dog's bitten somone, what to do?

giftgrub

Our new dog bit someone last night, hard enough to draw blood

Luckily it was a close friend so we wont be getting sued

He's a rescue dog and we knew we had issues when we first got him, however in the last month theres been a massive improvement in his temperment.

He literally just snapped for no apparent reason last night while being petted.

Has anyone any advice how to handle this? I'm worried if he's done it once he'll do it again, only next time it'll be a kid and we'll end up in court, but we really dont want to put him down (he had a hard life before we took him)

Saruman

Send him to training school.. If you cant/won't do that then im sorry but you better get rid. AS you said this might happen.. no its pretty much certain to happen again and it might not be someones hand next.. how will you feel if he tears the face off some little kid?

Either pay the money for obedience school or get rid of him. Sorry to be harsh but there is no easy fix for this.. We had a dog like that when i was a kid... It took him biting my little sister in the face for us to do the right thing... thankfully she was not scarred.

peasant

Where did you get him from and how long have they had him before you got him?

Maybe the rescue org could help you out with a few pointers what (and what not) to do. They might be able to help you in assessing the situation, because hopefully they know the dog fairly well.
I would contact them.

Also make sure that there is nothing physically wrong with the dog, that it is not in pain somehwere (it would bite if touched where it hurts)

recently ther was a very diverse discussion here on the same topic ...maybe there are some pointers in that for you:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054958600

SuzyS1972

Sending him to training school won't help. Obedience is only teaching the dog to sit , stay , retrieve etc - It will not address his underlying behavorial issues.
He cannot be properly assessed in a room full of giddy barking dogs

No. 1
He may be sore somewhere - First point of call should be a quick health check at the vets - my mam's westie snapped me recently - he has a bad ear infection.

No. 2
Please call the rescue you adopted the dog from - advise them what has happened and ask for some advise. I assist with Dogs Aid and we would always help out with advice / taking the dog back or sending a behaviourist around.

No. 3
Where are you based - I know of 2 very very good behaviourists that can call to your home and should be able even if only on the phone give you some sound advice.
I can PM you details of both if you are interested.
Unless people on this board are qualified to assess a dog then don't listen to them - Their * opinion * is all you are getting and some of the advice given may be detremtantal to your situation.

I wish you luck and I hope it is something minor that is affecting him - as you say he has had a hard life - perhaps he just doesn't like his head touched !!!
You never know - he may have been battered on the head previously and it is just a knee jerk reaction - getting to the bottom of it is your only bet....

greenkittie

When i was younger my dog bit the next door neighbours kid, didnt draw blood but was hard enough to. They were family friends and didnt make us get the dog put down, damn good thing too as we had her in total 16 years and that was the one and only incident in which she was violent to anyone. One off snaps can happen.

FlutterinBantam

Make sure the person who was bitten goes to a doctor for a tetanus jab... most important

SMK

Hi,
You say your dog bit a person while being petted - can you remember the exact circumstances? It could be from the stance of the person your dog felt threatened (was he towering over the dog or sitting down?), was the person wearing glasses (dog could have seen reflection) or is it possible the person was standing too close to the dog and inadvertently stood on his paw? Even if it was one of these reasons, I know it's not safe to have a dog who reacts by biting people but I would explore every avenue before considering the worse. Best of luck

EGAR

Was the dog properly assessed by the rescue and are they giving backup? What breed/x breed is he? What do you know about his past? Is he neutered and how old is he? How long have you had him?

giftgrub

he's a golder cocker, and has been neutered, we had the same breed before and know they can be a bit grumpy.

As regards his past, he spent a year at the shelter befoe we rescued him, before that he was with a family, however the shelter told us that the mother didnt like dogs and clattered him around the place.

because of that he's more wary of women.

Anyway we've found a behaviorist so soon he'll be lying on a couch talking about his childhood

Nala

I personally don't like cocker spaniels as I find them to be quite aggressive. I've only known two though. The first one, his owner had a baby and he continuously growled at the baby. To be fair to him though, he had feck all discipline, his owner wasn't exactly the sharpest crayon and didn't quite understand that saying "No" in a happy voice will NOT tell the dog he is doing something wrong. She was afraid of the dog though.

The second, belonged to another friend, the dog knew me, but one day I crouched down to pet her and she snapped for no reason.

EGAR

Has Cocker Rage been excluded?

http://www.cockerspanielrage.org.uk/

golden

We have had a few cocker spaniels both the blue roan and the orange roan and had no troubles with them whatsoever in terms of their temperment even the orange roan he was always happy and always delighted to see us.

hope it goes well with the behavourist

I would agree with Suzy1972 and Peasant have to say. Your dog has not had the best start in life and the dog is also in a new environment.

Reaver772

Check the fences around your property for any gaps.
Get a Warning sign if you don't already have one.
Warn you neighbours so their kids don't try to pet the dog.
If you can't get the dogs behavior to change have it destroyed, it's tough but it's better than the alternative
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cambridgeshire/4797291.stm

tj-music.com

giftgrub wrote:

He literally just snapped for no apparent reason last night while being petted.

One can never tell what rescue dogs have been through, so there may well have been a reason for the dog to bite - most of the time it is fear, the memory of something unplesant.

The only way to train this is to "replay the situation" in a more secure setting where the owner pets the dog and when the dog snaps again, you reprimand him. Anytime he lets you pet him without snapping at you, the dog is in for a treat.

In most cases the dog has to relearn trust and in most cases there are warning signals before any attack, so watch the dog closely when it interacts with someone.

My rescue dog obviously must have had a bad start to life and I am sure it got beaten as the dog ducked anytime my hand got near its head. Now, 12 + weeks on I can put my hand even inside his mouth when he eats without triggering fear in him. (www.cheerfulcharlie.blogspot.com)

Not an easy way to train but doable.

Good luck

As for Reaver 772s remark: "If you can't get the dogs behavior to change have it destroyed, it's tough but it's better than the alternative" - there is certainly some truth in that argument, having said that, so many dogs get put down because owners are not trying enough to undo damage and retrain the dog, ask for help if needed, therefore I think this option is too easy and should only be used when all other atempts have failed.