dog has attacked 2 dogs now up for rehoming.

6 years ago my neighbours rescued a staffy, tommy. when they first saw him, he was kenneled with another dog and they were not told of any problems he had.

i had a lurcher, leo and if both dogs were in their respective gardens, there was no trouble, ie barking.

about 6 months later i rescued a bc, dylan. almost from the get go, dylan and tommy would bark at each other through the fence. it is wooden panels so they couldn't see each other but would bark aggressively until one was taken indoors. about 4 years ago i was walking dylan and leo back from the park and as we walked round a corner there was my neighbour and tommy. she tried to hold him but he slipped his collar and came straight for dylan. he attached himself to dylans neck and it took about 2 minutes and the help of a passer by to release him. fortunately dylan's thick fur had prevented any injury. we were just shaken up but no damage done.

about 2 years ago tommy managed to escape when they were bringing their shopping in, bit a woman and then bit her doberman. i heard the screams and ran out to help. tommy had the dobe by the hock and again, it took several minutes to release him. all very upsetting and both the woman and dobe needed stitches. the police were called and my neighbours were told to keep tommy muzzled when he went out.

3 weeks ago i let dylan and lily (leo passed away last year) out into the garden and tommy was in his and started barking. i heard ian scream his name and before i knew what was happening, tommy had broken through the fence and was attacking dylan. again he had him by the neck and dylan was screaming. there was blood and i honestly thought that he was killing him. my neighbour jumped over the fence and after much struggling we managed to get tommy off. dylan had a puncture wound in his neck that required vetinary treatment and thankfully he is now healed. he did have some awful bruising too. he is approx 12 years old, was diagnosed with leukemia 3 years ago and is on steriods and chemo for this.

if my daughter had been home alone and ian's wife the same, i know they couldn't have done anything and the outcome would have been totally horrific.

i have looked after tommy a few times (in their home) and i was very fond of him. he is brilliant with people and i think that he was badly let down by my neighbours. they isolated him to the point of walking him at 1am.

anyway, they took him back to the kennels that afternoon which i think was the right thing to do. we could never have trusted him not to break through again.

the thing is is that i have just been on the kennels website and under their rehoming section is tommy. he is advertised as a handsome boy with plenty of life left in him but he does not get on with other dogs. i have to say that i was shocked at this as i now think my neighbours didn't tell the kennels the truth. i can't believe that they would just say that when the problem is far greater.

i am tempted to ring the kennels and tell them the truth but would that sign tommys death sentence?

i know there are some very experienced staffy/bull terrier owners on this site, so with the right owner could tommy stand a chance?

i just don't want to think that he could attack and possibly kill someones innocent pet because the owner wasn't told the truth.

i apologise for the length of this but i wanted to try and get all the facts across.

A difficult one. The rescue hasn't necessarily put all the information on the website; it is possible that if/when someone showed serious interest in the dog, they would provide all the relevant details.

And yes, it is also possible that in the right home this dog could lead a safe and happy life. Equally in the wrong home, it could be a disaster waiting to happen for someone else's dog.

There are a few things you could consider. if you know your neighbours well (and it does sound like you get on with them quite well), you could ask them exactly what they told the rescue. If you don't feel that they would tell you the truth, or if you don't feel able to talk to them about it, you could, as you say, speak to the rescue yourself; either explaining who you are, or even pretending to be interested in him.

I do agree with you that it is vital that anyone taking him on understands his temperament and the lengths he may go to to get to another dog.

Look at this way, making sure that the rescue knows the facts is possibly as likely to save his life as end it....after all, if he is rehomed without the new owners being aware and he should get the chance to attack again, that could well be his final chance.

Good luck with your decision. This is a topic fairly close to my heart since a friend has recently been through a very similar experience with their rescue dog. In their case (and I wouldn't go into the ins and outs) it was decided that it was best to have the dog pts, but I would like to think that Tommy could be given another chance in the right home.

Great advice from Hali. I think Tommy could be ok with the right owners, but IMO any prospective owners need to know about his past so they can manage him appropriately.

Good luck x

IMO Tommy stands a very good chance with the right owner. However the owner who takes him on needs to be aware of Tommy's preferrences, and therefore needs to have a secure garden where he is not tormented by being able to see another dog. All that pent up frustration only goes against him if he break through. Also Tommy may need to be muzzled as i used to mine when out walking, not just for the safety of other dogs, but for his own too. With the right care and experienced owner Tommy could live a happy long life.

hello,

I can speak from experience, Bruno apparantely was at risk to be PTS due to the "way he is outside with other dogs" by previous owners whose Vet suggested that they consult staffie rescue as he wasnt willing to PTS.

We took Bruno on knowing his dog aggression, and since we have had him, admittedly he did attack another dog 2 weeks after we got him which resulted in a vet trip for the dog concerned but no serious damage. He has never attacked another dog since in terms of being allowed to - however he has been run at by numerous dogs and has had situations where he has had fights with other dogs - not due to him being offlead but to the other dogs being offlead and harassing us....
So am I a responsible owner, yes i would like to think I am, Bruno has accepted some dogs( bitches only) with introductions and has even had a bitch in his garden etc, so its achievable.

When he bit the woman with the dobe _ was he aiming for the dobe and the lady got in the way type thing or did he actually bite her with intent??

I think he sounds totally rehomeable - and if it was me rehoming him I would be making sure that he got the best possible home in terms of experienced staffie owners who know what to expect.

I dont however think it would do any harm at all to give the rescue centre a call and fill them in on his history as at least then they can have ALL the info if they dont already.

IF they rehome responsibly then I dont see why this dog doesnt deserve another chance - after all he is essentially Bruno and i would like to think that god forbid anything ever happened to us and bruno was in that situation that he would get another home..... and not PTS.

Rescue probably gets half of the staffies in with similar temperements in that they dont get on with other dogs so most people know what to expect with them. But if they dont have the facts then they cant make sure they rehoe correctly so it wont do any harm to check that !!

if I were you I would call the kennels and tell them the dog needs a lot of work. There`s no need to go into details, but you`ll never forgive yourself if he seriously hurts another dog or person because the new owners were unaware of his need for rehabilitation.

We saw Missy online, and all her details were NOT on the website. When we went for an interview and expressed an interest then we were made aware of all her problems.

Having said that, sometimes people do fib when they take a dog to rescue, for whatever reason. My neighbour did when she returned a pup after one day. She didn't want to say she couldn't cope, so she said the pup kept attacking the cats. She told me that. I phoned the rescue centre and told them the truth - they did say thank you, but told me they don't necessarily believe people and assess the dogs anyway.

So, if you're concerned I would call - and just explain your worry.

thank you all for your replies and opinions. i will ring the kennels tomorrow and tell them what i know. i could speak to my neighbours but i would rather know that i had spoken directly to the kennels myself. i think the most important thing here is tommy and i would hate for a prospective owner to not be in full possession of the facts. you have all confirmed what i already suspected, that the right person could give tommy the life he deserves.

brundog: no, i think the woman was basically in his way. he has never shown any aggression to humans and he lived with a 20 month old toddler too.

i'm so very sad about the whole thing. relieved my dog is ok but this whole situation could have been avoided. tommy has been my neighbour for 6 years and despite what has happened i still feel he isn't to blame. i've had people saying all sorts about him but i've defended him all the way. he really is the product of ignorant owners.

i will do my best for tommy and explain how this all came about. i just hope and pray the right person comes along for him. i'll let you all know what the kennels say tomorrow.

thank you again.

http://www.oldclaytonkennelsandcattery.com/13301.html this is a link to tommy so you can see what the kennels have said.

I honestly cant see what the problem is?
You said he attacked dogs.
They have written he doesn't get on with dogs.http://www.dogsey.com/images/smilies/icon_confused.gif

Websites simply feature summarized profiles of each animal available for rehoming.

In the office there will be a file.
This will usually include a questionnaire filled in by the last owner and often assessments and comments by staff.
Which will be a few pages long.

Obviously, you wouldnt put all of this on a website:
the purpose of which is to features summarized adverts.

You will find all the other ads on this site will be the same.

You have to consider bandwidth costs as well

Then when someone asks about him, you discuss everything with them.

I did all of this as a job, including writing the site.

Why do you assume that the owner didnt tell the rescue about the dog attacks and that the rescue wouldnt tell people when they inquire?
Im not saying owners or rescues dont lie, as they do, i just dont get the logic of your particular argument?

Also, you dont use severe language on the site, for 2 reasons:

1. If you write "he attacked several dogs", "locked onto their throats", "drew blood", "broke thru fences", "had the police out", or suchlike, then you are wasting your time putting him on the site in the first place.
2. And the above would also put people off your whole rescue, damaging all the dogs' chances.