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I am so glad I found this forum. I am in need of some good advice.
I adopted a stray pup in June. We believe she is a beagle mix, but I am not certain. I have 2 children, 3&11. The dog (clementine) started exibiting crazy behavior right off the bat.
-biting at our hands
-sudden barking fits with growling, lunging and snapping.
-chasing down the kids and biting them on the back, side and bum.
In the beginnig I did some reading on the internet and I believed she had fear aggression. I tried to get the kids on board with being more gentle around her, not doing any sudden movements and basically my family was walking on eggshells. I took some tips from Ceasar about how to be "alpha" and believe she does get that I am in charge. She is crate trained and housebroken. She has made great progress as far as her sudden outbursts go. My 3 yr old can now jump on the bed with her on it and she does not react. When she does go into a fit, I just do not react and try to let her anxiety come down naturally.
11 days ago we had an incident. I was trying to get a towel away from her and she was pulling. My 3 yr old was quick to grab and try to help me, and when the dog went to "regrip" the towel ended up biting his finger. It was accidental, I don't believe she bit him on purpose. it was small, but deep, and fearing he needed stitches, took him to urgent care. They reported it, and they took the dog for 10 days.
I knew this was going to be a huge set-back. I also have had many moments where I know this dog is not right for us. I am a single mom and I have no resources ($$$$) to hire a trained professional to help me. I am an animal lover, I don't want to give up on her, but things are different now that she is bigger. My son is terrified of her.
She has alot of aggression toward my 11 yr old daughter. She is biting us all on the hands at least once a day, however not breaking the skin. Her barking fits seem to happen for no reason. The worst is when I enter my daughter's room. The dog will come in and start barking at me, lunging, biting, showing teeth (tail is up)...the constant barking and biting has me at my wit's end.
The only thing that keeps me from dropping her at a rescue is the fact that she can be such a loving dog, and has made some good progress. She is good with the cats, and for the most part, even tempered 85% of the time. It's these sudden, horrific outbursts.
Please help me make the right decision.
I adopted a stray pup in June. We believe she is a beagle mix, but I am not certain. I have 2 children, 3&11. The dog (clementine) started exibiting crazy behavior right off the bat.
-biting at our hands
-sudden barking fits with growling, lunging and snapping.
-chasing down the kids and biting them on the back, side and bum.
In the beginnig I did some reading on the internet and I believed she had fear aggression. I tried to get the kids on board with being more gentle around her, not doing any sudden movements and basically my family was walking on eggshells. I took some tips from Ceasar about how to be "alpha" and believe she does get that I am in charge. She is crate trained and housebroken. She has made great progress as far as her sudden outbursts go. My 3 yr old can now jump on the bed with her on it and she does not react. When she does go into a fit, I just do not react and try to let her anxiety come down naturally.
11 days ago we had an incident. I was trying to get a towel away from her and she was pulling. My 3 yr old was quick to grab and try to help me, and when the dog went to "regrip" the towel ended up biting his finger. It was accidental, I don't believe she bit him on purpose. it was small, but deep, and fearing he needed stitches, took him to urgent care. They reported it, and they took the dog for 10 days.
I knew this was going to be a huge set-back. I also have had many moments where I know this dog is not right for us. I am a single mom and I have no resources ($$$$) to hire a trained professional to help me. I am an animal lover, I don't want to give up on her, but things are different now that she is bigger. My son is terrified of her.
She has alot of aggression toward my 11 yr old daughter. She is biting us all on the hands at least once a day, however not breaking the skin. Her barking fits seem to happen for no reason. The worst is when I enter my daughter's room. The dog will come in and start barking at me, lunging, biting, showing teeth (tail is up)...the constant barking and biting has me at my wit's end.
The only thing that keeps me from dropping her at a rescue is the fact that she can be such a loving dog, and has made some good progress. She is good with the cats, and for the most part, even tempered 85% of the time. It's these sudden, horrific outbursts.
Please help me make the right decision.
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