What Information are "owners" entitled to?

Its also not just biting- its fence jumping or fighting with other dogs, or food issues, and even saw a few with leash issues as well. I believe being informed not only helps you make the decission of 'if the pet will fit', but also prepares you for the dogs safety- and yours.. Knowing its there in my mind, makes the situation less grave and concerning. Using Femka in the above example- instead of feeling like I was 'in danger' and she was ' unpredicatable', I learned to just pay attention to what I was doing in relation to where she was.
After all- having a anti jump harness if you were to adopt a dog that would jump the fence- thus getting lost etc., is alot easier than spending one whole afternoon looking for your " escape artist.."..
And Kym- my dogs tell me when someone is around- they may not bark- but its obvious when someone is here as evident by this video. Alias- the Borzoi alarm system.. View My Video Its hard to miss 4 pacing ponies in the house..View My Video

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Originally Posted by borzoimom

Its also not just biting- its fence jumping or fighting with other dogs, or food issues, and even saw a few with leash issues as well. I believe being informed not only helps you make the decission of 'if the pet will fit', but also prepares you for the dogs safety- and yours.. Knowing its there in my mind, makes the situation less grave and concerning. ...

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I totally agree. You simply cannot have "too much" information about a dog ... be it a potential new pet, a friend's dog when you visit their home, a neighbor's dog you share a fence-line with, etc.

I board and groom thousands of dogs every year, and it is almost always without fail the "Oh, I forgot to tell you..." people that cause issues to balloon. If a customer simply tells us honestly, "Muzzle him to clip his nails.", "She is afraid of the broom, of men, of kids, of the brush, etc.", "Don't reach for his collar, he'll snap.", etc., etc., there is never a problem. It's the people that DON'T inform us that he once snapped at a child, etc. that cause problems ... for us, for the dog, for them.

And this is a much more important issue with a dog in a shelter, rescue, breeder's home, etc. that is potentially going to a new home. It is SO important to be brutally honest about a new dog, in any situation. That is the only way it is going to work out for the best for the dog and all the people involved.

As many of you have noticed- even on breed posts, I say the things to consider.. Better prepared than have heart ache..

Agreed, I feel even the negatives are owed , not just for the animals sake either.

Absolutely totally agree!!! You can never know too much!!! I iwsh i had gotten more info on Rocky!

Its no secret this was started becasue of me & Mr. Biggles.

As stated in the bite thread, I was very limited as what to do. If I said he bit me, Mr. biggles would be PTS no questions asked, no second chance, no nothing.

I also stated that it was a single bite, not an attack. If he attacked me I would have taken him myself to be PTS. As I fermly believe there is a huge difference between a bite (which is like a snap but with contact) & an attack & i will not tollerate an attack from any dog(puppies are different). Sorry I don't care why it attacked(being mauled, the dog not stopping, you fighting to get away, not a snarl, snap or a bite), but attack = death ASAP.

Mr. Biggles cannot be returned to the shelter as both of them have to be returned as a pair & then both of them would be PTS as a pair.

Thats why I made that post, as I was soooooo stuck on what to do. I did get good advice on how to work things out, without saying he bit me.

I told the guys that Mr. Biggles is super sensitive & showing me that he is scared/over stressed at times. I also said that when dogs get scared/over stressed like him, they may snap or bite (a quick nip, no blood, etc). Chad wasn't too happy with that comment, but it gave me time to explain why Mr. Biggles may snap & its purely out of fear(which is why he bit me). I spent an hour with the guys talking about fear in dogs, esp. the fact that these 2 might have been abused (I'm pretty sure they wern't), so they are full of fear.

That convo went great. I still will not tell Chad that he bit me. If Mr. Biggles does it again, then its safe to tell Chad as I now have taught him about fearful bites (the understanding of why & the dog is only protecting its self, its not an I hate you bite)...

I just wasn't online all weekend, so I wasn't able to update my thread.


I swear I wasn't trying to be sneeky or anything bad. I was looking out for the best in all parties. Thats why I came to PT first so I could get some advice, before I did something wrong.

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Originally Posted by king2005

Its no secret this was started becasue of me & Mr. Biggles.

As stated in the bite thread, I was very limited as what to do. If I said he bit me, Mr. biggles would be PTS no questions asked, no second chance, no nothing.

I also stated that it was a single bite, not an attack. If he attacked me I would have taken him myself to be PTS. As I fermly believe there is a huge difference between a bite (which is like a snap but with contact) & an attack & i will not tollerate an attack from any dog(puppies are different). Sorry I don't care why it attacked(being mauled, the dog not stopping, you fighting to get away, not a snarl, snap or a bite), but attack = death ASAP.

Mr. Biggles cannot be returned to the shelter as both of them have to be returned as a pair & then both of them would be PTS as a pair.

Thats why I made that post, as I was soooooo stuck on what to do. I did get good advice on how to work things out, without saying he bit me.

I told the guys that Mr. Biggles is super sensitive & showing me that he is scared/over stressed at times. I also said that when dogs get scared/over stressed like him, they may snap or bite (a quick nip, no blood, etc). Chad wasn't too happy with that comment, but it gave me time to explain why Mr. Biggles may snap & its purely out of fear(which is why he bit me). I spent an hour with the guys talking about fear in dogs, esp. the fact that these 2 might have been abused (I'm pretty sure they wern't), so they are full of fear.

That convo went great. I still will not tell Chad that he bit me. If Mr. Biggles does it again, then its safe to tell Chad as I now have taught him about fearful bites (the understanding of why & the dog is only protecting its self, its not an I hate you bite)...

I just wasn't online all weekend, so I wasn't able to update my thread.


I swear I wasn't trying to be sneeky or anything bad. I was looking out for the best in all parties. Thats why I came to PT first so I could get some advice, before I did something wrong.

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This wasn't just about that thread hun. It is about a few others also, and not all yours LOL, I am glad you talked to Chad. However my personal opinion stands for me. I would be very upset if as an owner, co owner or otherwise , if that type of information was willfully withheld.

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Originally Posted by Dr.Goodnow

However my personal opinion stands for me. I would be very upset if as an owner, co owner or otherwise , if that type of information was willfully withheld.

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I completely agree & so would I. I just knew if I told Chad that I was bitten he wouldn't think twice & would walk out the door with Mr. Biggles that very second. I was completely stuck, as I was sure it wasn't an I hate you bite, or a crazy wild animal bite, & it deffently wasn't an attack.

I deffently wouldn't have put my dog down for a bite if someone told me(my old dog bit someone & he wasn't put down, he had a reason... mind you it was a poor reason, but the girl(14yrs old) knew this & taunted the dog regardless behind my back for 30 mins).. I'd work with the dog... But Chad sees a bite as a bite & nothing more, so bites = death.

I feel like Shat for not telling Chad, & its not like me not to tell someone. I was bitten by a big black dog while delivering the newspaper on sat. I greeted the dog every sat & usually played with him for a few mins. Turns out the owners son was over & had just beaten the HELL out of poor Bear (the black dog, not my bear), so when I went to pet Bear he bit me. It was several snaps & all made contact. My skin was red & I had 1 tiny spot where the tooth broke my skin (very very minor, a rug burn was worse then this bite).

I told my dad & said that Bear wasn't him self.. My dad is good natured like I am & talked to the son. I had NO idea who that guy was I had never seen him before... The son could litterly careless, so dad called the newspaper guys & said they had to come to us if they wanted a paper if the dog was outside, due to a minor bite...

A yr later I was fishing with my old dog. I saw Tiny & Bear loose & running up to me (Tiny was the 2ed dog, that I saw from time to time with Bear)... I freaked & ran into the water to get away from Bear (I have a fear). The owner tried to explain he was friendly. I told my story & the owner was pretty like OMG. Bear was destroyed!!!!!!!!

I think that was unfair, & didn't want Mr. Biggles to be killed for something that wasn't his fault (well missunderstood, you know what I mean).

I still tell owners when I get bitten. If it was in play I state that, if I accidently scared them, I stated that.. if it was I have no idea, he just bit me... I always show my hand & let the owner decide what to do.. but I try to explain the whys.

With Chad I wouldn't have been able to explain the whys, if I said Mr. Biggles bit me.



I now understand this wasn't directed 100% towards me. But I still feel like I should explain my reasoning in good detail, as the whole situation still bothers me.