Major issues with rescue dog advice needed - Page 3

Why would an only dog home NOT be the right home for this dog?  An experienced owner with NO other dogs could be a huge success for this dog but the key is EXPERIENCED. 

Why would you toss this dog into a home with other dogs?  You would only be setting up this new owner for a disaster! 

I have several bitches and males that are great with the opposite sex or even another breed but put them together and it IS ALWAYS going to be a fight to the death!  Any well experienced person knows that bitches fight to the death!  I have also 3 intact males in my kennel.  1 is a house dog with bad hips, the other is my SchH3 dog and the other is my newest up and comming competition dog and I will tell you for a fact that on one single occasion that 2 of these dogs have gotten together and had a little tiff and 2 of my bitches have gotten together and the males hardly laid a tooth on each other while 1 female nearly killed the other.  The males just puffed up at each other and spared with their paws and made lots of noise but the bitches truely HOOKED IT UP!  I never once considered euth. for any of these and it is simply because:

1.) My fault for letting an accident happen

2.) Bitches are just going to do more damage than dogs!  It's a bitch thing!

But each of these dogs are great when they are the ONLY dog!

Vickie

www.PowerHuasKennels.com

Once again, this was not a fight between two females. It was a case of the rescue making an unprovoked attack on an older, smaller female dog. The older female tried to get away and did not fight back. The rescue would have killed the other dog if she had not been stopped. There were apparently no warning signs prior to the attack. The OP knows what she has to do to keep this from happening a third time. It's a labor intensive, never let your guard down type of situation and not many people are  willing to put this kind of time and effort into it. The OP just might be the person who is willing. 

I would never trust this rescue dog around other dogs again. Not pack mates living in the same house, not dogs passing by during a walk, not dogs in a class.  An only dog home with a very experienced owner might work out if and only if the new owner was told exactly what this dog is like and is prepared to deal with such a dog. Most people aren't prepared.

Actually,,,,,I think it WAS a fight between 2 females.  I read that the rescue is a female and the 12 year old dog is a female....am I wrong?  To me, and this is ONLY an opinion, the young dog has been in the home for quite some time and is becoming mature to the level of THINKING about challenges for pack leadership....the attacked dog is quite old.....in the big scheme of things this would be a natural instinctual thing to happen in order to keep the pack strong!  If dogs were left to live as wolves live then the younger alpha female will eventually kill off or run off the older possibly sick female who is no longer beneficial to the packs survival!

Only dog home is a perfect home for this dog...it takes the variables that caused the fight out of the picture!

Vickie

www.PowerHausKennels.com

I'm not getting how a leash always on the dog is a better solution than feeding them and maybe playing with them seperatly? If you know she does this when the handler reprimands other dogs, that's quite an easy fix. DON'T reprimand dogs in front of her. Put her away and then tend to the offending dog. This is far from abnormal behaviour in the canine world but if you have been around weak crapper dogs all of your life, it may seem so.

Sounds like this female sees herself as second in command and when you (first in command) lays down the law, she is there to make sure everyone is in line. I have seen allot of dogs that do this, maybe not to the extreme this bitch rips up her pack members but it's still the same thing.

What is this dogs Pedigree may I ask?

4pack,

I agree with you 100%!

Vickie

www.PowerHausKennels.com

I am sorry Sam.  I made my point earlier and I thought I would not have to post again, but.....

What you described is neither unusual nor unexpected. 

This sounds like a completely NORMAL DOG!!!

The solution is NOT "labor intensive", it is easy.  Keep bitches (and dogs) seperated! This applies doubly for bitches as they fight for real, dogs tend to just want to slobber on each other and make noise. 

  I obviously do not know this dog; but from what is described your fear of this dog being around other dogs in NORMAL situations sounds like complete paranoia.

  I am sorry, but at this point I must ask if you own or have ever owned a dog?  Or do you only have a fantasy about what your Rin TIn Tin would be like?

  Health problems like OCD??  Would OCD be, (oh, what's the term) drive? 

Also, to the OP, what is this insistance on feeding the dogs together and having them all get along?  Is this dog whispering101?  These are not hunting dogs or dogs that need to work with other dogs, they only need to work with you.  They must tolerate other dogs and be under control around them, but why do they need to be friends?  Personally, I hate for dogs to play with dogs, their play should come from the handler/owner.     

  I'm sorry if I sound like a total asshole, but all of this just boogles my mind. 

It's not uncommon for people with multi dogs in their home roaming about to have scars due to breaking up fights that occur. If she's causing your other dogs issues, then maybe she doesn't need to be aruond them anymore. If you don't have a way to be able to isolate her from the ones in your regular crew she seems determined to hurt, then maybe rehoming is a potential. Your other GSDs shouldn't be subject to a bully-this is their home, too, you know.

One thing I would consider before re-homing the dog is all the information already given; the dog is a potential liability, even in educated hands. If the dog would happen to end up getting a hold of someone else's dog for whatever reason in the future, are they going to point to you legally and say it was a pre-existing situation and that you knew about it beforehand, but placed the "potentially dangerous" dog anyhow?
If I was to rehome such dog, the new owner would have to be someone experienced in 'troubled' dogs and have the time to be willing to put effort forth in maybe rehabilitating her, or at least giving her a decent quality life. I would have the new owner sign a statement understanding the dog's nature clearly spelled out, and releasing you from liability as of when she leaves your property. That way you have documentation to show the owner was fully aware of how she was, her tendancies, and the signature of the new owner showing they understood and agreed. [You don't need someone coming back on you and trashing your name over this dog, saying you gave/sold them a dog who was aggressive but didn't tell them about it]
Is this dog already spayed? That might help curb some of her tendancies if she's still currently intact.
I agree with whoever said something about some things being ingrained into a dog from a previous situation-a new home/situation might cover over these issues, only for them to resurface once the dog settles into the new situation. Bouncing from home to home is never good on a dog, especially a GSD who bonds tight to their families/owner.
Would she maybe be able to make it ok as the only dog in a household and a securely fenced area/yard? Maybe that would be a route for her to go.
Euthanizing is only a last ditch solution, or if you're too concerned with the liability issue.

I am sorry, but I must post again. 

  First, and the least, of my concerns is I wrote "boogles" above, it should be "boggles". 

Anyway, I have reread what Muttlover and Sam have wrote, and I may be wrong, but I believe that both are talking about things that they have never seen and do not understand. 

Sam, you talk about "very dominant" dogs.  Have you ever seen this?  I really do not think this dog fits into this category.  

Muttlover, you talk about putting down "aggressive" dogs, meaning "handler aggressive" dogs.  Have you ever seen a dog like this?  When was the last time you were "eatin' up"?  When was the last time you were "nipped", you know, the kind of nip on the hand where you can not use it for a month?  Ever? Further more you talk about a "beautiful black/red" dog being "HIGH" drive.  I do believe that I can count on one hand the number of "high" drive "beautiful black/red" ( meaning show) dogs that I have seen.   

  This thread has really bothered me.  I think it is because the OP insinuates (to the general public anyhow) that they are an expert regarding the GSD, yet somehow expect the breed to be something it is not. 

  I am starting to think that I am insane, but I don't think the GSD is really supposed to be a funny looking lab with pointy ears.    

  The problems that you are asking about are common sense, yet you insist on continuing in your own methods which,  to me at least, seem to be in opposition.     

Zahn,

You aren't the only one thinking you are insane....I'm with ya on this one!  Gotta love those who are the bleeding heart kind but ACTUALLY have little knowledge of what a German Shepherd should be!!  SIGH..............

Vickie

www.PowerHausKennels.com