Bad temperment - Page 2

GSDfan your welcome Alpha, doctor or no doctor, as much as I do respect you ,you are dead wrong,and can not be any more sure of that! I have been an Animal Control Officer for the better part of 13 years now and as for your behavior modification?bullshit,I'm sorry.I have seen first hand the end results all to many times the after affects of the likes.You mentioned before I beleive your a doctor.a MD or shrink? no disrepct but the later would be my guess.Any first year med student has seen what I am talking about,you know what I'm talking about right? the five year old little boy who was layed wide open from his scalp line to his chin,catiching the eye on the way down,forgot how many stitches that one was but he did regain SOME sight in that eye, I can go one for hrs I bet with stories,all with dogs that had been fixed, so this very thing would not happen.Would you as a professional sign off on a dog that has been successfully treated by this behaviorist? I would think not?would you bet your carer on it?again I would think not.Your right in one respect,the dog is telling you something,it's fu--ed up and it needs to be put to sleep.Worst part of my job and I hate it,dogs like that I have no problem doing it.like I said,far to many good dogs are put down simply because of factors like running out of room at the pound.said but true and we have nobody but our own society to blame.It seems everything to day is disposeable. Untill the day comes that we can 100% be positive that a biting dog will not commit the same offense again it's lights out as far as I'm concerned,That means any biting dog for any reason......period.Like I say Alpha,I enjoy your posts on the database and without a doubt respect you as the professional that you are but I stand firm in my thoughts on this forever.

Blitz, your right hun,terribly sad,there is no one can confine a dog 100%as hard as one might try, ther is always that one slip up, bringing in groceries from the car and the door did not shut tight behind you, the paperboy came to the door to get paid and the dog reaches between you and the door and pops the kid....This dog is 4 months old and is in a rescue already? I'll bet my last dollar it has bitten someone in the orignal family which is how it ended up in rescue.....That is the main reason why I am anti no kill shelters

A dog like this needs an experienced handler. At this age it is probably less the lines, but more the early socialization or rather lack of socialization, and early negative experiences that will cause such extreme behaviour. Illness or an undetected injury may be another reason. If this pup was older I would also suggest hypothyroidism. We had a Rotti in the family many years ago that would have a fit out of the blue from early puppyhood on. Totally unprovoked. I noticed quickly that she was very reactive when someone tried to touch her back. It soon turned out that she had a bad case of HD. It was fixed with an operation and she got better overall afterward, but those first impressions and reactions stayed with her and she basically always remained a real "bitch". I also knew her brother who was a real gem. He was sound. A 4 months old pup should have no desire to seriously bite a person, period. Not at that age. Unless we are talking about some faulty wiring or something else out of whack... And only if this pup was not socialized properly should he object to being touched. Young pups still seek strong body contact at that age. The owners are not helping. In fact, they are reinforcing undesirable behaviour from the sounds of it. Such a dog will never be a pet, not a reliable one anyways. And the liability, especially in the US, is huge for such a dog. Never mind that this dog could be the cause for a whole lot of bad PR for GSDs one day when things do turn sour. There is a time when it is honorable to meet the challenge and fight to the teeth to succeed. There is also a time when it is sensible to admit one has met their match. If the problems are so severe already and no betterment in sight, it sounds like they have met their match and these people are headed for serious trouble. Now, trying to get these people to face that fact is delicate work. They have to work through their disappointment, the feeling that they have failed the dog, the possible feeling of embarrassment. Depending on the reason why they got this dog in the first place - I assume there are no children present with such a difficult dog, so they could have taken him in as a possible child substitute - the fear of loosing the dog might be the strongest hinderance to look at the situation in a realistic manner. These people need gentle nudging in the right direction and possibly some alternatives. There are people that are better equipped to deal with such a dog. He may not have to be put down, but rather placed in a more appropriate home. They can try again with a dog that is more suitable to their level of experience. May I suggest that you assist them find a well temperamented dog after this one? So that next time they are not led astray by the dogs looks or their own emotions? But rather make a sensible decision when choosing their next rescue (there are many rescues out there that do not come with a bag of problems). You might make some friends for life once they realize how easy life can be after monster pup :o).

Hey D! whats going on?

Did I scare everyone off?

Cheers Charlie, A dog like this can always be transferred to some Kennel/business that specialises in providing protection/security services etc. Who knows, they might even appreciate an animal like this! At only four months, and given firm handler, he might even become useful?

Hey Charly I have worked with an animal behaviourist several years ago. Very interesting, learned much (too much I think sometimes ;o) ). But fact remains, there are dogs that cannot be helped. We dealt with some very frustrating situations. Dogs remain dogs. People forget that sometimes. The one incident that changed my whole view on dogs was a Jack Russell Terrierist that would attack without provokation. What made the situation so difficult was how unpredictable that dog was. An absolute angel for a long time, then suddenly - boom. All hell broke loose. And he was MEAN!!! He ended up wearing a muzzle 24/7. The owner had a son around 10 years or so. One day, Sonny was in the kitchen and dropped mom's keys. He bent down to pick up the keys. That moment the dog charged from the living room into the kitchen, jumped the kid, who fell on his back as a result. Mom came into the kitchen and saw the dog on top her sons chest, trying again and again bite into the kids throat. The kid tried to get the dog off of him, no success. Mom had a heck of a time just getting a hold of the dog to free her son from that dreadful situation. The dog would always wiggle free again and go back for more. The kid was crawling on the kitchen floor, crying and trying desperately to get away from the dog, and that dog just kept at it... Bottom line: had that dog NOT worn a muzzle - and that was after extensive "treatment" (about a year) and everyone was already considering that the muzzle maybe could come off - this poor kid would be dead now. The dog was put down within the hour of that incident by his owner. We were all shocked. Had never expected this. The dog had been doing so well for several months up to then.

Doing fine Charlie, thanks.

Hey Peter, Good to see you.That might be it.s only chance,and I doubt it would do that, more likely would run the other way til it fell off the side of the earth.It takes a lot of balls if you will to have a dog confront a full grown man,which is why most are not abel to compete in sport or become PP dogs.If you get 2 out 10 dogs that will work your doing good.Sometimes death over life is the only true humane thing to do. So on a bit brighter note! how the heck are you?

Do not ever give up on a pup of this young age, obviously he has been mishandled badly maybe be some so called TRAINERS TO BE OR WANNA BE and has him so confused he is scared to death. Dogs are not gifted with large fangs, claws, etc to defend themselves so their only escape from fear is to bear teeth growl or run with speed. Please give this dog a chance, have patience and if not send him to a Professional Behavior Specialists for starts not Obedience classes now. GIve him time, love, teach him respect, right from wrong and he will come along, he has met up with some stupid people in this world that ruins this wonderful breed of dog. They are the only breed on earth with the Largest Brain Space so lets give him a chance, I would not fear to try with him so u also give him his last one. And, Charlie Blitzen is not a hon, but a horrrible man of sorts. We are in Pa, your in Ct, get to know HIM better before calling love names, ha ha.