# Serious Aggression from new rescue.



## Bella_Katie (Nov 9, 2015)

I just rescued a GSD X Siberan Husky from the humane society. She is the most amazing dog with me, however she attacks men and other dogs. She has bitten a child as well. We can not walk down the street without her lunging/barking/attacking dogs that are on the other side of the road. I have concluded that she must have been abused by a male, because she is ok with women. We have enrolled in private lessons, but she attacked the store employee the other day. She just can't be trusted with others. What should I do? Would a shock collar help this situation?


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## wyominggrandma (Jan 2, 2011)

Hmm, guess why she was at the Shelter. Attacking men and other dogs? Biting a child? I hope you realize the HUGE liability you now have. If she bites another person, man, women and child, you are liable. 
Did the humane society say anything about a bite history? Was she a stray or drop off? How old? I don't for a minute believe she was abused by a man so that is why she hates them. Did a child abuse her also? how about the store employee? This is a dog that has something wrong and most likely will never be safe.
You need to muzzle this dog whenever you are out in public. Better yet, don't take her out in public. You can never let down your guard, in house or out of house. You need to think about returning her to the humane society and try another dog.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Bella_Katie said:


> I just rescued a GSD X Siberan Husky from the humane society. She is the most amazing dog with me, however she attacks men and other dogs. She has bitten a child as well. We can not walk down the street without her lunging/barking/attacking dogs that are on the other side of the road. I have concluded that she must have been abused by a male, because she is ok with women. We have enrolled in private lessons, but she attacked the store employee the other day. She just can't be trusted with others. What should I do? Would a shock collar help this situation?


 No, a shock collar is not an answer to this problem. 

Do not assume she has been abused by men. It is a dangerous assumption and probably false. Dogs that are abused by men go to new homes and have no problems with men often. Sometimes a dog that is raised by women and owned by women are afraid of men, thus distrustful of men, thus reactive to men if they are fear-reactive. 

Your dog has bitten people. You have written it on the internet, and it has probably been documented elsewhere. You will NEVER be able to use ignorance as an excuse for your dog's behavior because you know what she is capable of because she has shown you. At least, she has shown you enough of her behavior, that if there is another incident with her, you will be 100% liable for it.

Please do not take this lightly. For now, your dog needs to be muzzled when she is out of your home, or in your secure yard WITH YOU PRESENT. When you are at work, your dog needs to be secure in a kennel within your fenced yard or in a crate within your locked home. 

If you want to save this dog, you will need a very experienced animal behaviorist and excellent management of the dog. You have to be willing to do a LOT of work with her. And the chances are good that you will NEVER have a dog that is safe around your close family and friends, much less strangers.

I would put a dog down that bit two separate people, one being a child, if there were no extenuating circumstances (i.e. the child was putting a pencil down the dog's ear, or the dog was hit by a car, had a dislocated hip, and someone picked her up -- yes, these were real incidents that I am alluding to). 

Dogs should not bite humans. 

Sometimes we breed and train dogs so that they will bite humans in certain circumstances. When we own dogs that will bite humans we have to take on that added responsibility. I doubt this dog from the shelter was specifically worked with to overcome a natural bite-inhibition. The alternative is a dog that is a loose cannon. It is like having dynamite. Yes, you can lock it up, and under the right conditions keep it. But, you have to be aware that if anything happens with your dynamite, then you will probably be in a world of hurt. 

What an experienced trainer -- not a yayhoo at PetsMart or PetCo that gets and extra 35 cents an hour because he passed some individual training module as a dog trainer -- can do for you, is they MAY be able to identify the triggers that your dog has, and help you recognize his body language, etc. so that you can work his environment to the point where incidents are non-existent. He can help you manage the dog and train the dog, and keep the dog safe. Hopefully.


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## mjackson0902 (Sep 14, 2015)

Bella_Katie said:


> I just rescued a GSD X Siberan Husky from the humane society. She is the most amazing dog with me, however she attacks men and other dogs. She has bitten a child as well. We can not walk down the street without her lunging/barking/attacking dogs that are on the other side of the road. I have concluded that she must have been abused by a male, because she is ok with women. We have enrolled in private lessons, but she attacked the store employee the other day. She just can't be trusted with others. What should I do? Would a shock collar help this situation?


While LJ has not actually bitten anyone we can use him as an example:
I am able to admit my dog seems to be a product of poor breeding. I am not a prideful person and willing to admit that to the fullest. That being said I am responsible for protecting my dog. He cannot be trusted around new people or dogs due the fact he is FEAR AGGRESSIVE. I do not believe for one second that he is protecting me, our family, his territory. My dog has horrible nerves therefore:

1. LJ is never off leash outside our home or even in our front yard.
2. I never allow ANYONE to pet him, he is a liability and I know this and until I can trust him he is off limits.
3. When people come over LJ is crated, end of story, too much of a liability.
4. We will have no other animals in our home until I can trust him. However, we now have a cat that he is in love with.

** People may think that I do not socialize him or that I am not allowing him to prove that he is capable of being calm and restrained around people but the truth it that I see this in his eyes when I look at him. He is terrified of people and we have not abused him, neglected him, or due to a lack of training him. He is too much of a liability and I accept ownership of this..so should you. Everyone wished that they could rescue a dog and they live happily ever after, sometimes you get lucky that dog is perfect. 50% of the time that is not the case. This dog may have issues the rest of its life, but you are it's owner now and you accept it or try to train it out of him. We do alot of training with LJ but most of it focus' his confidence and his bond with me. If he does not have good confidence and he feels like I am not his leader then whatever training we do he will never succeed** You know how your dog reacts now, the important question is how will you change YOUR thought process and action in the future? Good Luck


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## yuriy (Dec 23, 2012)

I agree with everything *selzer* has said. 

First thing - get her used and liking a muzzle. Make sure it's a proper muzzle, not one of those strap-over-the-nose toys. Then you need to work one-on-one with an experienced trainer to socialize her with the world (people, animals, etc.) at a very long distance, and slowly bring her closer to things she currently reacts poorly to. 

Given what you've written, I'd still expect to keep her muzzled 100% of the time outside your home, even after training.


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## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

I've had a dog like that and could never relax. The shelter should have warned you. The dog I rescued had no known bite history but was fostered in a very sheltered situation. We took him as a foster because the first fosters couldn't handle him but they never said why. We found out. It took us years to get him to the point where we could take him out in public without worrying about a bite and we had to cut way back on socializing and even company in our home. Is that what you want?


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## andhen2003 (Nov 5, 2015)

Katie I'm dealing with a rescue who is normally sweet as can be but has been unpredictably aggressive, at one point biting one of my son's friends. No more kids are allowed at my house (I have two children who aren't happy that they can't have friends over unless my dog's in the kennel); he's learning to be muzzled; and I just found a trainer that is specialized in aggressive dogs. As was said above, I now recognize that I have a dangerous weapon, and I feel I took on the responsibility and am going to spend a lot of resources on training to try to meet that responsibility. If that doesn't work, he's going back, as much as I love the guy. It would be irresponsible of me to do anything else. And your dog sounds a lot more aggressive than mine.


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## MythicMut (May 22, 2015)

The shelter should definitely have warned you about the dog. I can't imagine it spent any amount of time there without exhibiting some aggressive behavior. If you are serious about helping this dog get a good muzzle and a professional trainer experienced in aggressive behavior. Take Selzer's advice very seriously


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## newlie (Feb 12, 2013)

Because this is such a serious situation, I am going to be more blunt than I usually am, so please don't take offense. I believe you should call the Human Society today, tell them the situation, and say you need to return the dog. I might be wrong, but you sound very young to me, and this is NOT the dog for an inexperienced owner. I am not sure she is the dog for anyone. I agree with Selzer that after several of apparently unprovoked attacks, one of which was on a child, someone should give serious consideration to having the dog put to sleep. Most of us on this forum would not keep a dog like this, personally I wouldn't. You do not want the liability of your dog seriously hurting someone or the guilt that would inevitably follow. This is not to say that you might not find another shepherd down the road that you would do fine with. I am a first time shepherd owner, myself, but although my Newlie has been dog reactive in the past, he has NEVER shown ant aggression toward people. Please make the call today, this is a total mis-match, and I would hate for anything to happen that would be beyond repair.


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

someone abdicated their responsibility and passed on a problem -- a very serious problem . Not every dog can nor should be saved .
Go back to the shelter . I agree with Newlie , and the others . I also don't think the dog was abused , a common grasping at straws attempt to explain behaviour gone wrong . Sometimes dogs , wrecklessly bred , bad breed mixes are just wired wrong and can't be fixed. 
Life with this dog is like walking through a live mine-field.
There will be a blow up the question is when.


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## Moriah (May 20, 2014)

Bella_Katie--

I am so sorry you are in this predicament. This dog can in an instant change your life. You can either take care of the problem now or suffer the consequences later. Suzanne Clothier, a well-known trainer and breeder of GSDs says that owners cannot 100% guarantee that management accidents won't happen.

The dog may be sweet and loving, but in an instant, the dog may become a stick of dynamite.


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## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

UH-Oh full on "Red Zone" bubbled dog (a dog that can't be trusted in public!) I had/have one, we/he got over it. 

What are the circumstances of the bites?? Did the "child" bite happen under your watch or is it what you were told??

Was the store employee a "trainer" or some random store clerk?? Just so you know ...only 10% of trainers are capable of rehabbing "biting dogs!" So flipping open a phone book and looking for "Positive Only" is not going to cut it!

What are the dogs living arrangements, are there random drop ins, family and friends??

Does the dog "have" to routinely interact with kids and strangers ??? Who's being put at risk?? Whether or not "you" can handle this depends on the dogs living arrangements. The "easy" thing to do is to take him back and let "them" deal with him. 

The dog is not coming "up leash" at "you" so that is a point in your favor! I rehabbed my own "Bubble Dog" no big deal, main requirements are due diligence and the dogs trust in you! But ... I am not a "Pro" so what do I know?? 

I can point to those that are so you can find a trainer local to you and show you thinks you can do. Your call.


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