My new rescue - Sad and lengthy update

[claud]

You definitely did the right thing.

The dog was too dangerous for your family.

I would have done the same.

 

[Countrywife]

I am all for saving animals- but you did the right thing. Some animals cannot be helped, just like people. Too much of a chance to take with children. We had a shephard/lab mix here for about 9 months- we got her from the pound. She killed a couple dozen chickens, shook 2 baby goats to death, jumped the fence INTO the field to kill the chickens one day. She had to go. Some day, it was going to be a child. You did your best, and that is all you could do. Bless you

 

[fowler_chick]

when i worked in a no kill shelter we had visits from law enforcement groups looking for the right dogs for drug/ k9 units....with the training they have it might turn him in to some thing good....my husband is a sheriffs dept/corrections officer and our k-9 is a black lab...he's used more for drugs...but makes a great car alarm too when you get to close to the cruiser...

 

[Equest94]

That's so sad. I'm so sorry things worked out that way, but you did make the right choice.

I'm actually experiencing the same sort of thing with my dog, except maybe not to the same degree, and we did adopted her from a reputable SPCA shelter...

My dog, Sabina, was an abuse case. She was unsocialized, beaten, starved, etc... At the shelter she was a doll - very playful, a bit timid at times, but respectful, and just seemed to have the personality I was looking for. After a few visits and "playtimes" I decided to officially make her mine and brought her home. Now, lucky for me she is great with my cat and chickens but other dogs and 'strange' people (mostly 'strange' men) are her targets (and of course she loves to hunt any wild critter that happens to trek through our yard).

I've been working very hard with Sabina to get her over some of her issues and to try to properly socialize her (although it may be too late for her since she missed that milestone). I have been doing a lot of basic obedience training with her and she has made leaps of progress. She has become very submissive to me and my family, she getting better with visitors, complete strangers are still iffy but better aggression-wise; however, she still sometimes fear-bites people, they move too quickly and she snaps at them and other dogs are a NO! no matter how much I try to get her to relax around them (other adult dogs, she LOVES puppies). I also can relate to what you said about the 'focus thing.' Sabina's prey drive is so strong that once she locks on to something, it's like she can't hear me...she almost goes into a trance. I have to literally scream at her to break that concentration and reclaim her focus.... it gets so frustrating at times.

I really think you made the right choice with him... lucky (but sadly for me) I do not have another dog, nor do I have anything that she considers prey, but if any of my family, friends, or other pets were at risk because of her; she'd be gone in the blink of an eye. As someone mentioned, not all dogs can be saved or are worth saving [over your loved ones].

I hope this experience does not deter you from getting a Rott in the future...they really are great dogs in general.

 

[Akane]

Actually he sounds like a pretty typical large rescue dog to me. You have an intact male who has probably had limited experience with other dogs in a new situation with a female in heat. Of course he's gonna act dog agressive. Doesn't mean he really is but he's going to try to beat off every male in the area and make the female submit so he can mate. I would not let any dog like that out of a very solidly locked room in a solid crate unless the other dogs were locked up just as well with a large note saying "DO NOT RELEASE". As for the cat any of my dogs would have done the same if they hadn't been worked with. I have an akita and 2 shibas. My akita will hunt down prey that size and sometimes bigger and kill it. The only reason she doesn't hunt cats or chickens is because I've raised her not to. I definitely wouldn't trust her unsupervised very long with chickens though. The midwest akita rescue would not adopt to me with my other animals and some akita owners said they didn't trust their akitas even around large livestock. They can and will kill if not trained otherwise. Shibas are worse but smaller so they have to kill smaller things. I probably will never be able to trust them around chickens even supervised without having them leashed or otherwise restrained but they do alright with the cats who are their size and can whack them good with claws. I didn't really see any red flags in the information given that said the rott couldn't be turned around and may even have turned out to get along well with other dogs. Our current foster came in starting a fight with everyone until he was neutered, gained some confidence, and had some practice greeting strange dogs. Now he goes to the dog park without issue. The problem is finding someone capable and willing to work with a rescue dog that big. The group I train with is run by and has the facilities at the local humane society. Currently we have much the same problem but with a bull mastiff. Someone brought it in after it had been kept confined for 2years without seeing another dog since it was seperated from it's litter. I've done the slow careful month or 2 long intro of dogs when we had one like that but always with dogs under 50lbs. The logistics of doing that with a 200lb dog is considerably greater and the risk to both human and other animals is more so I can understand not being able to find someone willing to try.

 

[SarahBeth9394]

When you have small children and other animals to care for the risk is just to great. It's a hard decision to make to have them put down but it is the most responsible thing you can do for all involved in this case. Sure it sucks but doing the right thing isn't always the easiest thing to do. You gave it a great effort and yes it did have at the least a good last week with love and care.

 

[Equus5O]

I don't believe the aggression was related merely to the female in heat. He was just as aggressive off of our property as he was on our property.

When I had him at the training kennel, he lunged at two client dogs that arrived while we were in the parking lot. This trainer does law enforcement K-9 training and Schutzhund. He commented that the dog was very dominant and dog aggressive.

Returning home, as we pulled up the driveway he saw our two dogs out. This very large dog was on my dashboard, in the windshield, trying to get the dogs.

I brought him to a shelter, and took him out so that they could see him. Two dogs in runs could be seen about 75 feet away. He was fine for about five minutes. The aggression started, and escalated to where he was snarling and lunging.

I know the area and county and adjacent counties where I work. I know some of the things that are done with animals in those areas. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if this dog had been given small animals to kill, as a spectator sport. He didn't appear to have been used for fighting, as he didn't exhibit the behavior or scars associated with those activities.

I don't regret bringing him home and giving him a chance. If I hadn't, he would have been put down a few days ago. The seven or so days that he had left were spent with me at home, rather than at the shelter awaiting his death sentence. I do count myself as extremely fortunate that it didn't turn into a complete horror show; he didn't harmy my family, my pets or myself. That said, I also don't regret bringing him back. I made the determination that he wasn't a dog I could work with, and ensure the safety of my family and animals while doing so. I could find no one that would take him for rehabilitation.

Bringing him home was a spur of the moment thing. I didn't go out looking for a mature Rottweiler to rescue. He came to me, more or less, and I made the decision with my husband's approval.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

I'm all for rescuing animals. The best ones are the ones that find you and fall into your lap.

That being said....

there's always a reason someone brings an animal to a rescue. Be careful or you may adopt someone's problem.

 

[Equus5O]

Quote:
I agree with you. That's why I hadn't planned on adopting or rescuing a Rottweiler. But I didn't go to a shelter and adopt him. He found me and fell into my lap.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Yep....I was just saying for future. Too bad this guy didn't work out though...you can't save them all and there are entirely too many pleasant and happy dogs out there to attempt to "rescue" an aggressive one.