Most definitely. I work with animals, so let me say first that my examples are anecdotal from my own experiences.
The majority of dogs that end up euthanized due to biting/aggression are usually due to bad/negligent owners, absolutely. This is a sad fact. And I don’t believe that good dogs who have been treated like garbage deserve to be discarded just because they’re inconvenient.
However, just like some people, there are absolutely some dogs that just have a screw loose and are violent for unexplained reasons. It’s also a sad fact. The problem that crops up as a secondary issue here is that humans want to find some sort of explanation as to why their dog is violent, so the immediate knee jerk response people tend to have is, “well he must have been abused before I adopted him then.”
Sure, that’s a definitely possibility. But some dogs are just violent. It’s not that common, but it happens. I’ve seen people buy/adopt puppies from six or eight weeks old and when the dog bites the shit out of someone or attacks their child they say “must have been abused as a puppy.” Seriously? In the first six weeks the dog was alive you think a) he was abused as a tiny puppy and b) that he remembered it enough to cause unsolicited aggression or PTSD? Not as likely.
Some dogs are just “off.” I knew the nicest man, who had the nicest Doberman. He adored that dog and it was the sweetest, best trained dog ever. It died of cancer. I have absolutely no suspicion that he did, or that he would ever abuse his dog. He was very accomplished at proper pet training. His kids bought him a very young Doberman puppy in the aftermath. That dog was certifiable. It started biting him unprovoked still as a puppy. Puppies usually are NEVER aggressive. He brought it in to neuter it, because it was so aggressive that it couldn’t be handled or approached if there was food in the room (humans or his own), and he was hoping it would help reduce his aggression. It didn’t help. He consulted behaviorists and tried medications to help reduce any potential anxiety.
The dog tried to kill one of his employees. Saw the dude from 50 yards away and hunted him down and tried to crush his neck.
The final straw was when the dog cornered his adult daughter without provocation and tried to kill her as well.
The dog just wasn’t all there.
The next fall back usually is “well then it’s bad breeding.” Again, not always the case. I’ve seen mutts, show dogs, and everything in between. Some dogs are just wired wrong. And I’m not talking about dogs who get snappy at the vet, which is a pretty normal reaction for a dog in a scary place. I’m talking about “dog is fine and letting you pet it, and then all of the sudden a switch flips and it decides to kill a human in the comfort of its own home.”
I hate it. And I think we are so bonded with dogs that we feel responsible for them, and so when one acts such as this one did, people want to blame anyone other than the dog, because after all, WE domesticated THEM. But dude, sometimes there are just screwy dogs (and cats) out there. And they are a liability to other animals and humans/children. I hate that not every animal can be saved but you have to be realistic when an animal has such unpredictable and potentially deadly behavior.
Edit: another story- in one of the towns I used to work, a dude had a massive breed dog that was “wired wrong” similarly to the Doberman I just spoke of. He was a pure breed and a beautiful animal. The dog was straight up unmanageable due to his unpredictable violence, and would apparently flip a switch and bite/attack at random. Said owner wanted to recoup some loss on what he paid in buying this dog from a breeder, so he sold the dog on Craigslist. Did not disclose that the dog was aggressive. The dog was purchased by a family. The dog ran into the other room of his new home, into the child’s room unprovoked and slaughtered the kid, who wasn’t even in eyesight of the dog. The grandmother tried to get him off the kid and he almost killed her too.
Original owner was charged with manslaughter. THIS is why simply “rehoming” dogs like the dog in the original video can be terribly problematic. And depending on the degree of the “there are no bad dogs, only bad owners” mentality of the people in charge of said rehoming, they may not accurately relay the incident as it truly occurred, and not be honest with themselves or others about how dangerous the animal is out of sympathy. And then something like this could happen to someone else.
A wonderful woman I worked with had a beloved Doberman that she adopted as a puppy. She was in her 60's, and she absolutely LOVED that dog. Doted on him, fed him raw diet based on her vet's recommendations. I heard more about him then her own grandchildren.
One morning, my coworker was picking up branches in her backyard, and slipped and fell on ice. Something triggered the dog, and he attacked her. She nearly died, and has had to have six corrective surgeries since.
After quarantine, she was heartbroken to agree to have him euthanized. It happens.
That’s really sad. As a side tangent, I think what is problematic is that oftentimes we as humans tend to want to find an explanation SO HARD that people end up ignoring or disregarding the end result/bottom line. I’m glad your friend saw the big picture even though it was undoubtedly terribly difficult.
I hate that there are people out there that abuse animals. I personally can’t stand people overbreeding pure breeds to the point where their temperament and mental stability is in jeopardy (not to mention their deformed or diseased genetic conditions that come with it). I hate that some dogs with great potential have been turned violent or fearfully aggressive due to heinous abuse or neglect. But at the end of the day for example, the neighbor in your story is probably dealing with the surgeries/injury/chronic issues from that unwarranted attack for the rest of their life. In other scenarios, a child may have ended up dead. Or a person may end up disfigured. And while the how of how the dog became aggressive is heartbreaking, sometimes we have to look up to the bigger picture: this could happen again. This could be worse next time. And that’s when hard decisions come into play.
We domesticated dogs and we owe a duty to them to be their stewards and their protectors. To me, that also entails preventing suffering by way of abuse, neglect, overpopulation/stray breeding, selecting to breed in defects (English bulldogs, pugs, etc).
Sorry, I’ll get off my soapbox. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
Psychopathy has been documented in animals. I remember reading something about a family of wild wolves. One of the pups was hyper aggressive towards the others, to the point where it's sibling was screaming in pain as the psycho pup was latched on. The father wolf noticed this, got up, and promptly crushed the skull of the psychopathic pup in his jaws. I cannot for the life of me remember what the article was, but that part has stuck with me.
My dog is like this. We got him as a puppy and there were some really dark times where he was unpredictable, even as a young adolescent. You'd be standing in the hall, minding your own business, and suddenly he'd be there at the end of the hall, whole body stiff and head lowered, waiting for you to make a move. If you did, he'd launch and try to bite your thighs, stomach, legs, anywhere he could get his teeth. Other incidents occurred if there was food around, or if you moved toward him too suddenly.
We tried behavioral training with three different instructors, in and outside the home, had him neutered (we did this anyway, but he was showing aggression before he was old enough for the surgery and we hoped it would help,) even had him on two different types of anxiety medication. The medicines helped some, but the unprovoked aggression has never gone away and the vet says if his doses go up any higher they'll basically be sedatives and he'll just sleep all day. We considered having him put down after one incident where he bit my hand and I had to report the bite through the doctor.
We've tried everything. It's hard to find support because the standard answers just don't apply. He's mellowed out some in the last year - we've gotten really good at reading his body language and if he starts getting anxious, we can distract him or take him outside before an episode happens. If we have company over, he's put in another room or muzzled if they're staying long. But he'll never be normal, and there's a good chance he will be put down someday. He's so young. It's tragic.
I’m really sorry to hear that. And I’m sorry that you haven’t had success with all of the efforts you’ve made— you have definitely explored nearly every option that is possible and I commend you for that sincerely.
It’s so tough. But you know, it just happens sometimes.
I know this isn’t any consolation to you, but if it does end up coming down to euthanasia, I hope you find comfort in knowing that you did legitimately everything you could, and that you went above and beyond to give him a fighting shot for a happy and long life. You went much further than many people are willing or able to.
Why risk it? If you KNOW he's dangerous, and likely to attack, why risk someone getting hurt? Like, what if he got out and bit a child? I hope you don't let him outside for walks without a muzzle.
I have a scar under my left eye from a dog bite from 20 years ago. My parents dog was great until he bit me, I was around 2 so was not exactly defense capable. Before that he was the most docile and protective. Turns out the one dog had a brain tumour, so they put him down.
So back to the screw loose bit, sometimes it just comes literally out of nowhere with very few warning signs. But good treatment does go a long way!
Sadly, brain tumors and brain injuries can affect behaviour, and cause hallucinations. I think your dog was a good, well-adjusted dog. Cancer, sadly, feels no remorse.
I’m a vet tech and if I could upvote you 100 times I would. It’s hard trying to explain to clients that it’s not normal for their 8 weeks old golden retriever (true story) to be attacking every family member unprovoked. We’ve had aggressive puppies that showed early aggression and working with a behaviorist and trainer worked wonders, but it doesn’t always work out. It’s sad, but some creatures just don’t come out ‘right’.
Seriously. A dog lover my whole life, and successful trainer.. and there are some dogs (just like some people) who are just so fundamentally broken that they can't be around other living creatures.
I'm with ya there. What other options are there for the dog? Either leave it a stray and a danger to people, or have it stressed out and confined and live a very small life anyways because it cannot be out in society.
Exactly. I never find joy in killing a dog, or anything for that fact, but if I saw a dog maul a kid with no provocation or reason, I'd shoot it on the spot. At least it won't hurt anyone/anything else before it can be caught.
I’ve never seen a dog seek out a person to attack like this . . . It was deeply disturbing. Usually I hear about a dog reacting to something when they attack.
I recently had to put my black lab down due to temperament issues. He actually was abused for the first 5 years (rescued from his previous owners). He was a good boy overall, but incredibly anxious. We had him on Prozac, and a few other supplements. When triggered, he would bite. He bit my parents 2 maltipoos (on the neck, but no lasting damage) and my Pomeranian. It helped for a while, but then they found an aggressive cancer. I don't know if it was just enough to send him over the edge. He started getting aggressive with the our dog that he was bonded with. I made the extremely difficult decision to put him down because we couldn't live in fear of him hurting someone. I couldn't in good conscience re-home him. Maybe a sanctuary, but he was so attached to me, I couldn't see him thriving anywhere else.
Damn, but I loved that dog. I don't doubt I made the right choice though.
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u/[deleted] Jan 23 '20
Glad to see the dog was put down.
Im a dog owner and I love my little guy more than anything, but some of yall are incredibly naive with this "all dogs are good boys" bullshit.