Quote: Anne Jones

Try as you may.....some dogs no matter what you do, or how extensive your dog training knowledge....will never get along.

Not to say that sometimes with the proper management it can be done if taken slowly & managed properly...but there is no guarantee that it will work out no matter how well you try to manage the encounters.

I have had dogs that have taken a long time & a lot of management to get them to live together....but still need to be supervised under certain circumstances. Others that would never EVER get along no matter what or how long.

I agree with Anne!

The Sarplaninac/Sharplanina may be persistently Dog-Aggressive, especially male on male or bitch vs bitch, and particularly once it decides to dislike a certain dog & hold a grudge against it -- These are NOT typical family pets with a happy-go-lucky, "loves everyone & all animals", handler-oriented breed ... They cannot be made to behave like Herders, Retrievers, etcetera, after their adult temperament traits are ingrained (it takes an experienced owner who VALUES their OWN inbred characteristics & is dedicated to managing a Sarplaninac/Sharplanina in a working environment) IMHO.

I'm getting worried with all these people trying to 'do the right thing' by giving away dogs that want to kill other animals. In this day and age with people freaking out over the littlest thing, a large dog that looks terrifying and wolfish attempting to maul other 'pets' ... is it REALLY the right thing to pass that liability on to someone else?

 Quote: SamanthaTopper

I'm getting worried with all these people trying to 'do the right thing' by giving away dogs that want to kill other animals. In this day and age with people freaking out over the littlest thing, a large dog that looks terrifying and wolfish attempting to maul other 'pets' ... is it REALLY the right thing to pass that liability on to someone else?

My questions are:

WHO is that Dog's Breeder and WHERE is their Return Policy -- WHAT made this owner imagine a Sarplaninac/Sharplanina would be Dog-Friendly and WHY do they seem to know less than I do about their Own Personal breed-of-choice ... WHEN will scenarios like this ever End and HOW can we help bring them to a Halt ???

Thank you, vacuum suggested, not required. Lol

Excuse me, but you have absolutely NO knowledge of what my friends knowledge level of this breed is based on a short post of what I wrote. Believe me the potential taker of this dog will be screened more thoroughly than people adopting kids. I applaud my friends decision to 1. Be loyal to her other dog, and 2. Recognize a potential problem developing. You can assume all you want from my original post but the fact is you don't know the situation, the scenario, or the players. 'Nuff said.

jodi , please don't take this post as an affront to your friends knowledge of the breed , or to make any bones about the current situation and their well meaning efforts to rectify it .

if the breeders had screened the prospective owners of their dogs as diligently as your friends are planning to do , they might not be in the situation they find themselves in now . as the breeders of what is , apparently , a fairly obscure breed , i think it would have behooved them to make sure that the new home of one of their pups would have been as near a perfect fit as possible . particularly considering that the pup was going into a home that already had an established dog i would have thought that they ( the breeders ) might have foreseen that the dog might be coming back and would have that written into any agreement ( legal , handshake or whatever ) they would have entered into .

i guess my point , or question might be . . . is the breeder doing anything to see that their pup eventually goes to a home where it will be raised to live a good , happy life and be a good ambassador for the breed ?

and just out of curiosity , i'd like to know more about the circumstances under which your friends thought this was an appropriate breed for them . when i googled , i was taken aback by the size of that breed . . . obviously they had a job in mind for him .

Jodi, were they planning to use the dog as a livestock guard? from the little I know about the breed they seem to still be very hard-wired to be aggressive to other canines, including other dogs as part of their livestock guard duties. It seems those guard tendencies have not been toned down at all the way they have in many show line LGDs.

Since the breed is a livestock guarding breed, perhaps that would be one avenue for your friends to pursue in locating a good forever home for the dog.

I'll can post to my farming family in Canada, none of them currently keep livestock and the ones that used to have kept Newfs for years (awesome laid back living rugs) - which end of Canada is the Sarp on? I have connections in the Maritimes, Ontario and BC.

 Quote: ian bunbury

jodi , please don't take this post as an affront to your friends knowledge of the breed , or to make any bones about the current situation and their well meaning efforts to rectify it .

if the breeders had screened the prospective owners of their dogs as diligently as your friends are planning to do , they might not be in the situation they find themselves in now . as the breeders of what is , apparently , a fairly obscure breed , i think it would have behooved them to make sure that the new home of one of their pups would have been as near a perfect fit as possible . particularly considering that the pup was going into a home that already had an established dog i would have thought that they ( the breeders ) might have foreseen that the dog might be coming back and would have that written into any agreement ( legal , handshake or whatever ) they would have entered into .

i guess my point , or question might be . . . is the breeder doing anything to see that their pup eventually goes to a home where it will be raised to live a good , happy life and be a good ambassador for the breed ?

and just out of curiosity , i'd like to know more about the circumstances under which your friends thought this was an appropriate breed for them . when i googled , i was taken aback by the size of that breed . . . obviously they had a job in mind for him .

Ian, wow, THANKS ALOT for this post -- You said everything I meant to convey MUCH BETTER than I did, that's for sure ... Foot-In-Mouth "disease" is an internet hazard for the likes of me, so I appreciate your assistance here !!! We see the same sad issues in Akita Rescue frequently & it becomes quite frustrating.