When Should A Dog Be Put Down For Being Vicious?
October 3, 2009 by admin
Filed under Care & Training Q&As
My good friend was out of town over the weekend. She had a dog sitter come by to feed and let the dog out. He apparently didn’t latch the fence gate well enough and the dog got out. The dog ran at a neighbor who was walking her two small cockapoos in the street in front of the house. The neighbor picked up her two dogs to protect them. One of the cockapoos was bitten. The neighbor was scratched. It sounded as though my friend’s dog was pretty aggressive. The dog sitter successfully got the dog back behind the fence after it was all over. My friend’s dog is 7 years old. She’s a golden lab/chow mix. Are there other ways rather than putting the dog down that you would recommend to ensure the neighbor’s safety if the lab/chow were to ever get out again? Electric fence? Muzzle? Socializing training? Other thoughts? Is the lab/chow too old for re-training?
Related Cockapoo Training & Care posts:
Was this the first incident that the dog showed a propensity to attack other dogs/people?
Training is definitely an option. Take her to a professional trainer who specializes in behavior problems and let the trainer assess the situation. I don’t think a dog needs to be put down for the first offense. While it’s not a good thing to happen in the first place, I still believe that this behavior can be amended with proper training, unless an authority on the subject tells you otherwise.
I would check about training for the dog,if not trainable,electric fences work great.I’m talking about the invisible fens with the dog wearing a collar that works with the fence
never. al dogs can be trained.
I don’t like using the word “vicious.” That dog is probably not “vicious,” just not socialized with other dogs. If he had been used to dogs of all sizes, it wouldn’t have happened. So its human error on the owners part, not socializing and training the dog from the beginning. Another issue to think about is predator and prey. Large dogs sometimes view small dogs as something other than a dog. One of my dogs, a 60 pound pit bull/German pointer mix, is fine with dogs her own size or larger…but anything small like a yorkie or a dachshund and she seems to forget its a dog and it immediately becomes something she wants to chase. Obviously I take every precaution to make sure she never gets the chance to do that. People automatically jump to the “vicious dog” conclusion. If the dog isn’t aggressive toward people, it clearly just has a problem with other animals. Some dogs are like that and they need to be “reprogrammed.” It usually can be done with a LOT of training and patience. No dog is too old. As long as your friend offers to pay for the vet bills on the cockapoo that their dog bit, and gets their dog into training classes ASAP….the situation may be fixable.
It’s hard to tell exactly what happened here. It sounds like the dog is dog aggressive and not necessarily human aggressive. These are two different behavioral issues. It went after the dog, not the woman – the neighbor was scratched because the dog was trying to attack her dog, not attack her. Chows are known for dog aggression at times.
Unless the dog is aggressive toward humans, keeping it separated and away from other dogs is sufficient. If it is aggressive toward humans, that requires further evaluation by a trainer to determine if anything can or should be done.
Electric fences are useless for reliably keeping dogs in – only a solid fance can do that. Muzzling is an answer only for protecting a human when handling a dog in a situation where it may bite (such as at a vet visit).
Dog aggressive dogs don’t do well at being socialized as adults. You may be able to get them to follow commands more reliably but you may not get them to like other dogs or ever be trustworthy around them.
How sad. I am NOT an advocate of putting a dog down unless all other options have been considered and there is just no hope of change. Obedience training should help and socializing with other dogs should also help – perhaps even getting an additional dog especially if the dog is alone a lot as is hinted in your post. The aggressive gene is probably from the Chow side but even they can be wonderful dogs! I do not advocate electric fences or shock collars – it is just inhumane and although dogs are not human – they are wonderful companions. I hope this ends well.
No dog is ever to old. I hate to point fingers but the fault is the sitters regardless if the dog is aggressive or not. It really wasn’t the dogs fault. He SHOULD NOT GET OUT AGAIN, that is the owner’s responsibility to have the dog under control at all times.
I feel the electric fence would be a good back up for the existing fence should the gate not be latched but that does not mean it should be left um latched and hope the electric fence is sufficient
I would not use the muzzle, socializing is a good idea plus a refresher course in obedience using the positive training method.
This is the perfect question for a professional behaviorist – there are ways to control “dangerous” dogs and there are methods or training to try out, but the owner of the dog needs to talk to a behaviorist AND needs to be 100% committed to the training.
They also need to evaluate the danger level of the dog to others (people and dogs) and evaluate the dog’s quality of life should the training not work.
Muzzling the dog in public would be one of those ways to control the dog. Electronic fences are NOT an option because aggression can cause a dog to block everything else out (including the zap from the fence.) There is also the possibility that the zap could enforce the behavior (dog sees other dog, barks, gets zapped… learns to think that the dog caused the zap so there IS reason to bark or lunge.)
Socialization is another biggie that needs the help of a behaviorist.
different states have different laws regarding vicious dogs. Putting a lock on the gate and keeping it locked will ensure the dog will stay put. You would need to check the local and state dog ordinances in your state. At 7 yr old, the dog may be “too old” to learn how to behave around other dogs. Sounds like there was not a lot of socialization when the pup was younger. I have never owned a dog that was that aggressive and would not want to own one like that. If the neighbor reports the incident to Animal control, the situation may be taken out of their hands.