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Our GSD bit my DH in the face, lacerations, please help us find answers

22K views 135 replies 57 participants last post by  Cassidy's Mom 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hello everyone!

I saw what Mustlovedogs is going through and I joined this forum to post and maybe get answers to what happened to us.
To give you some background, I have had 5 GSDs in my lifetime. My DH has also had GSDs. We are no strangers to the breed and the fact that they need a calm and assertive leader.

We got K as a puppy from a very reputable breeder. At the time I had a senior 14 yo GSD who passed away shortly after we got K. We also have a female GSD who is 5yo. We were very consciencious of having K be raised by us and not by our other GSD as the breeder stated. K was very attached to both my DH and I from the start. The breeder and vet also said not to neuter K until he was over 2 yo if ever.

From 8 weeks old we worked with K on puppy classes and obedience, crating him at night and when we were not home. He is a beautiful, smart and high drive GSD. We took him to a dog park that never had any other dogs and we exercised him almost daily (running after the ball would tire him more than my DH or I could run!). He showed agression to strangers and other dogs from 8weeks old. Never showed agression with us. We would play with him but he was not allowed to "play" bite us. We were on his food, touching it and taking it away and giving it back with praise, we would also have him do commands bfore feeding him. He could get on the bed with us when invited for about 10 min every night then crate.

When he was 6 months old I had a baby boy. While the baby is never alone with the dogs, we were very careful with every interaction. K and our DS became best buds. Our son loves K and K loves him. Our DS dropped food for him. We always ate first, etc... K knew the difference between his toys and baby toys and would let go of baby toys. He never ever growled at us for taking any food or toy or bone from him since we got him so used to it since young. He loved snuggling next to us on the couch and would always turn over on his belly for us and for our son to scratch.

I thought I was living a dream, until last month. I had two wonderful GSDs, a gorgeous 16 month old baby who loved and cared for the dogs, a wonderful DH who was as crazy about dogs as I am.

Then our world fell apart. I was home with DH (our son was at a play date) and I heard this awful scream. My Dh called for help and I found him in the bathroom. His injuries are as follows: imagine you took a pair of scissors and cut your upper lip up to your nose, then get those scissors and jamm them in your nose as to puncture through your nose all the way in your sinus. then get the scissors and make a big hole on the bridge of your nose so the cartilage that separates your two nostrils has a big hole. K latched onto my Husband's face and did not let go, he kept pushing him and finally my husband was abel to use his hand to pry open K's mouth to let go of his face. He also suffered severe lacerations of his thumb trying to open K's mouth. We ran to the ER, where he had to have a plastic surgeon reconstruct his lip and nose. The pastic surgeon said my DH was within a 1/4" of losing his whole upper lip and tip of nose right off his face!

This is how my Dh described this. He gave K food in the usual place, the way he always does. He said K looked at him funny and did not goble the food up like he always does. Then DH put his hand pointing to the bowl and said K your food. Without any warning or any growls, k lunged and held on to his face.

This has been devastating to us. For about 2 weeks I kept my husband separated from K who wanted to lick him (couldn't risk any infection or damage to the stitches), separated from our son. I played with him and fed him and loved him but in the back of my mind I always had what happened to my DH, not that I feared him, I just felt I could not trust him.

After a lot of heartbreak, my DH and I decided to call the breeder and see if they would take him back (he is shy of 2 years old). The breeder did take him back and will try and train him for Schutzhund. I have cried every day since this incident. I never thought I would be "one of those people" that decide not to keep a dog. I love him like family but the truth is that with my 16 month old boy, I could not in good conscience keep K after what happened to my husband. If that had happened to our son, he would not have a face right now. I also could not keep K and give him a substandard life always separated from us and always in a crate.

At home we were always bale to intorduce him to strangers and he was fine with guests, even bringing them toys and wanting affection. He never showed agression towards anyone in our family or friends over toys or food or anything. No growls nothing. He never had possession issues even with our other dog over food or toys. I know this has to be about food in some way but I just don't understand how it went from zero agression over food to a full attack on my Dh's face when he was doing what he did for the past 18 months with K. Oh, our other dog was nowhere near the food when this happened.

I know that it is not just his fault and that I am sure that in some way, without knowing it, we probably made some mistakes with him. We were very harshly judged by people over "ever having a german shepherd around your baby." And "putting your son in such danger." I still believe that German Shepherds are a wonderful breed and my DH and I still really love K and I call the kennel every week to hear of news. I miss him dearly every day and our home and hearts are empty without him.

This was not a decision we took lightly, but with my toddler, I just could not keep K in our house after what happened. Again, there was no nip, or warning. No growl, nothing, he just went for my Dh's face and pushed him and held on to it where my DH had to pry his mouth open to let go of his face, cutting his fingers in his mouth. He almost lost part of his face.

We are looking for any advice or insight. I figure as dog lovers you would understand our pain and situation. We would love to have another GSD in addition to our female (not any time soon) and would love to hear of ways to avoid something like this from happening. I saw all the support and encouragement you gave must love dogs and also advice and I was hoping you could help us too. :help: Did we make a mistake by getting a puppy from a kennel with high drive dogs? Did we make a mistake by not neutering him? The breeder told my husband that we should have never had the two dogs together. That a family should have only one shepherd and never two unless they are to be created all the time and only let out one at a time.

to must love dogs - I hope Todd is healing well and my heart goes out to you.

Thank you again to everyone!
 
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#130 ·
We know it was the right decision but we still miss him. We joke that we wish we could give him a magic pill and bring him back home sane! Wouldn't that be nice? We thought of going to the kennel to take him for walks but it probably would be more detrimental to us and him. Thank you again for all of your support!
 
#131 · (Edited)
This was a very disturbing and sad story to read. I think you tried to do everything as responsibly as possible to get a great dog with a suitable temperament and yet it still happened. I feel for you and I'm glad your husband has mended from the injuries in a good way.

I think you did the right thing to protect your family. It does seem a bit shady about the dealer getting more dogs back. The breeder would be at fault if they had any idea of a behavioral problem in their dogs and considering how unpredictable the attack was I'd be concerned about the dog being involved in schutzhund. It still means that someone could be at sudden risk if they are relaxed and trusting towards the dog and he just snaps again. With other dogs being returned it only seems right that others should be aware that there is something going on. The breeder may be trying to protect their reputation but what if they breed more dogs like that? Even if others might defend them or not believe it at least it's there for potential owners to consider. I'd want to know if they're testing their dogs and trying to determine the problem for certain rather than just blaming it on the owners. More people may get hurt and more dogs would be left without a home. :(
 
#132 · (Edited)
Amoux - I agree with you, he should be throughly tested and we asked that of the breeder too after the attack I read up on all kinds of possible phisical causes and at the advice of people on this board. The kennel owner just blames us for the attack. He never admitted there was something wrong with our dog. It was someone who works there who said those things about the ohter dogs being returned too. We have been trying to contact him for a couple of months now to get his "assessment" of our dog but he won't return emails or our calls. I don't think he will be used as a Schutzhund dog. I am not sure even if his life is just going to be living in a kennel... we can't get answers. I think that if we had pts I would have a different attitude towards the breeder right now, but I don't want our dog to suffer because of what we did or said. I think that if there is an ongoing problem like we were told it should have been the breeder's responsibility to test and get to the bottom of the problem and not try to sell a litter every couple of months and blame us for what happened. Again there is no doubt that bad things happen to good people and had this been a single incident and the breeder had shown more responsiveness, I would be ok with that. He did take the dog back which I appreciate, but that was it for support. If anything, he made us feel like we were to blame for the whole thing. He offered us another puppy which I would never take. I see people on this board with his dogs and they are happy but I also see people interested in buying dogs from them and I have pmd a couple not saying that this was the breeder but that I had heard of something here and there about them and would not recommend them. Again, they could buy some great dogs from him but it worries me that this will happen to someone else. No one deserves to be savagely attacked by their best friend and to think he could have killed my baby had he been the one attacked.
Sorry for the rant, I still have a lot of strong feelings.

What are some of your opinions on the breeder's reaction and response? Would you guys raise a stink with the breeder? Would you steer people away from him (in a private and responsible way, not by bad mouthing and not on a board or post)? I have also gotten PMs from people who said they heard that this or that breeder had aggressive and out of control dogs that were bought by responsible GSD individuals. And of course this breeder was on their list.
 
#133 ·
What are some of your opinions on the breeder's reaction and response? Would you guys raise a stink with the breeder? Would you steer people away from him (in a private and responsible way, not by bad mouthing and not on a board or post)? I have also gotten PMs from people who said they heard that this or that breeder had aggressive and out of control dogs that were bought by responsible GSD individuals. And of course this breeder was on their list.
I've already told you what I think. :mad: I would definitely steer people away from them. It's against board rules to do it publicly (which I do agree with), but I would be sending a PM every time I saw them being recommended. I think prospective puppy buyers have a right to know. If you don't care about possible repercussions I'd be putting a link to this thread in the PM so they had all the grisly details about your experience, but I understand that's not something that everyone would be comfortable doing.
 
#135 ·
Thank you Cassidy and LaRen, I think I am morally obligated to steer people away but without doing it publicly which I also agree with board rules. Again if this was once incident I would probably not do so because bad things do happen, but when I hear of 4 other dogs getting returned for "nervous condition" it sure raises red flags! And I also would never do it had he been upfront with us or had our dog tested or had shown more of a responsible attitude towards what happened instead of blaming it only on us. If we hand't talked to the kennel worker, we would still be beating ourselves up, he (the worker) clearly said this was a big problem and there is nothing you guys could have done differently! THis is a hard thing to do because I do have high regards for breeders of GSDs but I guess not all breeders are created equal! Just like us owners are not created equal!

Cassidy - was checking out the do you hug your dog thread and loved the pic of your hubby hugging Keefer!!!
 
#136 ·
Cassidy - was checking out the do you hug your dog thread and loved the pic of your hubby hugging Keefer!!!
:wub: He is SUCH a love sponge! There is pretty much no amount of physical affection that's enough for Keef.
 
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