The dog is altered and also, from what I know, rescues will probably not take her back due to her issues that have come up. The liability there is just too great, I think.

She will get a fair shake with me.

A little attitude does not bother me a bit. But if it is as bad as they were telling me about a while ago, then I think I will have my work cut out for me.

Carol, knowing what I know of you-- I believe you are this dog's best shot at living a good, well-mannered and happy life. Because you have her, this could very well turn out to be a success story.

I'm glad you're giving her a chance. Doesn't sound like she had the best start.

The dog is fixable if the issue isn't that the dog is a fear biter. Trust is the first thing you need with the dog, putting the dog in a basic nylon muzzle will go a long ways to helping you build trust with the dog because you will not have to be nervous about getting bit. Depeding on what the reasons are behind why the dog acts the way he does it may be neccesary to be a little hard on him and make him realize he cannot do that s***. Good luck with him, hopefully it will all work out.

Carol, I applaud you. The dog deserves a chance. Every dog deserves a chance. Too bad the behavior of so many dogs are not what they would have naturally been, had it not been for the jerk owners.

Beating a dog , putting a dog on the floor to handle aggression - yeah, that really works well . IMO, any dog that submits to being put down on the ground never really had the potential to be aggressive to begin with (although I admit I've seen Cesar Milan do it with a truly aggressive dog, but then not many owners know what's involved or they do it out of anger, or they do it for a little playful biting/nipping problem, misunderstood to be something other than it is). A bold brave strong willed dog with fight in him doesn't submit to that, and it doesn't work with them.

If I had the experience that you have with Bloodhounds, I would do exactly what you're doing. It's fortunate that you have the facilities to house him. Some things just fall on us to do.

The people who own her, may have joined your club, that's a technicality, however; I would not classify them as "members". As a matter of fact, I would try to forget everything they told you about this girl, quite a HUGE discrepancy in what they told you and their newspaper ad. They are a BAD source of information,

If you can clear your mind and look at her as a stray who you have no background on, what she shows you may not resemble what they have told you at all.

The biggest problem I have with their story is the beating part, it doesn't ring true. If you are inexperienced with dogs and your rescue bites you and draws blood, the normal and intelligent person backs off because you are hurt and scared and should be very concerned for the safety of your children, you would either return the dog or seek help immediately!

You don't let it happen six times. No, I think the beating came first and prompted the bite which probably stopped the beating. It will be tough going to retrain either way but not impossible if she is resilient. When will she be joining your household? I would love to follow her progress. Chin up and in the words of my teenagers "people suck"

Carol, good call. I'd take her, too. OF COURSE the dog has bitten six times-she bit once, and they jumped back. So...she did it again. And again. Regardless of the end outcome, this is the best possible scenario. If you try and still fail, it's not you. You'll know the dog just wasn't right, and that everything that could be done was done. This is exactly why we have so many dog bites in the media-people just pass the buck, and often it's the same dogs biting multiple people over and over. Let us know how it works out; I hope they're humiliated that you found out what they were trying to do.

If I was in this situation, I'd take the dog. If I didn't have the time/resources to rehabilitate it (or know someone VERY trustyworthy near me who did) I'd euthanize it.

It'd be worth the $100 to euth it just for the peace of mind knowing it didn't rip some kid's face off.

Okay, now here is the hard part....they are not returning my calls nor my emails......

So, where do I go from here? Do I drive up there unannounced and tell them I will take the dog?
Do I contact animal control? LE?

I feel like I have a moral and maybe even ethical obligation here and need some advice.

I have been searching newspapers from where the people are from and no ads for the dog. The only ad is in the nearest city to my areas newspaper. Which is out of state from the owner.
Kind of leads me to think that the dog is still a witch and he wants to place her in a different state so that if something happens......well.....I don't think I need to say more.....

This has bothered me all weekend and now I am getting a little worked up that they are avoiding me....I just hope they have not already placed the dog.

Well, Carol, if you are like me and just don't care what people think and are not the least bit upset by infuriating people, I'd place an ad in the same paper saying that they're trying to give away a liability. Not sure if the paper would print it, but it would certainly make a point, eh???

OF COURSE they're not returning your emails or calls; they're cowardly scumbags who know you know what they're up to!!! Keep at 'em-harrass them endlessly. They'll get sick of you and submit just so you go away. Usually works for me.

Oh, and I'd DEFINITELY call animal control/LE. You KNOW this dog can be dangerous, you're a respectable, highly credible dog person/authority, so it can't hurt. A badge might convince them to do the right thing here.

Sounds like we are alike in many ways Jenni....

I am a Reserve Officer so I will be contacting the local police station or animal control officer (if they have one) in the town where he lives today to see if there is anything that can be done.

This is where it gets frustrating being in a small town with smaller towns in the surrounding area (his town is about 3.5 hours away). A lot of the issues that are considered concerning in the bigger cities may not necassarily be considered concerning around here. GRRRRRR, but I think I can raise a big enough stink that something gets done.