German Shepherd kills mother - Page 1

Really sad... http://www.KSDK.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=110911

Would abuse really cause a dog to do that?

could be ill bred,sad temperament,poorly adjusted,untrained. possibly. abuse is possible too but 69 yo woman dog has hx? I think not a proper GSD to begin with. My 2 cents. and yes,very sad.We don't need this.

maybe it had a seizure?

Yes, I think Hodie can anwser this better than I can, but here is my 2 cents. I was asked by a kennel owner/friend of mine to "temp" house one of her's that was taken back was beaten with the hands. This Jackass came home after work and took it out on the her. She was the most obedient/sweetest thing I have every come across. I called her an old soul. My daughter had a bird Les Jardines (small parrot), she would just lay on the floor and let the bird come to her. She was the most gentle thing I have ever had in my home. But there were times, if someone went to pet her with their hand, she would be at them in an instant. I could not trust her, no matter how gentle she was. To be honest, I am not sure if I had known more on how to help her if that would have made her safer. Hodie, can you answer. Just kept an eye on her, with strict rules. I ache for her, I miss her so much and it has been over 5 years hell I am already crying. I love all my dogs, but there is always one that just gets into your blood. Look forward to Rainbow Bridge.

Would abuse really cause a dog to do that?

I dont know why my post posted twice

"Would abuse really cause a dog to do that? " maybe, you would have to take in the temperment of the dog to begin with, what kind and how severe, and how often the abuse was. one not look further than dog fighting to see what abuse can do. john

Since my name was posted, I will respond with my opinion. Of course, I do not know all the specifics in this case. However, early on a dog will show its natural temperament, including its’ way of reacting to what it perceives as threat. It really has little to do, in my opinion, with whether a dog was abused or not. Most dogs who people THINK were abused, were, in fact, not abused. Instead, the dog never had limits and boundaries set for it early on. In other words, it never had a skilled and experienced person to teach it that aggressive behavior, especially without real threat, is not acceptable. In some dogs who are sharp, meaning that they react very quickly and defensively to what are normal stimuli, one can modify this behavioral response with consistent and appropriate obedience training. However, it is my belief that if a dog reacts inappropriately to people once, it will do so again. Such a dog is, in my opinion, unsafe and unsound in temperament. Can dogs with temperaments like this be kept safely? Yes, but under very restrictive situations. Most people are not skilled or knowledgeable enough to do this nor do they have the type of environment to ensure the dog will NEVER have a chance to injure a person or another animal. So a simple answer to your emailed question is that NO, one can not “safe proof the dog”. One can only safe the situations the dog encounters, but it is extremely difficult. In most cases dogs like this should be put down. The case noted here is extremely sad and shows just how tragic the consequences were because of poor decision making by humans involved with the dog. Who knows why the dog behaved as it did. The very fact that it had acted aggressively and inappropriately with the older woman was good enough for me that I would have recommended, indeed required had I had the legal authority to do so, that the dog be removed immediately from the home and put down. As it is, the woman died and there can be no excuse for such a thing happening as it did. Finally, I have seen many dogs who really were abused. While most of them had to learn to trust again, most of them had temperaments that, if put under pressure, including abusive situations, drove them to seek to escape or give up. Dogs that are defensive, who stand their ground, or worse yet, come after you are dangerous in the wrong hands. Sharp dogs are dangerous in the wrong home. Most people do not have the skills, knowledge or experience to handle these kinds of dogs. A dog who has attacked and bitten a human or another animal has no place in society. We can all make excuses for these dogs, and no one enjoys seeing a dog put down, but that is what must be done in such circumstances. If that had been done here, this woman would not be dead. I am assuming of course, that the cause of death really was the dog and that there is not more to the case than is reported.

And there were most likely other warnings or incidents from this animal and nothing was done because people tend to overlook and do not have the knowledge of the breed so this horrific deed happens.....