The Worst Happened: My Dog Bit Unprovoked

[inaweoftruth]

My dog has seemed less and less like himself as of recent. He’s constantly on edge when he’s not asleep, which is actually pretty often these days. He went from cooperating at training sessions to ignoring HIGH VALUE treats. He growls when certain people in the house pass him while he’s lying down.

Tonight when my stepdad got home, the dog ran up to greet him as always, wagging his tail. He always jumps up onto him (paws on the chest) like he’s giving a hug. He’s always done this with a select few people. And then, we hear a low growl. He’s growled like this a few times before in this situation, but it’s not a regular thing. Mostly when people pet him, he goes very still.

Either way, odd considering the dog was the one who came up to him. Dog gets down. Stepdad focused on something else. A few seconds pass and the dog lunges and bites stepdad’s hand with a loud bark.

If it was just me in the house, I would keep working with him with his trainer. He’s done level 0 bites before while resource guarding. But there was no resource to guard, and this broke skin- just no blood.

I want to keep him but am left with no choice because I don’t own the house and my parents demand he leaves— this was their last straw. I can’t guarantee the safety of others, especially the face-level kids. And above all, he’s just been miserable for a long while. He’s had behavioral issues since he was 9 weeks old.

I’m just not sure what my next steps are. Shelters don’t typically take dogs with bite histories and I have no one to have him stay with temporarily. I don’t want to jump to euthanasia.

I just know he can’t safely stay here and deserves a stress free life. No idea what to do when I wake up tomorrow.

I’m so heartbroken. I love this dog and we’ve worked so hard together. I’m so afraid of him having to suffer over something that he has no control over.

 

[wondererone]

@inaweoftruth Have you taken him to a vet to see if his sudden behavior change could be medically relevant?

 

[inaweoftruth]

@wondererone Honestly he has a terrible vet who rarely listens to my concerns - but he has had a full panel of bloodwork recently and at least on paper is healthy as a horse. I’m sure there is a medical issue partly influencing here, but many of his issues have been present since he was a puppy (

 

[mwallie]

@inaweoftruth Could be neurological or pain related, which wouldn’t show up on bloodwork.

If he can’t stay with your parents any longer and you aren’t able to move out, it’s time to reach out to breed specific rescues and his past trainers and ask for help - either with rehoming or getting him to a better vet for a proper assesment.

In the meantime, he needs to be muzzled when around people and in a room with a keyed lock when alone. If there’s small kids around, a crate or gate won’t be enough to keep them separated (tiny, curious hands love poking around places they shouldn’t).

It sounds like you may be heading towards a behavioral euthanasia if those avenues don’t work out, and if that happens please post here again for support. It happens sometimes and it sucks, but people here understand and will give you good advice and lots of love.

 

[flowerbox12]

@inaweoftruth This sounds like joint problems or other pain

 

[angelos17]

@inaweoftruth I had a dog once who bit unprovoked and was miserable. Turns out he had lyme and a round of doxycycline and he was good as new. So I’d recommend finding a new vet if you can, and rule out physiological causes for these changes in behaviour

 

[inaweoftruth]

@angelos17 We’ve got a vet appointment tomorrow - he’s barely drinking so there’s definitely something going on. Don’t know if getting a diagnosis will convince my parents to let him stay but I’m hoping for answers regardless

 

[angelos17]

@inaweoftruth Big hugs. Keep me posted?

 

[inaweoftruth]

@angelos17 We had our vet visit today. Tested for lymes and otherwise a full panel of bloodwork. Vet noticed limited range of motion in his right hip and instead of doing an X-ray today wanted to start with pain meds for a week . After that he’s scheduled for a scan to check for hip dysplasia which… holy heck would explain some things, particularly why he’s growling/snapping after standing up on his hind legs.

Vet and I had a long talk about him and his future with us should his hip turn out to be fine (I’m very much doubting it - after reading hip dysplasia symptoms he matches almost all of them). He has more hope for the dog than I did, behavior-wise. Right now I’m just gonna wait and see what the results are before making any moves.

 

[angelos17]

@inaweoftruth Poor baby. Thats so tough. Sending you the biggest hugs

 

[stripe]

@angelos17 My golden was biting at my dad a few years back. It seemed out of the blue and no reason. He adores cuddles on the sofa with dad, then all of a sudden snap! He never broke the skin or anything but did leave a bruse. We were all shocked. He wasn’t allowed on the sofa anymore. After a while I noticed he couldn’t get up from laying down very well and refused to go on walks further then a few houses away, the vet ended up diagnosing arthritis. What was happening on the sofa was when my dad shifted it out pressure on my dogs hips where the arthritis is and that hurt! He’s on medication and supplements now (also done weight loss) and is a lot better and back to his old self running around and hiking with me and cuddling with dad.

 

[jro1]

@inaweoftruth Could you try to see a behaviorist rather than a usual vet?

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@inaweoftruth It sounds like he is having some thinking issues. He doesn’t sound like a safe dog anymore as he somehow changed….due to some kind of brain issue…maybe a tumor or brain cancer? (Common in pitbull type dogs) The next time he bites could be devastating, so you may be faced with a difficult solution. Do it before it’s too late…

 

[inaweoftruth]

@imagebeastmarkbeast I think it’s very possible. He’s always had issues with resource guarding food, basically since we brought him home (red flag #1) but recently has seemed much more cautious with people and growls when certain people pet him. Then came the bite. This is far removed from the cuddly guy we had as recently as 6 months ago. He is only two.

And god, BE sounds like a nightmare and I’m almost praying something curable IS wrong with him but I’ve never had such luck. I don’t know if his vet would even OK a BE for an otherwise “healthy”, very young dog. At the same time I wouldn’t know how to responsibly rehome him and the shelter would just send him into a total panic.

He’s easily the most gorgeous dog I’ve ever seen in my life. So smart. I know we shouldn’t put human traits on a dog, but he had such a goofy personality. Now it’s mostly overshadowed by his lethargy and just overall stoic nature. He’s so on edge these days ugh. Just wish things were different.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@inaweoftruth It is a very difficult & sad decision to make. Many dogs who go to the shelter get euthanized because they end up getting sick, so they stay in the shelter (possibly miserable & missing their owner) & then they get sick & have to euthanized.