concerned about dangerous dog charge

July 29, 2009 5:50 AM

Help. Our dog bit another dog and is now a 'dangerous dog.' Now what?

Basics: We have a three-year-old German Shepherd rescue dog. About three weeks ago she bit another dog on the leg--the damage to the leg was enough for the other dog to be euthanized. Three weeks later, we have been to court and our GSD is now designated a 'dangerous dog.'

My question is what should we do now? If she bites a dog again, we might be facing a misdemeanor charge--our security clearances, and subsequently, our jobs could be lost. We love her dearly, and would love to keep her, but are currently deciding whether that is too much to have hanging over our heads for the next 8-10 years. If we give her back to the rescue, she still has that dangerous dog charge and finding a home for her would be that much more difficult. Does a dangerous dog charge carry over to other states? Would we be able to adopt her out to a state that has less strict dog bite laws (Alabama for instance) and have the charge go away?

We are contacting the rescue for options, but any advice or knowledge from people who have been in this situation would be helpful. Thanks!

posted by TheAfterlgow to pets & animals (42 comments total)

My question is what should we do now? If she bites a dog again, we might be facing a misdemeanor charge--our security clearances, and subsequently, our jobs could be lost.

If your dog killed another dog, I can think of much worse future possibilities than a misdemeanor charge or losing your security clearances . . . like, say, your dog killing a child. Are you willing to take that risk?

Absolutely, you should talk to the folks at the rescue organization, but you have a moral and ethical duty, not just a legal one, as the owners of a clearly dangerous animal.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 6:00 AM on July 29 [2 favorites]

You don't state what happened in the dog-on-dog encounter, whether your dog was aggressive or responding to the other dog's aggression/lack of supervision. Whether your dog was responding out of fear, and not because she's a ticking time bomb, is something for you to decide, as you know the dog and we are strangers on the internet who have not met you or your dog.

If you decide that your dog is actually dangerous to other dogs and humans, then rather than giving her back to the rescue, you should consider whether it is more humane to euthanize her so that she does not eventually hurt another dog in rescue, or being unethically adopted out without the new owners being told of her issues. It is possible, but again I am a stranger on the internet and I cannot know for sure, that the rescue did that to you -- that this dog has been aggressive before and they just did not tell you. (I have friends who foster dogs, and clearly they would be heartbroken if their dogs were hurt by a dog they took in because they are good people. Please do not discount people's ability to blind themselves to a dog's real problems out of zeal to save it, and the damage that can result in.) Good luck. Regardless, this will be hard.
posted by Medieval Maven at 6:07 AM on July 29 [4 favorites]

Just to clarify--this dog has never shown any aggression towards humans. We live in a neighborhood where children/adults are constantly petting her and giving her attention and she has never once displayed any sort of problem. She DOES display fear/anxiety-aggression towards other dogs and we have been working with a dog behavioral specialist to deal with these issues.
posted by TheAfterlgow at 6:21 AM on July 29

German Shepherds in North America are highly inbred, high-strung creatures without much intellect or common sense... The high degree of inbreeding is shown by the amount of heart problems and hip dysplasia. These frequently end up at rescues. The inbreeding is also a reason why law enforcement agencies are importing trained Belgian Malinois and "real" german shepherds from Benelux countries and Germany rather than using domestic dogs.

If the other dog was wounded so severely it needed to be euthanized, that was quite a fight, and I'd guess there's a good chance your dog *is* vicious. I'm writing as the owner of a dog that survived a horrible car accident and lived to age 13 hopping around happily on three legs. If the other dog couldn't be saved with 3 legs then your dog really savaged it.
posted by thewalrus at 6:32 AM on July 29 [1 favorite]

Maybe you could confine it to your back yard? if you home has a front and back yard, invisible fence it into the back part, and then it wouldn't come into contact with anyone except family members and the occasional guest.

In other words, your dog lost its roaming privileges, but still could be fine in space you have control over.
posted by Spacelegoman at 6:40 AM on July 29

I highly doubt that you are going to lose a job over owning a dog. My parents dog, a husky, was a puppicidal maniac. He got attacked by a squirrel when he was a puppy and hated small things. If you were smaller than him, he would give out a "get the F away from me NOW" growl and then try to fight. He never killed another dog but he was always picking fights. However to humans he was the nicest dog ever. He would not even growl at a stranger if they came up and put their hands in his food. My parents were fine. Nothing ever happened to them.

However this might not be the same in your situation. How does your dog act around people? There is a BIG difference between fighting with other dogs and biting humans. Is she mean or is she a nice dog. If your dog is mean around people then you might want to consider putting her down. I know a family pet can be a member of the family but not when it is a law suit waiting to happen. Also is she an escape artist? Being prone to violence and knowing how to get out of the backyard is a bad thing.

Just a quick story that I remembered: One time my dog got loose, and when he got loose you ran to find him due to his fight anything that is smaller than me nature. After 15 minutes of running around I was in the next development. A few streets over I hear screams and yells. Fearing for the worst I ran there full sprint. I saw my dog running down the street. His face was covered in red with something in his mouth. I was beginning to freak out thinking he had killed someone. When we finally met in the middle of the road my dog , like a professional running back, juked me then ran past me and looking back gave me the classic "you can't caught me, I'm the gingerbread man!" look. I was so focused on him that I did not notice the dozen people run after him. We gave up chase when my dog ran into the woods. In a panic I asked was everyone alright?!!?!?! By this time a few little girls caught up with their mothers and were giggling and laughing so I knew things were not that bad. The guy I was talking to was having a BBQ and my dog (unknown to him) jumped their fence and was playing with their little girls. When they tried to catch him, he B lined it for the food they had on a table. My dog ran to their table, tipped over several things, ate a few hot dogs, stolen a rack of ribs before they could do anything, and then took off down the road. I was a teenager at the time and was afraid to admit he was my family's pet so I said he might be a wild dog and left it at that. Needless to say we never took him on many walks after that.
posted by Mastercheddaar at 6:54 AM on July 29

As a person with a bit of a phobia of dogs, I very nearly typed out an incredibly angry missive about keeping your dog under control to prevent exactly this sort of thing. I didn't, instead taking ten minutes a some deep breaths. Spacelegoman is on the right lines, though. Your dog clearly is dangerous, and you shouldn't let it run around where it can get to people or other dogs and attack them. Keep it in a fenced garden, inside, or on a chain, and have it on a lead when you walk it. That last one is particularly important. The number of times I've had dogs run and jump at me to the strains of the owner's "it doesn't bite, it won't hurt you!" is ridiculously large, and it's mostly in areas that specifically forbid dogs off leads. For someone with a phobia of dogs, it'd be something akin to having somebody run at you with a big fucking axe, shouting "I won't hurt you, I just want a hug!". Sure, he could be a treefeller on the way home from work, and he may even be dressed as a lumberjack, but it's still a man with an axe running at you.
posted by Brother Dysk at 6:59 AM on July 29 [1 favorite]

This a tricky question. I have had friends who have had similar incidents with their dogs, but never one that resulted in serious injury.
It seems your dog has some very serious issues with other animals. It is going to take a ton of hard work to get the dog over them. I guess the real question is, can you afford to put in the time, effort and money it will take?
If not, the rescue organization needs to find a new home for the dog. If you return her, I would hand them a "report" of exactly what happened in the incident. They will need this information to find her an appropriate home. A lot of rescues are actually very good at placing "dangerous" dogs.
If you keep the dog, be prepared to put in a lot of work.
posted by firemonkey at 7:06 AM on July 29

Your dog may not have shown aggression to children yet because he's not yet been placed in a position where he has to be afraid of them, but kids are freaky and unpredictable, and some day some screeching wobbly three-year-old is going to come running his way, and if he's backed into a corner...

You can look into an organization that will take aggressive dogs for adoption and work with them---but if I were you, having this dog around would scare the shit out of me.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 7:07 AM on July 29 [1 favorite]

Can you keep her muzzled at all times when she's outside?
posted by essexjan at 7:10 AM on July 29 [3 favorites]

Please don't rely on an invisible fence, as suggested above. Even IF it keeps your dog in (which IMHO cannot be counted on), it will do nothing at all to keep other dogs or animals from entering the yard.
posted by vers at 7:18 AM on July 29 [1 favorite]

tangent

I had a neighbor in my flat w/a pitbull. He let the pitbull run around the tiny, not-fenced backyard of our flat, which was contiguous with other yards (my block is mixed flats and single-family houses, w quite a few kids out and about). All I could think was, what if I say nothing and that dog bites some kid pedaling by on her bike? So I took issue with the guy. I let him know I wanted the thing leashed.

A few weeks later, I see the guy in the grocery store. We're both in line to checkout, but in separate aisles. I say, "Is that dog leashed yet?" and he, by now quite irritated with me, gets loud. People are watching. He says, "my dog's in the apartment, cooped up all day, he needs to run. How would you feel if that were you?" I say, "your dog is an animal. He has animal rights. He doesn't have human rights and he certainly doesn't have civil rights. Get him on a leash. He's not people."

Guy says, "but he IS people!"

/tangent

And that's the problem. Your dog isn't people. He's proven dangerous. The situation of whose dog did what is irrelevant. Your first responsibility is to the people around you, not the dog. And here you are trying to circumnavigate rules that are in place for good reasons. You're trying to hide a proven-to-be-aggressive animal from a system designed to protect us from proven-to-be-aggressive animals. He needs to go back to the rescue, or he needs to be euthanized.

I know you love your pet, and I know this isn't an easy situation. But please, for the rest of us, do the responsible thing.
posted by everythings_interrelated at 7:18 AM on July 29 [6 favorites]

You should keep your dog on a muzzle when he is anywhere that is not enclosed (ie, your own fenced yard).

You also might need to try to rehome him in a rural area. The rescue can try to help you with this, but you might need to work to find one that has experience with dangerous dogs.
posted by jeather at 7:28 AM on July 29

You seem strangely unconcerned about the dog that died because of injuries caused by your dog, or by the possibility that such a thing could happen again. I would be concerned about taking a "restrain the dog" approach, because it is pretty much a sure thing that the dog will accidentally be loose from time to time; we used to have a dog who couldn't be let out off-lead (because she wouldn't come back and it would sometimes take hours to retrieve her) and despite our vigilance she ended up loose at least a couple of times a year, because we can't control other people, like the meter reader who goes into the backyard by one gate and out by the other without closing either, or the three-year-old who opens the front door while visiting our house.

Friends of mine had to make the difficult decision to have a dangerously aggressive dog euthanized some years ago. It is a terribly hard decision, but he had caused a number of minor injuries and they decided not to wait until something worse happened. They did extensive research into options for re-training aggressive dogs and felt that the training was unrealistically extensive and difficult, and that the outcome was by no means sure--that they would never feel confident or safe about the dog.

In your situation, I would either return the dog if possible, and let the rescue organization, which has experience with this kind of stuff, deal with it, or consider euthanizing it. I love my dogs, and I would not want to be responsible for the death of someone else's beloved dog.
posted by not that girl at 7:30 AM on July 29 [3 favorites]

My family had to relinquish our dog Lucy to a shelter for euthanasia when I was in high school for ongoing dog and human aggression issues, so I know how hard this is. It's good that you're working with a behavioral specialist. But I would say, generally, that keeping her is only a good idea if you're willing and able to do the following:

-Keep her muzzled and leashed at all times when outside.
-Insure that your home has very secure fencing and that there's absolutely no way for her to escape.
-Keep her under your control physically--for example, if she's too big for you to be able to walk her safely, and if she doesn't listen to your commands, the leash doesn't do much good, anyway.
-Keep her away from dog parks. These are a bad, bad idea for aggressive dogs.

If you can't do those things, I would do as A Terrible Llama suggests or euthanize her myself. I would not move her to a state where she's not considered aggressive to relinquish her. That really sounds like running away from your problem, and could be dangerous for someone else.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 7:30 AM on July 29 [1 favorite]

My parents' Australian shepherd is extremely aggressive towards other dogs. He's never bitten another dog, but I suspect this is due to lack of opportunity. He's also fairly aggressive towards strange adults, particularly adult men. With my family and friends, he is a very sweet dog. They've tried training, and the obedience part stuck but the healthy socializing part didn't.

This is how they minimize the risks of keeping this dog: My parents have a large yard with an electric fence. They keep the electric fence collar on the dog pretty much all the time. He plays in the yard and in the house but does not go for walks around the neighborhood (a dog walker comes over every day and gets him to run around the yard for exercise). If the neighbors are having yardwork done or the power company's workmen are out back working on the power lines, he's kept inside. If the doorbell rings, he's put in his crate before the door is opened (he's obedient enough that he'll go in the crate when commanded, despite his urgent instinctual need to kill whoever's at the door). Other people's dogs are never allowed in the house. The ideal solution would also include additional training/socialization for the dog; this has not been possible in recent years for a few reasons.

So, all that's to say that it's possible to minimize the risks, but it does take work. If you don't have a yard and thus have to walk your dog for exercise, this will be a huge problem. I'm sure both my parents' dog and yours could benefit from structured, supervised re-socialization with a trainer or animal behaviorist, but you cannot be taking the dog out to a dog park or on the street for DIY re-socialization. You cannot allow the dog to be in a position to bite another dog unless/until you work with a professional to address the dog's aggression.
posted by Meg_Murry at 7:36 AM on July 29

I think you're minimizing the severity of the situation. Your lead-in says your dog bit another dog, which is something totally different from what actually happened - your dog killed another dog. If she's capable of that level of aggression, she's a danger to your community. I know it's difficult, but I do not think you should keep the dog.
posted by Ruki at 7:50 AM on July 29 [3 favorites]

You seem strangely unconcerned about the dog that died because of injuries caused by your dog, or by the possibility that such a thing could happen again.

No kidding. Your dog attacked and killed another dog. I understand that you love your pet....but seriously, you need a big check-in about this situation. If there is even the remotest possibility of your dog killing another dog or killing a child, why on earth are you keeping it around? Speak to your local rescue organization - they'll probably have the best advice.
posted by meerkatty at 8:00 AM on July 29 [1 favorite]

I'm going to give the OP the benefit of the doubt. I love GSD's dearly. We have no idea of the circumstances of the fight, and "dangerous dog" laws are often a black and white matter. "Did the dog bite someone or something and cause serious damange?" "yes" "dog is a dangerous dog case closed." "But the dude was hanging out by my back fence ogling my children." "dog is a dangerous dog."

So we don't know what the other dog did. We don't know who bit first, or anything else. We don't know if the dog felt threatened, we don't know if the dog was hurt, etc etc. We don't even know what kind of dog your GSD maimed. We don't even know if euthenasia was the selection for the other families dog because they didn't have the funds to repair the damage or if the dog was mostly bled out by the time it got attention, etc.

Anyway...

I'd start calling GSD rescue orgs. I would explain the situation. I would go that route. I wouldn't consider euthenasia, I would consider regimenting my outside interactions with the animal. Obviously, it's going to be an on-leash dog now. If you can't hang on to it for getting dragged down the street, address that.

Also, there are some SERIOUSLY bad and DANGEROUS recommendations in here.

Chaining a dog makes it more aggressive, not less. Muzzles do the same, as well as introducing fear and angst into the public, which the dog can sense and gets even more aggressive...etc etc.

Were it I, I'd switch to a halti-style face lead with a large rope slip collar backup, walk my dog on-leash, and hang onto her while addressing her behaviors, etc.
posted by TomMelee at 8:00 AM on July 29 [4 favorites]

This situation will most likely end in heartache in one way or another.

We put our dangerous dog down last year, after trying behavioral therapies for three years. She was aggressive toward men, and though she had never caused anyone serious injury, she had bitten three times and was getting worse rather than better.

If your dog killed another dog -- injuries bad enough to require euthanasia -- had there been any lead up to this? You say you noticed aggression toward other dogs previously. This sounds like an escalation of the aggression.

It is very difficult to re-train a dog who is aggressive. Many of them get a reinforcement from aggressive behavior in the form of an endorphin rush. Many otherwise very sweet dogs -- mine was one -- simply cannot control themselves in the presence of whatever their trigger is.

The best case scenario is that you keep this dog leashed and muzzled at all times the dog is outside the house, and it NEVER gets loose and it NEVER bites again. Even this best case scenario has significant drawbacks for you and the dog -- the dog doesn't get to have much of a normal life (which for normal dogs will involve socializing with other dogs), the dog is emotionally stressed when it is placed in these bounds, and you are always on your guard for other dogs and small children and anyone the dog could find threatening. We lived this way for years. It is very, very hard to live this way, and you may not realize how hard it is till the stress is lifted. Even in this best-case scenario, you will never be able to trust this dog again.

The worst case scenario? The dog gets loose and bites again. And as above posters have mentioned, if the dog has bitten another dog badly enough to require euthanasia, children ARE at risk. They are small and at face-height of dogs and seldom make good decisions about behavior, from a dog's point of view. And someone will be injured or even killed and you could lose everything you own, if it's a child -- your property, your cars, your house. Is it worth the risk to you to keep this dog?

I know it is heartbreaking. I really, truly feel for you. I'm tearing up writing this because I know how fucking horrible it is to have to put an otherwise healthy animal down. But if a dog is biting like this, it's not emotionally healthy, and it will bite again.
posted by fiercecupcake at 8:06 AM on July 29 [8 favorites]

Please don't rely on an invisible fence, as suggested above. Even IF it keeps your dog in (which IMHO cannot be counted on), it will do nothing at all to keep other dogs or animals from entering the yard.

If another dog gets into your fenced in garden, to your dog, and gets hurt, that, surely, would not be your fault in any way, shape, or form.
posted by Brother Dysk at 8:06 AM on July 29

Just want to chime in that your dog killed another dog. We don't know the context, but the court order doesn't make that an issue at this point.

If your dog is hyper-aggressive around other dogs, he can be hyper-aggressive to anyone getting in his way of another dog. He might somehow get confused and latch onto an unfamiliar child with his anti-dog radar.

Otherwise he sounds like a good, loyal, dog who has no place in a suburban environment.
posted by FuManchu at 8:20 AM on July 29 [1 favorite]

If another dog gets into your fenced in garden, to your dog, and gets hurt, that, surely, would not be your fault in any way, shape, or form.

An invisible fence is only a fenced yard to your dog, which is wearing its collar. They're also not perfect; our dog has run through his a couple of times. You definitely need a real fence. Also, replace "dog" with "child" in that sentence, and you'll see why the fence should be pretty robust.
posted by JMOZ at 8:28 AM on July 29

(And I should mention that I'm not necessarily endorsing the fence-and-keep method. In fact, I'd seriously consider whether another environment might be best for your dog. If you do decide to keep him, I would suggest keeping him indoors and only taking him out on lead.

Fences are imperfect, and outdoor dogs have a tendency to suffer from 2 problems:
1) They're often not walked as much (being outside is NOT the same as a walk, which provides socialization and discipline), and
2) Leaving dogs to their own devices where there are lots of distractions is often not a great idea.
posted by JMOZ at 8:31 AM on July 29

We have good friends whose then-four-year old son became a dog's first human victim. This dog was previously only dog-aggressive, says the owner. Until it snapped because our friend's son walked up to it holding out a flower. The thing snapped onto his face and nearly chewed his nose off. He survived but it has been very hard.

Do you see my point? You have serious responsibilities here and your protestations that he was previously only dog-aggressive will mean jackshit to the parents of an injured or dead child.
posted by argybarg at 8:41 AM on July 29 [2 favorites]

A financial factor to consider: If you keep your dangerous dog, you are leaving yourself in jeopardy of being unable to get homeowner's insurance. We were involved in a dog-bite case about 15 years ago, and State Farm made it very clear that they have no interest in covering people who put themselves and their insurance company at legal/financial risk.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 8:42 AM on July 29

Please tell us how this happened. If the other dog attacked your dog on your property and your dog fought back, I'd have a very different answer than if you let your dog run off a leash and it attacked another dog on its property.

As for you losing everything if your dog attacks a child, think of what the child will lose, which is considerably more important. If it's the remotest possibility, get rid of the dog. You seem far too concerned about yourself in this situation. Your dog is a killer.
posted by clarkstonian at 8:44 AM on July 29

JMOZ, right, I had no idea what an invisible fence was, and was using the term 'fence' to refer to, you know, a fence. Also, front gardens would be a definite 'no' under pretty much any and all circumstances. A fully fenced back garden, or inside the house (and the two should be treated as the same, in terms of walking obligations, etc.)
posted by Brother Dysk at 8:47 AM on July 29

I urge you to get professional advice from a qualified animal behaviorist. This person can evaluate your dog and recommend a course of action.
Here is a list of trainers from the San Francisco SPCA Academy. Find one in your area and call. They can lead you to an experienced professional behaviorist.

If you are in Seattle area, I recommend the people Companion Animals Solutions.
If you are in NJ, try Urban Dawgs.
I have direct experience with these companies and can vouch for their effectiveness and their love of dogs.
posted by valannc at 9:05 AM on July 29 [1 favorite]

If this happened on your property, or while you were walking it on a leash and an un-leashed dog came running up, then fine...keep the dog. The other owner was clearly at fault. Stop reading here.

But, if it happened because you were letting a dog you knew to be fearful/aggressive run around off-leash in public, then the dog should be put down and YOU SHOULD NEVER OWN A DOG AGAIN. The dog should be put down just to get it out of your hands.

I know you love your dog, but (again, if not on your property/leashed) you were way more at-fault than the dog. All dogs are dumb, potentially dangerous animals that need to be responsibly looked after. It pisses me off to no end when dog owners claim they had no idea their dog was capable of biting a person or another dog. What the hell do you think is going to happen when you let a 50-100lb carnivore run around a populated area?

GET A CAT. (again, assuming you were at fault here...)
posted by paanta at 9:08 AM on July 29

Regarding the invisible fence. IMO this is a bad idea. While an invisible fence will probably contain your dog within the fence boundary, it will not prevent other dogs or children from entering your yard. They can walk right in and interact with your dog.
posted by valannc at 9:09 AM on July 29

I have been around dogs all my life, including German shepherds, including rescues. As a child I was bitten on the face and needed stitches, but this has made no difference to my lifelong love of dogs. They're wonderful, brilliant animals, fantastic companions and friends.

I say all this to give context to the fact that if I were in your situation, I would euthanize immediately. I am so sorry.
posted by rdc at 9:20 AM on July 29

And here you are trying to circumnavigate rules that are in place for good reasons.

everythings_interrelated: the OP is not asking how to circumnavigate any rules. Reread the question before you accuse people of trying to break the law. Your response does not answer any of the OP's questions.
posted by oneirodynia at 9:50 AM on July 29

As a person who is both raising a Guide Dog and has had a pet dog attack a stranger before, I see only two options here:

1.) Get rid of that dog responsibly by whatever means necessary, including euthanasia. The situation that happened was unfortunate but was most likely a result of lack of restraint/training/socialization on your part. Have the courage to be responsible and do the right thing if you cannot commit to restraining your dog. Which leads me to your second option . . .

2.) Commit to physically restraining your dog 100% of the time. I don't mean keeping him fenced in the back yard - this is not a good form of restraint. I mean having him on a short leash ANYTIME he's outside your house and quite possibly in a muzzle - no exceptions. (in our case, we now have our dog on a leash anytime someone enters/leaves our house to prevent his escape - no chances).

It may sound a bit extreme, but, in my opinion, so are these circumstances. Your dog killed another animal - there is no getting around that. No amount of training can undo the experience he's been through and it is your responsibility to recognize that and act accordingly.

As a person who chose the second option, I must say it is very difficult and time consuming (in comparison to before). We love our dog and accepted the commitment - be sure you're prepared for it as well. I'm not trying to lead you one way or the other, but if you can't commit 100%, get rid of the dog.
posted by siclik at 9:55 AM on July 29

I wanted to add something about our "attack dog" that I mentioned in the previous post.

Like yours, our dog started out showing aggression towards other dogs.

Like yours, he was always friendly towards humans - always.

Like yours, he bit another dog once (not fatally, however).

Like you, we thought it would be limited to dogs, as he was always friendly towards humans.

Four months ago, a stranger caught him by surprise on our back patio. He flipped and tore up their leg. Never in a million years did I think he was capable of that.

So I speak from experience - do the right thing. Your dog may have been friendly up to this point, but now that he's established an aggressive behavior as his instinct, it could be unleashed on anything/anyone.
posted by siclik at 10:03 AM on July 29 [5 favorites]

I would consult with the behavioralist and your vet and consider their input seriously.
posted by bluedaisy at 10:06 AM on July 29

Is there any reason why he has to have contact with people outside your family or other dogs? I have four dogs, one of them very rambunctious, and if we have people over, the rambunctious dog stays outside or in another room. There is no way that our rambunctious dog would come in contact with people or other dogs unless we allowed it.

If you can control who your dog comes into contact with, it seems harsh to euthanize it.
posted by jayder at 11:00 AM on July 29

oneirodynia: everythings_interrelated: the OP is not asking how to circumnavigate any rules

OP: Does a dangerous dog charge carry over to other states? Would we be able to adopt her out to a state that has less strict dog bite laws (Alabama for instance) and have the charge go away?

Close. Enough.
posted by everythings_interrelated at 12:18 PM on July 29

addendum: posting the above made me feel like xkcd
posted by everythings_interrelated at 12:20 PM on July 29

What were the circumstances that led to the fight? Was your dog on or off leash? Did the other dog provoke her?

The first thing that comes to mind is that you need to make sure that your dog is never off-leash outside unsupervised. I'm guessing (hoping) that you already have it on leash when walking, but as a precaution you might want to not even let her out in the yard unsupervised lest she get out and get into more trouble.

I'm glad to hear that you are working with a behaviorist. Has she recommended that you put the dog on a muzzle when on a walk? They make some muzzles that are soft for the dog and not so scary looking - maybe a fun color would help. That will also hopefully help unsuspecting children and adults from going "ooh puppy!" and running up to pet your dog without asking first.
posted by radioamy at 12:34 PM on July 29

My question is what should we do now?

I find it very disturbing that -- no one -- has expressed concern about the owners of the dog that was killed. I mention that first because what you should do is much harder than what you’re trying to avoid doing:

You should do what you can to make things right with the owners of the dog that was killed. That conversation will be much harder than any subsequent action you take with regards to your dog, and will take an enormous amount of courage. It will also be a very difficult conversation for them, as they are no doubt grieving and angry. But, they are the aggrieved party, and you are the responsible party, so as an adult, you need to take responsibility for your dog’s actions.

I doubt this is what you wanted to hear. I’ve thought about this very situation a lot over the years, and I imagine my first reaction would also be to try and find a loophole that would allow me to avoid euthanizing my animal (fwiw, the only loophole I’ve found involves a difficult conversation, where contriteness, redress, and taking of responsibility are conveyed).
posted by Tuesday After Lunch at 5:04 PM on July 29 [1 favorite]

Hey I just wanted to mention that I don't think we know enough from your posting to really say this dog has to be euthanized. The stories that people are telling here are sad anecdotes, and I do not wish to dismiss them. But remember, they are the ones that are most motivated to post here.
There's some good advice here about how dogs that aren't friendly or can't be with other dogs can be fine pets.
Clearly your dog can't be offleash possibly at all and definitely not around other dogs. But that doesn't mean your dog need to be put down. I do not agree that --from what we know-- that your dog is threat to people. There's a lot of things that dogs communicate to each other, for all we know this other dog did some serious provoking, which dogs do to each other all the time. and a GSD could cause an injury like that all in 1 second. I'm not saying that would make it ok. But it is actually possible that its the other dog's/owner's fault. Just cause one dog died doesn't mean she's not at fault. All I'm saying is, I would ignore these people that think they know what happened and what you should do.
posted by alkupe at 7:51 PM on July 29