Deciding on Diesel's life...

[kelleyanne1988]

Not sure this is the right place for this post.

Diesel has come back to my house from my cousin's. This is the dog that I found on the side of the road. Thought he would be great with kids because he would allow me to pull on his ears, tail, lips, and act like an annoying little kid and would just sit there. My cousin has 4 kids and a baby. Well evidently it didn't work out so well. She e-mailed me Saturday saying he had bit her husband and tried to bite two of her kids, and their other dog also still wasn't doing well with him. So we met up yesterday for me to take Diesel back. I talked to a friend of mine who does Aussie rescue and asked her what I should do. She said that if he is biting (especially at this age - he's about 5-6 months old) that I really shouldn't take the chance and he needs to be euthanized. I completely understand this situation and was planning on taking him to put him down today, until I got him back...

My cousin said he was normally a happy excited puppy at her house, except with her husband who he was always shy around. He got to my house and he jumped out of the truck and went straight to the door, wagging his tail and jumping around. He loves to play with my dogs and is constantly on my feet everywhere I go. My boyfriend wants to take him home with him, but I've told him no because he has a baby and a little 2 year old girl. He doesn't have them all the time, but I still don't want him taking that chance if the puppy was already not good with my cousin's kids. The puppy was just fine with my boyfriend also.

Part of me still thinks that maybe I need to still put him down. I can't afford to keep him, but I'm worried that I'm not going to be able to find the right home for him, or that it may not be the right choice to rehome him if he has already started biting at such a young age.


Any advice would be great...

[ladybug1802]

Hmm...have you ever seen any evidence of this behaviour when he is with you or your family etc? I am so glad you have postponed taking him to be PTS.....I think this dog is a troubled misunderstood little chap. Most aggression is rooted in fear......although a lot of people dont realise it and just see dogs that show any aggression as 'bad'. I have a rescue dog who can be 'aggressive' towards strangers...he is tonnes better now though because I have learnt what freaks him out, what scares him and how to deal with it.

Have you ever seen Diesel when he was at your cousins house? Did you ever see how the husband or kids behaved around Diesel? It is interesting you say he was not his usual self around the husband....which indicates he had done something to make Diesel fearful of him. And as for the kids.....to be honest, in my opinon, I think it is unfair of your cousin if she let her 4 kids all be around Diesel and treat him like a teddybear....it is hardly surprising he obhected to this. A lot of dogs dont like kids...I certainly wouldnt trust my dog around strange kids.....ones he knows he is fine with, but they have grown up with dogs and have dog-savvy parents who have brought them up to not pester dogs, not stare at them etc.

If Diesel is happy with your boyfriend, and he knows Diesel's potential issues, I dont think it would be a bad idea for him to take him. He would need to be kept away from the children, and the children should be told not to bother him (obviously not the baby unless it is a ver clevey baby!!).

What is he generally like with strange people?

Please dont put this dog to sleep.....he isnt a bad dog, just a nervous and misunderstood dog. Plus you have no idea what his background is. He may well have growled as a pre-warning that he wasnt hapy with whatever situation he was in, But if the grolwing wasnt listend to, or it was punished, he will have learnt that growling doesnt work so he needs to up his communication....to a nip/bite.

[Nettle]

No, he sounds like a perfectly normal pup scared half to death in a noisy new home where nobody understands or listens to him so he has to shout (bite).

He needs a home where his needs are understood, with people prepared to give him time and training, who are used to what is involved with rearing a giant breed and who aren't going to overwhelm him. As a generalisation, big familes are not the place for needy pups because the adults are too busy with the children.

Dogs are good with kids that are good with dogs.

[kelleyanne1988]

I think I may end up letting the boyfriend take him then. He doesn't have his kids but once or twice a month and he knows that he isn't good with kids right now. So he'll be aware when his girls are with him.

I don't think my cousin's husband did anything to make the dog fearful of him because when the dog met my dad he wouldn't go up to my dad without me coaching him to go get petted. But once my dad was done petting he was right beside me again. He did this with my mom also. But he was just fine with my boyfriend.

[Mattie]

I agree with Nettle, he is just a normal pup that is nervous and frightened, have a look at my foster dog's thread, viewtopic.php?f=11&t=9271&hilit=Bertie I was asked to take him as a last chance, if he failed here he would be pts. Bertie didn't put a paw wrong the whole time he was here, he couldn't communicate with my dogs at first but they soon taught him how to talk dog and to communicate with them. He is now in his forever home with one of my neighbours, he is fine when it is just his mum and dad but they now have a son living with them and Bertie will attack his feet if given the chance. He used to do this with previous fosterers but didn't do it here.

An experience owner will have no problems with Diesel, he is a puppy doing what puppies do, with owners who will treat him as he should be treated and train him he will be a wonderful dog.

[nightsrainfall]

I talked to a friend of mine who does Aussie rescue and asked her what I should do. She said that if he is biting (especially at this age - he's about 5-6 months old) that I really shouldn't take the chance and he needs to be euthanized.

Really? I'm really surprised here. I volunteer at a shelter, and we don't put dogs down for "bitting" when they are under a year unless there are very-very-very special circumstances because most of it is natural puppy type reaction where they just don't know any better. We do however, for 'bitting' dogs, always make sure we filter who works with them and who adopts them so they go with people who know how to handle that.

I hope it works out with him going to your boyfriend's house - there's lots of advice here and lots of people who will be happy to give suggestions/listen if you need it.

[kelleyanne1988]

I forgot to update this! haha

Diesel is still with me.... Sad that I still have him because I can not afford him. But happy he is still alive!

I heard him growl for the first time when he is around me today on our walk. BUT to his defense... He was growling at a lady with a baby stroller, holding another kid, and she had a HUGE blanket wrapped around her... She even scared me!

He seems to be doing fine, but I have got to find him a home soon! I don't like the shelter here, and there is one about an hour away from me, but they only accept dogs from that town.... I've thought about finding a way around that to get him in there because they are a very nice place that takes care of their animals and makes sure they get socialized, worked with, and vaccinated. Suggestions on how to go about doing that would great! haha

But in all he is doing good. Had a lot of people at my house for Easter, and he was extremely good then! He did stick by me quite a bit, but he ventured out to greet other people and my friend's little dogs.