Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Experienced volunteers/rescues' advice needed
Here is my problem, please read the whole story.
I have a 6 yo english bulldog spayed female. I also have a 1 1/2 yo real baby. We started searching for another bulldog a few weeks ago. We found a boxer/american bulldog spayed 2 yo female on Petfinder. She was available through a local rescue league. We completed adoption application and submitted references. We were the best applicants for this dog. We introduced my dog and my child to the rescues dog at their kennel. It went well. We had the dogs meet again 2 days later with a trainer and the rescue volunteer at a training course, it went well. The next day the volunteer brought the new dog to my house to have dogs meet a 3rd time. I also had my son and since my husband was working, the volunteer and I agreed that I had my hands full and she didnt feel comfortable leaving me alone with baby and 2 dogs still getting to know each other. So she took the neew dog back to kennel until the weekend (which was the next day). She brought the new dog over Saturday night at 5. She left at 615. We went for a walk altogether, we ate, we played. 915 the new dog attacked my dog. She latched onto to the side of my dogs head. shee wouldnt let go. my husband held her in the air to try and separate them, my dog was hanging from her mouth. It was horrifying. My son was sitting on the couch, thank god, unharmed. My dog was rushed to the animal hospital, she required a sedative and was put under to be cleaned up and stitched. I called the police and the rescue while my husband was on his way to the hospital. The rescue removed the dog from my house that night, which was Saturday night. Just now, 11pm on Monday night. The dog that was removed (and utd on all shots) is back on petfinder through this rescue, WITHOUT any instructions or warnings indicating the dog needs a home with No Pets or No Children.
Am I justified in my concern with that? My fear is that the rescue not disclose this information and adoptt the dog to an[other] unsuspecting family? Who knowss, this may not have been the 1st altercation with this dog. Am I being ridiculous or is this being completely mishandled? I just want to know if my issue with this is valid or not. I intend on contacting the rescue, or other appropriate forum to report this. I am checking in with you all bc I know everyone here has far more experience with this than I do.
Re: Experienced volunteers/rescues' advice needed
Me: 32 | He: 35
TTC since Sept 2011
DX: Unexplained
1st round of clomid: Jan 2013 BFP - M/C 8 weeks
surprise BFP Apr 2013 - M/C 9 weeks
IUI #1 clomid Jul 2013 = BFN
IUI #2 clomid Aug 2013 = BFN
IUI #3 injects Oct 2013 = BFN
IUI #4 injects Dec 2013 = BFN
IVF #1 March 2014 - 12R/12F, one perfect day 5 blast transferred
BFP!! Beta#1 = 431 Beta#2 = 914 Beta#3 = 2207 HB = 166!!
I don't think you need to be concerned about the dog being around children unless you saw some type of issues while he was there. Dog-dog aggression is not the same as dog-person aggression.
Also, this could be a completely random case of the two dogs not meshing well. Maybe they just didn't click. Obviously this was an intense way to find out about that, but it's not necessarily indicative that it's happened before.
When we brought our second dog home, she had never had issues with the dogs she previously lived with. However, the first three months we had her, she did not get along very well with our resident dog. It ended up being an alpha thing with them, and we worked through it and got everything sorted out. So it could be a fluke.
Also, I would guess that even if they don't list an issue on the petfinder site, they will discuss it once they get in applications. I've fostered some dogs who are definitely not cat friendly (and I have cats, so that was fun) and since the petfinder pages are volunteer run, not all info gets up there. But I did make sure any potential adopters knew before hand that cats were a no go.
So, basically, I don't think you should be too concerned. If you are, you can always shoot an e-mail to the president of the rescue and just say, "hey, I just wanted to make sure you knew that the dog came back because he attacked my dog" and that way everyone is on the same page. I highly, highly doubt that this rescue is trying to trick someone into adopting the dog by not giving them all the info, you know?
I am so sorry this happened to you and I hope it doesn't prevent you from adopting in the future.
At the shelter where I volunteer, we do not list previous bites ON the online website. Some may state 'would prefer to be your only dog', but not even all the time.
But, prior to any adoption, all bite history MUST be dislcosed to potential adopters.
I am really sorry this happened to you guys.
I have a friend in a similar situation and maybe it is because I have done so much rescue, but I don't think the petfinder bio is cause for alarm. She got really angry and upset when I told her so too : (
First, almost all rescues and shelters will disclose an incident like this because of issues with legal liability. They're now on notice re. a bite and if another were to happen could get in huge trouble. But, all adopters fill out applications and have to go through a process. So they don't have to disclose via petfinder posting which would scare off any and all potential adopters, they can disclose one on one and feel out whether the person would actually be a good fit and able to deal with the problems.
Also, as a person who does rescue, I never trust the word of people who are not trained in dog behavior when it comes to dog fights. Unless you know what you're looking for and what you're doing, a dog fight can surprise you and you can miss very obvious signals. I would be loathe to label a dog "other dog aggressive" and limit chances of adoption or euthanize based on the word of someone who doesn't truly know or understand what dog aggression looks like. Ex. both of my dogs are great with other dogs, we have never had any aggression issues. Except the other day my male hurt himself, my female was sitting with me, he was acting a little off and wanted to sit with me, and she started resource guarding me. I think she was thrown off by his body language because he was hurt and she also just didn't want to share me. It took me a full two minutes to figure out wth was going on so I could resolve the situation and I am relatively well trained in aggressive behavior. We NEVER leave toys out with new dogs in the house because you never know who will decide to resource guard those. We NEVER free feed with new dogs in the house because lots of dogs are resource guarders. My female dog has weird body language when meeting new dogs and it can make dogs react aggressively towards her; it doesn't mean they are dog aggressive or can't live with other dogs, it just means they need to be introduced to her in a different way.
Also dog aggression =/= aggression towards people. I mean this in the nicest way possible, but the fact that you think this dog should be labeled not good with kids for a fight with another dog does indicate that you're not in a position to make a definitive judgment as to whether or not the dog is aggressive without provocation.
I would follow up with the rescue, let them know you're concerned about where she will be adopted and ask them how they plan to address this issue going forward. But be prepared that they might not be willing to discuss it too much with you. I have had issues with adopters adopting perfect animals from our shelter or rescue and then claiming aggressive tendencies, and when you walk them through it there are GLARING red flags as to how they set the dog up for failure. I'm not saying you all did that, but when you see it enough times it does tend to make you frustrated with and distrustful of adopters who cry "aggression"!
Besides ditto-ing a PP on dog-v-dog not being the same as dog-v-human -- I'd need to know more about how the fight happened.
Where were the dogs? Were any toys or treats around? Were both dogs off-leash?
And basically, ditto everything kellbell said.
Thank you everyone for your concerns and comments. Ive accepted your points about not necessarily disclosing it openly on petfinder, but privately with each applicant. Im comfortable hearing that that is common practice and trust that the rescue will be upfront with inquiring adopters.
To answer some other questions or remarks: I understand the dog was not human aggressive and i apologize if my post seemed ignorant. I do however feel that my son could have been seriously injured by simply ending up in the middle of the attack. Which is why i am concerned about small children.
Also, the circumstances were that my dog (Tootsie) is apparently very dominant and territorial. New dog (Lucy) was being very "impolite" and was putting her head over Tootsies. Toots would give a growl to let Lucy know she didnt like what she was doing. I felt Tootsie was being ridiculous and not giving Lucy a chance. The volunteer told me not to correct Tootsie, and that Lucy had to learn her rules. We were told to redirect Lucy when she was trying to be dominant. We did just that, wed give her treats when she would roll over onto her back to show Tootsie she understood. They both had harnesses on per the instructions from the rescue. When this happenend, Tootsie was laying by theh couch on the area rug, Lucy came over to her in a very non threatening manner. Tootsie growled to let Lucy know she didnt want to be bothered. Lucy didnt respect Toots and put her head on top of Tootsies, Tootsie growled again tried to turn around. As if she were saying "Seriously, get away from me." Instead of submitting, Lucy bit Tootsies head, by her right ear and wouldnt let go. Her jaw was clenched and did not release my dog from her mouth for the most terrifying 25 seconds of my life. Please help me understand how this could have been avoided.
See, I don't agree with the bolded at all. I know that if another dog puts their head on Molly's she will flip, it's bad manners! I would have split them up if that was happening and I could tell someone was getting agitated; growling dogs get separated in my house. Growling is a warning, you never want to see what comes after.