Are you saying that ALL dogs who bite are aggressive ????

I think you are very narrow minded & perhaps naive, in believing that all dogs who bite are aggressive. Unless a dog is trained to bite without warning(whether intentionally trained or trained by it's experience of humans) then 99% of dogs will give 100's of warnings before biting, trouble is that humans fail to understand the warnings Growling isn't aggression, it's a warning, snarling isn't aggression it's a warning, hackles up isn't aggression it is a warning.

GSDs are often thought of as aggressive because they bark at other dogs whilst young, they aren't an aggressive dog doesn't bark, it doesn't grow, it doesn't, it attacks unprovoked.

Is all aggression natural in dogs ? No 99%(if not more) is learnt by experience.

I've dealt with 100s of supposed aggressive big dogs-rescue GSDs or GSDs crosses-over the years, apart from 2 that had underlying medical problems(brain tumours in both cases)none were naturally aggressive, their treatment or lack of training & socialization at the hands of their owners caused most of the problems & using non force methods & gaining the dogs respect & trust it is very possible to turn an"aggressive"dog around. It doesn't happen over night & never allowing the dog to get into a position that it can only show aggression to feel safe is essential.

Most aggression shown by humans towards each other & other animals is a source of "power"for the offender no matter what age it occurs at, I've witnessed behaviour from very young children that is not only aggressive, but down right evil-yet they are "only"children & not able to reason according to you

Why should a dog(or any other animal)that defends itself the only way it can against human cruelty be treated as aggressive & pay with it's life ??? Because we, the human race, say so ??

Animals are not born aggressive they are born with the instinct to survive in whatever form their species requires

YES, YES and YES. In fact YES!

I have come to the conclusion that my dog is unlikely to be "cured" but he can be managed and the behaviourist teaches me how to manage him.

I said agressive dogs THAT BITE PEOPLE. I did not say ALL AGGRESSIVE DOGS. You said that.

This thread is about a dog that DID bite someone.

I'm sorry you feel slated by some of the responses given, you don't always get the responses you want but to be honest I can't see where anyone has said anything to offend you .

Yes the site is for dog lovers , but we all don't have to agree the best course of action to any given subject, and the history of this particular dog IS relevant to helping sort his problems out.

Your dog has history, granted most is not down to you, but you have taken an unpredictable dog on, and with respect , it seems maybe to much for you to deal with, if you want to give this dog another chance, then you need help from a professional , someone who can observe the dog first hand....the problem is beyond asking advice on an Internet forum.

My original response was disbelief towards those who feel the fault is on the visitor who did not follow your rules to the letter, unforuntuatly the onus is on you to protect your visitors against an unpredictable dog, not the other way round.

The suggestion was made to confine the dog behind a gate/ door to keep your visitors safe till you can get the help you need, is a good one.

You may have to accept this problem is to much for you and you will then have a decision to make, if you can't gaurantee visitors safety, you will have to do one of a couple of things, give the dog up ( to someone who can deal with him) have him PTS! or not have any more visitors.....

I commend you for trying, but sometimes it just does not go the way we would like .

Dogs can learn a lot from good management, many of the dogs I have taken on had so many problems I had to prioritise them, the more serious first of course. As well as teaching the dog what I expect from him, putting him in a position for him to succeed I also had to manage the problem as well as manage all the problems I wasn't dealing with at that time. When I came to deal with them the problem had gone, good management had taught the dog how to behave.

Positive training done properly lets the dog work out what to do themselves, we reward them when they get it right and ignore when it is wrong. Putting a dog behind a gate in a room big enough for him to get away from the doorway if he wants gives the dog a chance to see what is happening, learning to see that humans are not scary monsters and being safe and secure will help the dog. It may not cure your dog but will make life a lot easier for you, your family and the dog but there are dogs it will cure.

Jeez are you unable to understand that just because a dog bites it does not mean the dog is aggressive ?????

Well to be fair, I would expect most people will label a dog that bites to be aggressive, not every one is interested in the whys and what knots to why a dog bites, it bites and that's that !!


And I think you are being a little over emotional, the dog in question has bitten on more than one occassion, and those bites were not due to someone being stupid enough to stare at the dog....are you saying anyone who stares at a dog if far game to be attacked ,

It really does not matter to most of the general public why a dog bites, it bites and that's all they are interested in, for a lot of people if a dog bites it's aggressive, end of!!

I agree all dogs can bite given the circumstances, but we are not talking about that, we are talking about a dog that has unpredictable bite history, the reasons behind them does not matter , especially to its victims, what happens if the next one is a child that stares the dog out..... Is the child to be labelled stupid too

Everything you say maybe true , but the truth is there are not enough people around with your understanding of dogs and are able( if at all want to) to rehabilitate dogs, for most people a dog IS aggressive if it bites/attacks other dogs or humans, they are not interested in why it does it, it does it and that's enough for them.

In my experience , very few dogs are 100% rehabilitated , they often revert to type and the situation is simple managed for the duration.

There are to many dogs with problems, not enough owners willing or able to deal with them , in my opinion these dogs are better off being PTS, if they are unable to find a home able to cope .

No dog is 100% no matter what the owner thinks.

How do you think I got the knowledge I have? I am not a trainer or behaviourist just an owner who took on a 6 month old pup with terrible problems, it was learn to deal with her or pts her, I learnt to deal with her. She became a wonderful girl, my sons used to take her everywhere and I knew if she was with them they would be safe.

I am working with an owner now who has had her Collie for 2.5 years, she has been to quite a few trainers and behaviourists which has cost her a lot of money she didn't really have. This is her first dog and she had been told to pts him. I have been working with her for 3 months and there is a very big improvement with him.

Yes there are owners who are not interested if their dogs have problems but there are also many who do want to help their dogs, you only have to see how many forums there are were owners are asking for help and advice to see that, many of these dogs bite.

There is a lot of knowledge on the internet for those that are interested enough to help their dogs and many owners do want to help their dogs.

Mattie you said,
"No dog is 100% no matter what the owner thinks"
Totally agree with that.