We have an approximately 10 month old lab-pit mix that we adopted a month and a half ago from the Human Society. She is a wonderful dog with our kids, she hasn't snapped, barked or as much as growled around her food, toys or bones. She barks almost constantly when in the car. She paces back and forth. We tried training classes at Petco but she would go nuts anytime another dog would come in. Barking to the point of foaming at the mouth. The trainer said she felt the dog hadn't been properly socialized as a small pup. She was a stray so we don't know much about her. She got loose a couple of weeks ago and went down to the neighbors. They have 2 dogs and when we got to her she was on top of one of them growling, she didn't bite. Later that day she was playing in the back yard with our boys and the neighbors boy. According to them out of the blue she bit the boy. It didn't puncture it just caused alot of bruising. We chalked it up to her still being riled up from the altercation with the dogs and he had their smell. She had shown no other signs of aggression until yesterday. She got out when my husband went to go out and took off to the neighbors again. She bit the one dog and gave it a puncture wound on its back. My husband had to basically drag her back to the house as she barked frantically. We are trying to figure out the best method to contain her but aren't sure if she will just go through an electric fence. We have 6 inches of snow and are expecting more tonight so a regular fence is out at this point. Any suggestions on how to handle her and/or confinement options would be greatly appreciated. My husband is almost to the point of returning her, we're really in need of help!!
Re: Aggressive Behavior toward other dogs Hello there, and welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear that you are having so much trouble. I'm afraid you won't find many supporters of electric fences on this site anyway, they are not generally popular (most, though far from all, people here are from the UK, and electric fences for dogs are not a popular thing). A normal, secure fence is best. If you can't install one now, then your dog will have to be on a lead in the garden (yard) until you can install one. What is your dog's routine in terms of exercise out of the yard? Is she reactive towards other dogs while out on her walks? It is very worrying that she has bitten a child, even if not much damage was done. Can the shelter provide you with any advice or access to a trainer or behaviourist?
Re: Aggressive Behavior toward other dogs Hi and welcome to the forum. I'm in the US, in a rural part of Idaho with a just-about-6-month milk-chocolate girl named Bella. Because we live in a rural area, we don't have our "yard" fenced, but we do have some livestock fencing that is electric. It sounds like you are in a more typical neighborhood setting - I have met some lovely rescue dogs, and many pit crosses - but have also met some "not-trustworthy" rescues of all breeds. If this young dog has bit a person and another dog in a short amount of time, you have some serious work to do - to protect both you and the dog. If your yard is not fenced, and you don't have a safe place outdoors to contain your new dog, that needs to be fixed ASAP. Check out places like "craigslist" for dog kennels for sale. I often see them in our area for less than 1/2 the retail price, and if you were to get several, you build a structure that would allow your dog a safe place to be unsupervised. I would never consider strictly an electric fence for dog containment. But I do believe the bigger issue is that you need to get to the bottom of the bite issue...and probably the services of a trainer/behaviorist is your first line of defense. You can train your dog not to bolt out the door, you can train your dog to recall, to leave it, to stop, all kinds of things that would prove useful in basic control....but if your dog is reactive to children or to other dogs, you have a more complex training issue to deal with. Not to say that it can't be done....but you likely have months and months of work ahead of you. If you have only had this dog for a few weeks, and you have already had 3 negative experiences that have put a person or another animal at risk, you YOURSELF are at a huge risk for legal claims against you. Please, please, please....contact the place you got the dog from, let them know the problems you are having, and get with a trainer ASAP. You can probably work through this with lots of time and dedication, but it has to be the right decision for you and the dog. Good luck. I hope you can find a solution that works for you.
Re: Aggressive Behavior toward other dogs I second what sunsetpines has said with regards to contacting the place you got her from and let them know you are having issues - they may be able to give you some advice or put you in touch with a behaviourist that they know. I think you definitley need to some professional help, even if it is just an initial assessment to try and identify exactly what her issues around other dogs may be. It does sound to me like she is undersocialised, however if it's gotten to the extent that she has bitten another dog, and will go and seek out other dogs when she gets out you definitley need some help as you may find it very difficult to manage this by yourself. Until you can get your yard secured I would recommend never leaving her alone out there, and taking her out on a lead when you do go out there with her. You don't know the reason she bit the child and you wouldn't want her to go out and bite a stranger and risk her having to be destroyed.
Re: Aggressive Behavior toward other dogs Some great advice from Sunsetpines and Penny+Me. Please get help as soon as possible for you and your family's sake and for the dog as I'm sure she's not very happy at the moment either.
