Please help spread the word... - Page 1

I think a lot of times, a lot of us here take for granted that some aspects of having dogs is common knowledge when it really isn't.
 
I have a Facebook friend who is really a friend of a friend of a friend...so, someone I've never actually met but who sent me a friend request based on my involvement with GSD's.  He had two GSD's, a male and a female, younger dogs from what I gather, maybe a couple of years old.  A few months ago, he adopted a third GSD, another female, also a young dog and the three have coexisted since.  Sunday, he let the dogs out into his back yard and went to church.

Does anyone see where this is going?

He came home to mayhem; the male GSD was fine but the rescue was killed and the other female has spent the last few days in the hospital.  By all accounts, he was traumatized by the event and wept all day Sunday.  I started talking to him last night and he simply didn't know that this situation had the potential for such disaster.  I haven't spent a lot of time researching how the dog came to him but I think it was something as simple as someone having posted a picture of the rescue on Facebook asking if anone could help before she was put down at the shelter.  He apparently agreed to take the dog and several people helped to arrange transport to get her to his home.  Either no one knew or no one told him how dangerous this was, especially with two females.

If you know people who are involved in rescue or transport, please make sure they understand why this is such a bad idea.  Sometimes a little well placed information could help prevent a tragedy.

That poor guy!  I can only imagine how upsetting that would be for him. 
If we have ever had a fight here it is always the girls and usually a mother daughter thing.  Fortunately i have been close by and no harm has been done.

OMG.

I feel badly for him, but you're right; we do assume a certain level of competency that really isn't there. I can't imagine letting 3 dogs out together and leaving.

How tragic, Keith. 

Truthfully, though, even if dog #3 had been a male instead of female, things still could have gone this way, because clearly NO ONE had spent enough time around the rescue dog to be able to give an accurate accounting of the dog, and the two original dogs were also probably somewhat unknowns when it came to how they would handle a challenge from another dog of the same gender.  They're just dogs, after all, and given that OUR species doesn't do too consistent a job of getting along well with each other, it's ludicrous to think that he 'should have known' not to leave the three together unsupervised.  Make sure he understands that dogs that have known each other for YEARS and apparently co-existed peacefully can suddenly throw a switch if the right trigger comes along and is tripped. Could be a squirrel running through the yard, could be one dog can't tolerate the pain from his/her arthritic hips a second longer and redirects...it's always a potential tragedy, and there's a limit to what we can do to prevent it.

But yeah, bitches together are a much higher risk, and these eleventh hour rescues too often overlook making sure that the kindhearted fosterer or adopter is dog-savvy, or getting them so before the dog hits their doorstep. 

Please offer my condolences to your acquaintence, as this is an incident that will leave an indelible, unfading scar on his soul; he needs to forgive himself, because it did not happen as a result of any malice or disregard on his part. He simply did not know...and now he does, in the most painful way possible. So very sad.

Well said, Hexe, and Jenn hit the nail on the head...two dogs are, well, two dogs; three dogs are a pack with a completely different dynamic.

We unfortunately learn some lessons the hard way.  I run 3 and 4 together for fun walks and bathroom breaks, but it's 2 opposite sex adults and 1 or 2 pups or an adult w/3 pups, etc. and  never, ever, under any circumstances would I run 3 adults together unless I had leashes and was actively working them together. It's a totally different dynamic that people simply don't think about or understand. They see it as "one more" but the dogs see it as a whole different ballgame. Additionally, 2 dogs together will engage in mob action that one of them on their own may never do.

My condolences and RIP, dog.  

Three dogs is particularly bad.

There is no balance of power. I had not quite this bad an experience, just that the third dog had many bite marks and torn skin. I never let more than two dogs on their own even since.

My intact mom and daugther get along just fine. After an ocasional quarrel, they lick each others face to make up. Very touching.

    My four <only 3 are gsds> get along very well. They look out for each other and groom each other sort of like a wolf pack.  That said I never leave them together unsupervised. When I am not watching they are seperated into crates and rooms apart. Please if anyone takes anything from this happening put your dogs up in a safe enviroment when you are not with them.

    I am sorry for what happened to him and the dogs.

I may be criticized for saying this, but there are dogs that should NEVER leave the shelter. Its all well and good that people want to help them and get them out (and I DO rescue) but Ive had more than my share  (like the one I have now) who should never have left. The guy will probably never step up and do this again which is a real shame. 

You never really trust the dogs you take in because you have no idea what they are capable of or what they have been through. Id like to know the rescue or people who convinced this guy to take the dog in. They should be educated on the damage this has caused and consider donating to this guys vet bill. Ive met some pretty ignorant rescue people sorry to say.