My dog attacked my child. What are my options for an aggressive dog?

I agree with the decision to take him back to the SPCA. There are two things you can do with a situation like this. 1. Hire a trainer. Have them work with you, your kids and Bear to try to fix the situation. Sometimes this works and sometimes it does not. My concern with this is now your daughter will be cautious around him. She may never develop the relationship you would want with him because of this episode. 2. Take him back to the SPCA. There is nothing wrong with this. Know that not all dogs are good for all families. They have plenty of dogs and there are plenty of other rescues in your area that have amazing dogs. I do not like the fact that Bear growled or that he is nippy. As a Shepherd/Lab mix they get to be big and he will be a lot stronger later in life. I also do not want your daughter to now have a fear of dogs. This Rescue is called Poor Paws. I have a lot of experience with them and they do an amazing job. http://www.poorpawsrescue.com I hope your daughter feels better soon and thank you for using PetCoach.

My answer may not be one you like, but it may be putting her to sleep is best for you and her. She sounds very aggressive, and it's quite serious she has killed two dogs. If she can do this to dogs, she could potentially serious hurt a child or adult as well. You cannot take this risk. I know what a hard decision this can be, I had to make it myself. I had a wonderful dog named Toby, but as he got older, he started to act possessive of his bed and things. He started to act aggressive, and the one day, he bit my son in the face, just missing his eye. I couldn't take that risk any more, so I put him to sleep the same day. It was devastating, but the right thing to do. This may be the best option for her. I hope this helps, and I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry that you're in this position! Behavior problems like this can be heartbreaking for everyone involved, and you're correct that the unpredictable nature of the aggression makes Jack much more dangerous to manage. I do believe that euthanasia can be a reasonable option in cases like these, even though this decision may be very difficult. If you want a professional opinion to help you make a decision, I would recommend consulting with a veterinary behaviorist who can evaluate Jack in person. He/she can give you a much better idea of the risks involved in working with him and trying to manage him safely, as well as an opinion on the prognosis for significant improvement. Your vet should be able to help you find the nearest veterinary specialist in this field, generally at a referral center or teaching hospital, if this is something that you decide you want to do.

I'm sorry to hear that this happened! How upsetting for you and your cousin. The situation you describe - a child coming up behind a dog and startling it, particularly when food is involved - is an extremely common trigger for bites. Any dog will bite if it feels scared or threatened. Our responsibility as adults is to make sure that these situations don't happen. For safety reasons, I would recommend keeping Max separated from any visiting children from now on to prevent this from happening again. Also, in the future, please don't hit him or scold him for reacting this way - the aggressive behavior was prompted by fear, so punishment will only make him more tense and defensive around kids in the future. This is likely why he growled at your friend once he was back in the house - he was stressed and upset, and already "on-edge" from everything that had happened before. If you want to try and work on this issue through training, I would strongly recommend getting help from a veterinary behaviorist who can evaluate Max in person and help you put together a detailed plan for him. Training for aggression issues is generally focused on teaching the dog to associate good things with whatever he is currently afraid of (such as children, visitors, etc.), and should not involve punishment of any kind. Management is also extremely important to ensure that everyone stays safe, for dogs with any history of biting. You can search for a board-certified veterinary behaviorist in your area here: www.dacvb.org

You are facing a difficult decision. You need to consider your family’s safety first. Also the more you isolate Days the less enjoyable her life is. She can’t be placed with another family and you have done a good job trying to have her settle in but it has not worked. Unfortunately I do think having her humanely euthanized is the correct decision in this circumstance. While every life is precious we need to make tough decisions to protect others. She could cause life threatening injuries to you, your dogs and family or someone else and you would be liable since you’re aware of this aggressive behavior. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you get answers to your veterinary questions.

The first thing you need to ask yourself here is whether or not you believe the bite to you occurred intentionally, or accidentally while you were trying to separate the two dogs. If it is the former, keeping a dog within your home that you only just adopted that is already ready inflict harm to you is going to be difficult if you don't have a ton of experience with dog behavior and training. While I love pit bulls (I have three), I readily understand that they are large, powerful dogs that can do some serious damage. If you live alone, or if you have children, my recommendation would be to relinquish the dog unfortunately, If the latter is what happened, there may be opportunities for addressing the issue. I would keep the dogs separated for at least the next 24 hours and let things cool off. I would reexamine the entire situation and try to identify what could have happened that brought about the fight the first time. Examine it from every single angle possible, in terms of people in the room, dogs in the room, items in the room, what the dogs were doing, anything at all that could be a variable. This is going to be the most important thing to figure out. You will ultimately need to keep Jazzy on a leash until you are completely confident that she isn't going to hurt your little one. The process may not be short and will definitely not be easy. Either way, I am going to suggest you hire a dog trainer and / or speak with a veterinary behaviorist. If this sounds like all too much, I don't blame you. I think that you have not had her long enough where you should feel terribly about having to relinquish her. I understand it is difficult, but this is not a great situation for you or your dogs. I do quite a bit of behavior consultation and I would be happy to talk some more if you'd like. Either way, I hope you are able to come to a decision. Stay safe.

I am sorry to hear you are having such a hard time with him! Some rescue dogs can be challenging and a certified behaviorist may be able to provide some options but with behavior this extreme I would be concerned about a possible brain lesion which would require CT/MRI to diagnose. You must at all times keep you and your families safety your priority and if such investigations are not feasible, euthanasia would not be a wrong decision either given the risk to others and the poor quality of life he is experiencing given he is so reactive and unpredictable