Not everyone is cut out to deal with a dog like that Maria. I'm not. Hopefully there's someone thats a good match for her problems and you can find one thats a match for you and your husband. There's a ton of good dogs needing homes.

Hi;

Yes, sure, we can call him (or the other guy). No, we didn't let it go on. We took measures every time. Not all dogs are easy to handle. This new behaviour pattern has been going on for three weeks, and my husband had to see it, too. Today she is not trying stuff with me, I am really upset with her, not talking to her, keep her in the crate and take her out on very short walks, and NOT liking her now to be honest, so she just trots along, afraid to piss me off more. I simply DO NOT trust a dog that has bitten, it will bite again. Sorry, call me old-fashioned, but in my opinion, dogs are human companions DYING to be with their human and love them, period. If a dog is exhibiting anything else but this classic dog behaviour, I don't need this dog. I really don't want to physically fight any animal or human in my house, or carefully think EVERY time of how I place my hand on the leash expecting it to be bitten off. We seem to know the theory, but who is going to be doing the risky practice? Only us, and I am still shaking from yesterday. I am not planning on killing her, if we can find a strong, powerful MAN (yes, MAN) who can deal with her bitchiness than we would give her to him, if we can find him, that is. San Francisco is full of no-kill shelters. We can always ask around. This is a big step back. I am afraid to even talk to Akita Forum folks again, they have also been SO supportive and with us through this ordeal and cheering for Yume and both of us, and now this...they'll be sooo upset. Ambassador for the breed, my *ss. Yes, I know it might not be her fault at all, she came to us pretty screwed up and early months are very important to the puppy, we got her at almost 9 months and she started with serious aggression though we did everything seemingly very correctly (walking her home for 2 hours, making her work for her food, giving her structure) and she was so wild that touching her collar caused biting/growling fit. God knows, we have been working ALL THE TIME and I am exhausted, and afraid she will injure me on her "bad hair day".

Nooo.. I'm not either. I should ahve gone with my long time instinct and BOUGHT a GSD puppy, I am familiar with the breed, their health issues, behaviour, their desire to work and run and be with their owner, how smart they are, etc. I love working with dogs day and night, especially when we start out early. I sure hope my experience of raising a dog can help some pup to have a nice happy life. I also love communication with dogs, and with Yume it's been tough love ALL THE TIME, I barely pet this dog a couple of times in the last month, and we have not played together for god knows how long. Most of the time she is in her crate, or we are on a walk together. For my dogs, kicking them out of the bed for a week was sufficient alpha boot camp (NOT that they ever bit anyone).

Hi Maria,

I can't help but feel you owe this dog an evaluation by a professional, and it sounds as if you've been given contact information for someone well-qualified to judge her agression and potential for rehabilitation.

If the dog is found to be dangerous by the evaluation, then you owe it to her to end her suffering, not pass along the problem to another owner.

JMO.

I agree, I was thinking about evaluating her three months ago, we talked about it but didn't know who does it and if they do it at all. we will call that guy, but please understand that she does not display this stuff CONSTANTLY, and might not do it in front of a stranger that she is more interested to sniff than to get into any altercations with the others present. I guess we cannot have him live with us:-)? How do we show him what she does and expect her to do it when he comes to visit us?
Oh, I would like to add that she is not suffering. She is feeling quite alright and her problems seem to bother others, not her.

I agree, Meredith.

Maria, if I were you I would give it another shot with a breed specific rescue. Many of the breed rescues are more forgiving of certain temperament traits that a no kill shelter would refuse a dog over. For example, a German shepherd rescue will often take a dog that is dog reactive, where a shelter may label the same dog aggressive and either refuse them or put them down.

Maybe at the very least you could get a volunteer from the rescue to evaluate the dog. It would be a good thing to do before rehoming her.


Eta: You were typing at the same time as me. Don't worry about if she will act up in front of the trainer. Its not really neccesary for the trainer to see exactly what is happening. The trainer will be looking for a lot of other traits that will show how workable her temperament is.


Sorry this didn't work out, the right dog is out there.

 Quote: Maria Martynchik

Oh, I would like to add that she is not suffering. She is feeling quite alright and her problems seem to bother others, not her.

I should have phrased that better. I am referring to her future suffering, what might be if she bites someone and ends up ababndoned on death row. Or if she's taken by someone else who might be afraid of her and she ends up thrown in a backyard with no human interaction. Lots of worst case scenarios are possible for ANY dog, but almost certain for a dog with the termperament problems you describe.

I wish the best for her. In a perfect world the behaviorist who sees her will realize her potential and want to take her from you.

 Quote: Meredith Hamilton

...Or if she's taken by someone else who might be afraid of her and she ends up thrown in a backyard with no human interaction.

I have a suspicion that it's exactly what happened with her previous owner. She became unruly and dangerous due to their wonderful training (or lack thereof) and she was locked up in the backyard for days.

 Quote: meredith hamilton

Hi Maria,

I can't help but feel you owe this dog an evaluation by a professional, and it sounds as if you've been given contact information for someone well-qualified to judge her agression and potential for rehabilitation.

If the dog is found to be dangerous by the evaluation, then you owe it to her to end her suffering, not pass along the problem to another owner.

JMO.

I agree.


This dog needs a professional evaluation. Regardless of everything you have tried to do (and kudos for all of it), the dog needs other help.

On 03/11 we had this post by someone else about your initial post:

"You called her your dog ‘creature’.
You said she grew up into a monster.
You ended up being bitten.
You had to strangle the lights out of her.
You were scared.
You have bite marks on your wrist.
You honestly don’t trust her that much anymore." ....

It's a month later, and you post:
... I am really upset with her, not talking to her, keep her in the crate and take her out on very short walks, and NOT liking her now to be honest, so she just trots along, afraid to piss me off more" ...

This is not a productive POV about a dog. This is not a dog who is bonded with a strong pack leader. This is a dog who needs a professional eval.

Sometimes the absolute best thing to do is admit that you have bitten off way more than you can chew and get help.

Steve said: Not everyone is cut out to deal with a dog like that Maria. I'm not. Hopefully there's someone thats a good match for her problems and you can find one thats a match for you and your husband. There's a ton of good dogs needing homes.

I'd give this some serious thought tonight. JMO!

And this too is absolutely true:

"Don't worry about if she will act up in front of the trainer. Its not really neccesary for the trainer to see exactly what is happening. The trainer will be looking for a lot of other traits that will show how workable her temperament is."

 Quote: Maria Martynchik

I would love someone to come in and simply evaluate her in terms of how realistic our goals are, really.

Maria, this is from your first post on 3/11.

The next day, 3/12, a forum member provided the name of a qualified trainer/evaluator in your area.

It can't get much easier than that.