Help: dog snapped at DS' face

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I texted the rescue coordinator today letting her know we need to take care of this this weekend because this is really agonizing. She said we're required to do extensive training first. I have no words. For the record, this is Lucky Dog rescue. I thought they had a great reputation. I'm exhausted and depressed and just want this to be over.

OP, did you ever get any resolution from Lucky Dog on this? I'm in a similar situation now, and also having trouble with them.

OP here, just seeing this now, sorry. After multiple texts and phone calls, lucky dog finally sent me instructions for how to return our dog. It was awful, having to beg them to let us do something that was so sad for us to have to do. I can't stand that organization. I'm sorry to hear you're having a similar ezperience. It's been awful.

PP here -- thanks for the update. I'm so frustrated with Lucky Dog. They are making a horrible situation even worse. I'm glad you were finally able to get the info you needed from them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I texted the rescue coordinator today letting her know we need to take care of this this weekend because this is really agonizing. She said we're required to do extensive training first. I have no words. For the record, this is Lucky Dog rescue. I thought they had a great reputation. I'm exhausted and depressed and just want this to be over.

OP, did you ever get any resolution from Lucky Dog on this? I'm in a similar situation now, and also having trouble with them.

OP here, just seeing this now, sorry. After multiple texts and phone calls, lucky dog finally sent me instructions for how to return our dog. It was awful, having to beg them to let us do something that was so sad for us to have to do. I can't stand that organization. I'm sorry to hear you're having a similar ezperience. It's been awful.

PP here -- thanks for the update. I'm so frustrated with Lucky Dog. They are making a horrible situation even worse. I'm glad you were finally able to get the info you needed from them.

OP here. do you mind if I ask what happened?

[Anonymous]

Lucky Dog seems to have a pattern of misrepresenting and putting it's customers at risk. BBB complaints:
http://www.bbb.org/washington-dc-eastern-pa/business-reviews/animal-rescue-relocation/lucky-dog-animal-rescue-in-washington-dc-235992049

DC govt http://oag.dc.gov/service/consumer-protection-asst

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP here. do you mind if I ask what happened?

It's a longer story than yours but I'll try to sum up briefly to avoid derailing the thread on my issues. We got out dog from lucky dog three and a half years ago. Once we got the dog home, it was pretty clear lucky dog had misrepresented the dog's character. "Well trained and great with people but would prefer a home without other dogs" in fact meant that she had severe dog aggression issues and territorial/guarding issues. We reached out to them at the time with our concerns but were encouraged to do training to help her get better. We were young and naive, believed strongly that a dog is a forever member of the family, and didn't have kids yet, so we spent literally thousands of dollars in training, hired a sympathetic dog walker to make sure she had plenty of exercise, walked her late at night on very specific routes to avoid other dogs or humans she found threatening, etc. Eventually she was mostly ok as long as she stayed in her routine.

Last fall, we had a baby and the dog hasn't reacted well. While she hasn't done anything to the baby, she recently snapped at me completely unprovoked, putting her teeth on my skin but not breaking the skin. She was just sitting on the couch before she did it, no toys or food nearby, and I hadn't touched her or made any sudden movement toward her. She did the same to my husband about a week later. Then, she injured her long-time dog walker on a walk (inadvertently, while she was lunging after a dog behind a fence). The walker quit and the company, understandly, won't sent another walker due to risk issues.

The baby is starting to crawl now and I feel like I can just never trust a dog who would snap at me without provocation around a baby or toddler. Right now our solution has been to keep the baby and dog separate at all times, but we live in a small, open concept town house. I don't see how this situation is sustainable as the baby starts to be more mobile. She also is now getting significantly less exercise, as I don't feel I can hire another walker and I can't walk her with the baby.

Lucky Dog's only answer again is more training, with their positive reinforcement recommended trainer. My gut is that this issue is so far beyond treats and clicker training at this point. It's heartbreaking because we have completely bonded with the dog, but can't risk anyone's safety, especially our baby. There's no way this dog should have been adopted to young first time dog owners who were planning on kids.

We are doing one last ditch consult with the vet to rule out medical issues, but I'm not optimistic. I don't see a way that we can safely keep this dog (although would welcome a gut check if I'm totally off base in that conclusion), and it looks like we are going to have to push back hard with lucky dog to rehome her.

[Anonymous]

So you bonded with the dog...why are you putting up with this BS? There's a guy and sometimes his wife/girlfriend [?] that walks their aggressive pit on my street. We are one leash break or drop away from bites and maulings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So you bonded with the dog...why are you putting up with this BS? There's a guy and sometimes his wife/girlfriend [?] that walks their aggressive pit on my street. We are one leash break or drop away from bites and maulings.

We're trying to rehome the dog currently. The dog rescue isn't taking her back despite their claims that they would.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP here. do you mind if I ask what happened?

It's a longer story than yours but I'll try to sum up briefly to avoid derailing the thread on my issues. We got out dog from lucky dog three and a half years ago. Once we got the dog home, it was pretty clear lucky dog had misrepresented the dog's character. "Well trained and great with people but would prefer a home without other dogs" in fact meant that she had severe dog aggression issues and territorial/guarding issues. We reached out to them at the time with our concerns but were encouraged to do training to help her get better. We were young and naive, believed strongly that a dog is a forever member of the family, and didn't have kids yet, so we spent literally thousands of dollars in training, hired a sympathetic dog walker to make sure she had plenty of exercise, walked her late at night on very specific routes to avoid other dogs or humans she found threatening, etc. Eventually she was mostly ok as long as she stayed in her routine.

Last fall, we had a baby and the dog hasn't reacted well. While she hasn't done anything to the baby, she recently snapped at me completely unprovoked, putting her teeth on my skin but not breaking the skin. She was just sitting on the couch before she did it, no toys or food nearby, and I hadn't touched her or made any sudden movement toward her. She did the same to my husband about a week later. Then, she injured her long-time dog walker on a walk (inadvertently, while she was lunging after a dog behind a fence). The walker quit and the company, understandly, won't sent another walker due to risk issues.

The baby is starting to crawl now and I feel like I can just never trust a dog who would snap at me without provocation around a baby or toddler. Right now our solution has been to keep the baby and dog separate at all times, but we live in a small, open concept town house. I don't see how this situation is sustainable as the baby starts to be more mobile. She also is now getting significantly less exercise, as I don't feel I can hire another walker and I can't walk her with the baby.

Lucky Dog's only answer again is more training, with their positive reinforcement recommended trainer. My gut is that this issue is so far beyond treats and clicker training at this point. It's heartbreaking because we have completely bonded with the dog, but can't risk anyone's safety, especially our baby. There's no way this dog should have been adopted to young first time dog owners who were planning on kids.

We are doing one last ditch consult with the vet to rule out medical issues, but I'm not optimistic. I don't see a way that we can safely keep this dog (although would welcome a gut check if I'm totally off base in that conclusion), and it looks like we are going to have to push back hard with lucky dog to rehome her.

OP here. I'm so sorry, this sounds like a nightmare. A few months ago I would've said "take that dog to a shelter now and be done with it!" but having bonded with our dog in less than 2 months I can understand how this is almost impossible. all I can say is persistence pays off (as upsetting as it is to have to do this) and just keep calling and texting your adoption coordinatinator until they finally give you instructions for how to return the dog. I'm really sorry. What an awful situation.

[Anonymous]

00:13 -- from what you've posted, it sounds like your dog is simply too stressed out in your household. The unprovoked biting is probably because of the baby and the changes in the house since then. IOW, the dog needs to be in a calm, no children household. Good luck rehoming the dog, hopefully you'll be able to find a better home for her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:00:13 -- from what you've posted, it sounds like your dog is simply too stressed out in your household. The unprovoked biting is probably because of the baby and the changes in the house since then. IOW, the dog needs to be in a calm, no children household. Good luck rehoming the dog, hopefully you'll be able to find a better home for her.

00:13 here -- I agree completely. I've been saying the same thing to lucky dog. On top of the safety issues of keeping her here, I think her quality of life would be so much higher in a house without children (and ideally in a more suburban environment where that is less densely populated so she wouldn't see quite as many dogs). Despite all the bad aspects, when she's not stressed, she's a sweet and affectionate dog who loves to play and could make a great dog for a different household.

[Anonymous]

00:13 again here -- thanks OP. I had been starting to feel like I lived in an alternate universe and doubt myself when I was getting the answer that more training was going to help the issues. I was almost glad to come across your post and see that this is apparently their standard response rather than an actual reflection on what's going on with us. I'm going to keep pushing back, and planning to use the answer I get from the vet to emphasize this, as I'm fairly sure the vet will say something along the lines of what 13:46 said.

[Anonymous]

Just put the damn dogs down.
Biting unprovoked means good buy.

The vet will take care of it.

[Anonymous]

It seems that 3 1/2 years into owning a dog that dog is yours. You've put the training in, you know the dog better than anyone else and you know that this dog has the potential to harm someone, including your own child.

I think you owe your child/yourselves, then your dog. Do what is best for your family first, then the dog. If the rescue that you got your dog from can help you, great. But realize that this dog and that rescue are basically strangers to each other.

FWIW, no way would I have a dog with this potential around my children. No way.

[Anonymous]

I posted about the aggressive dog walked on my street. What you all are suggesting is that these/your aggressive dogs be moved to households in suburban or low density neighborhoods.

Transferring the location does not remove the problem. It just creates a problem for others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I posted about the aggressive dog walked on my street. What you all are suggesting is that these/your aggressive dogs be moved to households in suburban or low density neighborhoods.

Transferring the location does not remove the problem. It just creates a problem for others.

Are you saying that any and all dogs that snap or give gentle warning bites should be euthanized? Or what, exactly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I posted about the aggressive dog walked on my street. What you all are suggesting is that these/your aggressive dogs be moved to households in suburban or low density neighborhoods.

Transferring the location does not remove the problem. It just creates a problem for others.

We used to have a guy who would walk his growling/barking/snarling/menacing mutt around our block every single day. That thing was pulling at his leash to get to us which was unnerving because it was not an overly excited "I want to meet you!!!!" type dog, it was a dog that was pissed that we were in the same vicinity. Didn't matter that it was our own yard. Eventually, the dog settled down and I was stunned to see it saunter past our house on leash, not pulling, not growling, just ignoring us..

To this day I have no idea what that guy did to that dog to make it so much calmer. But the transformation was truly incredible.