If you have a fenced yard then why even bring the Saint on leashed walks in the neighborhood? It's totally not necessary, and it would eliminate one problem for you. Then you'll just have to decide how to manage your home situation.

ETA: I also have a pain in the ass dog who has bitten my parents' dogs (also causing vet trips) when he was young and before I knew any better. He is now almost 11 years old and we've been incident free for years. It does require some change on your part on how to manage your pack, but it possible to keep a dog like this if you listen to the advice here and put in the effort.

It sounds like you're looking for validation for your decision.

Would I personally have the dog PTS based on what I've read here? Probably not. All I really see is dogs being dogs.

However if you cannot change how you handle him, then that probably is the only real workable solution because the resource guarding etc will get worse without a change in your handling approach.

You say your husband would be sad. In that case perhaps you should show him this thread and see if he would be willing to put the time that will be needed to handle/train/manage Griffey

 Quote: Tabatha Farnel

If you have a fenced yard then why even bring the Saint on leashed walks in the neighborhood? It's totally not necessary, and it would eliminate one problem for you. Then you'll just have to decide how to manage your home situation.

This would be the fate worse than death I was talking about.

Would killing the dog be ideal in every situation? Hell no! Somewhere in the world there are bright green pastures where this dog could run free and never menace society again.

But I think the OP is pretty obvious.

 Quote: Mara Jessup

It sounds like you're looking for validation for your decision.…… However if you cannot change how you handle him, then that probably is the only real workable solution because the resource guarding etc will get worse without a change in your handling approach.

Validated. Based on the OP and the effort that is going to be put into this situation, anything less is a death sentence for the next dog, cat, or other animal Grif gets a hold of.

I will be discussing all these posts with my husband and we will take all into consideration. UNDERSTAND, we are not taking this lightly, we love all of our dogs, they are part of our family. We do not happy that we are dealing with this, that is why I searched the net for some answers/advice, etc. I do not know what the outcome will be yet. However, putting my other goldens in another home is not at all a possibility.

Your saint could still be walked with a muzzle - preventing him from doing anyone or anything harm as you become more proficient at learning dogs' fight signals or simply not stopping to talk with neighbors who have dogs. I would absolutely never put the saint outside with either dog without an responsible adult outside - vigilant - with him at all times. If he will resource guard and attack the male, he'll most likely do the same to the female if she tries to sniff a bone, toy, etc...

Something killed the cat or the cat died in your yard. That to me is not as critical an issue as is his defense of the "prize" and Grizzy being alone with the other dog... that part was preventable but at least you know have that additional information and the golden was not seriously injured.

This IS doable if you are up for making some reasonable changes in how you handle Griffy. Lots of folks on this forum use muzzles on their dogs and have no hesitation doing so what so ever. Everyone would be able to relax and enjoy the walks...

There is tons of info on this site in regard to pack structure, leadership, NILIF (nothing in life is free) which could be of great help in training your family how to manage these three dogs.

Separation really is not that hard to do. You crate or pen the happy dogs while the butt dog is out. Then you crate or pen the butt dog and let the happy ones out. When everyone (dogs and people) learns the routine it is pretty painless. My kids (11 & 7) learned how to do it. If your kids are old enough to use a TV remote they can learn to not let all the dogs out at the same time. Give them the "dead dog lecture" and they will probably remember. If they don't have a clue about things dying then it's probably time to educate them about it.

Are these dogs all together when you aren't home? If you don't change the set-up you may come home one day to a dead dog.

You need to talk to a dog trainer, a good one. Where are you located, maybe someone can make a suggestion.

I would seperate the St. when unattended. With no incidents in 3 years you were obviously doing something right, you need to build on the success that you already had.
If you can't supervise, pop him in a seperate run with toys etc. He'd be happy enough.

About the dog on the walk... you said that you were standing around talking, correct? That leaves your dogs face to face with another one, they're standing around bored. Bored dogs have a tendancy to erupt with frustration - either whining, nudging you etc. or in this case leaping on the other dog. It ended without seious injury, treat it as a learning experience and move on.

When out for a walk, try taking him on his own sometimes - practice obedience, walk past yards with dogs in them and work on his dog issues. Not walking as one person suggested would make him worse, if anything up the walks a little.

Sorry about the cat but it happens.
My male greyhound caught a rabbit in the garden the other day, he killed it - I didn't like to see it but dogs are dogs - that's what they do. It's not really even aggression, they are predators and it was something running. My male GSD walked over and the greyhound growled at him.

I supervise my dogs, the GSD got told to back off - he did. The greyhound was told to swap his kill for a piece of raw liver - he did. Nothing was allowed to escalate because I was there.

As for the grandkids... aggression to dogs or cats does not make him a dog that would harm them in any way. You do need to get control of him more but nothing you have said makes me think that this is a problem.

Also nothing that you have said makes him non-rehomable, a st. specialist rescue could advise further but killing a cat, fighting a resident dog and 1 fight outside would not prove insurmountable.

Step up your obedience with all 3 dogs, make a nice area to seperate him when unsupervised. Work on any other suggestions that you get, find a trainer if you can and give it a few weeks. If you still want to rehome him we may be able to help. As for having him PTS - I don't believe is necessary but you have to do what you feel is right.

Good luck

Someone else said it for me. If your kids (or grand kids, I'm getting confused) are old enough to use a remote for the TV, they're old enough to know to not mess with the dogs unless you or another designated adult is around. Sure, kids will be kids, but that's where the scary 'dead dog' talk comes into play. They're going to find out about it one way or the other - while you calmly explain to them what may happen, or when it actually happens in front of them and they're hysterical. I've also used padlocks to protect my dogs from my own family. My aunt came to visit and wouldn't accept the fact that two of my dogs (at the time) didn't like each other. $300 in vet bills later, I spent $5 on a padlock to prevent her from just opening the dog yard gate.

 Quote: Jennifer Krimmer

Wow, nobody sugar coats anything that's for sure.

I’m sorry, but this situation appalls me. I know things like this go on but, personally, I’d much rather not read about them. Just a personal opinion and I’m a big girl, I didn’t have to read this.

However, I thought this situation sounded familiar and started looking into some old information I’d put together for a lady that was having trouble with a St. Bernard a few years back. Wasn’t in the stuff I had but a quick search brought this up.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080721082002AAkAvjT

Jennifer obviously didn’t take the “get some training” advice she was given back then and I don’t think she’s here for any information today.

Looks like she’s leaving out a few critical details too.

She’s allowed this situation to escalate without doing a thing about it and now Griffey is about to get tossed out like yesterday’s trash.

Couldn’t possibly be the owner’s lack of knowledge. They did their St. Bernard research and “nothing said they were aggressive by nature”.

No, they generally are not but a lack of leadership, inappropriate exercise and who knows what else, can throw a monkey wrench into any dog’s nature.

But no, she’s “proactive and is now taking preventative measures so that Griffey can cause no further harm.” I sure hope the next person that decides to sell her a puppy knows about the proactive and preventative measures she’s willing to take with their little bundle of love.

A dog owner all her life, geeze, she must know what she’s doing.

God Bless you Griffey, you’re doing the best you can with the cards you’ve been dealt. My heart goes out to you.

Nice work, CJ! Small world on the net, too.:laugh: