I might lose my dog!

[oliver]

Hi,

Recently I've been having trouble with my dog, firstly I will explain a little bit about myself so you get an idea of my dogs life. He is a American bulldog, about one and a half years old now. Im a 18 year old guy, who doesnt go to school or work and lives with his Mom, and i am pretty much a lonely nobody, I dont live a very social life, and I dont like to get out much. my dog, Capone, loves the outside, and I let him out to run in our big yard and he also has full acess to a fenced in yard area throughout the day to do his business. I was never really serious with training him, he knows sit, down, come, and all the basic stuff. Now, I have to admit I have been angry with him, even though I shouldn't, and I have yelled at him before, when he does bad. Hes always been scared of me when I get angry, and sometimes when I'm not angry and just being around him he gets scared, and cowers, for example, if I pick up a pillow, he is scared and runs away, or hes scared of nail clippers (and thats my fualt because I did accidently clip his skin before) hes scared of sticks, newspapers, anything really. Now you are thinking that I hit my dog, wrong! I love my dog, and I'm not the perfect owner, so I will admit I have slapped him once, but i felt horrible after that and I vowed I'd never do it again (there i said it). And I give my word to anyone its only happened once, I guess that makes me a bad owner. But I truly love my dog to death. He hasnt been around people much, a few cousins, and my sister. Usually its just my Mom and I, and hes fine around us. It started when my cousin came to visit, my dog was great a first with him, he would sniff him, watch him, you know nothing serious, but the second day my cousin was here, during a conversation with my mother he snapped at my cousin and ripped his shirt, he didnt hurt my cousin but he ruined his shirt good. I wasnt maybe taking this as serious as I should of been, because It didn't seem like capone was that angry, or he looked mad, I just think he took his playfighting a bit far. Usually if he saw someone for example near our yard or driveway, he would run at them bark, and than run away. Another day he was outside and barking at our neighbor, and than neighbor had the nerve to spray him in the face with insect killer. Now he isnt allowed to fun outside in our yard becuase he chases cats and wonder off, hes really starting to get out of control. A few days ago he got out of our fenced in yard and bit some old man on the ankle. We didn't know or hear about the attack until we got a call from the game warden, the man went the emergancy room for the bite but it wasnt serious no bleeding or stiches. Than the scariest thing happened earliar tonight, my sister who has lived with us before capone and recently moved out, came to visit. my Mom was watching him at the time, and as she answered the door he attacked my sister, my mom pulled him off, than he licked my sister like it never happened, than attacked her once more, finally I was called to come and get him, and he seemed relentless and angry as hell and I pulled him off, he was after blood, he didnt bite me or anything, he sorta just got scared tucked his tail inbetween his legs and took off in the basement when he saw that I was angry with him. My sister was bleeding, but and there were holes in her pants, it wasnt anything severe.

Now, my Mom is taking the one thing I love most, the thing that keeps me from sleeping all day and night, my dog. The game warden is visiting in 7 days from now to come meet my dog, and with the way he has been acting it seems like hes gonna attack her and sign his own death sentance. My Mom is discussing maybe he needs to find another home temporary until he gets his problems worked out, shes mentioned putting him down but I am not letting anyone kill my dog, they have to take him from my dead hands I wont let anyone take him, I love my dog, he isnt a bad dog, I feel responsible for all of this, somehow I know its my fualt, I'm not a good caretaker, I feel like I ruined his life, and possibly ended it, just because for being a poor caretaker. I dont know what to do!

One of my questions was, do people take dogs that haven biten before, not for adoption, just temporary to train them and get them to like people again, I dont want to kill him or get rid of him.

 

[bubbatd]

Yes, you can send him to a " Dog Camp" for proper training......sorry, but at 18 maybe you need it too ! Why are you at home doing nothing ?? He may be picking up some of your negitive vibes. Please hang in, as I'm sure you will get some good advice here... Right now I'm too upset with your post to think straight .

 

[Rose's Gal]

The only thing I can think of is put him up for adoption. Find a home (or a rescue) that is willing and capable of working him through is aggresion issues. They will know if they can be fixed. If they can't be, he is better off PTS. That sounds horrible, but it is true. AmBulldogs shouldn't be people aggresive. That isn't in their nature at all. Somewhere along the line, something went wrong. I'm guessing lack of socializatoin, bad experiences with the few people he has met, and I'm guessing he wasn't from the best breeder.
Good luck with your dog, but I fully believe he isn't in the best situation and if you truely cared for your dog, you would find him a home that has the time and experience to deal with him.

 

[EliNHunter]

Unfortunately, I've never heard of a rescue willing to take in a dog that has aggression issues. They have too many "normal" dogs waiting to get on their list. And the first thing a shelter would do is put him down.

 

[Renee750il]

Those problems, starting the way they did, sound like a dog that's been teased when you weren't around. The neighbor spraying him in the face with insecticide would undoubtedly made him afraid of people as well, and could have affected his brain function, temporarily or permanently. I think the warden needs to be made aware of this. If Capone was inside his own fenced in yard the neighbor had no right to spray him in the face. Where I live, that would constitute cruelty to animals and the neighbor would be open to criminal cruelty charges.

A practical word of advice: call your dog "Cappie" or something like that - not Capone - when the warden is there! You don't want to embellish the gangster image!

It does sound to me like this is fear biting.

I'll move this thread into the training forum where CreatureTeacher and Doberluv will see it for sure! If anyone can help you, they can.

 

[Adrienne]

Has this dog been seen by a vet? There may be an underlying medical reason for the recent aggression towards people.

Another option you have is to only allow him around other people while he is muzzled; in the meantime you work your butt off with him to regain his trust, work on obediance, walking in public but keep a distance from people and just allow him to watch until he makes some progress. I would definetely have a vet check him out though.

More people will have more ideas I am sure. Good luck and I hope you are able to rehabilitate him.

 

[poeluvr]

i feel bad for you.. i think you may not go out because you are depressed and that can be hard.
i must disagree with roses gal, i think its horrible to let a dog die, your gonna have to change things. your gonna have to take him out.
tell the warden you will take him to training classes, which you should do, there are some that deal with aggressif type of dogs, i feel bad for him , i think hes scared and wants attention.
keep me posted please i want to know what the warden said!

 

[oliver]

today he attacked my other dog, for no reason, I just saw it his eyes he looked at me and attacked him, when I pulled him off he bit me as well, nothing serious. Now, my Mom, sister, father, everyone keeps telling me he needs to be put down. But everytime I look at him I cry, because I cant do it, I feel so responsible, this is all my fualt, and I know it, I dont know how to make up for it. My Mom just doesnt think he can be fixed, she wont listen to me. I cant take him to see the vet until friday because hes under quarrentine for 7 more days, than the game warden will visit. No one takes dogs that have bitten before, and boarding places just seem to expensive right now. I told my mom that maybe we need to see a behaviorist, maybe he knows what is wrong. Everything was fine until tuesday, this is so hard to believe, it hurts so much.

 

[becca_4321]

I am not even going to try to give advice on your dog but let others with more experience handle that but I want to say first off, YOU ARE SOMEBODY. Stop with the your a nobody. It sounds like you really need to get a job. It gets you out of the house for awhile, you meet people and you will start feeling better about yourself if your not locked up in your room 24/7. I use to tell my kids when something in life knocks you down, you get up on your feet, slap the dust off your a$$, and keep on going. Sounds like maybe you have a little dust to slap off. Unless there is a medical reason you dont work, you need to hold your head up high, get out there and find a job, even a part-time job.
I dont mean to sound rude, I'm not trying to be I just dont like seeing young people withdraw from the world like this. And remember, you are somebody.

 

[poeluvr]

yep ur somone

 

[nedim]

If you can convince the warden that you will take good care of your little thug, then I think you should start the road to correction with some obediance classes. Now I'm no expert on dogs or anything, but being my age, I know that socialization is a must.(For Capone AND FOR YOU). People are social animals. We need to communicate to stay sane and to have things in perspective. Try the obediance classes, It will be good for Capone and I'm sure it wont hurt you. Who knows, you just might meet somebody you like.

 

[showpug]

You keep saying that the bites were "not anything" or "not serious." When a dog rips clothing and draws blood IT IS SERIOUS. In my opinion, a dog attempting to bite is just as serious as actually biting! First off, I think you should start being more realistic about your situation. You dog is dangerous period. There may still be a chance that your dog can be rehibiltated, but I am not the one to make the suggestions. I really do hope this works out for you. I also wanted to say that when it comes to life, we either live it, or we waste it. It is up to us and only us to make sure that it is lived and not wasted. There are always people that have it worse off than we do and would give anything to be where you are...embrace the fact that you are alive and find a purpose

 

[nedim]

I think I remember reading something similair to this on chazhound. A member on this site had a pit who had rabies and would lash out unexpectadly and bite people. Then a minute later, the dog was fine. JMO, but could it be rabies?

 

[poeluvr]

dogs with rabies have to be put down pretty fast, and im sure he would have found out when that old man went to the hospital

 

[showpug]

If this dog had rabies...there would be a HUGE problem at hand, especially with blood being drawn. I am sure they would have cleared it with the man at the hospital and if not, that would be extremely neglagent (sp)

 

[oliver]

Heres something I thought that I should mention. In my honest opinion, I wasnt even told this, when we got his rabies I thought it was for 3 years, apparently it is for one, so my dog is 2 months passed his rabies shot, the warden explain his actions could be caused by rabies and we should be concerned. My Mom wants to keep him, and shes going to let me give it a shot at trying to get him under control. So from now on when hes around people or other animals he will wear a muzzle, just untiL i feel comfortable around him. And I as well feel on guard because if he does bite me than I will have an idea that he does have rabies. I am going to do what I can for him, I will walk him outside everyday and get him around people. Now we do live in a house with 4 cats and another small dog, but I want to get him around people. My Mom says if he does not have rabies, and I can keep him under control and work it out with him he can stay, but if he attacks another animal in our house or a human, period, he has to be put down.

I'm really worried folks, hearing from a trainer that agression doesnt go away, but it only gets worse, its hard for me to feel optimistic, I want to try for him at least that way if I have to let him be put down I would know I tried. I cant even think about it, it makes me burst into tears.

I appreciate the advice about me, but I dont need pity, I feel for my dog, he is all I care about right now, when he is taken care of I can start worrying about myself.

 

[Adrienne]

What trainer said you can't help an aggressive dog? Only if the trainer had witnessed the dog and observed it's behavior can they even begin to narrow down the reason for the aggression. Without knowing why an animal is doing a specific behavior you cannot completley address the problem at hand.

I would still recommend that a vet checks him over for any health problems since this has come on so abruptly; but given a clean bill of health I would start to write down when the dog is aggressive, whats going on when he becomes aggressive and what is my response to the aggression. This will be a long process for you and will take a lot of time, patience, and integrity to stick with it. Enlist the help of people who have dealt with issues like this before, find forums where people can give you resources to the tools you will need.

I personally think that most dogs can be rehabilitated sucessfully if they are trained appropriately and consistently. I am a huge fan of Animal Planet's police shows, most of the shelters on the show will try almost anything to rehabilitate an aggressive dog before the decision to have the animal PTS is even considered. Stick with it, you love your dog and he is going through some difficult issues right now, he would stick it out for you so I know you will try for him.

Good luck

 

[Rose's Gal]

Well, I'm glad they are giving you a chance with him, and I hope everything goes well.

I'm really worried folks, hearing from a trainer that agression doesnt go away, but it only gets worse,

Aggression will most likely never go away totally (but I don't know, so don't take my word for it) but it can be controlled and subdued. I know this is a different type of aggresion, but Blackie (my Lab mix) is dog aggresive. He used to lunge at any dog that went by us, and even though he never drew blood, he would fight other dogs and it sounded horrible. But now that I've been taking him to obedience classes, he has gotten so much better. He is still aggressive, but he has learned to control himself and he now semi tolorates other dogs. I don't think I will ever be able to trust him fully around other dogs, but he has made so much progress, and I'm just so proud of him.

So don't give up hope and good luck!

 

[showpug]

Rabies is a HUGE deal and can kill your family and all your pets I am shocked that your dog is not in quarantine.

 

[oliver]

Hey again,

Well I know not having rabies shot is a big deal, and he is in quarentine for 20 more days. hes not even allowed to run around in our yard anymore because the neighbors complain "he looks like he is going to bite me", thats what motivated us to put up a fence. We have a big yard, its a shame he cant use it to run like he used to.

I will do what I can and more to fix my dogs issues, and your right hes been through alot with me, always been there when some people havnt. I cant think about putting him down, but since the problems just started I hope I can fix them before they get worse, just as a back-up plan, I've been looking for a home for him, maybe someone will take him, maybe he will be happier if I cannot help him and give him what he wants.

As someone noted that since when is a bite not bad. Too me a bite that doesnt require stiches or doesnt bleed much isnt bad, why you ask is because when my sister was 13 years old our 8 year old chessy attacked her and bit her on the face near her lips, 64 stiches, we never really knew why he attacked her, but the next day my dad came to put him down, so its almost bringing back an old memory for me that capone attacked her.

Everyone keeps telling me that dogs are like humans, each one turns out differently, some dogs turn out to be layed-back and passive, and other dogs turn out to be aggressive and dangerous. Well I dont believe that, I think that your dog reflects on you as a person, and that you have complete control on how they turn out, and I cleary havn't set a good exmaple for my dog, and I probably am not a good dog owner, I feel 100% responsible for this, that is why I am considering another home for him, maybe he will be happier. But I do not want him to pay with his life for my failure as a owner, it would just kill me.