him for cleaning walks etc.Needed sedation on board to be given any sort of examine by a vet..Hes apparently suitable for an experienced home.I cant imagine hes enjoying his 2 years in kennels with each day producing that much stress.

but hey...they never put a healthy dog down...isn't that great :(
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That is shocking. :-(
 
I take it the JR was another bitch, Im sure we all know how feisty they are and never back down over a fight, if the JR was always the instigator then the DDB was defending herself. Im just as concerned though as the lack of management, one of these should have been rehomed or kept separated as this was always on the cards because of the size difference. My male Dobermann does not like to fight, he will do his utmost to avoid one and has even been known to sit on an aggresser but if another dog was not accepting it and walking a way and it developed into a full scale fight then the outcome could be the same as the OPs friends dog if it was a little dog.

Also if someone (a stranger) pushed their way into my house I would be mightly p****d off if my Dobermanns didnt respond.

I hope the OPs friend contacts the DDB breed rescue and explains exactly the circumstances, if they are anything like I described I would expect them to take her.
 
My lurcher has been in a fight (3 bitches) where one dog was killed and has also bitten someone in circumstances far less understandalbe than the case for this dog. I agree there is a lot of emotion around big bull breeds - and rightly so I, for instance, would never have one - but I do think she possibly deserves a chance. The owners really should spay her first, if they haven't already.
 
Hi guys, thank you for all of the responses. I've told her about the responses and advised that she either rehomes through a breed-specific rescue or has her pts. She's really unhappy about this but has said that is what she will do.

Must admit I'm absolutely gutted about this, but then again I wouldn't have previously thought that she would do serious damage to the JR, let alone kill it.

ETA Jr was a bitch, and I don't know if the DDB has been speyed.
 
If there wasn't such a massive difference in size then the jrt probably wouldn't have been as badly injured.
I do know a dog that did similar & went to a home with similar sized companions as was ok with other dogs and has been fine since.

http://www.ironmountain-dogrescue.com/

http://largebreeddogrescue.co.uk/

http://www.dogpages.org.uk/ could try private homings & request some rescue backup. If you look under breed rescue they also have contact info for some all-breed rescues by area.
 
2Greys said:
If there wasn't such a massive difference in size then the jrt probably wouldn't have been as badly injured.
I do know a dog that did similar & went to a home with similar sized companions as was ok with other dogs and has been fine since.

http://www.ironmountain-dogrescue.com/

http://largebreeddogrescue.co.uk/

http://www.dogpages.org.uk/ could try private homings & request some rescue backup. If you look under breed rescue they also have contact info for some all-breed rescues by area.
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Great post and very best of luck OP and well done for making the effort to try and put right the situation this dog is in. You made it quite clear that the dog is not yours, and that you understand the bleakness of its options. Let us know what comes of the links :) xx
 
I think all those rushing with PTS are over reacting

A dog that size fighting with a JRT x would easily kill it regardless look at the size difference, my boxer will bite if a stranger attempted to push into our house , I've been nipped by a poodle in someone's house.

Dogs guard there homes,

I work for a rescue of another breed which gets a hard time, totally unjustified, of course

I'd advise the owners to contact the breed specific rescue, ask them to take the dog. They will most likely place it in foster with experienced handlers of the breed who will assess its temperament correctly not just some randoms on Internet putting 2 and 2 and coming up with 6 when most likely have zero knowledge of the breed.

They are the experts, hand the dog to them and they will asses and re-home accordingly.
 
By the logic of some of the people on here I think Tia would be pts :(

I really hope the breed rescue can help OP. I've had to rehome Quila as by girls cannot live together. Tia has the potential to kill Quila despite her only ever reacting not attacking.
 
Aru said:
Most dog fights between "pack"are a lot of noise with few injuries...deaths are unusual. .
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I'm sorry this is simply not true... It depends on the breed my sister has two pugs who scrap all the time yet little damage is done as there not fighting dogs

Two staffies, Rotties big powerful dogs fight it's a horrendous sight believe me and the damage caused in a short space of time can be horrendous, my boxer started a fight with my Staffie now there best of friends and have and do live together happily , yet I witnessed and struggled to stop the Staffie near killing the boxer, she was in intensive care for 7 days. All this damage in less that 2mins fighting.

Had that been a smaller dog it would if been over in seconds and the dog killed.

Yet the Staffie is not aggressive at all , and fine with other dogs but it was provoked and once it started it was not stopping.
There designed to inflict a lot of damage quickly.

Packs do fight and it can be very nasty

Once you start owning 3 or more dogs they really start behaving like a pack and if your not careful you can end up with a handful.
 
I don't think anyone rushing to PTS actually wants to see this girl PTS, I certainly don't. I just think a great deal of care needs to be taken. Just to make that point.
 
Daytona said:
I think all those rushing with PTS are over reacting

A dog that size fighting with a JRT x would easily kill it regardless look at the size difference, my boxer will bite if a stranger attempted to push into our house , I've been nipped by a poodle in someone's house.

Dogs guard there homes,

I work for a rescue of another breed which gets a hard time, totally unjustified, of course

I'd advise the owners to contact the breed specific rescue, ask them to take the dog. They will most likely place it in foster with experienced handlers of the breed who will assess its temperament correctly not just some randoms on Internet putting 2 and 2 and coming up with 6 when most likely have zero knowledge of the breed.

They are the experts, hand the dog to them and they will asses and re-home accordingly.
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I completely agree, very ott most of the replies and the size difference was the major contributing factor to the dogs death, also the breed didnt go down well either.

I would be interested to hear if those recommending pts would have said the same if it had been a Golden Retriever or another large breed which had killed. I think the media have a lot to answer for as their brainwashing has worked, in a lot of peoples mind it was a DDB which killed that little girl due to the media publishing photos of Lexxy with one and assuming that was the dog responsible.
 
I completely stand by my opinion this dog should be pts. I am sorry, but this country is in a dire state with the amount of dogs/animals which need rehoming. I'm afraid IMO, a dog of this nature is not one which should be taking the space of one which hasn't displayed any aggressive behaviour. Harsh, yes, but when you see dogs going stir crazy in kennels because of lack of homes, and they have never shown any aggression whatsoever, I am afraid you get a little tougher in attitude.
 
Dobiegirl said:
I completely agree, very ott most of the replies and the size difference was the major contributing factor to the dogs death, also the breed didnt go down well either.

I would be interested to hear if those recommending pts would have said the same if it had been a Golden Retriever or another large breed which had killed. I think the media have a lot to answer for as their brainwashing has worked, in a lot of peoples mind it was a DDB which killed that little girl due to the media publishing photos of Lexxy with one and assuming that was the dog responsible.
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I would say it WHATEVER the breed/size.
 
Dobiegirl said:
I completely agree, very ott most of the replies and the size difference was the major contributing factor to the dogs death, also the breed didnt go down well either.

I would be interested to hear if those recommending pts would have said the same if it had been a Golden Retriever or another large breed which had killed. I think the media have a lot to answer for as their brainwashing has worked, in a lot of peoples mind it was a DDB which killed that little girl due to the media publishing photos of Lexxy with one and assuming that was the dog responsible.
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I know it wasn't a DDB that killed the little girl. I've not been brainwashed. I'm simply pointing out that when a dog has shown aggression and you let it go to someone else, you lose all control over how that dog is going to be handled.

There have been posts advising private rehoming which I will go out on a limb and say I strongly disagree with unless the new owners are very known to the owners and trustworthy as well as being experienced dog owners. That or a breed specific centre would be perfect. The sad fact is, so many dogs end up in the wrong hands which can make things worse for them, which ultimately manifests itself in their behaviour. I just advise to proceed with caution.

I HATE the idea of dogs ending up in homes where their needs aren't being met. I love rescue and rehoming when a dog goes from a bad life to a loving home. The other way round and I would prefer the dog end its days peacefully than live a sub standard life after knowing such a loving one. It's really hard to guarantee great homes.
 
PTS really is a last resort. No responses from rescues yet, though hopefully we'll be hearing from them soon.

If I wasn't at uni and had my own house and a secure job, I would take her in. I love this dog to pieces and it really is upsetting knowing that when I'm next at their property working with the horses, she won't be there to go round the fields with me.

I can't even suggest it to my parents because a) none of us are around as much as would be necessary, b) my sister is nervous enough around smaller dogs, let alone a breed as big as a DDB and c) my dad doesn't like the breed and wouldn't want one in the house.

ETA the owners are very aware that she'll need to go to a home experienced with the breed, they don't know anyone which is why we're contacting breed specific rescues. They're the best way to find a dog the home it needs IMO.
 
If you rehome to the DDB rescue they will always own the dog they will keep tabs on it so unsure why people are saying you don't know what will happen to it.??

No you might not but the rescue will.

There is no reason for this dog to be PTS.

It's nipped 1 stranger and had 1 dog fight, hardly a history requiring it to be dead. I truely believe you would not be saying this if it was a lab or such like despite what you say.

And it is this kind of attitude the likes of The Daily Fail have caused.

Yes the kennels are full if dogs, so what, does not mean you should start destroying dogs because of it.


Please OP get in contact with all DDB rescues up and down the country - they will help you.

You have been given one here is another

http://www.ddbwelfare.org.uk

http://www.ddbsarescue.org
 
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Jinx94 said:
PTS really is a last resort. No responses from rescues yet, though hopefully we'll be hearing from them soon.

If I wasn't at uni and had my own house and a secure job, I would take her in. I love this dog to pieces and it really is upsetting knowing that when I'm next at their property working with the horses, she won't be there to go round the fields with me.

I can't even suggest it to my parents because a) none of us are around as much as would be necessary, b) my sister is nervous enough around smaller dogs, let alone a breed as big as a DDB and c) my dad doesn't like the breed and wouldn't want one in the house.

ETA the owners are very aware that she'll need to go to a home experienced with the breed, they don't know anyone which is why we're contacting breed specific rescues. They're the best way to find a dog the home it needs IMO.
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Is there any way they can work out a management plan so that they can keep her. We've managed long term keeping our dogs totally away from children that have lived with us (with their parents, just in the interests of transparency) and it takes some work to start with but after a week or so it becomes second nature.

They could see this, as I said to the OP in the other thread with a rescue dog that nipped at a painter...they could see this as a positive thing. They have the knowledge about the dogs possible behaviours and that puts them in a better position than many owners who are blissfully unaware that they have ticking time bombs.

I never think any dog is a write off in terms of behaviour issues. Sure there will always be the odd exception, but the behaviours usually have a root. Could they get a behaviourist, preferably one from the DDB rehoming centre to help them?
 
Daytona said:
If you rehome to the DDB rescue they will always own the dog they will keep tabs on it so unsure why people are saying you don't know what will happen to it.??

No you might not but the rescue will.

There is no reason for this dog to be PTS.

It's nipped 1 stranger and had 1 dog fight, hardly a history requiring it to be dead. I truely believe you would not be saying this if it was a lab or such like despite what you say.

And it is this kind of attitude the likes of The Daily Fail have caused.

Yes the kennels are full if dogs, so what, does not mean you should start destroying dogs because of it.


Please OP get in contact with all DDB rescues up and down the country - they will help you.
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I'm passing on what the owner has said. Her husband wants the dog gone, he's pushing for PTS. I've emailed several rescues but have not heard anything back yet, will be emailing more in the morning.

I personally have no issues with any breed of dog. There are some that I wouldn't like to own because I don't find them aesthetically pleasing/the general temperament of the breed isn't something that I am suited to. This DDB however would have a forever home with me if it were possible. I will do what I can to help find her a home.
 
_GG_ said:
Is there any way they can work out a management plan so that they can keep her. We've managed long term keeping our dogs totally away from children that have lived with us (with their parents, just in the interests of transparency) and it takes some work to start with but after a week or so it becomes second nature.

They could see this, as I said to the OP in the other thread with a rescue dog that nipped at a painter...they could see this as a positive thing. They have the knowledge about the dogs possible behaviours and that puts them in a better position than many owners who are blissfully unaware that they have ticking time bombs.

I never think any dog is a write off in terms of behaviour issues. Sure there will always be the odd exception, but the behaviours usually have a root. Could they get a behaviourist, preferably one from the DDB rehoming centre to help them?
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From what I've been told, it sounds like the husband isn't going to budge, I'll make the suggestion though.
 
Jinx94 said:
I'm passing on what the owner has said. Her husband wants the dog gone, he's pushing for PTS. I've emailed several rescues but have not heard anything back yet, will be emailing more in the morning.

I personally have no issues with any breed of dog. There are some that I wouldn't like to own because I don't find them aesthetically pleasing/the general temperament of the breed isn't something that I am suited to. This DDB however would have a forever home with me if it were possible. I will do what I can to help find her a home.
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Good on you for trying to help this doggie out.

Try calling them you might have more luck, I know for the rescue I work for emails can take a while to be responded to, best to ring ,

Good luck and keep us posted
 
Daytona said:
If you rehome to the DDB rescue they will always own the dog they will keep tabs on it so unsure why people are saying you don't know what will happen to it.??

No you might not but the rescue will.

There is no reason for this dog to be PTS.

It's nipped 1 stranger and had 1 dog fight, hardly a history requiring it to be dead. I truely believe you would not be saying this if it was a lab or such like despite what you say.

And it is this kind of attitude the likes of The Daily Fail have caused.

Yes the kennels are full if dogs, so what, does not mean you should start destroying dogs because of it.


Please OP get in contact with all DDB rescues up and down the country - they will help you.
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I don't see the point in comparing a DDB with a lab personally. Labs have been responsible for human fatalities as well so no, breed won't mean anything to me personally.

The rescue dog I have was beaten in a foster home because they ignored the agreement not to allow other dogs to integrate with her. They ignored this, she went for the other dog and she got kicked hard enough that she was fearful of men for a while as well. The dogs home still owned her, but it didn't stop another dog getting hurt and her getting a good kick and shut in a small room for 3 months before they owned up to any of it. She now lives with three other dogs so I know dogs can be rehabilitated. I hope every dog likes her gets another chance, but I honestly believe that it is worth some serious thought first.

Before judging those that advise to maybe PTS, remember we may be thinking ONLY about the future welfare of the dog, not the emotions of people.
 
Moomin1 said:
The dog should be pts. Simple.
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Total codswallop , what justification is there for this..? Zero..

Because it's a large dog.? And one was linked unfairly with the death of a child recently, that's the only reason you say this. Brainwashed by trash newspapers.

And here us Brits meant to be a nation of animal lovers....
 
_GG_ said:
I don't see the point in comparing a DDB with a lab personally. Labs have been responsible for human fatalities as well so no, breed won't mean anything to me personally.

The rescue dog I have was beaten in a foster home because they ignored the agreement not to allow other dogs to integrate with her. They ignored this, she went for the other dog and she got kicked hard enough that she was fearful of men for a while as well. The dogs home still owned her, but it didn't stop another dog getting hurt and her getting a good kick and shut in a small room for 3 months before they owned up to any of it. She now lives with three other dogs so I know dogs can be rehabilitated. I hope every dog likes her gets another chance, but I honestly believe that it is worth some serious thought first.

Before judging those that advise to maybe PTS, remember we may be thinking ONLY about the future welfare of the dog, not the emotions of people.
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A foster carer beat the dog..? Well the rescue really needs to be more careful with home checking people who work for them.

All out foster carers are experienced trust worthy people who can handle and asses dogs. To hear of a foster beating a dog that's disgusting .
 
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