Our dog bit someone... don't know what to do.

[Anonymous]

We have a 5 year old black lab mix. We adopted him from Animal Services when he was 4 months old. With time he became an amazing familiy dog, extremely loyal, sweet, easy to be around, fun. However he also started getting more and more protective and at times scared of strangers. He is SOOOO loyal, he takes it too far...
We lived in a house with a yard and we were fine with him being protective, since he would be fine with people (friends, workers,etc) coming to the house. With time he started not liking certain people no matter how long they came over (cleaning lady came weekly for 2 years, he HATED her). So that was a problem... I started having to keep him in the yard when certain people were over. His vet even put him on L-triptophan to balance his nervous system and make him less stressed. And I give it to him every single day. We recently sold our house to move to a condo in DC. My boss (who knows him since puppy) tried to pet him to say hi and he growled and showed her his teeth in a way I had never seen. Finally yesterday the stroke that broke the camels back... We have been in our DC apt for a few weeks. We've been specially attentive to him and tried to teach him to behave in elevators and when he comes across strangers and dogs. He lived all his life in a single family home so this in itself was a big change. He had been doing extremely well, ignoring other dogs, we asked people no to pet him right away, etc. Last night we went to dinner to a restaurant a block away with a patio and took him with us in hopes of socializing him more and exposing him to city life and the neigborhood. He laid down under our table and did fine the first few times the servers came over. But one time, just out of the blue, the waitress stepped too close (I'm guessing) and he just bit her in the leg. Not hard enough to break the skin but enough to scare her and make her cry. I don't know what to do. I seriously think living in this apt with so many people, dogs, elevators, etc might be too much for him. But now what? We've dcided to get him a muzzle. I'm scared of taking him out otherwise. I feared he would end up biting someone and now I don't know what to do. I should say we have a 3 year old daughter and he has been the most amazing dog ever, I would trust him entirely around her, but now I don't even know if thats responsible from me...
Any ideas? I would really appreciate recommendations for a good behaviorist in DC, I think that would be the next thing to do, but I'm wondering if anyone has other suggestions Can you change a dog's temperament? Can he overcome his fear of people?
Thanks everyone for reading this far and for any suggestions you may have. We love him a lot and he's a big part of our lives, but I can't live like this, feraing he'll do something wrong...

[Anonymous]

A friend's dog changed this way and it turned out that she was having seizures. She went from barely being able to cope with people to snapping and biting. She eventually bit one of the kids. They tried everything to control the seizures but had to put her down. I'd suggest that your vet do a careful checkup.

In the meantime, I'd worry less about socializing the dog and more about lowering his stress level and keeping people and other animals safe. You got lucky last night, I wouldn't push my luck. I would put him in another room when people come over, take the service elevator, NOT take him to restauants, etc. Do not leave him alone with your daughter right now. A mellow, calm, social, able to cope with a huge amount of stimulation dog is NOT the one that you have. Forcing the issue and putting him in situations where he is pushed beyond his ability to cope and someone might get hurt is not going to be the way to change that.

I'd also strongly suggest contacting the shelter where you got him, even today, and asking for their advice, recommendations, etc. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I think a comfortable muzzle is a great idea. He'll get used to wearing it and there is no possibility of him ever biting someone while wearing it. End of problem.

[Anonymous]

Why do people bring pets to restaurants??? I don't think that's fair to the other patrons and I really don't understand why restaurants allow it.

[Anonymous]

You need to keep the dog at home. Not easy in an apt. So you might need to give him up or put him down. If you give him up, you should be honest about what he has done. The next time he bites someone, you might/will get sued.

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm sorry this happened to you. You sound like such a responsible dog owner and it's clear you love your dog. I too am a dog person with kids, so I know how hard this situation is. But, I have to say, if there isn't a medical problem that causes this which can be fixed, I would get rid of my dog under these circumstances. Keeping the dog is a risk to your family - possibility of your child getting hurt and the possibility of you getting sued should another bit occur.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm sorry this happened to you. You sound like such a responsible dog owner and it's clear you love your dog. I too am a dog person with kids, so I know how hard this situation is. But, I have to say, if there isn't a medical problem that causes this which can be fixed, I would get rid of my dog under these circumstances. Keeping the dog is a risk to your family - possibility of your child getting hurt and the possibility of you getting sued should another bit occur.

Not if the dog wears a muzzle.

[Anonymous]

OP, I really would contact the shelter where you adopted the dog and get their advice. A muzzle in the meantime is a fantastic idea. I'd also leave the dog at home and not stress him right now, you are lucky that the waitress didn't call animal control. Some dogs can become more aggressive over time as the result of being muzzled, they feel more vulnerable, I'd really get some expert advice. Typically when you get a shelter animal you agree to surrender the dog back to them if there is a problem, so I really would call them tomorow. This may be something that you can work on or they may be able to re-home him to a quieter environment with less noise and fewer people coming and going.

[Anonymous]

I think a move to a condo with a dog like that is basically a kiss of death.

That's way too much for a dog (particularly a lab who needs exercise and room to move) to be able to cope with every day for a long time. Clearly being out is way too much for the dog.

I think that though it's very sad that it's necessary, your dog is showing you a lot of warning signs of problems to come. What's to say your child will never irritate the dog enough to cause an attack? She may love your child, but if the dog is off balance one day for any reason and she pushes it....

It's just not a chance I'd take with an unpredictable dog. The dog's behavior is getting worse, not better. I think you should probably put the dog down. Giving the dog away would probably be more traumatic for the dog if it's very loyal to your family.

[Anonymous]

pp here:

I wasn't very clear. I mean staying in the condo day after day is not really a good thing for the dog, but since the dog can't handle being outside in a safe way...

You have to realize that the dog is probably suffering while outside even if he's not attacking other people.

[Anonymous]

You said you had him for 5 years and have a 3 year old. Maybe he feels insecure and needs more attention. Or maybe he is overly protective of DD and his behavior will subside as she gets older. A woman I know has a dog that became overly protective of her as her arthritis got progressively worse and she was less able to move about.

[Anonymous]

I think people are confusing "loyalty" with with stress and fear. My parents had to re-home a dog due to a similar problem and it worked out well. This dog might do well living with retirees in the country for example, or in the burbs with a large fenced lot. The shelter deals with this kind of thing all the time, I agree with contacting them before deciding to put it down. I'm guessing that the dog would miss the family but feel relief being in a less stressful environment. This dog is not cut out for city living, people coming and going, living with a small child (what about playdates?), etc. They probably would not have placed him in your current situation. OP I think you are a bit in denial about how hard all this is for the dog. He had to be put in the yard when the familiar cleaning lady came but you took him to a restaurant and expected him to tolerate lots of people that he couldn't really see from under the table bustling around? It was more like torture for the dog than a fun night out. He couldn't even really cope with your old lifestyle, right? A muzzle is a good idea in the short term but you need to involve the shelter in finding him a more suitable home. Dogs with fear agression are not going to do better when exposed to overwhelming stress. I could see it being something like seizures if this had come on suddenly, but it seems like this has been building for a long time.

[Anonymous]

OP here - Thanks everyone for the replies. I'm getting a muzzle today and contacting a behaviorist first thing tomorrow am. If this doesn't imrpove or there's no way of making him feel secure enough to not this, we'll have to rehouse him. We don't want to put him down. but I obviously won't give him to a new family given the issues. My familiy knows several people with cattle/crop farms who would probably be willing to take him where he would not have to interact with people other than hi owners and wopuld have enpough room to run/ be wild. I know he would suffer with this arrangement since he's such a "velcro" dog but I will not let this happen again. I think professional help and a muzzle is the next step, and of course, no unleashing anywhere except home, no more trips to restaurants or cafes, service elevator only, etc. I just feels this will be such a limiting life for him
I definitely think the city is too much for him... It's sad to see this happen with a family member, and I really hope a behaviorist can help us... I know how lucky we are we didn't get sued or he didn't seriously hurt someone, or a kid! I cannot imagine. There will be not be a next time. The rules have changed around here, that's for sure... Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

OP again. Thanks 13:32, I posted before reading your reply. I agree with you 100%, it was my mistake to think he could handle this situation and that we could socialize him and make him feel comfortable by slowly taking him with us to different places. We had only walked him arond the area and brought him back for 2 weeks and he did very well with people and dogs in the building, even played a little with our neighbors dog. We thought he might be ready for a little more, otherwise how would he ever get more comfortable? But obvioulsy last night was too much. I know he is a stressed dog and fearful and hope we can work on that with a professional. His vet put him on L-triptophan a while back to help with the stree and I thought it had been helping a little. Obviously not enough...
Thanks again

[Anonymous]

OP,
Good luck to you and your pet. I'd be careful with the behaviorist, get recs for someone who is good with fearful dogs. The approach is very different than for working with a dominant dog, it could make him more fearful and make things worse. It sounds like you have some good options if you can't make city living work. Talk to your vet about a new medication too. We had a cat with a similar issue, also connected to moving. He was on a low dose of buspar for a while which took the edge off and allowed the behavoiral conditioning to work.