Well you've pretty much answered my questions. Thanks Anne.

And good luck to you, Tracey!

Excellent posts Anne.

Tracy I don't know what the answer is in your situation. I know I had a female that I tried to integrate for years to to avail. I have the stitches to prove it.

Worse is that she was not really dog aggressive, just in my situation here. So I added guilt thinking I should be able to have her a buddy to run and play with or I thought if I was a better owner/handler she would be happier.

I finally spayed her and rehomed her and it was the best possible thing I could do for her. As an only dog who is not worried about pack breeding rights, or the new dog and pack position she has relaxed to the point where she can play well with other dogs under supervision.

My dogs are rotated in and out of the house and it is a big relief to all of us not having to worry about who is behind door one or if a split second lapse of judgement is going to cause blood to flow.

Much to my shame she is much happier now. The best possible gift I could give her was finding her a new home where she can be everything that she deserves to be.

Betty and Anne, great posts.

Tracey, I hope you are able to find a solution that will bring peace to your household...

A lot of good advice has already been given of course.

I always worry when I read phrases like

"I feel Harry, once out of our hands would be either placed with someone looking for an 'aggressive' dog,or could fall into a well meaning but misguided family who talk the talk, but wouldn't possibly 'get' what the breed is about"

Because while it's a valid concern, that's not the ONLY situations out there. It's a common train of thought in hoarding situations when someone is over their head (NOT SAYING YOU ARE ONE!) Rather than dismiss it, I would try working with the breeder or a breed-specific rescue. Maybe even try a foster-to-adopt with someone so that they can "trial" it out. If you are careful homes are out there.

While this situation may be do-able in the sense that the dogs stay alive, that sounds like a miserable time for both dog and owner. I can't imagine that rotating that many dogs yourself, even if you had nothing else in the world to occupy your time, can possibly be done in a way that's good for all the animals involved. Even if your daughter is helping now, I imagine she's got a life of her own and will not be with you for the 10+ years of these dog's remaining lifespans. If you are feeling overwhelmed now, it seems like it's only going go go downhill as the dogs mature =( You said that the pointers are not part of the problem, were the aggression issues with the females solved? I was curious so read your past posts and it sounded like there had been an altercation between the BB bitch and the EP one.

I'm glad that you sought out help and are trying to deal with the situation. I admire the courage to admit when you are overwhelmed rather than let a bad situation continue to the detriment of the humans and animals involved. I'm not you, but it definitely sounds to me like a rehome or a very strong discussion about euthanasia is in order. It might be a very good idea to consult the breeder. If they had concerns, it's unfortunate that they let this situation happen, because it seems they are also partially responsible. They knew their dogs, the breed and the potential for aggression and let you take the last dog anyways =(

The heart can certainly overwhelm the head sometimes. For the future: I've found that the key is to remember that your responsibility lies with the animals already in your care--if taking on a new commitment will be a severe detriment or more than just a temporary strain on your original pets then you should probably pass for now. There are ALWAYS animals in need of help, homes or care and the best way you can help is by keeping in mind your limits. Biting off more than you can chew and then burning out hurts more animals than just saying no once in a while.

Just to note, I was rather confused by your talking about rehoming. When I hear it the way you phrased it I understood it to mean that you gave a dog away, not adopted it.

My apologies for the lateness of my reply - been a busy week.

Just to clear up your question Michelle - no I haven't given a dog away, I adopted Kaiser, who was Sugar's litter sib from the original litter, his owners seperated and neither were prepared to take Kaiser into their new lives, hence my heart-over-head decision to take him, we have had him just over a year now.

Also the question about the EP bitch and the BB bitch fight, it has never happened again, Sugar submits to Bon readily if she is getting too yibberdy for Bon's liking, straight on her back.

I have read all your posts, and I would like to thank you all for taking the time and interest to do so, I imagine many of you become sorely exacerbated with people like me, and I don't blame you.

I have spent the week in discussion with a behavourist here in Norfolk, who has worked with and assisted CM on his recent UK tour, and with Sean Ellis down in Devon, for those of you that aren't familiar with his work, he is a chap that has a hybrid wolf pack that has literally lived with, who has spent years studying the whole pack structure and hierarchy thing; Suzy has her own pack of mixed breed rescues, all of which were rehomed through aggressive dog/dog problems, including a feral Spanish street dog that another well meaning Brit spent money bringing back to the UK out of pity, and of course, couldn't give the dog what it needed, this dog is now the ambassador for her pack of fourteen.

I know the opinion of CM and his work is often a contentious subject, and I know the problems he works on are not solved in the space of a one hour tv show, but I truly want to give this a shot, and she is coming to us next weekend for the day to consult and assess, I have also invited the breeder of the Boerboels to join us, I feel I owe it to the dogs to try this, as the problem as I see it lies with me and my inadequacies, nothing ventured...

Please believe me when I tell you I don't for one minute imagine this is a magic wand moment, I want to do the right thing by the dogs, and if after this work is done and I'm still not seeing any real changes, changes that I can maintain for the whole of their lives, I will put my hands up, and I will rehome one of the males.

I have been working non stop on recall, ob and discipline this week, I have taken a few weeks off work and am being consistent in every area, I am including the Pointers in all this, because even though they are bomb proof, biddable dogs, if this 'pack' is going to work, they have to be part of the process. Harry is in the outdoor kennel, he seems very relaxed and the pointers spend as much time with him as they do the yellows in the house, so the scent of the pack is still with him, just at a safe distance.

I will post to let you know how next weekend goes, and thank you all again for your posts.

My best regards

Tracey

I didn't realise you were a fellow brit.
I'm down in Basingstoke, Hants

Oh right! yes I think you are about 4 or 5 hours from us if memory serves me right, my oldest son went to Middle Wallop after basic training at the AAC at Winchester, fabulous country side, we took the Pointers for a long walk after we dropped him at the guard room after pass out leave!

Yeah Middle Wallop is a great place to walk dogs but I found a place a bit further south which is even better - I love walking where you never meet anyone!!

Sounds like my kind of heaven, lots of acres and no other people!