Help me decide.

[petslover]

Okay, I have a tough decision I need to make..So I decided I would post it here for some helpful advice/suggestions.

I have posted before about rehoming Ziggy for aggression issues..

Well, Today she had a really bad spell. She attacked Bouncer while I was in the backyard, and I had to take all my strength and pull her off. When I pulled her off she ran back after him. So I grabbed him and ran so fast to the front yard and closed the gate. When I got there I noticed that he had about a 1 inch wound on him and he was bleeding. It is pretty nasty looking.

I don't know what to do. I mean something is bad is going to happen if I don't stop this. We were going to build a fence to put her in, but we don't have the money to do that. especially since all the doctor work, I been going in for here lately. That is costing a fortune with no insurance.

Sometimes, I think it would be best to rehome her with one dog only family. I would hate for her to kill one of my other dogs. ya know. She has already attacked Muffin before, Buster a few times, and Bouncer.

What would it be best to do? I mean I would hate to rehome her, but I don't want anything bad to happen to any of my animals.

I don't know. I'm so confused. Let me say the last 2 weeks has just sucked.

:(

[luvofallhorses]

:( I can't tell you what to do, but only what you think is *best* and your parents. Is she spayed? Has she been thru obdience classes?

[petslover]

Yes she has been spayed.

Yes she has had obedience classes when she was younger. Didn't help at all.

[petslover]

I'm so confused on what to do. :(

[luvofallhorses]

:( Can your parents afford a behaviourist?

[petslover]

No, we can't.. We just spent a fortune on doctor work today for me. and something else has came up. So are we kinda in a slump now. Plus, my parents don't believe in behavorists. so thats out of the question.

[Vette]

Can you crate her(or keep her in the bathroom or something) while the other dogs are lose?

i have to do this with Kirby. sometimes he playes fine with other dogs,, and the next second he goes ape sh*t... so i dont take a chance on it and keep him crated when other dogs are lose.

just make sure that everyone in the house knows that your out with the other dogs,, and not let her lose.


i know ive said pretty much the same thing before.. and i know how much of a pain in the rump it is... but its the only way you can keep her.

[petslover]

I know.. That would work, but that would be hard, and I believe that would be unfair to Ziggy. I might end up doing that.

Plus, with Ziggy she is so heavy that it takes all of my muscle to get her off and she goes in for the kill which scares me.

I have to make a decision this weekend what to do. I want to do whats best for Ziggy and whats best for the other dogs.

[Glacier]

Keeping a dog aggressive dog separate is very hard work and requires that you constantly know where everyone is. I do it with two of my dogs. Kayleigh hates everyone, so she's actually a little easier. Goldie is selectively aggressive. So I have to make sure she doesn't get near the dogs she hates. I also have to make sure that my husband and any one else who is around knows that when Goldie is loose or in the house, the dogs she dislikes must be elsewhere. It's constant work, but it can be done. Life can still be happy, fun & safe for all the dogs. You would need to get a committment from everyone in your house though that they would follow the same rules.

IF you decide to rehome Ziggy, you need to be extremely careful that her new owners are fully informed. If you moved her and didn't inform them of her aggressive tendancies, you could be held liable if she attacked again. A one dog home solves nothing if they let her off leash and/or don't monitor her interactions with other animals.

Has Ziggy ever bitten a person?

[petslover]

yes, that sounds like a good plan. I know it will be hard if I do decide.

No she hasn't ever bitten anyone. and of course if I have to rehome her I will make sure they have a fence, and make sure they understand Ziggy.

I don't really want to rehome her though. She's my buddy. :(

I'll just have to make a decision this weekend. I have had her for almost 3 years, and don't want to rehome her at all. :(

Thank you all for your help and advice.

[Glacier]

Originally posted by petslover
No she hasn't ever bitten anyone.
I don't really want to rehome her though. She's my buddy. :(


Well, that makes things a little easier actually. Kayleigh has bitten a person, my husband actually, 3 times in the first year we had her. I could not in good conscience under any circumstances rehome Kayleigh due to her bite history. The liablity would be huge.

I hope you find a way to keep Ziggy.

[Vette]

I know its a pain in the butt.. but its not really that hard. ive done this with Kirby ever since the 4th episode with him.. at first we thought it was just a food/toy thing.. but found its not... we dont know why he plays fine one minute,, and not the next...


so what i did was.. write on a piece of paper.. and put it on the front door saying "Out with Kirby" in big bright letters so that my parents wont let their dogs out when Kirbys out by accident. i also have set times of where i take him outside.

he does fine by himself. hes not suffering from depression from seperation from the other dogs or anything like that..
i think your dog will be fine too once you get something set up and planned and stick to it.

i wish you the very best of luck
*hugs*

[petslover]

Thanks. I am going to work with a plan. I am going to keep her. I just hate when these mood swings happen with Ziggy. I just hate to hear that one of my other dogs got hurt by this.

Thank you for your help. I am going to take this one day at a time.

[Glacier]

Originally posted by Vette
I know its a pain in the butt.. but its not really that hard. ive done this with Kirby ever since the 4th episode with him.. at first we thought it was just a food/toy thing.. but found its not... we dont know why he plays fine one minute,, and not the next...


so what i did was.. write on a piece of paper.. and put it on the front door saying "Out with Kirby" in big bright letters so that my parents wont let their dogs out when Kirbys out by accident. i also have set times of where i take him outside.



Has Kirby has a full check-up? Just curious as Goldie used to be much more aggressive to other dogs. Then we found out that she was in pain--from an old hip injury (occurred before she lived here). When she moved certain ways, it hurt and she would lash out at whoever was closest to her. She's on daily pain meds now and her aggression has decreased dramatically! Now it's only Preacher and the other females she hates.

I leave big notes on the door too! DO NOT LET PREACHER OUT-GOLDIE IS LOOSE! Or the reverse, do not let Preacher in, Goldie is inside.

[lute]

sorry to hear about the spell. i'm kinda going throughthe same thing.

i really really hope you work it out!

[Fox-Gal]

I went through this with Tuffy and Brock a while back ago, it's not fun, I know. We too thought about turning Brock over to the Great Dane rescue, but when it came down to it we just couldn't do it.

What we noticed with Brock and Tuffy there was always a event that set them off. It was when the two where around each other and the one was getting love. Also if there was other new people around, they would fight. So we put a stop to that, no loving when they where together and no new people around the two of them........EVER! Is there anything you notice that sets him off? That maybe you can control.

We also started separating the two, when Brock was out, Tuffy was in. Tuffy in and Brock out. It wasn't fun to play rotating the dogs, but it worked. We also ended up putting up a very very light electrical fence up in between the two yards, so at times, when needed, they could both be out and we felt safer. It might sound harsh, but it wasn't really, it barely effected birds, just enough that it keep the two of them apart.

Right now, we are going through it again, with Tuffy and Rocky, but in this case we can't find that event that sets them off, so it's been a little harder. Plus Rocky is not effected by the electrical fence. So in Rocky's case we are going to have to find another home for him. Between his attacks on Tuffy and Cannilla before she passed, he also has taking up chasing the cats. So I know how hard it is, it's killing me to have to give up Rocky. But we have always had one main rule in this house, first come, first rights. Tuffy was first, so Tuffys comes first, Rocky has to be re-homed. :(

I wish you the best and I'm so sorry you are going through this. Good Luck, what ever you do.

[Vette]

Yep. hes been to the vet and checked up. he gets regular vacinations and stuff too. vet says his elbows and hips look good. i thought the fisrt thing he would X-ray would be his hips,, but he looked at his knees first thing. after a full exam the vet said he looks really good and no sign of autherites(SP?) in him....

so we cant figure out why he can be such a grum sometimes.:confused:

[IRescue452]

If you don't want her in the crate all day is it possible to get a long leash and hook it in the room you are in so that she is supervised and the other dogs can get away from her reach if they need to yet she doesn't have to be in a crate.

[bckrazy]

is Ziggy mostly outside or an outside-only dog? She might be jealous of the other dogs, or feels isolated from the "pack". . I dunno, I'm just guessing.

I hope everything works out with your pups! It would be REALLY sad if you had to re-home her and break them up :(. . it sounds like separating them won't be too much, and I'm sure they can still play (at least, Ziggy and the dogs she gets along with) as long as its very closely supervised.