Agree with what your saying Shona, under no circumstances do I think Oscar should stay where he is. The trainer who I contacted and has offered to give advice (which id wager wouldnt be keep the dog and try and sort it out) assists one of the Dobe rescues and has worked to rehabilitate tough cases. They are too far away to do a hands on assessment unfortunately. First port of call was the breed rescues, I know that DRA were full but we dont know if any of the others were tried? Nobody could make arrangements to try and sort this out quickly anyway as we have no means of contact and dont even know if Oscar is still alive.

Naturally Kitty has higher priorities than trying to find someone to take in a dog that has bitten her son but if we knew that all breed rescues had been tried to no avail and he was still alive then hes surely worth a couple of phonecalls to contacts people may have?

Has it? All we know is that she has tried Chris at the DRA who unfortunately had no room and a waiting list. She suggested the dog be vet checked. THATS it!

Thats all we actually know

Good post!

The OPer came on and said he had a scratch but was fine other wise, she asked for advice on her dog and its behaviour and thats what i commented on, it doesnt mean i dont care about the child, but i offered advice on the dog like asked and then got into a debate about what others would do with the dog in this situation..so i dont understand why you have commented my post saying this? no one had said anything about not caring about the child, we were simply trying to work out why the dog (if there was a reason) went for the child

Good job she was there, because it would have been very irresponsible to leave a small child and dog alone.

Great post!.. what would the point of some of us taking the dog in and putting the dog back into the same situation we was taking it from!?? If it was going to be rehomed, it would need to be somewhere, that will keep the dog for the next how ever many years.

I've looked on most of the main breed rescue sites, the ones I've stubled across are full. Also, many of them not stating on their sites what they actually do with a dog that has bitten. I do know from personal experience many will take the dogs to pts themselves. In this case scenario, what is more stressful to the dog?

You dont know what their policies are until a phonecall is made to be fair though?

No I don't, but I can say hand on heart after an incident very similar happened here quite a few years ago with a dog I previously owned, many rescues quite willing to take him, none unfortunately willing to keep him alive, one of which was the main breed rescue and others simply not willing to take a chance with him, all of which simply saying we can take to pts, no more.

Fortunately I was in the position of having family who were willing to give him a go, he still remains happy but still cannot be trusted around children in anyway shape or form.
Had there been no help available for him, he would have been put to sleep, but not at any rescue's expense, they have enough worry about, he would have been pts at my expense because he was my responsibility.

maybe these can help

Contact SHAK rescue safe home and kindness i believe they deal with large agressive dogs SHAK - Safe homes and Kindness

stephen wylie

shak@shak.org.uk

07931 702345

None of them! Its alright to talk on the side lines, but its not happened to them, nor their child. All these replies and not one has said, Ill take the dog, cos none of them would!

I ADORE the Dobermann, but am fully aware of what they can be like and in recent years they have changed with new blood. I actually prefer them, as their character IMO is correct, but they are NOT for novice owners if thats the case. You could not possibly guarantee that a dog wont meet a child, or ever be sure what triggered this attack, how many of you would risk that happening again while the dog was at your side?

If I lived in the UK, I would certainly consider it if the dog and my dog had little to no problems. And if they did have problems, I would be happy to foster the dog if I could keep them separated. I have no children. No children come to visit me. And children are easily avoided while out on walks. I allow my dog to interact with children because she enjoys the interaction but I could just as easily stay away from the park where kids are. If I don't go down there, it's pretty rare for me to even see a kid out on a walk and crossing the road when I see them is pretty simple (and heck, half the kids I meet are afraid of my soft, fluffy black dog anyway).

But there's no way the dog is being shipped to the States, so it's out of the question for me whether or not I would or could if this dog lived near me.

Ohh believe me i would take the dog but i dont think its right to take a dog into another home with children what would the point in that be?? Also mum has a litter of pups on, so cant stress our own dogs out! But then im sure alot of you would find something to moan about if you heard of an 18year old girl taking on a known to be aggressive dog of this breed!