my dog zeppy has always been aggressive and nobody really knows why. hes a sheltie/boarder collie from a pet store. the vet suggested that he is aggressive because he was brought up in a puppy breeding mill. well the situation is getting to be unmanageable and my family cannot handle it anymore. around our family who he knows, he is fine. but around people that he does not know he gets very aggressive and he has tried to bite people. my mom decided that he has to be put to sleep, but i was wondering if anyone knew of any other alternatives? i love my dog and i feel like i can't let my mom put him to sleep. i dont know if there are any shelters or if he could go to a farm or something. i wouldnt want to have him suffer in a shelter if it would be horrible living there. i dont know ... any suggestions or info would be greatly appreciated. thank you much.
I wouldnt really know what to do in this situation, but i could never consider agreeing to put him to sleep. Perhaps you could try to find out about dog training methods online or if you can afford it, get him into a training school for doggies. I googled it and all these results came up http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=dog+training&meta== I wish you the best of luck
When I was young we had a Bouvier des Flander (big dog) who was very aggressive with other people as well. She bit a couple of people we knew so my family decided that she had to go.....she was wonderful with our family though. Of course we didn't want her put to sleep or to have to go to a kennel where she would most likely be put down because of her aggressive tendencies....so we took a little time to look around and finally we found a women who worked in my dad's company who owned a farm (isolated away from lots of people) and she agreed that she would take her. Why don't you ask your family to take some time to look for someone who might be in a better situation to have your dog? In the mean time just be careful about having her around strangers....I'm sure you could find someone. Anyway, I wish you the best of luck......let us know what happens.
Ohhww... that's a hard situation! I've seen a documentary about 'dog-therapy' once where they used very calm and friendly dogs to teach the agressive dogs to behave better.. it worked wonders. Before you do anything drastic I'd suggest finding something like that or finding another 'therapy'.. there are 'dog-whisperers' out there, it may seem silly but anything better than having him being put down or attacking people right? I worked in a shelter once and there was a dog who was abused. She had to be replaced a few times before finding the perfect home. At first she found a very loving family that had the exact same problem as you have.. because the dog bit out of fear, she was very very protective to those she trusted, being her new owners. They couldn't even take her for a normal walk anymore because she'd become overly agressive to people and dogs that came too close. In the end, she found a home with people who already had a very nice and calm dog, who was dominant over her and, apart from giving a good example, bossed her around So.. very best of luck! :*
Her aggressiveness could very well be the fault of her breeder's. Considering she is both a mixed breed and she was sold to a petshop, she came from very bad breeders. However, I would say the aggression is there because of her breeds. Borders and shelties are very very active breeds -- escpecially borders. They are also incredibly intelligent. These breeds need LOTS of physical and mental stimulation, otherwise they will become aggressive and destructive. I would sugest a hobby, as border collies always need a job to do. Herding, agility, flyball, obedience, and flying disc are just some of the things that can help your dog blow off any frustrations. Also, crating her whiel she is alone and leaving her a peanut-butter filled Kong will help her relax. If you could give me an idea of what types of situations she acts aggressively in, I might be able to help more extensively. Shelties are very shy dogs. They are timid and sensitive. They are common culprits when it comes to biting because they are very defensive. If someone scares a sheltie or intimidates one, it might be quick to react defensivly. Border collies on the other hand can be good guard dogs. Their guarding and watchdog skills vary from dog to dog, but many will not hesitate to defend their household and owners if they feel the need. Mostly border collies act aggressivly because they are not getting enough mental and physical stimulation. These are not family dogs -- they are working dogs. And if they should not have something to keep them busy, they will find ways to keep themselves busy. This includes being destructive or aggressive. Hope everything works out for your dog. Maybe you could possibly find some rescues in the area willing to take her?
hes like that because he was in a puppy mill. those places are like concentration camps. i saw pictures and theyre so sad. Id buy from an actual breeder, or a puppy mill just to help out the dogs.
I doubt that she was from a puppy mill. While 9 out of 10 pet shop puppies are from puppy mills, the majority specialize in purebred dogs. Any mixed breeds would be the designer breeds. "Yorkipoos," "labradoodles," "Goldendoodles," "cockapoos," etc. And I sincerely hope you wouldn't buy from a puppy mill to "help out the dogs." By buying a puppy mill dog, you would only be supporting the business. Where there is demand and money coming in, there are puppy mills. You may save one life, but you'd be damning thousands more. It is unfortunate that in this day and age, people are still uneducated on the facts about where our dogs are coming from. Dogs and puppies should be bought from REPUTABLE breeders, shelters and rescues, and nowhere else.
buying a puppy from a puppymill is like buying guns to prevent others from shooting with it.. it'll only give money to those who are in the arms-business and because of the profit they make the trade can exist. No matter how noble your motivs are.. buying from a puppymill is wrong.. maybe even more so if you are doing it on purpose. If you want to help out dogs, go to a local dog-shelter, there are plenty of dogs there looking for a good home.
There's a show on tv(not sure of the channel)'The Dog Whisperer',this man has turned volatile dog/people situations around using very simple techniques that retrain the owners.It's really cool! Try to catch it,might give you some ideas & Good Luck! There are herbal pet calming remedies in the healthfood shops.
We have been in the same situation with a shephard mix. The dog was fine with family members but was extremely aggressive with others. I tried obedience training with a one on one professional who specialized in problem and aggressive dogs. The dog bit the guy on the second session so the trainer quit. I was at my wits end when my father decided to take the dog. He had the dog for four years and finally had the dog put to sleep. It came down to responsibility. No matter how contained the dog was there was always the possibility of escape (and the dog did escape a few times). So what happens that one time the dog gets loose and mauls a kid. Not only do you have an injured child on you hands, but are also setting yourself up for possible financial loss. It really wouldn't take much of a lawsuit to break me and my family. You could try finding someone to adopt the dog, but that could prove difficult. It is a difficult decision, but with great regrets, if training fails, I would say to put the dog down. Peace
I've had a number of pets -cats, horses, worked at farms with other animals- and I know it's really hard to sell an animal and even harder to put one down. So I'd definitely look into a good training program -have you ever tried one? You didn't say, you mentioned only the vet. If you've tried that or if you can't afford that, then maybe you'll have to put him down... don't just give him away or something, for even at a farm there are visitors... I was attacked & bitten by a dog once when I went to visit a farm (I was invited, and came at the appointed time, but they'd neglected to chain the dog). If you truly can't control your dog, you're putting those around you at risk. Or make sure he's always leashed & locked up, but if that's a happy life for a dog, I don't know...
wish I could help, but I've never had an aggressive dog...I do send my best thoughts and wishes, and will send out thoughts to the cosmos that a solution presents itself, because I hate to see an ill fate befall any animal
Awww Im sorry to hear this. But see the pic of this cute black cocker spaniel mix......ok I have him since he was 4 weeks old...I rescued him from the streets... He is one mean dog...I have ur same problem. He loves us...but when we have people over...specially kids we have to put him in another room. I don't know how he got soooo bad..I had him since he could fit in my hand...but he is a bad one now. Why don't you try to take ur dog to a trainner...maybe there is something that can be done. I work in an animal hospital and putting pets to sleep just because they are mean is one of the hardest things to do... I neutered my dog myself (@ hospital of course!)...and that helped but not so much... I hope I was help... Fer
Mmm, 'aggression' is one of the most common problems with dogs. First of all, we must figure otu what type of aggression you dog has, as there are more than one, from what you've said, it could be a number of them the two most likey are: Territorial Aggression - Is your dog aggressive when you go near something belonging to him? Perhaps a basket or a toy? It could be he's protecting his 'territory'. Fear Aggression - When animals are firghtened, they get aggressive. You may not be doing anything that seems in your eyes to induce fear, but as he has a unkown past, soemthing could be triggering a bad memory. I had a similar problem with one of my dogs, he'd flip out when we went near him with a lead, as he was a rescue dog, we assumed that someone had tried to choke him previously. It could be a certain body movement that triggers it, something that the dog assosiates with pain or bad experience. Is your dog neutered? If not, I'd recomend it, it could help greatly, and all non-breeding domestic animals should be neutered, it solves alot of health problems in later life as well as reducing aggression. Mmm, I'll look over my notes (I study animal behaviour) and see if I can pull anything up for you
does she still have the dog... because it says the post is from May 2004 I think... awes.. I wish I would have read it sooner, we work with dogs like that, we just helped find homes for a puppy mill we went against in court and had them shut down...
