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What to do with with my dog after she bit someone? (for the first time)
Dog Bite and Desisions afterwords
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Found [30] Posts :: Page 1 of 2
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test
Posted: 8:23:45 AM 3/24/2007
The last 24 hours of my life have been absolutely terrible. It started yesterday, my dog (lab/mix rescue pup, 3 years old) has been coming to work with me ever since she was 6 months old. She just lays around in my office in the corner with her blankets and bones. Yesterday an employee of mine went into my office (I was not there) and tryed to pet her and she "snapped" or "turned" on him. He may have startled her or she may have been sleeping, again i was not there. Well she managed to bite his cheek and lip, requiring stitches, and beleive me i feel absolutely sick over it. This is the first time she has ever done something like this, sure she barks and strangers that come through but she knows all of my employees and even the salesmen that stop by. I guess the next step is that she will have to be quaranteed for 10 days and then we have to decide what to do. Keep her and limit her exposure to everything and to me have her live a crappy life. For my wife and I we will always have trust issues and she will be branded as a dog that attacked someone. Option #2 is trying my damnest to find a home for her after the quarenteen time is up. This is going to be hard because I have to expalin the circumstances and who wants a dog that can not be trusted. Option #3 is have her put down, which is just completely messing me up. We are expecting a phone call today from animal control to tell us that we have to bring her in today for quarenteen time and not sure if she can be away from us for that period of time and come back "normal". Do we make the call to put her down when we bring her there? or bring her home for a week and see how she is? Is it fair to her to completely limit her exposure to humans and other dogs after she gets home? This is been just gut rentching and i just don't know what to do. Any advice or suggestions are appreciated.
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pwcorgilover
Posted: 9:23:44 AM 3/24/2007
If she were my dog I would find a dog behaviorist. They are like a trainer but can actually help with behavior and finding possible reasons for them. Did the employee wake her up? Find out as much as you can about the situation to help the behaviorist evaluate.

I have a Lab/Rott female I rescued when she was 10 months old (she is now 11). I took through two years of training and exposed her to as much as I could. I don't trust her completely around strangers but she has also never bitten anyone. She is completely worth all of the effort as I am sure yours is too. Good luck!

Here is a picture of mine....
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u282/pwcorgilover/cindy005.jpg

I wouldn't make any decisions until you have all the facts and the behaviorist's evaluation.
test
Posted: 9:40:26 AM 3/24/2007
Thank you, she has been through some obediance school to help her get rid of some her fears (popping fire, some one knocking at the front door, etc) and it seemed to help a little. She is what I consider a "nervous" dog. We are just torn up on the fact of putting her in quarenteen (sp) for 10 day, if that alone will through her over the edge and make it worse. We are calling the vet to see exactly if we have to put her in quarenteen in 2 hours. I will keep you posted on what happens
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pwcorgilover
Posted: 9:50:35 AM 3/24/2007
Most times the place you quaranteen the dog in will allow you to visit. Ask if you can bring some personal items like an old t-shirt so she can have your smell. It also helps to bring her food.

She is most likely a fear biter and all the training in the world may not help her to overcome it. (same with my dog) They can live a wonderful life at home with their people and not going to work everyday. If she is that nervous work probably stresses her out anyway. I wouldn't give up on her just yet. Find a good behaviorist for an evaluation. I am certain they can help!
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allaboutdogs
Posted: 10:51:09 AM 3/24/2007
A lot of dogs do not like to be pet by strangers, and they may bite, but this is not a reason to put the dog down! Why don't you leave her home instead to take her to work with you. She obviously does not feel safe there if she bit someone, or maybe she was so protective about that place when you were away. There are many reasons why dogs bite, and owners are responsible to protect the dog and the public. Some dogs do not like the strangers and will bite, but this is no reason to put him down.
"A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself"
- Josh Billings
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flip195
Posted: 11:00:41 AM 3/24/2007
If she is upto date on shots etc she may be able to be quarenteened at home.
I would seek out a behavourist, this is not the same as Ob training... I would also get the vet to check her out to make sure she is not getting sick.
As she got the employee in the face i tend to think he/she loomed over her and being nervous and you not being around it was a fear bite.
Go step by step, do what you can do... eith'ing should be a last resort, re-homing is not the answer, not only for the dog but also for the new adoptee and yourselves regading liability.
www.all44paws.org
<a href="http://my.funtrivia.com/tournament/Animal%20Trivia-68173.html">;Ani
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Windy Valley
Posted: 1:15:23 PM 3/24/2007
First of all you need to talk to your co-worker and get all the facts. You need to make them see this from the dogs point of view. Had your co-worked been asleep say in a motel room(what they assumed to be there private space) and they were suddenly awoken by a total stranger, how do they think they would have reacted. Maybe struck out at the stranger. It is not abnormal behavior in my opinion. I know you can not turn back the clock, but the AKC dogs give out door hang tags, like those "Do Not Disturb" signs we have on our motel doors. They say "Dog Loose in Room, Do not Enter". The co-worker made a mistake trying to pet a strange dog with out a proper introduction. But of coarse when humans make mistakes, the animal is of coarse labled viscious.
I personally would not put the dog down. I am surprised your place of employment allowed you do to this, due to liability reasons. You will need to step up to the plate and offer to pay all medical expenses, even though I do not feel you bare 100% of the budern. But if you intend to keep your job, I think you will need to do this.
It is a bad situation no matter how you look at it.
Years ago I had a Afghan hound that bite a child while in our own backyard. I quarantined the dog at home, and did not put the dog down. My children we just instructed that there friends were not allowed in the backyard with the dog loose out there. If they wanted to enter the backyard, they needed to crate the dog. If the kids wanted to pet or play with the dog, it could only be done under my supervision. I mean it is just like a person who entered my horses stall and he kicked them. They did not work at the barn and had no business in his stall. They just wanted to pet him. People need to take some responsibility for there own actions.
He's your friend,your partner,your defender your dog.You are his life,his love,his leader. He will be yours faithful and true to the last beat of his heart.You owe it to him to worthy of such devotion
test
Posted: 1:26:07 PM 3/24/2007
I spoke to my employee that was bitten and he is in good spirits and will heal up with no scars so that is refreshing news. He realized that it was an accident that does not blame me or my dog. I own the business and my employee is in the office all the time and so not really sure if it is a stranger factor or more startled. Obvoiuvly we are going to pay for his deductable and what not for the expenses that were involved. That is a given. I did speak to the vet and we do have to bring her up there for quarenteen. We are not making a desision today on what we are going to do, hopefully i can convince my wife that she can come back home and earn her trust. My wife is scared that this could happen anytime and at any moment again, even though this is a first. We are planning on having children soon and that is another factor with we must think about. I really hope that I can convince her that she can come back after this quarenteen thing and just stay at home and like a normal dog, rather than going to the office daily. I will keep you updated, I can tell you that when we drop her off it is going to be the most terrible feeling ever, we treat this dog like our child and she has been generally a great dog
test
Posted: 10:55:53 PM 3/24/2007
It definitely sounds like she snapped out of fear...he possibly woke her or surprised her (which sounds like that as he was bit in the face). Talk to a behaviorist about the fear biting, as well as a vet to rule out any medical issues.
I work at a rescue with shy/fearful dogs as well as aggresive dogs, and she definitely falls into the shy/fearful category.
As a dog, she was startled and reacted in a protective/fearful way to someone she did not know or trust as well. I really doubt that she would react that way if your wife, you, or someone she trusted woke her...

This is more a great example of why never to wake a sleeping dog or startle it because you never know what can happen.
This is not an issue to put her to sleep over. It seems that this was an incident where she was alarmed or starltled...This is something that can be controlled and prevented easily even if you have kids providing that you are willing to train the dog as well as the kids.
He's your friend,your partner,your defender,your dog.You're his life,his love,his leader. He will be faithful and true to the last beat of his heart.You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion
test
Posted: 11:01:07 PM 3/24/2007
please do not go to visit her during the quarantine. It will just upset her when you leave & don't take her with you. None of the kennels I know never allow visits during quarintine. The purpose of quarintine is isolation so you would not be able to pet or touch her anyway. Take her an unwashed T-shirt to sleep with.

Dogs do not belong in the work place & this is exactly why. No matter what happened - she bit. You left her alone in the room that she considered hers.

Rehoming her is not an option as should she bite again, you can still be held liable as you knew her history. To say nothing of the fact of how you would feel if she bit a small child.

I am concerned tho with what is going to happen when you do have children. You realize that you will not be able to spend nearly as much time with her. She will have to be crated a lot of the time when the child is crawling around.

Even with a behaviorist - you know you are going to have to protect her from any possibility of this happening again. Whether it is in your office or in your home you will never be able to trust her completely again

If you are not going to keep her with you - then you only have one choice - euthanize her while you are holding her as she goes.
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WileyBlaze
Posted: 12:36:31 AM 3/25/2007
OK I have to reply to this post because I walk in your shoes.

I have Wiley; a beaten, starved and neglected pup who was rescued by animal control when he was 6 months old and lived in a no kill shelter for a year.

I then adopted him a few years ago and Wiley and I have learned quite a bit. Wiley is very gentle but just scared of everyone until he is comfortable with them. The next time he meets this person he is scared all over again. He has very low self esteem!! I do have to say with all the socializing I do with him he is 72.5% better then before.

Wiley goes to work with me everyday! I have put up a fence in an area that only the dogs are in. This area has my office also. If anyone came into my office they would be growled at. I'm not sure bitten but I take every preventive measure that it doesnt happen. If he was given the chance to protect my office or me I believe he would bite.

Not in a million years would I put this dog down just because he was protecting his own.
What you need to do is protect him and keep him from other people so this will never happen again. You will know if he is comfortable with other people. If he is sleeping in your office put a sign on the door.

My sign says " Do Not Enter"
This Dog is not
Vegetarian!

I believe he is a fear bitter like Wiley. You can live a great life with your dog even if he is this way. It just takes a little time and planning. You will be able to read him or at least I can Wiley.

I also have a small problem with people coming over to my home and wanting to pet the dogs. I say NO but they don't lesson.

They go after Wiley to try and pet him. I have said I'm going to sue your butt if he bites you ya dummie. DONT PET WILEY.
I found men not to lesson the most! LOL J/K

Please reconsider before you put your pet down. There are ways to work things out.

***Edited By: WileyBlaze on 3/25/2007 7:09:44 PM***
Reason: .
http://www.dogster.com/dogs/425951
http://www.dogster.com/dogs/425812
test
Posted: 1:23:10 PM 3/25/2007
If you are not going to keep her with you - then you only have one choice - euthanize her while you are holding her as she goes<---- a little harsh. The office consist of 4 employees, it is not cubicle land. She is in quarenteen right now and will be for the next 9 days. It was incredibly tough given her up but it had to be done. I beleive we are going to keep her and get a behavorialist involved. This dog has way too many good attributes to just put her down. This may be one of the toughest things we have ever been through.
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Windy Valley
Posted: 1:44:42 PM 3/25/2007
Good Decision. What if we all gave up on the ones we love so easily. Everyone, including a dog deserves a second chance. I am sure my kids appreciated that motto during there teenage years. LOL
He's your friend,your partner,your defender your dog.You are his life,his love,his leader. He will be yours faithful and true to the last beat of his heart.You owe it to him to worthy of such devotion
test
Posted: 3:22:45 PM 3/25/2007
I think that is a great decision TomE...I have worked with so many fear biters in the rescue who have bitten and can indeed live great happy lives without ever bting again, providing that the proper preventative measures have taken.
He's your friend,your partner,your defender,your dog.You're his life,his love,his leader. He will be faithful and true to the last beat of his heart.You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion
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pwcorgilover
Posted: 3:40:56 PM 3/25/2007
I forgot to add. Along with my 11 year old fear biter I also have a 2 year old son and a 4 year old daughter. She does fine with them but I watch them like a hawk. I teach my kids how to interact appropriately with animals. It can be done! I congratulate you on your decision. Let us know how it goes.

By the way to Sue who said you shouldn't visit a dog in quaranteen. I worked in a vet's office over 10 years. In that time we had a few quaranteened animals. We allowed the owners to visit just did not allow them to take the animal off the premises. I can't remember a single pet that was more anxious after a visit with their owner. If anything it affirmed the pet was not forgotten. To the OP it's up to you....
test
Posted: 4:12:39 PM 3/25/2007
So yall do or don't think visits during quarenteen time is a good thing for Roxy (my pup)?
test
Posted: 4:49:57 PM 3/25/2007
What kind of effect will this quarenteen time have her?
"A dog is as good as any man" -WSP
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pwcorgilover
Posted: 7:02:25 PM 3/25/2007
I disagree totally with the no visit thing. If they let you I sure would. Make your goodbyes not a big deal though. If they let you, take an old tshirt to leave with her.
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WileyBlaze
Posted: 7:15:46 PM 3/25/2007
I would also visit if you can.

This shouldn't have any effect on her in the long run. Just think of it as being kenneled while you are away. You will be bringing her home soon. You know how fast time goes by.

Good luck with your baby.

***Edited By: WileyBlaze on 3/25/2007 11:10:10 PM***
Reason: .
http://www.dogster.com/dogs/425951
http://www.dogster.com/dogs/425812
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scout1
Posted: 7:38:34 PM 3/25/2007
if she has never spent time in a kennel situation efore, it will probably be a stressful time for her. i always recommend to people to have their pups spend some time in a boarding kennel atmosphere when they are young. it acclimates them to a new environment, the sounds, other dogs, etc. it helps alot if there comes a time when you cant take her with you, or if she ever has to be hospitalized. it becomes familiar to them and they are less likely to be nervous.

visiting with her ...... some dogs it is ok with doing, some dogs it does make them more anxious when you leave. if you are permitted to do so, and i really would be surprised if you are, i would visit her once, after a day or two, and then ask the place where she is at how she acted when you left. they should be able to tell you if she was more or less depressed after your visit. if she is more depressed afterwards, then i would leave her be until the quarantine is over.

most fear biters lack self confidence. once all of this is over with, you may want to , in addition to seeking a behaviorists help, read some books on dog behavior.

the culture clash by jean donaldson is an excellent one, as it discusses this very thing, dog behavior VS human behavior. how we need to understand them more and realize that these behaviors are quite normal for dogs and what we can do to acclimate them to this environment we ask them to live in. any by either brian kilcommons or ian dunbar are good also.

good luck.

***Edited By: scout1 on 3/25/2007 9:27:58 PM***
Reason: x
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
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