I'm an animal lover too, but ER doc told me once to never leave a child unsupervised with a dog. He said dog bites constitute some of the worst (and most common) kid visits to the ER.

I know that some dogs are calm, sweet, etc, but this is the main reason that we are holding off getting a dog until DCs are much older.

Good luck to you OP, either way, I hope it works out.

Anonymous wrote:I love all these people claiming that it's OP's 7yo's fault for lying down next to the dog. If a dog can't handle that, it is not a family dog and has to go. Period. My retrievers LOVED it when I would lie next to them (which I did every day). One would pet me with his paws and lick me. The other would literally hug me (that one was a rescue). She would try to get as much of her touching as much of me as possible, and then she would just stay there. THAT is what you want in a family dog. Not an aggressive breed, and not a dog that you have to walk on eggshells around in your own home.

I picked a lab for that reason. But labs are bred to be obedient, not dominant or aggressive. Other breeds should be treater differently, that doesn't mean they're bar dogs. They're just not labs/retrievers.

I love all these people claiming that it's OP's 7yo's fault for lying down next to the dog. If a dog can't handle that, it is not a family dog and has to go. Period. My retrievers LOVED it when I would lie next to them (which I did every day). One would pet me with his paws and lick me. The other would literally hug me (that one was a rescue). She would try to get as much of her touching as much of me as possible, and then she would just stay there. THAT is what you want in a family dog. Not an aggressive breed, and not a dog that you have to walk on eggshells around in your own home.

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.

She's full of shit. I have a rescue/adoptee from Lucky Dog. I just looked over our adoption contract. Nowhere in the contract does it state that I'm required to do "extensive training" or anything of the sort. It does say that I'm to return the dog to Lucky Dog if things don't work out.

Call her again. Tell her that you're getting the dog out of your house TODAY because it's a safety issue for your family. She can arrange for the dog to be with their rescue, a foster, or their boarding service (and they have all 3 at their disposal, so don't let her guilt you), or you'll take the dog to the humane society.

As much as I love my dog, I *hate* Lucky Dog and would NEVER recommend them to anyone. They are, as PP said, $$$ minded, and they don't give a crap what happens to their dogs or their new families.

Sorry to hear this didn't work out for you, OP. I hope your family will find a more suitable dog soon.

Anonymous wrote:GET RID OF THE DOG ASAP!

my dad is an ER doc and has taken care of permanently grossly disfigured kid bc family couldn't part w fido. Your kid is more important than a damn dog!!

OP is trying to determine the best way of doing that.

As an ER doctor, how many children has your dad treated who have never been bit by the family dog?

GET RID OF THE DOG ASAP!

my dad is an ER doc and has taken care of permanently grossly disfigured kid bc family couldn't part w fido. Your kid is more important than a damn dog!!

Anonymous wrote:I see Lucky Dog has an adoption event today - http://www.luckydoganimalrescue.org/

Text the coordinator and tell her you are dropping off the dog at that event and will be happy to stay there and explain to potential adopters about your experience with the dog.

Lucky Dog has bizarre Labs except this one does look like a real lab: https://toolkit.rescuegroups.org/javascript/v2.0/template1?animalID=8253266&key=Mqr6gy1W

Here's a pitbull masquerading as a whippet https://toolkit.rescuegroups.org/javascript/v2.0/template1?animalID=7690775&key=Mqr6gy1W

knine lifesavers also has pits masquerading as plott hounds [convenient since they are brindle] http://www.adoptapet.com/pet/12533791-fredericksburg-virginia-plott-hound-mix

Why not go to a breeder or a breed specific rescue? Maybe petco in Georgetown will have break sticks and usage training as part of adoption events....

PP -- to clarify, the first dog we rescued was from a breed-specific rescue group, not Lucky Dog or City Dogs.

OP, don't feel bad about returning your dog. We returned a rescue dog for biting before we found our wonderful rescue dog through City Dogs Rescue:

http://www.citydogsrescuedc.org

We were told the first dog was kid-friendly, family friendly etc. Within 24 hours, that dog was snapping at my heels, growling at me and terrifying my kids! Back he went.

It took us a few months to recover, we were pretty gun shy. But we found our loving dog through City Dogs and found them to be super-conscientous. For one thing, our dog had been fostered (after leaving a shelter in a home with other dogs) with an experienced dog-owner for several months. So the foster dad really had a handle on our dog's temperament etc.

But we are still careful not to let our littlest treat our dog like a stuffed animal. I grew up around big dogs -- they can be so wonderful and loving, but they are still animals with an animal instinct and need to be treated with respect.

That was not to blame your son AT ALL -- sounds like your dog has a genuine disposition problem! I'm just saying I'm not in the camp of getting a dog and then assuming it will never, ever snap no matter what you do. Even the best dogs have limits!

Wow, I'm surprised that it's Lucky Dog. I adopted my first dog from them years ago. In the world of local dog rescues, they are big, raise a lot of money, and have a lot of resources, including, I'm willing to bet, arrangements with dog boarding facilities that can board the dog for free or at low cost if there is no available foster home. My tiny rescue with a fraction of their resources would find a way to take the dog off your hands quickly whenever a child's safety is involved. We WANT to avoid bites, both because of the trauma to the child and because of the consequences to the dog. If this was a situation where a child's safety wasn't at risk, I think it is reasonable and humane to request that the adopters try training first before surrendering the dog. But not in this case. OP good luck and keep us posted.

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.

As I read your interaction with the rescue, I cringed, thinking it was probably Lucky Dog. I hate that rescue, and I am a huuuuuuuuuuge rescue advocate. Their sole goal is to get as many dogs into as many homes as possible--but there is no concern about getting the RIGHT dog into the RIGHT home. They used to be part of another rescue group (K-9 Lifesavers) and they split because K9L wanted to temperament test and foster dogs before they put them in homes, and LD just wanted to adopt straight off a truck from south carolina without any interactions with the dogs, and then guilt people when it didn't work out. Surprise, there are issues The last straw for me was when I volunteered to foster a "pomeranian" for them in my apartment, and the dog they brought off the transport to me was 50+ lbs. My apartment's weight limit was 25. They didn't care that I said I was going to be evicted for taking the dog, they just tried to guilt me into taking it because they had nowhere else for it to go.

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this. It's not fair in what is already a difficult time.

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.

Text back and state that you are surrendering the dog at the Humane Society today, and that you will make sure they know he's a "Lucky Dog" dog so they can pick him up before he's euthanized. Then do it.

+1

I see Lucky Dog has an adoption event today - http://www.luckydoganimalrescue.org/

Text the coordinator and tell her you are dropping off the dog at that event and will be happy to stay there and explain to potential adopters about your experience with the dog.

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.

Required by whom? What is their legal recourse if you drop the dog at a shelter?

09:13 is right. This is unconscionable. If that dog bites again you will always regret trying so hard to work with a rescue that clearly is treating this situation inappropriately.