HA Dog question... (need answers ASAP)

[Zife]

At the vet clinic where I'm fostering pups from, there's a 6 month old mastiff mix. He's very human aggresive, but doesn't bite. He lunges, barks and growls, and had there not been 2 border collie cross pups that stole my heart, I would have taken him to foster.

His behaviour his getting worse, and he chased (CHASED... the employee was new and didn't know he was HA... she shouldn't have been in that room but she didn't know and was told to feed the brindle mastiff in the other room, she picked the wrong room) an employee down the hall. He's going to be PTS if no one fosters him and tries to alter his rising aggresion problem, so I've been trying to find him a foster. I found two that would take him, but one is already picking up a puppy from a shelter on Sunday. The one that would take him needs information on HA dogs though, so I told him I'd call him back at 9 tonight with some more information. Its 7:30 now.

... how would you handle a dog thats THAT human aggresive?

 

[Lizmo]

I really have no idea other than a behavorist, but since he's only 6 months old he's not dead-set in his ways and is still learning.

Do you know his history?

 

[Zife]

Someone sold their home and left him behind, tethered in the yard for a week until the new movers moved in and spotted him in the yard. He was HA and they home owners said they thought the previous owerns beat him. They had to call AC to come pick him up because they were afraid to go into the yard.

 

[Saintgirl]

Unfortunatley, I beleive that your friend should already be aware of HA in dogs if they are considering fostering a dog with aggressive tendencies. Coping with HA, especially with a giant breed is something that cannot be learned from reading a couple of articles in one evening. An experienced dog handler with knowledge of behavior modification should be the foster family, otherwise this dog poses a serious risk. An unexperienced hand might not only get biten but actually reinforce the aggressive behaviors unintentionally.

I do feel horrible for the dog, but am leary of a foster home with good intentions without the knowledge to rehabilitate the dog. I hope a foster home with experience can be found.

 

[Zife]

Unfortunatley, I beleive that your friend should already be aware of HA in dogs if they are considering fostering a dog with aggressive tendencies. Coping with HA, especially with a giant breed is something that cannot be learned from reading a couple of articles in one evening. An experienced dog handler with knowledge of behavior modification should be the foster family, otherwise this dog poses a serious risk. An unexperienced hand might not only get biten but actually reinforce the aggressive behaviors unintentionally.

I do feel horrible for the dog, but am leary of a foster home with good intentions without the knowledge to rehabilitate the dog. I hope a foster home with experience can be found.

I agree with you, but I said I would call him tonight. He has 2 weeks, and I've called the clinic and they've told me they're willing to wait a bit longer than 2 weeks IF I can find a responsible foster home.

I've called the ones with HA dog experience, but they've all just recently taken in fosters, one quit, one told me not to call them ever again and told me nothing, and one said he was going on vacation but he would if he could.

Diesel's such a cutie, and I would cry day and night if he was PTS. I walk by him everyday, and he gets up and growls, and watches me walk by.

... I'm going to make a few more phone calls, but I'ds appreciate any other comments.

** and in correction to my last post, he was abandoned and tethered with two other dogs, who were his littermates, or so we presume.

 

[Romy]

This is really terrible. In my opinion, the responsible thing to do might be to have him PTS. It's not his fault. Some people are complete failures when it comes to socializing and teaching dogs how to live in a human world. Unfortunately, it is the dogs (and sometimes innocent bystanders) who pay.

He has to ability to inflict a massive amount of damage on a person, or kill someone. As sad as his situation is, no person's life is worth the risk of trying to put him in an inexperienced foster home and rehabilitate him. Most rescues will not take a human aggressive dog and rehabilitate to adopt him out, because if he bit or killed someone, or another animal, the rescue would be liable. Anybody who takes this dog on needs to understand that if they ever rehome him and he harms someone, THEY will be at fault because they knew he was human aggressive and rehomed him anyway. That is something a person could lose their house over.

There are hundreds of really wonderful, loving, well adjusted dogs being PTS every day. My feelings on this are that it would be a better investment of someone's foster time to pull one of those guys from the jaws of death and find them a home where they can live out their days, rather than mess with a HA dog who will forever be a liability to whoever brings him into their home.

Sorry, this probably isn't what you wanted to hear, but it is important for anyone considering taking this dog on what the risks are.

Lastly, has his thyroid been tested? Sometimes a low thyroid can cause a dog to suddenly act aggressive, and it is very easy to correct.

 

[BostonBanker]

Unfortunatley, I beleive that your friend should already be aware of HA in dogs if they are considering fostering a dog with aggressive tendencies.

Absolutely. The last thing this dog needs is to get into a home that doesn't know what they are doing. Someone will wind up getting hurt, and the dog will be the one who pays.

While it is nice to say, "Oh, he's only a puppy, you can still work with him", there is another side to that. He is only a puppy. At six months, very very few dogs show that sort of human aggression. It normally comes out closer to two years, as they start to hit sexual maturity. If he is chasing people down the hall and growling at people going by now, imagine what is to come.

If there is a highly experienced behavioralist who is willing to take him in and evaluate him, great. Otherwise, it is unfair for an unsuspecting foster home to be asked to take this dog in. Resources in rescue situations are always stretched thin, and sometimes decisions have to be made. There are an awful lot of large breed, adolescent dogs being killed every day who don't bite and growl and aggress. If there is no health issue causing these problems, it sounds like it may be best to PTS and focus on the dogs who don't already have such issues.

I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, but it is unfortunately the way of life. Poor guy. It sounds like he's pretty unhappy with life right now.

 

[Zife]

News.

I was in a desperate mood, and I awknowledge all that you've said, but as my uncle used to say:

When all else fails, beg!

I called the guy that said never to call him again. He was ticked, but this is how it went:

Me: Hello, sir, this is Crash _____ calling again about-
Man: ... I thought I told you not to call me ever again.
Me: Please, sir, it's important!
Man: ... What is it?

I told him about Diesel, and told him how it was unfair for him to go down without at least a try. He's not familiar with my town because he lives in a different one, but agreed to meet me at the border of the two cities and show him the way to the vet clinic.

I made sure he knows the risks, and he said he just wanted to meet Diesel first, and that was it. He sounded like one of those guys that say maybe all the time, and realy mean yes.

I'm realy hoping Diesel's in a decent mood tommorow. This guy seemed realy unsure.

 

[StevePax]

I'm afraid my vote is with Romy as well. There are lots of lovable, sweet, kind, and playful dogs that are put to sleep every day. Save one of those, since you can't save them all. This one should probably be put to sleep.

 

[BostonBanker]

I'm realy hoping Diesel's in a decent mood tommorow.

I hope he is in his normal mood, so that this guy can really see what he is getting into. Diesel having a good day so the guy agrees to take him, and then going back to his normal self isn't going to help anyone. This needs to be done completely honestly and upfront.

If the guy does agree to take him, please please please, arrange for a professional behaviorist to evaluate the dog as well. A giant six month old puppy with severe HA needs to be taken very seriously. I still don't believe a dog like that should be placed, but I'll put that aside and hope for the best for Diesel. Good luck.

 

[Zife]

He came in this morning to meet him, and said he was facinated with him. We spent half an hour talking about him, just me, him, the vet and an employee. He said he liked the way the shelter was run and that he wanted to be called in when there's a large breed foster for him, because he's a large breed type of guy.

So, today at 3PM will be when Diesel is... well yeah. I'm only going to be there to pick up my two fosters. Anyway...

I hope you have a better life over the rainbow bridge, Diesel.

 

[elegy]

poor diesel, but i really do think it's for the best. he just lost big time in the genetic lottery.

rest easy, bud.

 

[ihartgonzo]

How sad... =(

But, you know, you did all you could for Diesel. You probably cared for him more than anyone ever has. It really is a sad/scary thing when a PUPPY is aggressively chasing people. I'm sure he had a very bad life, but at least it's ending peacefully, not starving on some chain somewhere.

 

[BostonBanker]

Poor Diesel. I commend you and the rescue for making the choice to let him be at peace. Whenever you send a dog with those sorts of issues out into the world, you run the risk of them ending up in a bad situation or being mistreated because of their issues. At least you will know that his life ended more peacefully than it probably started.

It sounds like you may have also made a good connection with the potential foster home. Rescues need all the help they can get.

RIP Diesel.

 

[SummerRiot]

Edited: guess I was too late..