Hi,
I hope I am putting this in the correct place. There is a 3 year old GSD in my local shelter, who is urgent. He will only be released to rescue. The issue is, he has bitten a neighbor on the hand and knee, supposedly unprovoked. The teenager crossed over the invisible fence boundary and said that he got bit in the hand and then the knee, but I find it strange that this dog would have bitten him for no reason all of a sudden when he has been there a year! I have met with the dog twice and have fallen in love with him. He has spent time with me, my husband and 5 year old, and I am 100 percent convinced he has just been in the wrong hands. He spent the first year of his life on a chain in a junk yard. He ended up with the guy who surrendered him because he dog sat Simba for a "friend of a friend", and this person never came back for him, over a year ago! He lived with a small dog and a nine year old. He needs some manners and consistent boundaries, but I am wondering if there is indeed any rescue that can or will take a dog with a bite on his record? I am trying to find him a place to go, and also have emailed a few contacts that I know to see if there is any one who can take him. I am willing to take him and help him get transported, whatever I can to help him if there is a safe place for him to go. This guy had no idea what so ever how to handle him. He is skinny, mysteriously suffered a broken foot, (he *thinks* the garage door fell on it) and the guy was rough handling him. Both the shelter and I think the guy is a liar. I spoke with the vet who works at the shelter 20 minutes ago, he said that in the right hands, he feels Simba will be a great dog. He does see potential in him and he said he will back up my feeling on this dog, and as long as I am trying to help him, he will do everything in his power to not euthanize him, but we need to move as quick as possible on this. (he is trying to help but the director makes the final decision and he doesnt have much time)
I do too, and I have to add that the worst thing he did while I was there was take treats a bit rough- NOT mean, but overly excited. He also proceeded to lick my face so much that he actually had my hair stuck to the side of my face, which the shelter worker took great amusement out of as well as DH. That is my five year old hugging him. I do see he needs to have guidance, and needs to know what a smart, patient, and firm leader is- but I have not seen any aggression in him- even after I went to look at his neuter site and he yelped. The vet said he will have to put him under to actually get a good look at it- he is a bit difficult during an exam, but who knows what he went through. His site is terribly swollen and bruised. Time if of the essence for him right now...
You should establish if there actually was a bite. Is there a municipal office that holds those records? Hospitals normally must report dog bites to a municipal office, the set-up will vary from place to place. Try to see if there is indeed a bite record for this dog, or if it's just a "story".
Getting him assessed by a professional trainer will also help his chances.
If the teenager was running, yelling - the dog got excited and got into the chase - not that it was a good thing - as it turns out everyone thinks bad of the dog - this is why there needs to be a watchful eye and distance between dogs and teens of neighbors who think it's cute to run near a dog and when things happen the dog suffers --
Will keep my eyes open for anything for this guy, he needs a break and someone to care
Kathleen,lets replace the A in Champ with a U for Chump. Yep, he sure was one.
DD-Unfortunately, there is a record of it. Apparently, the mom of the teen didnt report or take him to the hospital. The teen told the school nurse and she was the one who reported it. I didnt know that anyone but the immediate person or parent/guardian could do that till I heard this. I am going to ask the shelter if I can take him to the trainer I used to at least get an assessment on him. I train my own dogs and the fosters, but I feel this is a special case and I could use the professional eval on him.
If I didnt already have 4- I would take him in a heartbeat. If I did that at this point, I wouldnt have as much room to foster too often like I do now. I really feel stressed about this whole thing with him, he has really made an impact on my heart.
How bad was the bite? I am guessing the teen did not require stitches? The severity of the bite can tell you something about the dog's bite inhibition, so it may be worth getting that informaion.
Kathleen, I would love if you could crosspost anyway, from the info I gave above. I am waiting to hear back from the shelter to see if they will let me "sign him out" so to speak to even get an eval. I need to know I can take him for the eval and bring him back even though I dont want to. Any help for him would be appreciated, and in the meantime, when/if he is allowed to leave and be seen, I will update.
And he was just neutered!! I actually asked the vet when I spoke to him this morning to look at the site- I didnt like how it looked when I seen him on saturday.
Here is the one thing I want to stress if there is anyone who will take him- IF they do and things dont work out for him, then he has a place to come back to me if no one else will take him. I am thinking I may be divorced if I take in another... unfortunately I really dont have the room but instead of him ever being pts or back in a shelter, he would have a safe place till I could work something else out. Aeroforz1, please forgive the stupid question but I cant remember- are you with a rescue? I would say that he probably weighs around 70 pounds... he is at least 10 or so pounds underweight, I can see ribs...
I work with a Beagle rescue, but I essentially run my own rescue within that rescue. I have placed 3 GSD's from this board in the last 6 months and have a few others here with me now. When I courtesy posted Teddy a few weeks back I got a lot of responses so I know there are a lot of people near me looking for PB GSD's.
On person in particular who called me sounds like he might be interested in this dog. He just recently had a senior GSD pass away. He mentioned wanting a dog with a good temperament that is also protective so I think he'd be willing to work with the bite history. I'll email him now.
Thank you so much! If he has any questions, please feel free to give him my email - [email protected] . Simba has me wrapped around his paw- for some reason he stole a huge chunk of my heart when I was there.
It is healed up now, he was walking on it great and jumping at the back door of the shelter to get out. I am not sure I believe how it happened, but he seems to be doing well with it.
The worst part of this story is that people just don't understand that hidden fences do not keep out children and neighbor's dogs. This is one beautiful dog. Is someone setup to evaluate him?
While I was there helping another GSD they called me to the front to see what I thought of him, I then went back again and spent time with him... he let me touch him everywhere but didnt care for his mouth being touched, just pulled away though.
One of the girls there told me she thinks that the person wants to euth. him, I said listen, you just neutered this dog, I spoke personally with the vet and he said with a GSD savvy person, he believes he will be fine. I let her know that I will be in or call first thing in the morning and that the vet was backing me up on my decision to help place him. When I talk more with them in the morning, I will be able to update on if they will let me take him for a professional eval. keep your fingers crossed for him!
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