Anton Has Bitten Someone... Where Do We Go From Here?

I've just been told by my mum that Anton has bitten one of my granparents friends.

Anton is a German Shepherd that we got from a rescue shelter in October 2009. Anton lives at my grandparent's house, two doors away from us, so I see him often. He has had aggression issues regarding strangers in the house since around November 2009 - at first, he would just snap or bark incessantly at them, but in summer 2010, he snapped at a visitor with no prior warning and broke skin on her eyebrow. I, personally, always muzzle him and/or secure him in another room if it is absolutely necessary to have visitors. My grandparents, however, introduce him to visitors by letting them treat him and then continue as normal, keeping a close eye on Anton, of course. Today, they did the same thing; however, as the visitor was preparing to leave, she reached over for her bag and Anton bit her arm hard enough to break skin on the top and leave bruising on the bottom. After a sharp verbal reprimand from my grandparents, he let go and went away; he did not try to continue the 'attack'.

This is all I have been told so far; I'm going over after this to have a proper run through of what happened - but it looks as if an unexpected movement from the visitor has triggered Anton again.

I'm going to suggest that we put up a stairgate on a room and get him used to being left there for periods of time with a Kong or something similar for when visitors are in the house; has anyone had any success with set ups like this, or are there better ways of doing it?

I've also suggested that we consult a qualified behaviourist - I know of a good positive one near us anyway - so that we can get a better insight into Anton's issues and learn how to properly deal with them.

I would suggest that you urgently need to arrange for a trainer or behaviourist to see this dog.

It is not acceptable for a dog that bites to be free to keep on doing it. It is also placing the dog as well as guests at risk - because if someone makes a formal complaint the situation could get very serious, very swiftly.

I would recommend reminding your grandparents of this - I am frankly amazed and dismayed that they are allowing visitors to come in and spend any time around a dog that is known to be aggressive and which has already bitten, twice now.

Nobody should be allowed near this dog UNTIL and UNLESS he is muzzled. I hope you can find an experienced behaviourist or trainer to come and assess him - he definitely needs help.

I can only second what Tabitha has said. If anyone reports Anton then your grandparents could be in the terrible situation of having to have him pts or removed whilst a court case takes place. This is Anton's life at risk ~ they must take it seriously!

Anton needs to be kept safe from visitors. If he feels the need to be aggressive & go as far as biting someone, then you can just imagine how scared, anxious & threatened he must feel by these visitors. A baby gate, or just being shut in another room is easily enough arranged just to keep everyone safe. At the same time, make an appointment for a reputable behaviourist to come & assess the situation.

I hope it all works out.

Does Anton give any warning signals ?

Ollie would bark and back away from visiotrs he was not sure of if they got to close and that was rare and because it was the mentality of I can fix this attitude mostly strangers outside not visitors he would then growl. With the situation indoors if he was giving off being stressed signals he was put behind the baby gate in the kitchen he could hear us and see us. If he seemed unsettled but not stressed he would stay close by us on a lead and the situation monitored and he was allowed to deal with things at his pown pace.

Outside was stressful for all when you get the I can fix it brigade and you find yourself having to be rude it was mostly when he was on lead and I became very good at body blocking. Ignored he was happy enough to lay down.

When he was hospitilised he came round to strangers very quickly and the vets soon confirmed Ollie's was fear aggression. They could tell by his body language and the fact he gave so many warnings and never actually laid teeth on them. Also they have seen so many types of aggression they knew his was fear. From the other side it is useful for humans to take on board when a dog has had enough. I wonder and no disrespect to your Grandparents if they are not reading Anton properly and putting him in fearful situations and now he is biting because he can find no other solution or be helped to deal with his frightening situation.

I hope it can be sorted for Anton and your Grandparents.

Sorry to read about this.

I think it's very clear that your grandparents should have done what you do - keep visitors safe. Their method would have caused great conflict in Anton and therefore, almost certainly, the bite .

Reprimanding him is very human, but not fair (as they set the situation up, for him to fail) and also because he will just think that he gets told off by visitors. However I guess they did this to just get him off and to move away.

I agree that seeing a reputable behaviourist would be a good idea - do ensure that they know what they are doing, and that they understand up to date methods of how to help with and resolve these type of problems. If they mention punishment or pack or alpha, find someone else.

Good luck

Wys
x

Sorry to hear about this incident I agree with what has already been said. I would have a word with your grandparents, and tell them in no uncertain terms that Anton will be pts if he continues to bite people and someone makes a complaint to the authorities They must make sure he is never in contact with strangers, however well meaning their motives were, unless and until his aggression has been worked on.

Find a good local trainer or behaviourist who uses positive methods, and it would be particuarly useful to find out whether they have experience of aggression, especially in GSDs.

Get Anton and your grandparents some help to deal with this problem asap, and I can only reiterate that he must not be put in a position again where he feels the need to bite

Good luck (in my experience, fear aggression is a common problem in rescue GSDs - usually due to a lack of early socialisation and training, as well as poor breeding).

Just to add that if you find your grandparents are resistant to your warnings, remind them if that if heaven forbid Anton bites a child he could scar them for life physically. The same could easily happen with an adult. But if a child gets bitten I would imagine the parent would make a formal complaint and that could be the end for Anton.

I really hope you can be forceful and if necessary even remove Anton from your grandparents if they are not going to protect both him and visitors.

I'm sorry to hear this has happened You must be devestated. I feel that some of the posts on here have been just a little harsh, I know people are trying to impress the seriousness of the situation on you, however it also sounds like you are well aware of this.

We have a similar situation with Cain (some aggression towards strangers) and it's been a case of deciding whether to try and introduce him carefully to strangers of whether to manage him by keeping him shut in another room. Luckily Cain is generally good with visitors (no idea why). I pick my visitors. If it's the gas man, pizza man or a friend who I don't trust to follow instructions then I simply shut Cain away. If it's a sensible person who I feel he needs to meet (generally someone who I know he will see again, as once he's met someone a few time he is ok) then I will attempt an introduction. I initially put him behind a babygate and get the person to toss treats at him while not staring. If his body language is good I let him out to be hand fed treats. I keep people standing up until he's calmed down (he gets excited and jumps on peoples laps) and then I try and get him to go on his bed, get the person to ignore him and make it no big deal. This has worked for us so far but of I felt he was getting too fixated, I call him to me, if it continues then I remove him (never had to do that luckily). I'm not suggestion you do this, this is obviously too much freedom for a dog who has bitten, I'm just sharing my experience.

Personally I think a few people have hit the nail on the head and that your grandparents probably aren't reading him properly. I would absolutely stop them allowing him free access to visitors.

Now you need to make adecision. Is it better for Anton to be protected and shut away? Does he NEED to meet these people? If you would like to work on the problem then it's needs to be done with slow, safe exposure through q training programme set up by a behaviourist. And you need to be the one in charge of this as you can read Anton best.

Good luck, I do know how you feel! Visitors can be a stressful prospect. Do as you suggest, call a behaviourist and in thr mean time keep Anton safe from strangers. Good luck, let us know how it goes.

This is not going to be a popular view but I would be questioning if this is the right home for the dog.
Can his owners (your grandparents) retrain him to bring him under control? If not - I would be looking at other options before the dog does this to someone who is prepared to take it to the police.
The dog has bitten once. Why was he allowed to bite again?
There cannot be a shared ownership with a reactive GSD. He needs to be in control all the time, not just when you are there.

Just to say I really don't feel anyone has been 'harsh'.

This is potentially a terrible situation where someone could get badly hurt and ultimately, the dog could be PTS.

The OP understands this but needs to convey it TO the dog's owners. If they do not listen, I really hope the OP takes steps to remove this dog from their home - for both the sake of the dogs and any future visitors.

Are visitors warned when they arrive that there is a dog there who has bitten?