Bittting dogs

[Pat]

Handyman, I applaud your approach and efforts to "save" a dog. There are just entirely too many "pets" in our country that are ill treated out of ignorance or worse. I respect the efforts of you and others who "rescue" animals from euthanasia, where possible. A good friend of mine had 8 dogs till a couple got so old and feeble they were "put down." The remaining 6 are all younger rescued dogs from "caged" breeding operations, puppy factories. They literally had no life but forced breeding in a small cage before being rescued and it has taken a lot of time and effort to socialize them. They are some kind of long bodied short legged pug nosed long haired Chinese lap dog that can be ever so cute and affectionate when successfuly rehabilitated.

I also have a friend who participates in wild animal rescue and has raised everything from humingbirds to red tailed hawks (lisc falconer) etc. If it falls out of a tree or gets found on a porch, she gets it whether feeathered, furred, scaled, or otherwise. A good portion are euthanized after the "bringer" leaves because they can't be saved but she saves quite a few. These are mother mature's creatures, mostly out of our control. Dogs are a creation of man and are in way too much supply. It is encumbent on man to solve the problem. While some segments of our society are encouraging or allowing uncontrolled breeding (Why neuter, my animal is male and can't get pregnant!) others are trying to control the flood of overpopulation of unwanted animals. At best, only a fraction of candidates will successfully be placed in acceptable situations and the others will be ulltimately euthanized or contribute to the overpopulation problem.

Again, my hat is off to you and the others who use their personal time and resources to try to lessen the suffering and improve the situation. Likewise, the landowners who "take in" horses and burros so they have a life.



[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Currmudgeon]

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he is a 4 yr old rescue that has a lot of radical changes since the death of both his owners.

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How long have you had the dog? A "new" adult dog can need a certain amount of transition to learn to bond with its new pack and to learn who is the top dog. That should be you.

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Charlie's issue is defiance and social manners.

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Are you familiar with the NILIF program? It stands for Nothing In Life Is Free. There are several websites and books on the subject. They claim it is dog training. Actually, it is more of an owner training program, but it works. We use a sort of informal NILIF with all our dogs. The dog works for everything, for its meals, for the privelege of playing woth your toyws (the dog has no toys, they're yours) For scratches and cuddles. These are done on your command and the dog must earn them. It really reinforces the roles of the dog and the human.

Obedience, obedience, obedience. I consider it to be a panacea. I can't think of a problem that isn't improved with formal obedience training. The dog doesn't need to jump through flaming hoops or dance the tango, but should learn, and be drilled in standard heeling, sits, stays, down stays, the standard lot. This reinforces the bond between the dog and the owner, and reinforces the fact that you are on the handle end of the leash, and the dog is on the snap end. More importantly, it allows the dog to succeed, thereby earning praise and pack esteem.

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he has since began showing true signs of submission or acceptance of me being alfa male and where his place is. He looks at me for acknowledgment when he's not sure, not in a cowaring way , but in a respective way. He has began showing signs of respecting me as the alfa male and responding to my commands .

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That is a good sign. That indicates that, whatever you are doing, it's working.

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What is unusual about this little boston is when his shackles are up and he's raising total hell.. he's just putting on a show

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Hackling is usually, but not universally, a sign of fear. A fearful dog is a dangerous dog. If the dog is biting from fear, then you have a situation that will probably get worse. I generally suggest putting fear biters down.

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no actual signs that I've noticed is when he nips at other larger dogs.

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This may be an area where formal training with a trainer is warranted. That way, you can set up controlled situations for the dog to screw up and correct them under control. This can be hard to do "in the wild." It's not polite to use strange dogs as bait. And the training point is kinda lost when you are attempting to protect your dog from that rottweiler he just antagonized. [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

As far as whether it is necessary to have the dog destroyed, it's always a judgement call. If the dog can reasonably expected to be a hazard to life and limb, then it must be destroyed. If you have a high level of confidence that you can protect your "bad dog" from the stimuli that cause problems, then it may not be necessary. A friend had a German Shepherd Dog that had grown aggressive. Rather than putting it down, they were able to place it on a friend's bear garm. The grizzlies can take care of themselves. [img]/forums/images/icons/ooo.gif[/img] In the same circumstances, I would have had to put the animal down. In fact, we did so with a similar animal from the same bloodlines. It was too untrustworthy.