need to rehome my dog:(

siennamiller

siennamiller

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We have a jrt x lakeland x patterdale. He is 6 yrs, always had a lovely nature but we think he bit our toddler on tuesday
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We took him to the vets to talk it thru with him, and have him cheked over. He took bloods and they are all normal, just waiting for thyroid results.
I know some people will say he should be put down but my husband particularly is absolutely heartbroken. The vet agreed with us that in his professional opinion he shold be rehomed with no kids, and not put down.
Just wondering if anyone is looking for a dog, and would be interested?
Thanks
a
 
Hi Hunny,

I do not know of anyone as I am trying to find my doggie a home too!
However I will keep my eye out for you, the people on here have been great and I have had so many people interested in my dog.
I hope you can find him a nice new home, its so sad but I can see why you have to do this.

Claire xx
 
Since you said [ QUOTE ]
but we think he bit our toddler

[/ QUOTE ]I presume nobody saw what happened?

I can't tell you what you should do, but personally if I haven't seen what happened, I would just make sure to not leave them alone again and watch the dogs behaviour around the toddler when I was supervising them. If I then saw something that worried me, well then I would know what I really was dealing with.

I've said before on this forum that I've told my sisters three children some years ago (oldest now 14 years old) when I had two elderly dogs and one just a few years younger than the other two, that if they fall over one of my sleeping old dogs in their dog bed, old dogs wakes up, maybe in pain and certainly feeling trapped and bites the child lying on top of them, I will not blame the dog.
Since nobody of my sisters children when we talked about it, liked the thought of their aunt landing on top of them in the middle of the night while sleeping over, they decided that landing on top of a sleeping dog in their dog bed was wrong.

So personally, I really don't expect my dogs to tolerate absolute everything and anything from children in my home. In a situation where you don't know what your toddler might have done to the dog before the possible bite and I haven't read anything about how the dog usually acts around the toddler, I would never suggest you to euthanize the dog.

If nobody saw it happen, are you 100% certain that the only possible explanation is a dog bite? You did use the word "think".
 
Hi
Thanks for taking the time to write such a long reply. I was at work, my husband was with Ben. Ben pulled the dogs tail, and the dog whipped round. He either bit him, or was going to and headbutted him with his teeth and split his lip. The trouble is this dog bit 2 people in the last 3 weeks as well. He has always been fab with the baby but I just don't trust him now. I do agree, and have no problem with the dog giving a warning nip but he has had to have 2 stitches in his lip, and he had a mark under his eye which is where I think the other teeth were iykwim.
 
Poor you.... what an awful situation to be in, you must be devastated.
You are doing the right thing..... quite frankly once is once too many - and I have my own dogs, love them dearly, but would not take that kind of risk (I got a lab over other dogs because of my 2 neices and spent a lot of time with them from a puppy so she's used to a good mauling - and positively thrives on it, but i'd never leave them unsupervised). You can't guarantee you can be there 24/7 and its just not worth it.
There are some smaller dog charities that will take on dogs that need rehoming under this kind of cirumstance (you may have to trawl the internet abit) it may also be worth talking to the Dogs Trust to see if they can recommend options.
The fact that your dog has bitten 2 other people doesn't bode well, and in a new and stressful environment may be more likely to bite.
As awful as it sounds (and obviously i'm not privvy to circumstances around each situation) don't rule out the unthinkable. That way you know what happens to your dog..... I don't mean to sound insensitive, and you may just find a perfect home, but don't fell guilty if you have to do the unthinkable - you would just be being very responsible.
I don't envy you your situation and wish you all the best.
 
Okay, it makes it a little different if he's recently bit 2 others and that you know in about what happened.

What you choose to do is after all your decision, personally if it only had been about your toddler I would have been worried but willing to look at it with a benefit of doubt, about whether he actually intended to bite the toddler when his tail got pulled or if it was an accident that his teeth got to close if he only intended to turn around to give a warning.

The thing that worries me most is that you say [ QUOTE ]
he has always been fab with the baby

[/ QUOTE ] but during the last three weeks he has bitten 2 others and then this with the toddler. The way I see it, dogs doesn't have to love children, dogs isn't always comfortable around children, but dogs doesn't go from being fabulous with children to being unreliable without a reason.

Whether that reason is that something has happened involving children, whether it's a sign of a physical and/or psychological ailment, whether it's a sign of either not getting enough or getting to much of physical and/or psychological stimulation resulting in that it affects his mentality, which of this reason or reasons it is for your dog I don't know.

Since you've already taken him to the vet and had him checked up, I think you also believe that it must be something causing his change of behaviour. But finding out what is wrong when they can't talk isn't always easy and it's understandable if you don't want to take any chances with a toddler around.
 
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