ineedgrace
New member
Recently posted about our new 1 yo rescue Mastiff mix (H), who attacked another dog on a walk (completely unprovoked). Got a lot of super helpful advice, I ordered a muzzle and was ready to put in some training with the muzzle for future walks.
But then, H attacked our other dog (C) and bit through his ear taking a small permanent chunk out of it, it scared me to my core watching him latch onto C like that. This happened while they were playing in our yard, pretty roughly but nothing out of the ordinary (tumbling and chasing each other). It went from rough play to terrifying attack in a split second.
In my previous post someone referenced the Dr Ian Dunbar's Dog Bite Scale and on both occasions, New Pup seems to be a "Level 4" biter. Which is very bad.
99.99% of the time, H & C get along great. They even have fallen asleep together on the same bed on multiple occasions, ridden in the back of our small sedan car together for hours. H has never shown aggression towards people, he's sweet, house broken, doesn't even try to get on the furniture, doesn't chew on things he shouldn't, and rarely rarely barks or makes a noise at all. He's extremely responsive to commands, good at recall, so maaany good things.
But, I'm scared for our other dog now. I muzzle H every time they go outside just to pee or whatever, I'm terrified whenever they begin to play and I immediately put a stop to it. They're both around 90lbs, and could do some serious damage to one another.
So we called the rescue we adopted him from and told them we don't think it's going to work out. We said we think he needs a home with no other dogs. The woman absolutely berated us over the phone and accused us of not putting in the work, of not giving him a chance, and said "dogs fight its what they do, sometimes you have to choke one out to get it off the other". She also told us she's overwhelmed and doesn't have the time for another dog. Yet, the contract she had us sign said we needed to return him to her.
We've had C for just over 4 years, I used to take him to the dog park every day, he's stayed with our family's dogs for months at a time, and has never EVER gotten into a fight. I'm not saying he's an angel by any means, but I have NEVER torn him and another dog apart until 2 days ago. He plays rough as heck too but it's always good spirited.
Anyways, I think this is mostly a vent. I'm so sad and we don't particularly want to give H back to this foster (she had him for months and when she gave him to us he was very underweight and filthy?evidently not well cared for at all).
I really think the right thing is to get him in a loving home where he's the only pup, but the rescue made me feel so horrible that I'm now in a guilt ridden place.
Anyone been in a similar situation?
TL;DR Fell in love with our new rescue, but he's attacked our other dog a few times, making us feel for everyone's safety we need to give him back.
But then, H attacked our other dog (C) and bit through his ear taking a small permanent chunk out of it, it scared me to my core watching him latch onto C like that. This happened while they were playing in our yard, pretty roughly but nothing out of the ordinary (tumbling and chasing each other). It went from rough play to terrifying attack in a split second.
In my previous post someone referenced the Dr Ian Dunbar's Dog Bite Scale and on both occasions, New Pup seems to be a "Level 4" biter. Which is very bad.
99.99% of the time, H & C get along great. They even have fallen asleep together on the same bed on multiple occasions, ridden in the back of our small sedan car together for hours. H has never shown aggression towards people, he's sweet, house broken, doesn't even try to get on the furniture, doesn't chew on things he shouldn't, and rarely rarely barks or makes a noise at all. He's extremely responsive to commands, good at recall, so maaany good things.
But, I'm scared for our other dog now. I muzzle H every time they go outside just to pee or whatever, I'm terrified whenever they begin to play and I immediately put a stop to it. They're both around 90lbs, and could do some serious damage to one another.
So we called the rescue we adopted him from and told them we don't think it's going to work out. We said we think he needs a home with no other dogs. The woman absolutely berated us over the phone and accused us of not putting in the work, of not giving him a chance, and said "dogs fight its what they do, sometimes you have to choke one out to get it off the other". She also told us she's overwhelmed and doesn't have the time for another dog. Yet, the contract she had us sign said we needed to return him to her.
We've had C for just over 4 years, I used to take him to the dog park every day, he's stayed with our family's dogs for months at a time, and has never EVER gotten into a fight. I'm not saying he's an angel by any means, but I have NEVER torn him and another dog apart until 2 days ago. He plays rough as heck too but it's always good spirited.
Anyways, I think this is mostly a vent. I'm so sad and we don't particularly want to give H back to this foster (she had him for months and when she gave him to us he was very underweight and filthy?evidently not well cared for at all).
I really think the right thing is to get him in a loving home where he's the only pup, but the rescue made me feel so horrible that I'm now in a guilt ridden place.
Anyone been in a similar situation?
TL;DR Fell in love with our new rescue, but he's attacked our other dog a few times, making us feel for everyone's safety we need to give him back.