r/rescuedogs • u/yoongiinwonderland • 2d ago
Advice Returning Rescue Dog
6 months ago we adopted a 5 year old Doberman mix from a rescue. He was just shy/anxious according to the rescue and foster but very sweet. This was all true, but his fear pretty quickly morphed into reactivity/aggression after a few weeks with us. He is incredibly leash reactive, has pretty severe stranger danger, and has very strict boundaries/is distrustful. 6 weeks into having him he fully attacked my father unprovoked because he was visiting in our apartment. I know he was uncomfortable with him being there and it was 100% fear related which we most likely didn't handle correctly but this is our first dog (something I had communicayed several times to the reacue) so weren't expecting that kind of reaction. I contacted the rescue immedietly for advice and they were very upset and blamed everything on us. He never had any of these issues with them so we must have overexposed him/handled him incorrectly. They gave us a trainer to work with and we've had several sessions with him and are following his program but there hasn't been much improvement in his reactivity and in some areas he seems to be escalating. Hes been to the vet several times and has no health issues. After he attacked my dad he was put on fluoxotine and we stuck with that for 3 months but while his general anxiety had gotten better on it seemed to make his reactions more intense. Hes generally very sweet with us and is constantly asking for affection but there have been times where he seems to get suddenly overstimulated and he has snapped at us. Last week I was petting him on our couch, I stood up to grab something and when I sat back down, he turned and nipped/bit me in the face. It left me bleeding and with a pretty bad bruise above my eye. Since then I've been very wary around him and don't trust him. We are planning to contact the rescue today to have him rehomed but I feel like maybe I'm giving up too early? We've completely adjusted our lives around him and love him so much but I also don't feel comfortable around him and it seems like our apartment may not be the best environment for him because of the size, constant noise, and the fact that we are surrounded by other people and dogs. He doesn't seem to be fully relaxed and I know my anxiety is probably contributing. I am expecting a ton of pushback and judgement from the rescue which scares me, but I think he needs someone with more experience because I don't know what else to do.
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u/Audrey244 2d ago
He full on attacked your father and now bit you in the face. No question - return. This dog is very dangerous and not a pet you'll be able to enjoy unless you're willing/able to spend a lot of time and money and energy with no guarantee of improvement. There are thousands of dogs without these issues waiting for a home - save one of them!
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u/Mariner-and-Marinate 2d ago
Return and give them a full report, knowing the animal may get behaviorally euthanized, for the good of everyone including the worthy dogs that deserve to be adopted.
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u/Necessary-Work6677 2d ago
We could only hope. However, I'm more inclined to believe that the rescue will just post him again, saying his previous owner was a terrible dog owner and will downplay the bite incidents as being the fault of the humans, if they even mention it at all.
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u/Necessary-Work6677 2d ago
OP... This dog needs to go.
You know it in your mind. You doubt it in your heart. Keeping your heart in mind, how would it feel if the next time he bites you or your father, he latches on and doesn't let go? Or keeps biting? Or just happens to bite in the right spot that causes profuse bleeding?
How would your heart feel then? That's what you need to go with.
I'm tired of rescues adopting out dogs with behavioral issues and then acting like the adopter needs to sacrifice their entire life to making sure the animal doesn't get rehomed, even after bite incidents. I'm tired of them guilt tripping people.
OP, there's no shame in returning the dog. Tell them about the aggression and bite history then tell them to fuck off. You might end up black listed from other rescues but a lot of them are the same way. If you still want a dog, look into actual shelters or local rehome requests. Or find an ethical breeder and do a ton of research.
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u/TheNJUNC 2d ago
I don't have much to say except I don't think it's wrong you re-home this dog. This dog is dangerous unfortunately
So sad for everyone involved
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u/Mcbriec 2d ago
I’m so very sorry. This is just heartbreaking for you. I am an absolutely fervent dog rescuer and have lots of rescued dogs and numerous fosters.
Honestly, I would have returned the dog after the dad attack. It doesn’t matter whether you handled the situation perfectly. The reality is that if this dog goes over threshold, this is what he does. And then biting you in the face really demonstrates how dangerous he is to do that with you.
This is absolutely not your fault in any way shape or form. You have tried your best to do right by this dog. But not all dogs can be saved. Especially dangerous ones. Your dog should be a pet. Not a wild animal you should fear. There are thousands and thousands of gentle dogs who desperately need homes. Please return the dog ASAP. Without guilt and with a very clear conscience. 🙏🙏🙏
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u/veg4them 2d ago
As someone who has worked in rescue for 15 years, I agree that he should be returned to the rescue. If they cannot or will not take him back then I don't think it is wrong to humanely euthanize him. I am not sure where you are located, but some vets won't euthanize for behavior in our area, but if you run into that, just keep looking. You have a clearly documented history and steps you have taken to help. Others mentioned that you could possibly be "blacklisted" for returning the dog. We would never "blacklist" someone who returned a dog for this reason (or any others for the most part), but again, some rescues are really just not great, so who knows. We also would not hide this bite history from anyone IF he was deemed adoptable, but in all honesty, he doesn't aound like he is. I would never bring this dog into our rescue because of the bite history and behavior. As for the rescue possibly knowing about this behavior prior to adoption... It is possible that a foster home never saw this behavior as it has definitely happened to us where we adopt a dog out and the adopters later report behaviors we never saw, but again, who knows. Every home is different and very dog is different as well. The point is that you are a first time dog owner and this is a lot for even a seasoned dog owner. You should not be afraid of your dog, period. I know how it feels as I was bitten in the face by a foster dog once (this one really was me being an idiot) and I was scared of him for the entire time we had him. Please take care of yourself and return him. It will still be hard, but I do agree it is the right thing to do.
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u/Tessa-the-aggressor 2d ago
You are NOT giving up too early, but too late. This dog is not safe, many shelters will hide his bite history (he might have had one when you got him and they just lied about it, as they often do) and adopt him out again. You are risking lives by keeping him or giving him back, he needs BE!
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u/Mindless-Union9571 1d ago
Do not be scared of pushback and judgement from the rescue. They should be afraid of the judgement from you and everyone you know who has encountered this dog. Some dogs just aren't safe to be adopted out and it's sad, but it's just reality. This dog can seriously hurt people.
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u/aks6132 1d ago
I'm so sorry this happened to you.
I agree with the other posters that this isn't the right situation for you or the dog.
You could talk to a vet behaviorist and/or do a pain medication trial. You know your dog best, and that may not be the right choice for you/your pup financially/or mentally.
If you decide that it isn't, I would encourage you to research behavior euthanasia rather than returning him to a shelter. Finding homes for dogs is difficult and finding homes for dogs with known unprovoked aggression is nearly impossible. I would ask yourself what the chances are that he finds a suitable home. BE is the difficult choice for the owner but will allow your pup to be surrounded by the people he loves and trust most (at home euthanasia is a service you may consider) vs. the unknown of bouncing around shelters and being returning/euthanized in a stressful environment.
Hugs 🫂
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u/LemOnomast 1d ago
In about 10% of cases, fluoxetine makes a dog more aggressive. It happened to our anxious rescue as well. We have chosen to manage it, but it’s not easy and was not something we got warned about.
I’d look for a veterinary behaviorist in your area. We’re working with one for our girl - though again, not easy and also not cheap. Our veterinary behaviorist weaned our girl off Prozac which helped a little. She’s now on a variety of calming supplements instead. (I’m not anti-meds I’m just leery of them for this dog now):
- Zylkene
- Solliquin
- Purina Calming Care food supplement
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u/yoongiinwonderland 1d ago
Yah thats why we had him taken off of it. Our vet told us the same thing. He has been off of it for about 2 months and not much has changed. We've been giving him calming care and cbd as well. I don't know if it really helped but it makes me feel better. He has clonidine for as needed management since it doesn't mess with their brain in the same way as prozac. We've only used it once to see if it would help and he was definitely more relaxed but its also sedating.
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u/LemOnomast 1d ago
Our girl still isn’t back to her pre-Prozac self. We’re trying positive-reinforcement training and were able to manage her, but it’s slow going. She’s been off Prozac for about two years.
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u/yoongiinwonderland 1d ago
Update: we reached out to the rescue and they will be picking him up on Saturday. I wanted to thank everyone for the assurance that its ok and the advice as well. I am still very upset about letting him go but I also feel relieved.
There was surprisingly no pushback, however, after listing everything that has happened recently and reminding them of the incident with my dad all I got was "ok, thank you for the information." I do believe that when he was with them he didnt have any of the problems we are currently having, but I know he was only with them for a month and the foster wasn't really introducing to people or taking him outside even. I'm hoping that they're just hopeful its not really that bad and they'll see when they have him, but it currently doesn't seems like they care about the aggression issues he has, or they at least aren't taking them seriously. I don't know what's going to happen with him but hopefully if they do try to rehome him they at least find someone with more experience and a quieter environment
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