Hi everyone: In May, my husband and I adopted a female GS/Golden mix that had been dumped at the local vet, and marked as either to be adopted or euthanized. As soon as we walked out of the vet's office, I knew we had made a mistake. She growled and lunged at other dogs in the office. (The vet said she was kind and gentle :S) At home, she growled, lunged, and snapped at me when I tried to get her to come by gently pulling her towards me on the leash. She hates females (dog or human), but is submissive towards males. My husband and son don't have issues with her. We have an older female lab mix at home and they have fought 3 times now. The new dog hoards stuff on her bed, and bares her teeth if I come near. She won't come off her bed if I call her. The first time I got bit was when I tried to go get her off her bed. Yesterday, stupid me, I got bit again when I tried to take away a plastic container she had hoarded. I had her on the dominant collar and thought if she growled at me when I tried to get the item, I would hang her up. I guess I did it wrong, because without warning she twisted her head around and inflicted a deep puncture wound on my hand. Now I am absolutely terrified of her. I have always owned a dog, so this fear on my part is very disturbing to me. Deep in my heart, I know I should have her euthanized, but my son loves her (she is very sweet with him). However, I am the primary care taker, and I can no longer even approach her without shaking in fear. I'm not sure that a trainer would be helpful, because the one I know is a man, so he won't have any problems. We don't have a lot of money to pay a trainer either. I was thinking of getting a control pole to handle her, but this seems a little extreme. Any feedback would be welcome. Thanks!!

Short answer is take her back where she came from...long answer, it is going to take a lot of ground work training, obedience training etc. Read more about it here on the sites free traiing info.

If she is good with you son & husband, I would expect that she has no respect for you & you may be some of that problem.

Sounds like she is dog aggressive & may have other issues. How old is the dog? Some of these may be why she was left at the vets.

She may need more training then you are able to do or want to do.

There are many dogs out there that are looking for homes, that may have less 'baggage' & would fit into you home better than this dog. May be worth looking into.

You are not the family that can handle this dog.

You have allowed the dogs to fight? That is the one place where I would fault you. Fight number one should have been your immediate cue to separate them completely. This whole thing is completely unfair to the older dog.

But for the rest, you are in over your head, and it's no one's fault (but the vet, maybe). JMO, but I would return the dog to the vet immediately. I don't know how old your son is, but his age might dictate that "return to vet" is the extent of his information.

Being afraid of a dog in your home is an absolute deal-breaker. This would be a pretty serious project even without that; with that, no way.

All JMO.


eta
I was typing while Anne was posting.

Edited by Connie Sutherland (11/18/2010 12:43 PM)
Edit reason: eta

Kathleen, is there any way you can get a trainer who has experience with aggressive dogs to come and take a look at how she is interacting with you?

If not, how will you get over your fear of her to work through this?

Not only are you afraid of the dog, the dog is probably terrified of you, since you have tried to 'hang' her. Not a good place to be starting from...

(ETA, what Anne and Connie said...I was typing, too...)

Lynne, of course you are right.

I spoke from the experience of going to work with dogs who had an owner frightened of the dog, and I was never able to rectify that, to get anything close to the frightened owner standing up straight, assuming pack leader demeanor, taking charge, and actually training the dog.

I've made it better, yes .... but never even close to the point where the owner could deal effectively with a dog like this one.

Of course, that may point out my own limitations much more than the limitations of possibilities when an owner is afraid of their own dog.

Please, though, don't allow your other dog to have to live in fear (or worse). This is your responsibility.

I missed the part about the dogs fighting. No dog (especially the one there first) should have to be worried about having a fight started with them.

Dogs that fight especially 3 x should be seperated for life & never again allowed to get into each others face.

Dog is just not a safe fit into your home.

Anne, thanks for your quick reply. She is 5 years old; my other dog is 11 (and a real sweetie). The anonymous man who left her at the vet didn't offer any explanation, but he said she was good with kids. I'm sure I'm part of the problem, although she does have issues with women in general (and some children!). She growls if women approach her, but not men. I'm not really looking for another dog right now, we just thought we could save her from being put down, and offer her a good life. Thanks again!

I agree with Connie and Anne.

At 5 years old a lot of things might not be possible to change.

It is theoretically possible to improve this situation with constant management and training but practically I'd give it 95% chance of something going horribly wrong at some point.

It might be possible to rehome this dog with somebody with appropriate skill level and temperament.

We have 2 females who had a fight, one of them was very reactive to begin with and in 1 year got better to a point where we can all live together but it is still a constant management and training issue. We spent a LOT of time and money on training and still do and I wasn't afraid of her at any point.

I am very sorry to tell you all this, Kathleen

Hi Connie: I no longer allow the dogs to be together, but my husband does. You're right, this situation is probably unworkable. Thanks.

What would be your best scenario? The dog returned or you and the dog bonding and having a good life with each other?

I think the first thing to do is decide what YOU want to do and go from there. In the meantime keep the dogs separated.

And know that if you decide to work with the dog, it may or may not work out. A lot depends on the dog, you and the trainer.

If you are shaking when you approach the dog you need to have someone else take care of the dog. This is just not a good situation at all. Even if it means the dog being crated until your husband or son comes home.

So look into your heart and forget about what you should feel or what other people want you to want and what is your wish for you and this dog?