Incident at AKC agility show - Page 1

Source and Comments.

Anyone know those involved ?

Thoughts on Judge's decision and/or killing the dog ? 

Just wondering what ya'll think.

Another case of dog paying for owners problems. I don't know any of them, but I hope the dog gets to live with the muzzle restrictions, & isn't PTS for its owners need to go to shows. I'll bet the dog doesn't care less whether it does agility at home or in front of a bunch of people. 

Jmho, jackie harris

I don't think this is entirely about the dog biting the girl .. the fact that the judge was lenient makes me think the judge knows the game and the players playing in it.  As far as a veterinarian knowing anything about whether a dog is dangerous ....  a veterinarian has no knowledge of GSD drives or personalities unless the veterinarian has reared, trained, and owned GSD competition and/or police dogs.  I have had some idiot vets tell me that if my dog so much as growls the animal should be put down.  I had to explain to them the difference between defense and aggression.  Idiots with a white coat.

I think Kali is spot on. The dog is going to pay for the owner´s stupidity.
About the vets - over here several vets are used to German Shepherds ( how to handle, common deseases, HD/ED x-rays ), there we go.
Looking at the total amount of German Shepherds in the US, there should be a lot of vets used to our breed ?!?
In case this dog really IS unstable, WHY did the owner allow any children to get access to this dog?

The moral of this story - never, ever allow a stranger of any age to handle your dog/s regardless of the breed or where you are at the time. I've never had a biting incident with any of my dogs, but I never allowed strangers to handle any of them either. 

I am with Blitzen as to not letting children of any age play with weapons or a tough GSD.  However I have and have had really tough and confident dogs that would not bite a child .. never ever.  The tough and confident dog does not get spooked into doing something bad under pressure.  A dog of any breed that is fearful and easily feels threatened has pretty much three options and that is run, give up or bite.  A fearful and low confidence dog is the dog that will bite a child in my experience more than the strong and confident dog.  In the case of a 13 year old tween it is a grey area as to whether the dog sees the girl as an adult who should know better or a juvenile.  Dogs clearly make a distinction and give leeway or forgive stupidity in juveniles both human and dog.

It's not just about biting, Bubba. If a dog so much as scratches a kid it could mean big trouble. I used to participate in those meet the breed things until I saw a friend's sleeping dog get jumped on by a 3 year old. The dog was startled, jumped up and knocked the child to the ground causing a small laceration on the kid's forehead that required a butterfly. The mother was screaming at the top of her lungs - that dog is vicious, tried to kill my baby, he bit her...did you see that?. Incredibly, she had no problem getting witnesses to testify in court and the dog was declared a dangerous dog. I won't even tell you what that owner had to do to keep that dog from being put down.

Do I think my GSD would ever bite anyone of any age, no I do not and her history bears testimony to that.  However, in this litigious society, I'd rather err on the side of caution and say - this is not a pet, it's a personal protection dog and I don't allow strangers to pet it. 

I certainly agree that less is more with strange people interacting with a strange dog and the more stressful the situation the more dangerous it becomes.  An experienced handler or trainer can usually spot the trouble coming but those whose experience is limited to reruns of the "dog whisperer" are usually going to miss the numerous and usually not so subtle signs that the dog is thinking about biting them.  There are apparently some dogs that blow up like a hand grenade but I have never had one of those.  All of my dogs will give numerous indicators that they are feeling pressured and will give us idiot humans a chance to save ourselves.  I can imagine that a dog at an agility event with lots of other dogs and with a lot of people and dogs with their springs wound too tight could be feeling a lot of pressure and it wouldn't take much to make them spin out of control.  The fact that the judge was lenient makes me think he knew something was wrong about what happened that did not include the dog.

susie, the vets in the US ARE quite accustomed to seeing GSDs in their practices...and by far, most vets will tell you that they ARE leery of the breed in general because far too many of them have been bitten, or nearly so, as a result of idiot owners who wouldn't know correct temperament, nor appropriate aggression, if they were immersed in examples of those traits. Most vets are quick to commend an owner of a GSD that is sound tempered and has been properly trained and conditioned to willingly tolerate the handling required for a thorough physical examination, vaccinations, blood and stool sample collection and the like--because the majority of the GSDs they see in their exam rooms are not at all like that.

So I don't dispute the veterinarian in this situation being qualified to make an assessment of the dog's temperament [along with the owner's ability to handle their own dog],observe that the dog has 'an aggressive personality', and to recommend to the owner that she not take the dog to shows based on the dog's behavior when it is at the practice.  I am wondering if the dog's owner was just at the event as a spectator--in which case her dog shouldn't have been there in the first place--or if they were competing; if it's the latter, and the dog actually did bite the teen without provocation and with intent [meaning this wasn't an accidental bite when the dog tried to grab a ball, toy or tug or something similar from the teen] I don't believe that the dog should be running off-lead in an agility event.

I'm with BabyEagle, I'd really love to hear the observations of some folks who were there at the event, and from folks who are familiar with the dog and the owner, too. I'm glad the judge didn't order the dog destroyed, and I don't believe for a moment that the teen is 'traumatized' and has nightmares about the incident, nor do I believe that she no longer wants anything to do with her own dogs, either. This is all a build up for a civil suit; the teen's mother likely thinks the dog's owner has deep pockets or good homeowner's insurance.

The last thing you do at a dog show is let y our child run loose.  Catch my drift...  Big big mistake.  Get a grip on your child and keep it; better yet leave them home.