ok patch but you must admit not all dogs who bite children have had bad experiance with them, had fluke not gone to someone such as yourself would the potential be high for him to bite a child again? when under pressure dogs often resort back to what they know, you must admit a dog who has bitten a child on more than one occassion can never be classed as totaly ok, I stick by what I say, I did not mean a dog who nips a kid, or takes a hold im talking a bad bite, torn skin, stiches and the like, even worse a face bite, to me no matter whats happend in the dogs life, all be it not its fault but the fault of stupid owners and spoiled kids, the next one they bite could be an inocent child who has no intention of harming the dog, I had a collie he nipped my neice in a similar sinario, she and a mate when only young got him in a corner and were being nasty, pulling kicking him,,,,so he nipped, not really the same in my opinion as a child who has had a dog go for them and take a few chunks, I prob just feel this way as I own rottys, I love my dogs very much but a child is still a child, I expect my dogs to take whatever is being dished out and if they cant then they should get out of the way or let out a squeal, I would hate for one of my dogs to harm a child,

Human aggressive dogs should be PTS IMO there is too much of a risk factor for the new owners and the rehoming center, dog to dog aggression IMO is not such a big issue so long as the new owners are aware of this and are prepared to not put the dog into a situation whereby it can attack another dog. I work at a home where the majority of time healthy dogs are not put to sleep, only human aggressive or seriously ill dogs are. at this home we have volunteers that come in each day to give long termers good long walks, some of the long termers go home with members of staff to spend time in a home environment, others are fostered out, just recently a dog that I fell in love with but for personal reasons could not take on, was rehomed with a wonderful family, this dog was a min of ten years of age had been in the home for over 12 months had cateracts and obviously going very grey, he went to a family thats grandfather had lost his wife and was looking for a companion, it was love at first sight when I introduced them together, being in the kennels for 12 months had'nt made a huge inpact on his life as such, he was a bubbly old boy but he did get overlooked as he tended to sit at the back of thekennels and not come forward like many of the other dogs. if the dogs are given regular walks outside the kennels I see no problem with any rescue center adopting the "never put to sleep a healthy dog" sorry rambling now lol. I'm off to work lol

Mo

Patch, you are very specific in your description of Fluke's "abuse" how can you be so sure this is exactly what happened to him, or are you just summising? We see dogs regularly with the matting you speak of, I may have some pictures somewhere that would amaze you, yet these dogs dont bite people, indeed they didnt bite us, strangers when we de-matted them! I personally rescued a Dobermann who was chained for 3yrs, he had fireworks thrown at him, also stones, cans anything that passing kids had in their hands, I had witnessed this for myself, and had photographic evidence from people who worked opposite where he was kept. He had burst ulcers on his stomach, no coat on his underside, had every bone visible and was in prime stages of "Wobblers syndrome" He was around 11mths when he arrived there and because of the damn RSPCA they didnt do anything in all that time, it was a few months before I took him, I was told of him, but his "abuse" had been documented for 2 and a half years previous (RSPCA records and people who worked opposite) He was also not fed weekends, nor bank holidays.

Not once in the 8yrs I had that dog did he show the slightest bit of aggression towards any person, adult or child at all, never, and I mean small kids aswell, if he did, he would of gone. There IMO is NO justification for a dog biting a human, for any reason, people who think this is ok,. IMO are kidding themselves they have made things ok, they have probably only not put that dog in a position where his temper would go again, to me personally that has not solved any problems and does not make the dog "cured" its just avoiding confrontation, which again I dont agree with, a dog IMO should be able to remain calm in any "normal" situation giving exception to the extreme.

I fully commend you for the work you have done with your dogs Patch, but we differ in what we feel is acceptable behaviour from a "Pet" to me a pet doesnt bite!

In an ideal world, yes all dogs would be given a chance but this isn't an ideal world and there are simply not enough suitable homes for dogs with people aggression issues. For me being PTS is far more humane than spending their lives in a kennel with little interaction.
Becky

But you are assuming there is little interaction...

I have to say this has moved on a tad since yesterday.

I personally think every case should be assessed according to what has happened, the dogs history and possible future,every dog is different.
I don't think there are many dogs out there that are aggressive for no reason, not many at all, BUT I do think that there are a handful, possibly making up less than 1% of the total dog population, but we should be aware that those dogs are out there, in which case I truly see it as a medical issue, something not quite right, which may not be treatable.in which case, those dogs should be PTS, they are not 'healthy'.

As I say, every case is different and I totally agree with Krusewalker, not putting a 'healthy' dog down, covers an awful lot of scenarios doesn't it?

Healthy to me means not just physical but mental health too. Yes a dog may be aggressive because it's been abused, but it could be so traumatised that it isn't 'mentally' healthy and should be treated in the same manner as a dog who isn't deemed 'physically' healthy.
Becky

I don't think there is a 'yes or no' answer to this, each dog needs to be evaluated separately as do the 'adopters'.

When it comes to adopting an 'aggressive dog' there is a big difference between someone who is dog experienced and lives alone in relative isolation and inexperienced people who may have small children. Also dogs bite for a number of reasons and this too needs to be evaluated and taken into consideration before a decision is made on a dogs future .

Sorry to come so late to this thread but I think rescues are in a very difficult situation re temperament testing and much depends on their resources.

Real example: Rottie male admitted aged 6 months (alleged rehoming reason: too big). Is kept in rescue for 3 months during which time he exhibits no aggression towards dogs or people, male or female.

Rehomed to childless couple at 9 months old. Appears to settle well in first week. In second week male owner goes to throw something in wastepaper basket only to find himself pinned down with the dog snarling in his face. Female owner tries to pull dog off only to get same treatment. Dog returned to rescue and PTS. New owners appear genuinely heartbroken but too shaken to continue.

Was the dog exerting 'dominance' once he felt settled?
Did he feel threatened by the over-arm action of the throw?
Was he in pain?
Was the real scenario totally different than the reported one?

We'll never know but, given the resources I don't see how the rescue could have predicted this outcome - or prevent a similar one in the future.

Well I had one who did & I didn't have her put to sleep or rehomed. It was one bite on the leg of a man who walked into our home, shouting & yelling. My bitch gave one bite then stood off & watched. The man froze & called & my father came & called her off. He'd left our one front door open while he went to the bins as it meeds a key to get in. The man had opened our porch door & rushed in. Fortunately he said it was his fault we had notices up saying the dogs were there he knew we had dogs & he shouldn't have come in. If she had continued to attack it would have been different but to me she was defending her house. By the way children often called & came in & she was fine with that, obviously did not regard them as a threat. As others have said each case needs to be assessed individually.

Quite agree, dog should be PTS, no doubt.
Dawn.