Looking for options for our Aussie

[EUGENE the REALTOR]

We have a 7 yr old Aussie (acts like she's 1) that we need to send away. She is the perfect dog other than she is not good with kids who aren't used to being around dogs. II don' know what it is. She senses the fear or anxiety and starts growling sometimes. In a couple incidents, she actually bit a couple kids. The first time was a few years ago. Hard bite but not deep enough to draw blood.

The other time happened today. Unfortunately, this time it was a pretty bad bite. Caused a little bruising to a kid's hand and a maybe a few drops of blood.

We also have a new 9 month old baby who is very close to walking. She already acts very strange (uneasy and shows whites of her eyes) around the baby and now after the incident today, we are very worried about our baby.

I feel like I need to be very honest and disclose all this information to any organization. Would they just end up putting her to sleep with 2 bites on her "record"?

She is the perfect dog in every other way. She is highly intelligent. Learns tricks in minutes. She's very loving and loves attention (like any dog). She is always asking for belly rubs. She is a great running buddy and she also does well with me on a bike. She can run all day long.

She doesn't touch anything that isn't hers. We leave her in the house while we're at work everyday and the house is exactly as it was when we left. She doesn't touch any baby toys that are scattered through the house. She doesn't even touch the food she can easily reach on the counters or island.

Is there an adoption service out there that would work for her given her "history"? My wife is freaking out because of the baby now and wants our dog out of the house right away. I have to admit I don't trust her with the baby either now.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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[Kruel J]

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but that's not good. Two biting incidents will likely cause any shelters to put her down if they find out about it.

Dang man, that sucks.

 

[Stomper]

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but that's not good. Two biting incidents will likely cause any shelters to put her down if they find out about it.

Dang man, that sucks.

Nail on the head.... you can't have a dog that will bite kids, or family members.

 

[JeremyK]

Is she snipped?

 

[CamoDeafie]

Doesnt matter how good, smart, or loving a pet is. If they have shown signs of certain behaviors... put em down. Biting, even if long periods of time between incidents, is still grounds to put down, because of the unpredictability of such behavior. Perhaps its just around children, perhaps not...

 

[Kruel J]

I wasn't sure if I should even post this here because I'm sure it will blow up my inbox with hate mail but....

About 15 years ago I took in an unwanted dog. I've always been a sucker for the "hard knocks" cases. She was a healer mix. Skinny, mistreated and obviously needed love and affection.

Things seemed ok at first but she was always VERY guarded and every now and then would growl at me. But I was all in to make her part of the family. About a year after I got her, I had a friend come over with their 3 year old son. The long and the short is he required stitches in his face because she decided she didn't like him and bit without warning. Thankfully they didn't come after me with a lawsuit.

When they left for the ER, I humanely dispatched her with a head shot with my 9mm EDC.

I've been bitten since, by a dog I raised from a pup. He is, for circumstances I prefer not to discuss, not around me anymore and I haven't heard of any further bites but I am well aware of biting dogs and the fact that they almost always reoffend.

Sorry @EUGENE the REALTOR. I feel your pain. But please don't set another family up for failure.

 

[41mag]

you can't have a dog that will bite kids, or family members.

let's look at another angle.....~I~ have a dog identical to the description....~you~ have a nice afternoon playing, running, napping with this pleasant, tricky dog, and take it home with you for a couple weeks to get acquainted....and now your employer has an important out-of-town assignment for a couple weeks for you....

are ~you~ leaving town or staying because of the dog?

 

[dplev4]

You could look at Sit Means Sit. Expensive but they promise results. There are dog behaviorists too. Pawsitive Dog Training trains aggressive dogs. Not as expensive but there are other resources out there to check out if you haven't.

Humane Society is no kill. So you take her there if nothing else works out. County Animal Shelters might not be no kill but they do look to no kill to transfer dogs. Might also be an Aussie Rescue in he area that might re home or give some ideas about re homing. Good luck.

 

[CoastRange57]

You might put an add on craigslist over in Central Eastern Oregon and see if anybody needs a cattle or ranch dog. They have a job to do and may not be around kids much.

 

[Kruel J]

You might put an add on craigslist over in Central Eastern Oregon and see if anybody needs a cattle or ranch dog. They have a job to do and may not be around kids much.

That's a really good idea.

 

[L84Cabo]

That really sucks but I understand your concern. The first thing I would do is call around to the Aussie Rescue organizations and/or Aussie Clubs as far as you're willing to drive. They can probably give you the best advice on how to place her and may even have an experienced member in a child free household who wants her. They're great dogs after all.

And note I just did a real quick search and grabbed a few links that looked promising. I have no direct experience with these organizations so you may need to research them a bit.

Home

Washington/Oregon Available dogs

► Australian Shepherd Rescue ► Oregon

Get to know Mini Aussie Rescue & Support OR

Home

http://www.cascadeasc.org

 

[edzz]

Happy wife, happy life. If this dog causes anything to happen to your child will you still be allowed in the house?
That said the dog may very much enjoy farm / ranch life.

 

[cigars]

Kids first.

 

[HighlandLofts]

Of that were my dog it woild of been sent to doggie hesven after the first incident.

Done it before and will do it again.
Biting dogs are to big of a liability to have around.
It's only a dog, there are millions of them.out there.
A hundred thousand dollar settelment will make you change your mind in a hell of a hurry.

 

[Geardo]

So our dog never bit, but was very scared of kids, growling pulling etc. We worked with Carmen La Blanc. She is pretty nutty, but is an honest to god dog whisperer. Our dog now loves kids, and gets along with my 2 year old nephew.

Vancouver animal behaviorist and trainer, Carmen LeBlanc

Also, HURD was where we got our dog. They weren't great to be honest, but might be worth a call.

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[EUGENE the REALTOR]

Thanks everyone for all the great replies. Especially for taking the time to post links for me. To be clear, our dog is not aggressive with all kids. She is fine with almost all the kids she's been around, friends' kids or kids at parks. She just is with kids who don't act "normal". The ones who are scared of her but still want to pet her. The ones who reach, pull back/jump back...repeat. Something about that makes her uneasy. To other kids, she will go up to their feet, roll on her back and ask for tummy rubs. It's really weird.

She won't growl or act aggressive towards the baby (yet?), but still acts weird around him. Just doesn't act like she does with the rest of the family .

i suppose if she really wanted to hurt that boy today she could have. The boy didn't cry and said it didn't even hurt, just went back to playing a game on his ipad.. There was no cut and it didn't need a band-aid. Just a little bruise from the pressure and a couple drops of blood. But we are still upset over it and know it could have been a lot worse.

The biggest problem is trust now and it's just not there anymore. The first time was maybe 4 years ago and we considered letting her go then, but decided to give her another chance. But this time I think she needs to go .

My daughter hates me right now and cried all evening. They grew up together so it's going to be really tough.

 

[cigars]

Thanks everyone for all the great replies. Especially for taking the time to post links for me. To be clear, our dog is not aggressive with all kids. She is fine with almost all the kids she's been around, friends' kids or kids at parks. She just is with kids who don't act "normal". The ones who are scared of her but still want to pet her. The ones who reach, pull back/jump back...repeat. Something about that makes her uneasy. To other kids, she will go up to their feet, roll on her back and ask for tummy rubs. It's really weird.

She won't growl or act aggressive towards the baby (yet?), but still acts weird around him. Just doesn't act like she does with the rest of the family .

i suppose if she really wanted to hurt that boy today she could have. The boy didn't cry and said it didn't even hurt, just went back to playing a game on his ipad.. There was no cut and it didn't need a band-aid. Just a little bruise from the pressure and a couple drops of blood. But we are still upset over it and know it could have been a lot worse.

The biggest problem is trust now and it's just not there anymore. The first time was maybe 4 years ago and we considered letting her go then, but decided to give her another chance. But this time I think she needs to go .

My daughter hates me right now and cried all evening. They grew up together so it's going to be really tough.

As others have stated, keeping it around is a liability. You don't want to be the one making the statement, "but it never did that before before a judge. As far as your kid being upset, that's more painful for the parents to endure.
We keep guns around for the ultimate protection, yet we try to rationalize keeping an unpredictable animal
around?

 

[Oregonhunter5]

Keep selling those houses. You may need some money to defend yourself one day. I LOVE DOGS! We have 3.
But if this is known and it bites some kid again, your hanging way out there and may get sued.
Tough situation...

 

[HighlandLofts]

One of my friends got sued over a dog bit that didn't punture or bruise. Just left a red mark. The people took their kid to the hospital so it was documented and they settled for $25,000.

I would never take that chance over any dog no matter what kind, how long i've had it. If it wants to bite, good night Irene.

 

[NateMan]

You are in no-win situation. Dog is triggered by kids...what's next? A chance encounter with an adult who is skittish around dogs? Will the dog pick up on their apprehension, and bite? The liability is exponential with each passing day.

We rescued dogs for nearly thirty years...the odds are high you can rehome it to the right person.