Agree with this ClaireandDaisy, a really good post if I may say so!

Wys
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My dog was assessed by a rescue centre - i took him there after he bit my child, even if there was a medical reason i would never have trusted him again anyway (my kids come first). When i took him there i thought he would be rehomed without kids but obviously they thought the problem enough not to.

I'm sure you may have lots of experience thats my opinion.

I have seen footage of a well known rescue centre assessing a food aggressive dog by using a broom to keep shoving the dogs bowl out of reach, surprise surprise the dog eventually attacked the broom - and was destroyed because the so called behaviourist said he was clearly too aggressive, total disgrace from absolutely inappropriate so called assessment as is often the case.

Wysi iirc has/had a link or info regarding a Retriever which `bit for no reason`, the dog was destroyed - after which the vet found a crayon had been shoved deep into the dogs ear canal, the dog must have been in agony and was killed for trying to defend himself from the child`s actions, the dog was not at fault, the parent was for allowing a child to do such a cruel and painful thing to their poor dog
What a tragedy that the vet did`nt think to check for a medical possibility before killing the dog but instead clearly accepted the knee jerk reaction of the parent who allowed the dog to be harmed which resulted in the dog rightly defending himself....

So no medical checks were done and the so called behaviourist did`nt think to suggest any....
As I said, there are `behaviourists` and there are behaviourists...

What if the dog had a painful injury you were not aware of, [ as dogs unfortunately hide things very well ], and the dog was killed for it because no one bothered to find out if there was an injury or completely treatable illness involved ?
Ok so you might not have trusted the dog but it does`nt mean someone else would`nt have, especially if a medical cause had been at the root of it and treatment could have completely rectified things for the dog to go on to live a long happy healthy - and safe - life.
What a tragedy for the dog that you chose to believe a behaviourist who clearly had no clue about medical causes,, poor dog

Yes I do have experience, extensive hands on experience, so at least my opinion is based on facts.

Err....Ouch!

Thats a Very unfair statment.

Sorry - the more I read the above post the more worked up I get.....I have worked with a rescue for good few years now. They are NOT the kind of rescue who will just give up on a dog even if it has bitten for whatever reason.

To say the above when the person has done whet she feels was the most responsible thing is SO unfair. You were NOT in that situation.

One thing I have learnt working in rescue....you can wait forever for the perfect home to come up. Sometimes it does...great! More often than not it doesn;t and the dogs end up bouncing and ultimatley very screwed up. To suggest to ANYONE to rehome a dog that has bitten (again - for whatever reason) is very silly. I cannot do that - apart from anything else in this climate I would probably be sued!

What if that person can no longer look after the dog and has to rehome....how many people can safely keep thier isolated, without the need for interacting with people/postman/vets etc.

I have had to advise people to have dogs pts....yes I have advised vet checks...but when the person who calls will not take the dog to the vets for fear it will attack someone - and will not allow you to come over to the house for fear it will attack you - and has children who have friends over....what can you say.....Oh...and the dog weight 14st!....It is NOT FAIR to judge people who have to make these life or death situations if you were not there at the time to observe what was going on.

Sorry....need to go and calm down now.

Is this true though?

Surely if all dogs were well socialised and trained from a young age we wouldnt have a dog that bites/ attacks i'd say in 99% of cases?

I took my dog to puppy classes etc etc and he was well socialised - just think sometimes you get rogue dogs as you do in humans. I don't think you can ever train out some traits in some dogs though.

Im confused you say the rescue will not give up on a dog – yet you would not rehome any dog that has bitten for any reason – so I take it the rescue has the capacity to never put a healthy dog down – if so im very surprised at the return rate you imply.


We can all say we did what we feel is for the best – that does not mean everyone else feels the same.

I would of followed every avenue to understand my dogs behaviour before contemplating the final one – and that would of meant a full medical first and foremost!

I don’t understand this point of view – if you say the rescues you worked for most of the dogs ended up bouncing and very screwed up then I can only question their rehoming process and dog assessment processes. What sort of rescue expects the dogs to bounce and has more that are returned screwed up than successfully rehomed?

Most of the rescues Ive been involved with have a very low rate of return because they assess the dogs and match with a good home for its requirements, shoving a dog into any home regardless is lining the dog up to fail and ultimately does all the dogs no good at all.




ERm if the person will not take it to the vets for a medical check up – how the do you advise them to get it put down – if not at a vets??



I would be wondering what the hell they had done to get a dog in that state and if it had suddenly changed would always recommend a vet check before pts and again if the people will not take it to the vets what do you suggest to them?

Under what circumstances have you recommended pts? What assessments did you make of the dog at the time of the incidents?

In the entire time they had been there (10 years) - 12 dogs had been pts after being given multiple chances.
Their return rate was very low (the lowest for all the NAWT branches) I am not sure what is happening now - it has all changed drasticly over the last year and I haven;t been as involved with it.

I would not rehome a dog that has bitten....I can't do that and I am NOT the rescue centre...not sure where you got that from. .....I would love to be able to take on all the dogs with problenms and give them time and space to work through thier problems but I can't - I do not have the time or the resources to do that.



Yes - but unless you were in THAT situation you do not have the right (IMO) to make judgments on that person. I truely hope you are never in that situation...and if you are - I hope you have all the time in the world to be able to sort the problem.....whatever the reason.

You are saying in the time you have worked in rescue you have never known this senario where a dog goes back and forth between homes? I am shocked...I have never known a rescue where this hasn't happened.

Even with the best assesment in the world and lining up the homes as perfectly as possible you cannot factor in everything (change of circumstances - the dog fter the honeymoon period) that might mean a dog has to come back.....and what about the people who rehome without going back to the rescue.....how do you keep track of these? Even with the signed contract, once money has been exchanged will not hold up in law (its been tested)...and people will do this.

Again....when I was working with (not for!) the NAWT they had a very low return rate.


There is a local Zoo vet who will come out with a dart gun if need be. (We have spoken to this guy with regards to one of our dogs)

Yes....I do wonder what the hell happened to the dog....from thier pov there appeared to be no reason, he was a young dog (14 months) they'd had him from a pup - they have always had dogs like this (rescues and pups) - he was fine with other dogs - we spoke on the phone for ages (hour+). I told them they should get a vet check, but they were too worried about taking him, I obviously made no assesment of this dog. (the owners would not allow me to come out.)

I'm sorry but when people are in fear of lives from a dog then yes I think that the dog should be pts.

I have dealt with several dog/dog aggressive and dog/human aggressive dogs - this was the worst case I have dealt with.

Another one where the dog had to be pts was a JRT type who belonged to a friend. He was in the NAWT becasue he was an unpredictable biter. He bit my friend 5 times - the last one being that he had pinned her on the sofa and savaged her arm, she worked really hard with him - health wise he was fine. She STILL feels guilty about having him pts, becasue people make statments as above....she feels she failed. She did not...and again I say it is NOT fair to make statments like that without knowing everything surrounding the situation.
It is NOT always the persons fault.

I hope that claifys what I meant.

Thank you Tassle for seeing my point of view - i never thought that my dog would be pts and yes i do still feel guilty about it - i have young children and they are dog savvy - i would never allow my kids to be cruel or taunt any dog but tbh we were all a bit frightened of the dog in the end and i think he got the upper hand, even with my and my husband. I had to put my kids first,(and other peoples too) and could not risk it happening again (or worse)

As you say, its very easy for others to judge if they have not had the same happen to them. I'm pretty tough skinned, people have their opinions thats fine, there will always be people who think animals come before people. I did what i thought was right.

It must have been an awful position to be in. Of course, you have to put your child before your dog. That goes without saying, doesn't it.

I would only have an animal pts if there was absolutely no other option. From your post, it sounds like there wasn't an option for you