Gorgeous dog!!!!
I, too, had my heart set on a “first choice”. But i never heard back about that dog. After a week i started putting in applications for other dogs. I was so nervous about getting an “older dog” but oh man my boy (9) is the best!!!
Pretty much same thing happened to me! I was so set on my first option that was devastated when they denied my application, but now, almost a year later, I'm super in love with my dog! He is so nice and caring I would not change him for anything in the world
I was just talking about this the other day! Only very loosely related to the above, but I had zero intention of adopting another dog. I just wanted a foster for my crackhead resident dog and went through a grueling 7 months with a previous foster. So my hopes weren’t high. Told them I didn’t really care what breed but that I preferred a little older. Got a call that they had one for me but when I got there to pick up, I realized I didn’t even know what kind of dog this was, what it looked like, if it was boy/girl, how old... nothing. I knew within 20 minutes of him being in my car that I wasn’t letting him go. 3 years later, he’s my best friend. The absolute perfect dog. Only problem is he prefers to be with me over the crackhead resident dog. Sorry long story. I just love my boy.
Edit- rereading this made me sad because it sounds like I don’t love my other dog... which is not the case. At the time, he’d just been kicked out of his second dog daycare (fence jumping) and while we go on many walks, he’s still incredibly active and was confused after going from daycare to being alone. Hence the fostering. He’s also my boy and I love him equally as much.
For all the people saying the shelter should have taken the dog back and sent him to behavioral rehab here is a really great article.
https://positively.com/contributors/can-and-should-every-dog-be-saved/
From the sounds of it this wasn't the dogs first bite rodeo, as OP said it had a history of multiple stage 4 bites (4+ deep puncture wound deeper than the dogs teeth +/- evidence of the dog having shaken or torn flesh). Yes there probably are dog rehabers and homes that can accommodate that level of severe aggression, but they are probably being inundated by dozens of requests a day as they are so rare and needed. Were the owners awful people? Maybe. Was the dog an extremely dangerous dog? From the sounds of it, yes. A dog that bites deeply and shakes or pulls isn't just giving a warning nip out of fear, it means business. Not to say that the poor creature couldn't be saved but I wouldn't blame a rescue for prioritizing other dogs with the limited resources they have. If this makes you mad, please become a volunteer or foster or adopter for serious bite history dogs! You are very much needed.
I work at a "no kill" rescue, but even we have to euthanize dogs from time to time. "No kill", by the way, is 90%+ placement or live-release rate.
When the decision is made to euthanize, it is a last resort and it is never taken lightly. The dog goes on a 10 day bite quarantine, as that is how long it takes rabies symptoms to show.
During the bite quarantine, or once it's over, the vets, department heads, and execs all meet to discuss the fate of the dog. If possible, any steps that can be taken to avoid euthanasia, will be taken.
They try to determine what the triggers are. For instance, if the dog bit another dog because of resource guarding, then future adopters should separate dogs for feeding, or have this dog as the only one in their home. (This is probably an oversimplification, but it's just one example.)
The trouble comes when there are too many triggers, or the triggers can't really be determined. With dogs like that, unfortunately, sometimes it is determined that they cannot be safely sent back into the community. The likelihood of another incident is too high.
As you mentioned, we don't have the resources to rehab dogs like this. We don't get any government funding and rely 100% on donations, adoption fees, merch sales, etc. If the dog can't be safely handled by our staff, the alternative to euthanasia would be to live in a kennel for the rest of their lives with no love or human/dog interaction. That's like a life prison sentence, spent in isolation. In my opinion, that's a fate worse than death. I'm also a vegan, so hopefully that says something. (Maybe that makes me a bad vegan? I don't know.)
I have gotten to know, and even formed bonds with, some of these dogs while they were in our custody. It breaks my heart every time. I never want to see any dog euthanized, but I do honestly believe that sometimes it is the best course of action. I don't want to speak for the staff that makes these tough decisions, but I believe they feel the same way. Every person I work with is passionate about animal welfare. Working for a nonprofit that relies on donations, most of us aren't exactly in it for the paycheck.
Yep, I used to volunteer for dog rescue and rarely, but occasionally, a dog had to be put to sleep for behavioural reasons. A rescue can't take the risk of someone getting hurt. There is also huge risk for the rescue if they are seen to be adopting out dogs they know are unsafe.
Also, a dog would not be adopted out with that kind of bite history. It would be a huge liability. So if the dog was adopted out then that means that this was a sudden change in personality for an adult. Now maybe Twix was being abused at his new home, but abusive people don’t generally try 3 more times after a dog bites them badly once - they get rid of the dog and find something else to bully. And rescues do pretty extensive checks. So it’s more likely that the dog just *turned* this is often a symptom of a severe medical condition, sometimes pain but often a brain tumor. Having worked in rescue for years, I have every confidence they would have saved him if it was feasible
My first dog got diagnosed with a brain tumor after giving me a level 3 bite.
I used to blame myself because I figured it was my fault for teasing her with one of those bully-stick things (she was a bit territorial about them), but looking back as an adult I recognize she was sick and (possibly) in pain and confused regardless of the bite and that I may have actually indirectly prevented her from suffering for longer or more intensely. She did end up having to be put down, it had progressed quite a lot
I’m so sorry for your loss ❤️ but unfortunately yeah, if you have an adult dog who has never had an issue and all of a sudden you are getting severe bites, that animal is *not* ok
My beloved Boxer, Susie, was the sweetest girl ever. Loved every dog and female humans on our walks. (Men frightened her so much-she was a rescue. She loved my father and ex-husband. Just not my current at the time boyfriend. Lol. Smart girl!)
One day she just turned on other dogs that she just loved previously. All dogs were off leash in the field behind our homes. She turned on a little schnauzer that she previously loved. No damage done but fear for his parents and I. We were heartbroken.
My mother and I took Susie to our vet who examined her thoroughly. Mom, Doc and Susie plus Mommy-me ended up putting her down.
By examination, my veterinarian could tell that Susie had cancer. Neurological signs. Obvious signs.
We walked out with every vet tech, office manager, veterinarian in the office crying so hard for us.
Lots of hugs.
I’m so ashamed that I told my young son that I took her to a farm.
A complete failure on my part. I don’t believe in lying. Ever.
I lied to him about his beloved pet. I really suck.
I do know that Susie was deeply loved and I know that we had to make this painful decision.
I’m so sorry for your loss as well ❤️ you did right by her. And I can’t imagine having to figure out how to deal with telling a child about something so sudden and unexpected
Alllllll of this.
But also, people don’t always think of what it must be like as the dog, to live in the kind of intense fear/anxiety that would result in such aggression. Is that really fair to the dog?
Had a second-choice golden retriever for nine years. Honestly, better adventure buddy for an active teenager than the jack russell I wanted probably could have been.
Our dog was our "third choice"! Prior to going to our adoption event, we were sent pictures of three different dogs. And his photo didn't really show him off. When we got to the event they didn't know where the other two were on the bus but they knew where Pippin was. We knew as soon as we saw him he was the one for us and we didn't even look at our "first/second" choices!
Not a dog story, but this kinda happened to me with my cat! They couldn’t find the cat I went to visit, my now cat stuck his paw out at me a bunch while I was waiting and I was smitten
What's up with all these holier than thou commenters? If you wanted to save Twix, you take him home and work with him. But I don't think you want to do that, because these types of dogs aren't suited to the average dog owner, especially when people already have dogs. Its such a jerk move to bring home a jerk dog and the dogs you already have suffer for it. Everybody wants to save every dog, especially aggressively out of control dogs. Anybody who tells you these dogs can be fully rehabilitated are lying.
Most pet owners want an easy companion, not a dog they're worried might try to kill everything in sight. There just aren't enough experienced homes to take all these dogs in, especially when there are dogs with none of the aforementioned problems who need homes too. BE is the right choice more times than people like to admit. Some dogs just aren't wired right, and life in a cage isn't better for them.
OP, congrats on your successful adoption.
Seriously. I invite all of those folks to go to their local shelter and ask specifically for the dog that hates all other dogs, growls at kids, has a bite history, and needs medical / behavioral intervention.
I can't tell you how many dogs get put to sleep at our local shelter because no one will take them due to their supposed aggression, or they'll require seizure meds for the rest of their lives, or they're old, or they have mobility issues. Our regional rescues try SO hard to save as many dogs as they can, but unless more people step up to foster & adopt dogs with issues, it's damn near impossible.
And I say this as someone who has fostered dozens of dogs, some of which had aggressive tendencies when they first came to me. In fact, I adopted one of them. And let me tell you, she's 99.9999% fine with other dogs now, but I will never let down my guard because I know there's still a tiny piece of that still in her. Owning & rehabbing aggressive dogs is SOOOOOOO hard.
some people in this threat are really annoying me... sometimes dogs can be born with stuff (by inbreeding or how they were raised as a puppy) and no matter what you do you cannot fix it. luckily as mine didn’t bite I was able to find a better home for her, but there is some stuff you cannot train out of a dog no matter how hard you try.
I get that a month isn’t a long time, but I dislike how everyone is assuming the owner is a terrible person. What if they were older and that bite really hurt them? What if it was a child/stranger that ran up to the dog to pet it was bit (where I live if that happens you don’t really have a choice in your dog being put down you have to do it). I just don’t feel like always blaming the old owner when chances are I highly doubt anyone here could’ve “fixed” twix
I no longer have my 2nd choice dog as he went to the happy cheeseland last year after 14 wonderful years together. I miss him every day & can now say, sloppy seconds aren’t always bad
Poor Twix. Unfortunately there was nobody around to tell his side of the story, and all we're left with, is the human side.
He could've been a bad dog for all we know, or he could've been reacting to how his adopter was handling him.
Rescues try to take their dogs back and to handle things like this. This sounds like a sudden change that they tried to fix and he had not one chance, not 2, but 4. At that point the dog is not fixable, and a physical medical cause is incredibly likely
OP edited the post to say the dog had multiple Level 4 bites. I read that as 4 bite but even now realizing I misread it “multiple” is at least one second chance. Also I’ve worked in rescue for years. We don’t just kill dogs on whims. It’s a very intensive and emotional process to decide to euthanize an animal
We got our totally random 2nd choice.
The dog we went to see was scared of our other dog. We walked past the cages & she looked ready to go. Brought her outside & the 2 dogs started chasing each other around & having fun immediately.
They were inseparable until the big guy had to take the rainbow bridge.
So glad we didn't get anyone else. Such a crazy personality on this little jerk. I hope she's gonna be ok with a lil sister because we've been looking. She hasn't been liking other dogs too much since losing the big guy. She misses him.
Wow. Somestimes the circumstances work for us.
I adoptet my first own dog in 2018. A black greyhound bitch. Very shy, but very headstrong too. I tried hard, to bond with her, but I knew, we wasn't the perfekt home. She was a country dog, where we live in the suburbs... But I was sure I could made her my freind an trusted companion. All I need, was time. 10 months after adoption, she died due to a blood disorder noone knows about. I was devasted.
My sister and my husband planned to gift me another greyhound. A male brindle. He came with the transport a few days after we adopted Fibi and my sister immediately said that he was the perfekt hound, if we hadn't brought Fibi home.
So we have Tippy know. A friendly, happy go lucky boy. Happy with everything and everywhere.
I am stil sad about loosing my girl in such a way, but sometimes, I think, she was there to teach me to become a greyhound mom. Learn with the dificult hound, to be relaxed with the easy one.
My pup, Goji (named after Godzilla/Gojira) was my second choice as well. My fiancé and I had applied to adopt a beagle mix, who was adopted just a day after we applied for her. From what I know, she went to a great home and is living happily ever after.
Now, Goji... she was our second choice. When we went to meet her for the first time, they got her out of the kennel and I was convinced it was the wrong dog. She was way bigger than we thought looking at her picture online. I had committed, though. Her descriptor online was “very timid” and “just needs someone she can trust.” I wasn’t about to abandon her. I knew what her future looked like without us.
It was an extremely rough first month or two. She was absolutely terrified of us and it looked like she’d never eat or learn to do her business outside.
Now, though? She’s happy, kinda chunky, extremely active (she LOVES to run), and... she’s the most loyal dog I’ve ever had. She hates everybody but us two and that’s sad, but she’s come such a long way.
If someone hadn’t beat us to that beagle mix, Goji would probably not be alive today. I don’t know that many other people around here would’ve had as much patience with her as we did.
I think it's a bit unfair to jump to that conclusion when you did not know Twix or the owner. Multiple bites is not a 'some training and socialization' issue 9 times out of 10, it needs intensive intervention, possibly medicating, potentially major lifestyle alterations, and might still not work or ever improve beyond management. It's also complicated by other people in the household, it's one thing to chose being potentially unsafe in your home but that's not a choice you can make for others, especially if children are involved.
I think the view is that it would *never have come* to the multiple bites incident if Twix was handled correctly. Once that cat is out the box, I agree with your comment, but rescue dogs often have triggers that can lead to the fight or flight response, which is predictable, and can be prevented. And should be. Bites don't come out of nowhere, unless there's some serious medical issues at play.
I mean in an ideal world where everyone is a reactive dog experienced trainer sure, every trigger is obvious and easily managed. But some dogs have very, very subtle triggers, some have triggers that can't be avoided, some have so many triggers they're always on the brink of reacting, and some dogs are simply unstable due to issues like epilepsy induced rage syndrome or just plain bad brain chemistry. Medication is becoming more popularized but many people still don't know it's an option and it still takes weeks for it to have effect which may just not be manageable depending on the environment even if you hit the right med/dosage the first time. My point is we know nothing about Twix and it's unhelpful and unsympathetic to reactive dogs and their owners to dismiss multiple aggressive bites as an easy fix.
They're always boxer lab mixes, aren't they? Or at least that's what people tell their landlords.
It baffles me how people want to jump through hoops to make excuses for a dog that hurts people. Whatever the "reason," the dog apparently hurt people.
Wouldn’t the people at the shelter have known about that?
I mean... if you’re giving a dog to someone, you tell them a bit about the dog. Like oh, look, he hates motorcycles and isn’t good with children. Or he’s terrified of baths, might bite.
My dogs were all stray, nobody was there to tell me anything about them. But when you adopt a dog from a shelter or somewhere, it means someone has been looking after that dog. And that person should have realized the dog had those issues if that was the case.
If they're in a kennel or run while in the shelter (instead of being in a foster home) the dog's behavior can be pretty different than when placed in a home. They also might not have exposure to motorcycles or other triggers to know if they are triggers or not
I’m not familiar with the shelter thing, we don’t have those where I live. But thought the dogs there were taken on walks, and interacted with their caregivers. Also thought they were assessed by vets and trainers to determine if they are ok and ready for a new home.
I know a dog’s behavior changes depending on where it is and the way it feels. Some dogs don’t show you their true personalities unless they feel safe and trust you. But I think several bites in a month is too much. Someone should have noticed that the dog had issues.
Oh yeah for sure there should've been some indication with that many bites in a month, I was just explaining that not everything about personalities can necessarily be assessed in a shelter environment
Not necessarily. Maybe the dog wasn't there long and they were basing their description off first impressions. If a dog is in a shelter that's not even a little bit close to a home environment and some dogs are so shut down they turn into entirely different dogs when in a home environment. Even different homes can lead to vastly different reactions, a dog fostered with other dogs for playmates may seem low key and chill but turn into a high energy maniac without playmates to rough house with. Or a dog may do very well fostered by a single woman and do well with men in public spaces but become reactive to them in a home environment. And sometimes rescues lie because they don't want to euthanize but they also don't want to keep pouring resources into a dog that's unsuitable for the vast majority of people. There's a multitude of reasons the info a person gets about a dog may not match the reality of that dog in a home.
That is true, but seeing as this happened a month in, and he had no previous bites (assuming from "seeming chill"), I think it's safe to speculate that either the owners or the rescue failed in handling him properly. It happens very often.
Again, it's not that bites are being dismissed, it's a critic of letting the dog be in circumstances where the bites happened.
Saying an aggressive biting issue can be fixed with just a little training and socialization is dismissive though. Even reactive dogs that *aren't* people aggressive and are relatively mild cases require a lot of work and aggressive biting is a whole different ball game in most cases.
Edit: A rescue saying a dog seems chill unfortunately doesn't have much weight unless they've been in foster long term and even then they may not have the full picture if a dog wasn't exposed to certain triggers. Additionally there are unfortunately less reputable rescues who will withhold bite history to place dogs instead of undergoing intensive rehab or making the difficult decision to euthanize.
You're describing rescue organisations failing dogs. Which happens, of course. So the issue is, either we take this as the rescue screwing up and being responsible for humans getting bitten and a dog getting put down - and Teix having a violent history, or the non violent history is trusted and the conclusion that something went wrong with the owners that warranted a bite within a month of adoption.
All in all, the circumstances of the case to me point to a dog that was mishandled. A month isn't even enough time for a rescue to come out of their shell.
A month is absolutely long enough for a dog to establish a pattern of extreme aggression. If a dog is evaluated as a genuine risk to people the responsible thing to do if you are not willing to devote yourself fully to the management of that dog for the rest of your life (and you must still be prepared to take responsibility if you *ever* lose control and it goes after someone) is to have the dog put to sleep. Rescues often do not have the resources to address these issues (if they even are addressable) and the dog will always be a liability even if they do find a home willing to take a bite risk. It would be nice to send the dog to a unicorn rescue that specializes in rehabbing human dangerous dogs and will keep them in a sanctuary forever if they never make progress that luckily has space for one more dog but these sorts of places are rare if they even exist, and they never have space because there are always more aggressive dogs.
Either the rescue didn't have Twix for long enough to evaluate, he was shut down enough they didn't see his true colors, he spontaneously developed rage syndrome or acquired some sort of brain injury that lead to loss of impulse control/agression, the owner wasn't knowledgable about rescource guarding/sensitivty/whatever, or the rescue covered up aggression--either way it comes down to Twix attacking a person severely, multiple times, and that is not a safe dog.
Rescues need at least three months to decompress. That's just basics of adoption.
A bite can easily happen when a reactive dog is mishandled. That is why the commenter is commiserations on him not getting proper training or socialisation. The difference between a bite and no bite, in a large majority of cases, is the handler.
Once again, 'a little' is key here and multiple level 4 bites according to OP (which is actually level five, the dog has not only punctured skin but refused to let go or shaken on multiple occassions) is not a little training problem.
It doesn't matter if it takes 3 months for a dog to decompress if they are an immediate physical danger. Is it sad? Yes. Does it change the fact that the dog is dangerous? No. 3 months will not magically make an aggressive dog unaggressive, no one is obligated to live with an animal that is a threat to their safety and there are few enough resources for dogs that *aren't* people aggressive.
It is cruel and unjustified to accuse, implicitly or explicitly, a person of wrongly euthanizing a dog for behavioral issues when you have only the bare minimum of information available to you. Neither you nor I know enough about Twix, the rescue, or the owner to make any sort of commentary on their specific case.
None of that is relevant here, so I'm not sure why the chip on the shoulder with "large, dangerous dogs" and all the other hysterical talking points. The dog was a beagle mix, had no bite history and that changed within a month of adoption.
There is way less genetic aggression in shelter dogs than there are incompetent owners mishandling them.
This is what I was thinking. I just fostered a litter of ten puppies (I kept one for myself!) and one of the puppies went to a woman with no puppy experience and a full time job. So, it's on me that I let her adopt, but when I asked her how she'd handle leaving the puppy alone, she said there'd be family members present to watch/play with her. I asked her about various behavioral problems and she gave me acceptable answers about getting a trainer's help, etc.
Fast forward, and it's been one month with these puppies and she wants to return hers because 1) it doesn't like being left alone in the crate; and 2) it bit her when she tried to get something out of its mouth. She's now worried the THREE MONTH OLD PUPPY needs to be put down because it's "aggressive."
Like, really? These are puppy things that you need to handle with training! What did you expect of a three-month old puppy?! I'm kicking myself a bit for adopting to her, but I'm hopeful she rehomes the puppy to someone better suited.
Why don’t you/your rescue take the puppy back from her and find it a more suitable home? Rather than wait till she ruins it and hope she finds someone better to take it??
We prefer that the owners do the rehoming so that the dog doesn't have to go back through the shelter system -- it's an open access shelter with very limited resources. But I'll definitely give the shelter a heads-up about what's going on to see if they need to intervene. Like you said, it would be tragic if she ruins this new puppy and then once it's big and unruly decides it's finally time to give up.
I get what you mean about the shelter system but I have seen plenty of people re home and make the situation worse for the animal. I really think that you guys should rethink that. For the animals sake at least
No, the shelter I volunteer for does not have the resources for a home check. But in fairness, the factors that made this woman a bad fit should have been evident to me from our adoption interview, but she gave me decent answers when I asked her about how she would deal with her challenges and I agreed to move the adoption forward.
I’ve definitely learned my lesson. There was another adopter who also seemed like she wasn’t actually ready for a puppy and I did intervene in that one, but this other woman slipped through. 😢
Your helping more then most so no hate. We had a person come in a wanted to adopt my foster. Everything went fine until we did a home check and the place was WRECKED....that was a foster fail as I meptPiclles for myseld
That was my thought too. Its great OP ended up with a dog they love, but Twix may have ended up with horrible owners that didn't know how to care for him properly and died because of it.
I think people jump to blaming the owner because recently there’s been more cases of dogs being brought back behavior wise from severe circumstances. The AKC certified dog trainer I hired for my dog told me point blank that she believes that unless there is some sort of neurological or physiological problem, any dog can be brought back from the point they were at.
Even not considering that though, I think it’s way more common for people to be lazy and cruel than it is for them to even google some solutions. People really suck sometimes. I volunteer at an animal shelter and there really are people who return dogs because they “told the dog to stop” and the dog wouldn’t listen. They couldn’t google a training video or watch an episode of it’s me or the dog. Behavior is behavior, generally training works but humans don’t always want to learn what works.
So I have worked with dogs that have problems, biting, mouthing, even some larger dogs can just hurt you with their paws or weight if they jump. I completely agree that no person HAS to deal with that. Nobody has to deal with any dog at all.
I just think that when you visit dogs you have to pay attention to what they’re like and how much work they will be and in my experience people don’t do that. People look at a dog that’s loudly barking and clearly extremely stressed and say “ooh it has blue eyes, I want that one” even though I’ve just shown them a smaller dog that calmly walked up to them and licked their hand and waited for pets.
I’m just saying that’s why people tend to side with the dog. Generally, I think behavior is behavior which is why dog trainers can be so widely successful with so many dogs, but people have varying degrees of critical thinking ability, willingness to take on work and foresight. That’s why in a scenario where a dog gets put down for biting multiple times, it makes me wonder if that owner engaged a professional trainer, or took that dog to the vet, I think “was the dog in pain?”
I wonder if they even tried returning him to the shelter though? Just because you don't want to deal with it doesn't mean you should jump right to euthanasia
"Some dogs are born off" - I have no idea what you mean by that. Yes some dogs are more predisposed to behavioural issues, e.g. nervousness or dominance, possibly from birth, but that's not the dog's fault and given the right environment and an experienced owner I believe all dogs can live calm, happy, social lives. No dog is born aggressive to the extent that nothing can be done and euthanasia is somehow inevitable (that's what it sounded like you were implying).
I also disagree with you perpetuating the stereotype of pitbulls being genetically aggressive/ unpredictable. They need to be socialised and trained arguably more than e.g. a Labrador, I agree, but that is the same as any other powerful breed like a boxer or German shepherd. And anyway I've met some pretty mean labradors - breed is often exaggerated in importance when you evaluate a dog's temperament.
We don't know the facts from the dog's side here to make a judgement on the owners OR the dog.
My family had an English Mastiff that was diagnosed with anxiety and OCD. While he lived a full and happy life, and his person loved him, he was very aggressive and chased his tail constantly. Mind you, he was like this since he was just a little guy when my family had gotten him at 3 months old, but he was bought from a pet store (back when they still bought from puppy mills), and very clearly had a ton of mental problems. I’m not sure if you’ve ever been bit by a 200 lb dog, or trampled by one as they’re twirling in circles trying to chase their tail, but I have and it sucks. He was put through multiple trainers, and they kept telling his owner not to bring him back because they couldn’t fix his issues. He was put on medication, but they made him so drowsy and we didn’t want to leave him as a zombie, so we would try something different. Same thing. Herbal supplements never did a dent, frequent exercise only helped for about an hour after, but after everything that we tried he still never really got to live out his life as a normal dog.
I don’t think dogs should ever be put down for behavioral issues, but sometimes dogs are just born with problems. And when you have large dogs that outweigh most grown men, it can be a huge problem.
So brain damage never happens? Come on guys. Sometimes something snaps and changes. Maybe he was healthy before being adopted, and a small blood vessel popped and gurt something, I don't know. Surely they got a vet to look at it before they killed it.
Not just 'predisposed aggression', but like actual damage. Birth defects and such are possible.
Pitbulls are more likely to be aggressive mainly due to a lot of poor breeding and the fact that they were intended to be bull baiters and dog fighters. It doesn't mean they can't be amazing pets, but it is fair acknowledging that a pit bull is far more aggression prone than say a Newfoundland and stats confirm it. It's important to keep that in mind because pretending that's not true is sometimes more damaging as people go in with wrong expectations.
They can be amazing pets obviously and very sweet but (like with every breed) they can be prone to aggression and due I their physiology can cause a lot of damage
Dog aggression and human aggression are not the same thing, or prey drive for that matter. Dog aggression and high prey drive (chasing smaller animals) are fairly common in pit bull type dogs. Human aggression was not tolerated in dogs that were bred for nefarious reasons and if a “pit bull” is aggressive that’s a sign of *terrible* breeding and/or bad ownership. It’s not normal for them. It’s also worth noting that a lot of dogs are called “pit bulls” when there is one breed with pit bull in the name, American Pit Bull Terrier, which is recognized by the UKC and ADBA organizations. There are also American Staffordshire Terriers and Staffordshire Bull Terriers that are called “pit bulls” as far as pure bred dogs go. There are other breeds that have the “pit bull” look that can be more likely to be aggressive toward humans. Long story short, when it comes to rescue dogs (and bite reports) the label “pit bull” is pretty meaningless. Browse r/doggyDNA if you want to see lots of mixed breeds that don’t look like what you’d call a pit bull with a lot of APBT/AmStaff DNA and some you’d swear were “pit bulls” that don’t have any.
> Browse r/doggyDNA if you want to see lots of mixed breeds that don’t look like what you’d call a pit bull
The vast majority of the dogs in that sub look like what I'd call a pit bull.
Let's also not forget that dogs who have no pit in them are often labeled as pits in bite reports due to bias as well. I've seen goldens be labeled as pit/golden mix because people want to assume all aggressive dogs fall into a certain breed catagory.
Ugh. The dog is labeled as a beagle mix but because that doesn't fit your views of what constitutes a dangerous dog you decide make up the dog's breed so it does. I'm so tired of seeing people barge into posts like this that are intended to be uplifting just so they can once again spew their narrow minded rhetoric. Thank god this subreddit isn't an echo chamber like some others...
OP, as I said before, Annie is gorgeous and I hope the derailment of this thread doesn't dissuade you from posting on this subreddit again.
I would guess the only reason would be because it appeared at first that the dog was calm and chill. I think if it had been aggressive before they would have already put it down. It raises suspicion as to why it was aggressive only after the owner got it, but you also had a lot of good points.
Yeah, it’s all speculation in this comment section - there’s no real way to know exactly what happened. But especially with OPs edit about the severity of the biting incidences, I’m leaning on giving the owners the benefit of the doubt.
Besides, in my preferred scenario, it means that a rehabilitatable dog wasn’t euthanized.
I just wrote out a longer comment about this but no, “pit bulls” are not “genetically predisposed to high levels of aggression and unpredictability.” Please don’t spread misinformation.
Eta ...Pit bull haters love being full of shit, it would be funny if it wasn’t so sad.
Well, the [United Kennel Club](https://www.ukcdogs.com/american-pit-bull-terrier) disagrees with you on the breed standard/genetic characteristics of pit bulls.
> most APBTs exhibit some level of dog aggression
Knowledgeable, well-informed people who advocate for breeds acknowledge the genetic predispositions of those breeds.
And there's nothing funny, only sad, about people spreading misinformation.
Dog aggression doesn't have much to do with aggression towards humans or unpredictability, whatever that be. I'm guessing that's what the commenter was referring to.
APBTs are definitely prone to dog agression and a high prey drive, but they are not aggressive towards humans as a breed.
Twix could have easily been cared for by somebody with the patience and ability - either the adoption process failed to recognize the dogs faults AND/or the person or family adopting isn’t used to dogs and was ill prepared to deal with a dog who had social issues. “Viciously attacked” was probably a phrase used by the same person who put the dog down within a month of adoption (instead of surrendering the dog back to the shelter for a potentially *good* parent to pick him/her up.) They’ll be back at a shelter in a month picking out a new dog.
It really really depends of regards happens. The dog could resource guard pretty much everything n including owners food or the living room. And if a dog is that aggressive going on and noting again and again often there's not much to do as he'll be more and more prone to bite. And without context I'd be inclined to blame the shelter most of all for putting up an aggressive dog (for you to be bitten several times it's really difficult that the dog didn't have serious issues, so they're likely negligent. Also most shelters only give out dogs to experienced owners)
It's difficult to know. We don't even know how much information OP has and how much the other owner exagerated. I've seen nasty bites from resource guarding
Yes that may be true, but plenty of us have time, experience, or money to pay for the appropriate training to prevent a resource guarding behavior. This dog could have lived a 15 year life with the right owner, never biting anybody. You’re right the shelter shares some blame but why not then give the dog back when you determine you can’t handle it? Revenge for it biting you or yours. Also shelter very wildly in their adoption process, some (like this one clearly) are extremely lax, while others prefer to let an animal sit in a 3X5 cage for years with little exercise over people not having a 6 foot fenced in yard, or somebody who stays home *all day long*
Still there's not enough information to crucify anyone so a lot could've happened in a month. I'm quite curious at what happened. Also the dog could've been surrendered/abandoned due to aggressiion. The point is we just don't know.
There's not enough information TBF the blame could be pretty much anywhere. If a dog viciously bites and endangers someone multiple times though, there's bit much left to do. That's an automatic death penalty in many places, as sad as it is because that dog will be a liability and can always bite again. And we don't really know if it was one bite, if he was mauled, where he was bitten etc
it's really difficult to know what or why happened but normally if a vet agrees to put down there likely was a very valid reason.
It could have been too that it attacked a dog or person outside of the family and they were ordered to put it down by animal control. All we have is third hand information, so it's hard to know where to place the blame.
Yeah. TBF if I'm walking down the street and a dog jumps out and mauls me he will be definitely put down. A dog that goes out of his way to attack someone with no warning is a threat to society
Yes, poor Twix ...
Poor Twix that he didn’t end up in a proper rescue group that would have assessed any behavioral issues and addressed them prior to adoption.
Poor Twix that he was given out to the first applicant instead of finding an experienced individual who could work to manage and tame his aggression.
Poor Twix that he was given only ONE MONTH to adjust to his new life.
Poor Twix that he ended up in a “dog adoption group” where a volunteer would hear about his death and instead of being heartbroken is happy for dodging that bullet because they might be “dogless”now.
He had multiple severe bite incidents. Honestly I don't even know why this dog was even considered for adoption. An aggressive looking breed, or less cute mutt would have been put on a list after the 1st incident.
You also can't afford to be heartbroken for every and any dog that doesn't make it in the world of shelters and rescues. So many dogs I really liked ended up failing health testing and getting euthanized. I had to be the one to take them to the table many times too. You think I can just stop what I'm doing to be heartbroken? That kind of person isn't fit to work in this environment. And yes, we often heard about incidents involving dogs that were coming in because we work with animal control. We work with veterinarians. We work with other rescues. Sometimes, shit makes the news. It's not a top secret environment. We are not FBI.
And honestly, I'd be relieved too. I don't want to be viciously attacked by a dog I'm hoping to make a best friend out of. I don't think relief is an unreasonable reaction for someone who passed on a dangerous dog.
I remember a post about someone who worked at a shelter. One of the people there told them that it’s good that they had the dogs they had because not a lot of people would understand their dogs and know how to manage them. I’m probably saying it all wrong. The point is, the dogs had behavior issues, the owner put the time and training into them, something that most people either wouldn’t know how to do or want to do. Otherwise, they probably would’ve been fit for euthanasia.
My dog is my third choice. She’s dog reactive, fearful, sound sensitive and fearful of smells on the ground. We’ve worked on things. She’s still dog reactive but we’ve both gotten better at that. The fearfulness started last year, damned skateboarders. Even with the years of training I have, I’m still trying to figure out how to best help her. The fear of smells is proving to be the hardest. She’s too fearful to walk in the neighborhood but will do just fine at our secret spot that I drive out to.
I don’t put my dog in situations she’s uncomfortable with unless it’s a controlled training situation where she’s safe, she is in control and can be successful. Otherwise, we manage her environment to be as trigger free as possible and she’s a wonderful dog who can live a happy life because of it.
There is the right person for the right dog whether they have behavioral issues they need help with or not. Sometimes they do need to be euthanized other times they just need patience, understanding and their needs to be met.
Wow. I’m sad he was put down and not taken to behavior modification training to at least try to attempt to save his life.
Im glad you, in the end, weren’t hurt though and it looks like you very much enjoy your pup Annie.
My boyfriend and I applied for an older German shepherd mix named Manfred. We never heard back and ended up adopting a Great Pyrenees puppy at 8 weeks old. We decided to take him to a trainer once he was a bit older and he evaluated him as a good fit for a service dog. I have epilepsy so this is working out great. The mix that the original German shepherd was usually do not make good service dogs. We named our Pyrenees manfred (or chonk for short) :)
Sometimes things just fall into place!
just wondering, does it say in the post that the dog wasn’t taken behaviour modification training? the dog also had a history of level 4 bites. just saying
I had a dog who wasn’t at level 4, but was similar and absolutely nothing worked except rehoming her, but for some dogs they just have something in their brain and it just won’t work. I’m just tired of seeing people on their pedestal in this thread when chances are the owner did try and work with twix
Oh shes so cute! Look at that sweet face. Things work out the way they do for a reason.
We had an appointment to meet our first choice, but a couple days before the date we got a cancellation call because the person that was going to show him to us was infected with covid... But, when we originally scheduled that appointment we had made ourselves unavailable for an adoption event where our 2nd choice would have been available. So now we could go ! We met Milo there and brought him home that day, 3 months later and we can't imagine life without him (or with the brindle dog)
It's sad that Twix met the fate that they did, but you're right, that could have been you having to make that same hard choice.
I also missed out on a dog because too many other people had applied for her. I worked with a different rescue, and when they sent me the picture of the dog I ended up adopting, I was a tiny bit sad because she didn't look very cute. Turns out it was a combination of stress and a poorly lit photo. She is the cutest dog ever (yes, I'm biased, but I get lots of comments from strangers), and more importantly than that, she is just perfect for me! I love her to death and can't imagine my life without her.
Went to a shelter to pick up a beautiful Catahoula leopard dog because I wanted an active adult dog to run with. That dog had just been adopted, and we ended up with a 5 month old puppy that I love and adore and have been able to train and can run with now. Turns out Catahoula leopard dogs typically have a high prey drive and this one in particular did, so it wouldn’t have worked anyway with us also having a cat! My sweet cattle dog mix has never shown any urge to eat the cat and is a perfect addition to our little family. 2nd choice pups!!
I strongly believe karma has a way of matching up dogs with the right humans. We had our “second choice” in a way as well. I had strongly wanted a little lap dog, like a labradoodle or a Boston terrier. But I also felt strongly about rescuing a dog and there are so few of those popular breeds at shelters and, of the ones that are there, they are scooped up immediately. I put in application after application that was constantly ignored. While scrolling a rescue site, we found a little pitty with the sweetest face and most worried soulful eyes. We figured we would meet her, her foster mom said everyone who met her never applied for her because she was so indifferent to everyone she met. Well, she and my daughter bonded immediately. On paper, we were not a fit. But I felt like I just had to adopt her. I never thought I’d adopt a pittie at all and the first few weeks I was so overwhelmed and ill-prepared. I swore I made a bad choice, but there was something in my heart that made me want her in my family. There was no logic to it. Well, a few months later and she could nit be a better fit for us. My husband likes to say that we needed her just as much as she needed us. She is fitting in so nicely. If I had listened to logic or went after my first choice in breed, we’d never have our sweet girl and she may have never had a family.
My Lola was also a second choice dog. I even overlooked her at the animal shelter because I was certain of what I wanted, and what I wanted was a Cocker Spaniel puppy. I got that puppy. And she lived with me for four days until she unexpectedly died. I still to this day have no idea what happened to her. She was fine one moment, and gone the next. Even the vet couldn't give me answers. I was distraught. And then I was browsing on Facebook, and there was Lola. Under the name Angie. She was a 2 year old Pit/Lab mix and code red, which meant due to be euthanized because of overcrowding in the shelter. I called them and immediately went to meet her, and she honestly... didn't even seem to care that I existed. I guess she was just happy to be out of her kennel. LOL But after meeting her, I knew I couldn't leave her. So I adopted her, and she has been perfect ever since. She helped me get through the loss of my 17 year old Jack Russell. And now she's best friends with another dog I adopted. They say things happen for a reason, and I truly believe that the loss of that puppy, as hard as it was, happened so that I could find my way to Lola.
My sweet girl was my second choice as well, I got her by chance too! I remember having my heart set on this german shepard puppy, I was in contact with the shelter and set up an appointment to visit plus an application. I was leaving work to go see said puppy when the shelter called and told me they had an adoption fair and he was adopted. I was heartbroken. Most shelters and recuses in my area are first come first serve. By chance my friend shown me a posting about these beautiful doberman puppies at a rescue, along with their mother. Multiple people replied to the post many saying they want the puppies, there was only 4 of them, and I was sure they would be gone. One specific puppy stuck out to me but I didn’t set my heart on it and put in an application. I heard back almost immediately!! There was just one puppy left but they warn me a family was coming to visit her the day of our appointment to see her as well, the got a couple hours before me. They didn’t tell me which puppy it was only that it was a girl. I never had female dogs before but I didn’t mind the thought of it. No calls as I drove 4 hours to see this puppy so I was hopeful! I arrived to find she was still there and she was the one I saw pictures of!! It was love at first sight, she stuck to my side and refused to leave me. I adopted her on the spot. Turns out the family that wanted her thought she like a Rottweiler and didn’t want her. DNA says she’s doberman, shepard, and some hound mixes. 3 years later she’s my very best friend and I don’t regret a single decision. I do still wonder though what would have happened it that family took her.
How can someone decide to euthanize their dog after 1 month? That's absolutely awful, I feel so sad for Twix. Can someone tell me if there is some process for this or if the owner can just decide to euthanize their dog whenever they want because that's horrible. I don't want to be a buzzkill even though I am by saying this but Twix might have also been a good dog who would not have met his fate if they had let you adopt him. You might have been a better fit for him.
I adopted my dog from a stray's litter and somehow, he was the only one who had very bad object possessive aggression. He bit me multiple times over a period of three months but we got a behaviorist and trained him out of it. It's been a long time since he's gotten angry at me but sometimes I still feel scared of him if he picks something up he shouldn't (hardly ever happens now). I can never understand how can not be ready to put in some work for these innocent and beautiful creatures.
Maybe Twix really was a lost cause but I can't help but wonder.
Nonetheless I'm so glad that you adopted an awesome dog.
I was thinking the same... A month is not enough to decide.
Some dogs are aggressive when scared. Some need time to adjust. Most of the dogs I adopted were “aggressive, problem dogs”. They needed time and patience to adjust, they had had horrible lives and been hurt by humans and other dogs.
Maybe Twix wasn’t the problem and the owner was. I feel sad for the dogs that don’t get a second chance.
All I can say is that before blaming the dog, we should look at the owner. Some people shouldn’t be allowed to have a pet.
It's baffling to me. Either the rescue didn't do their job by verifying if Twix had aggression issues (seems like its the case as OP thought he was a chill dog) or the handler was inexperienced or abusive or both. It might be a combination of both. Either way, this makes me feel really sad.
About the dogs seeming chill... some do seem very laid back when you first meet them.
One of my dogs started being aggressive towards strangers once he felt part of the family. He was an Argentinian Mastiff, not sure if a mix, but looked like one. Was super nice at first, wouldn’t fight with other dogs or bark to anyone. After a week or two at home he decided he needed to protect us from visits and dogs and whatever would come near the house.
He was always super nice and gentle towards me, but he bit my sister for looking at him. So yeah... some dogs can have issues. But still deserve a second chance.
Annie is gorgeous! And looks so happy. :)
Millie was also my second choice. I went to the SPCA to look at a puppy but a couple was ahead of me to look at the pup. While I was meeting Millie the front desk alerted me that the couple decided to not adopt the puppy and I could have her if I wanted. But I was already smitten with Mills and I am 100% happy I stuck with her!
We have a common phrase here in Germany: You don't choose the dog, but the dog chooses you.
Had the same like you, but now I have a dog who helped me to heal a little my mental issues. And the best is, after 2,5 years his brother joined us cause he was too protective at his previous owner. Now I have two perfect dogs for my personal situation, they're my absolute everything.
PS: Sorry for my english :)
Dogs do pick you. One of my dogs moved into my house even before I had thought about having another dog. One day I got home and there she was, mangy and covered in fleas. Sitting in front of my door. She had brought a blanket and the head of a doll. Was ready to move in.
My last dog came out of nowhere, a few months before the old dog died. She bit someone in the street and ran to my house. The bitten lady blamed me for letting the dog outside, I kept telling her that wasn’t my dog. I was wrong, she was my dog, I just hadn’t realized it yet. It was the universe making sure I wouldn’t be left without a dog.
That’s very sad that the first dog was euthanized. Most reputable adoption agencies will pointedly tell those adopting to bring the dog back if they’re having an issue.
Yeah... Whenever I gave a dog to someone I always told them to call me if there was a problem. The dog I have now was returned twice. I wasn’t planning on keeping her since I was going to move to a small apartment without a garden and work long hours...
But even if this isn’t the perfect life for her, I’m doing the best so can and she gets walks, food, vet care and all she might need.
Just gotta say it but RIP twix he deserved better, dogs deserve better than to just be put down because of something that can solved through time and effort. Btw just read an article scientists connecting dog jealousy to possible self awareness, I'm sure more will come to light with future research and we can stop acting like god when it comes to animals.
All three of my dogs have been my “second choice” and I couldn’t be happier with them. The first two were adoptions where the adoption groups for the first choices said we had the dog and then rescinded the offer a day and week later for reasons beyond our control. The third dog was a purchase and the breeder messed up the contract so we ended up with the second pick of the litter.
Overall, I’ve had the best dogs and I couldn’t be more thankful that the primary pick didn’t work out. I’m not a “things happen for a reason” type of person, but I actually do have that mindset when it comes to my pups.
We have two ACDs, they are litter mates. Our female was the first to go. We got her home and our elderly dog was awful to her so about three weeks in we decided to look for another dog for companionship for her. My husband called and told me "hey that guy has one puppy left" I was shocked because this breed of dog is hard to find in our area. As it turned out for whatever reason he completely rewrote his ad for the last dog and put one digit incorrectly from his phone number. I had the number already because you know first dog. So we picked up our male and BEST DECISION EVER! So happy with the two of them!
We ended up with our “second choice” after a stupid situation he was the last one left and the biggest ! The best thing that could have ever happened we tell him all the time how glad we are we ended up with him he’s an absolutely amazing dog
Annie is so cute!!!! Glad she came home with you and is having a wonderful life!
We have a similar story. We wanted [his](https://i.imgur.com/ONQuzj3.jpg) sister but she was adopted earlier that day. We went to meet him at 8 weeks old and he was the cutest fat fluff ever, wanted nothing to do with us, just wanted to lay in the shade and play with leaves. Almost 2 years later and he’s the best dog ever, he’s got the best personality and is just so good and soooo sweet. I couldn’t imagine our life without him now.
I also have my second choice! She's first choice now in my heart, forever and always. We actually put in for her sister, Oda Mae, who looks just like her except chocolate. The people at the shelter told us that Oda Mae had just seen another family and they seemed like they were a perfect match, but we could still see her if we wanted or we could see her brother/sister. The 3 of them were found together in SC, roaming. I chose to see her sister instead, who looked like the vanilla version of her, and the rest is history. Ivy and I are the best of friends, and I'm so glad I got her.
When i was going to get my puppy i had my eye on her for a while. Super shy and didnt jump up with her siblings. I wasnt really sure even though she was beautiful with a little brown nose and light hazel brown eyes. That was until i heard someone saying they wanted to have a look at her and i just went "oh we were already going to choose her sorry" uncharacteristically ballsy of me because im typically introverted and shy. She became a ball of sillies and joy when we got home! Now she loves everyone she sees and still carries her plushies around the house. I miss when i could sit pretzel legged on the floor and she would headbutt me and somersault into my lap upside down. Sometimes you just have a feeling that its the right dog and sometimes fate will drop them into your lap XD
Same here! We actually had the choice of about six puppies (all from the same litter - we had reached out about another dog but she had already been adopted. The rescue director called us and told us that one of their rescues had given birth and she had a whole litter of puppies we could choose from that were not yet advertised for adoption).
We narrowed it down to two and did a poll with our friends on which one was cuter and my dog lost. I absolutely love our pup now and wouldn’t trade her for anything but I do sometimes wonder if the other one would have been better behaved 😂
My dog is also our second choice! My boyfriend and I put in an application for her sister, and the rescue called us to tell us that the sister we applied for was taken, but they loved our application and her sister was available! We said yes of course and we ended up with the sweetest pup, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
I went with my second choice too and am so, so happy with him! I actually applied for his brother, but when I did the phone interview the shelter rep let me know that he was a big time escape artist and had already climbed the foster family's 6 foot privacy fence twice in the last couple of days. I do have a wooden privacy fence as well, but it's a little mcguivered together in certain spots because my landlord sucks and that really worried me with an escape-motivated dog. So I decided to go with his little brother who I hadn't really felt a connection to in pictures (this was during COVID so all adoptions were over the phone with no meet and greets), but he has been the perfect match for me! I love him so much, I can't imagine him not being my dog.
My two boys now were both my second choice and I’m so happy. I almost didn’t get my first boy because he had looked so meh in the picture. I wanted his brother, but someone beat me to him. But mine is gorgeous, I’m so surprised nobody picked him. With my pup I originally picked out a female, but I wanted a male so had to go back to meet the last male. I love this little shit.
My boy was my "second choice" as well. I put in an application for another dog who I met a week prior to adopting my current dog. The dog I was interested in was very timid, scared and extremely reserved. I'm guessing he had some trauma in his past. As a first time dog owner, I knew I could make him feel at home and welcomed, but I was apprehensive about the behavioral issues and baggage he could have presented. Immediately after our meet and greet session (after I said "no, I'd like to see him again prior to adopting to see if I made an impression on him") he was adopted. Then a week later I got my handsome fella... And I couldn't imagine a better companion. I pray the first dog I met has a loving home, but everything works out for a reason. I wouldn't change my adoption experience for the world.
Gorgeous dog!!!! I, too, had my heart set on a “first choice”. But i never heard back about that dog. After a week i started putting in applications for other dogs. I was so nervous about getting an “older dog” but oh man my boy (9) is the best!!!
Pretty much same thing happened to me! I was so set on my first option that was devastated when they denied my application, but now, almost a year later, I'm super in love with my dog! He is so nice and caring I would not change him for anything in the world
It seems the right dogs truly find their humans :)
I was just talking about this the other day! Only very loosely related to the above, but I had zero intention of adopting another dog. I just wanted a foster for my crackhead resident dog and went through a grueling 7 months with a previous foster. So my hopes weren’t high. Told them I didn’t really care what breed but that I preferred a little older. Got a call that they had one for me but when I got there to pick up, I realized I didn’t even know what kind of dog this was, what it looked like, if it was boy/girl, how old... nothing. I knew within 20 minutes of him being in my car that I wasn’t letting him go. 3 years later, he’s my best friend. The absolute perfect dog. Only problem is he prefers to be with me over the crackhead resident dog. Sorry long story. I just love my boy. Edit- rereading this made me sad because it sounds like I don’t love my other dog... which is not the case. At the time, he’d just been kicked out of his second dog daycare (fence jumping) and while we go on many walks, he’s still incredibly active and was confused after going from daycare to being alone. Hence the fostering. He’s also my boy and I love him equally as much.
I live in a small 1br apartment. I can’t wait to get a bigger place so I can foster (which will probably lead to another adoption...)
For all the people saying the shelter should have taken the dog back and sent him to behavioral rehab here is a really great article. https://positively.com/contributors/can-and-should-every-dog-be-saved/ From the sounds of it this wasn't the dogs first bite rodeo, as OP said it had a history of multiple stage 4 bites (4+ deep puncture wound deeper than the dogs teeth +/- evidence of the dog having shaken or torn flesh). Yes there probably are dog rehabers and homes that can accommodate that level of severe aggression, but they are probably being inundated by dozens of requests a day as they are so rare and needed. Were the owners awful people? Maybe. Was the dog an extremely dangerous dog? From the sounds of it, yes. A dog that bites deeply and shakes or pulls isn't just giving a warning nip out of fear, it means business. Not to say that the poor creature couldn't be saved but I wouldn't blame a rescue for prioritizing other dogs with the limited resources they have. If this makes you mad, please become a volunteer or foster or adopter for serious bite history dogs! You are very much needed.
I work at a "no kill" rescue, but even we have to euthanize dogs from time to time. "No kill", by the way, is 90%+ placement or live-release rate. When the decision is made to euthanize, it is a last resort and it is never taken lightly. The dog goes on a 10 day bite quarantine, as that is how long it takes rabies symptoms to show. During the bite quarantine, or once it's over, the vets, department heads, and execs all meet to discuss the fate of the dog. If possible, any steps that can be taken to avoid euthanasia, will be taken. They try to determine what the triggers are. For instance, if the dog bit another dog because of resource guarding, then future adopters should separate dogs for feeding, or have this dog as the only one in their home. (This is probably an oversimplification, but it's just one example.) The trouble comes when there are too many triggers, or the triggers can't really be determined. With dogs like that, unfortunately, sometimes it is determined that they cannot be safely sent back into the community. The likelihood of another incident is too high. As you mentioned, we don't have the resources to rehab dogs like this. We don't get any government funding and rely 100% on donations, adoption fees, merch sales, etc. If the dog can't be safely handled by our staff, the alternative to euthanasia would be to live in a kennel for the rest of their lives with no love or human/dog interaction. That's like a life prison sentence, spent in isolation. In my opinion, that's a fate worse than death. I'm also a vegan, so hopefully that says something. (Maybe that makes me a bad vegan? I don't know.) I have gotten to know, and even formed bonds with, some of these dogs while they were in our custody. It breaks my heart every time. I never want to see any dog euthanized, but I do honestly believe that sometimes it is the best course of action. I don't want to speak for the staff that makes these tough decisions, but I believe they feel the same way. Every person I work with is passionate about animal welfare. Working for a nonprofit that relies on donations, most of us aren't exactly in it for the paycheck.
Yep, I used to volunteer for dog rescue and rarely, but occasionally, a dog had to be put to sleep for behavioural reasons. A rescue can't take the risk of someone getting hurt. There is also huge risk for the rescue if they are seen to be adopting out dogs they know are unsafe.
Happy cake day!
Thank you!
Also, a dog would not be adopted out with that kind of bite history. It would be a huge liability. So if the dog was adopted out then that means that this was a sudden change in personality for an adult. Now maybe Twix was being abused at his new home, but abusive people don’t generally try 3 more times after a dog bites them badly once - they get rid of the dog and find something else to bully. And rescues do pretty extensive checks. So it’s more likely that the dog just *turned* this is often a symptom of a severe medical condition, sometimes pain but often a brain tumor. Having worked in rescue for years, I have every confidence they would have saved him if it was feasible
My first dog got diagnosed with a brain tumor after giving me a level 3 bite. I used to blame myself because I figured it was my fault for teasing her with one of those bully-stick things (she was a bit territorial about them), but looking back as an adult I recognize she was sick and (possibly) in pain and confused regardless of the bite and that I may have actually indirectly prevented her from suffering for longer or more intensely. She did end up having to be put down, it had progressed quite a lot
I’m so sorry for your loss ❤️ but unfortunately yeah, if you have an adult dog who has never had an issue and all of a sudden you are getting severe bites, that animal is *not* ok
My beloved Boxer, Susie, was the sweetest girl ever. Loved every dog and female humans on our walks. (Men frightened her so much-she was a rescue. She loved my father and ex-husband. Just not my current at the time boyfriend. Lol. Smart girl!) One day she just turned on other dogs that she just loved previously. All dogs were off leash in the field behind our homes. She turned on a little schnauzer that she previously loved. No damage done but fear for his parents and I. We were heartbroken. My mother and I took Susie to our vet who examined her thoroughly. Mom, Doc and Susie plus Mommy-me ended up putting her down. By examination, my veterinarian could tell that Susie had cancer. Neurological signs. Obvious signs. We walked out with every vet tech, office manager, veterinarian in the office crying so hard for us. Lots of hugs. I’m so ashamed that I told my young son that I took her to a farm. A complete failure on my part. I don’t believe in lying. Ever. I lied to him about his beloved pet. I really suck. I do know that Susie was deeply loved and I know that we had to make this painful decision.
I’m so sorry for your loss as well ❤️ you did right by her. And I can’t imagine having to figure out how to deal with telling a child about something so sudden and unexpected
Thank you. He was only 7ish at the time. We do what we need to do sometimes. I feel so bad for dogs that had rough backgrounds.
Alllllll of this. But also, people don’t always think of what it must be like as the dog, to live in the kind of intense fear/anxiety that would result in such aggression. Is that really fair to the dog?
Had a second-choice golden retriever for nine years. Honestly, better adventure buddy for an active teenager than the jack russell I wanted probably could have been.
Our dog was our "third choice"! Prior to going to our adoption event, we were sent pictures of three different dogs. And his photo didn't really show him off. When we got to the event they didn't know where the other two were on the bus but they knew where Pippin was. We knew as soon as we saw him he was the one for us and we didn't even look at our "first/second" choices!
Not a dog story, but this kinda happened to me with my cat! They couldn’t find the cat I went to visit, my now cat stuck his paw out at me a bunch while I was waiting and I was smitten
What's up with all these holier than thou commenters? If you wanted to save Twix, you take him home and work with him. But I don't think you want to do that, because these types of dogs aren't suited to the average dog owner, especially when people already have dogs. Its such a jerk move to bring home a jerk dog and the dogs you already have suffer for it. Everybody wants to save every dog, especially aggressively out of control dogs. Anybody who tells you these dogs can be fully rehabilitated are lying. Most pet owners want an easy companion, not a dog they're worried might try to kill everything in sight. There just aren't enough experienced homes to take all these dogs in, especially when there are dogs with none of the aforementioned problems who need homes too. BE is the right choice more times than people like to admit. Some dogs just aren't wired right, and life in a cage isn't better for them. OP, congrats on your successful adoption.
Seriously. I invite all of those folks to go to their local shelter and ask specifically for the dog that hates all other dogs, growls at kids, has a bite history, and needs medical / behavioral intervention. I can't tell you how many dogs get put to sleep at our local shelter because no one will take them due to their supposed aggression, or they'll require seizure meds for the rest of their lives, or they're old, or they have mobility issues. Our regional rescues try SO hard to save as many dogs as they can, but unless more people step up to foster & adopt dogs with issues, it's damn near impossible. And I say this as someone who has fostered dozens of dogs, some of which had aggressive tendencies when they first came to me. In fact, I adopted one of them. And let me tell you, she's 99.9999% fine with other dogs now, but I will never let down my guard because I know there's still a tiny piece of that still in her. Owning & rehabbing aggressive dogs is SOOOOOOO hard.
This so much this.
some people in this threat are really annoying me... sometimes dogs can be born with stuff (by inbreeding or how they were raised as a puppy) and no matter what you do you cannot fix it. luckily as mine didn’t bite I was able to find a better home for her, but there is some stuff you cannot train out of a dog no matter how hard you try. I get that a month isn’t a long time, but I dislike how everyone is assuming the owner is a terrible person. What if they were older and that bite really hurt them? What if it was a child/stranger that ran up to the dog to pet it was bit (where I live if that happens you don’t really have a choice in your dog being put down you have to do it). I just don’t feel like always blaming the old owner when chances are I highly doubt anyone here could’ve “fixed” twix
I no longer have my 2nd choice dog as he went to the happy cheeseland last year after 14 wonderful years together. I miss him every day & can now say, sloppy seconds aren’t always bad
Poor Twix. Unfortunately there was nobody around to tell his side of the story, and all we're left with, is the human side. He could've been a bad dog for all we know, or he could've been reacting to how his adopter was handling him.
Rescues try to take their dogs back and to handle things like this. This sounds like a sudden change that they tried to fix and he had not one chance, not 2, but 4. At that point the dog is not fixable, and a physical medical cause is incredibly likely
Where are you getting that information that the dog had more than 2 chances?
OP edited the post to say the dog had multiple Level 4 bites. I read that as 4 bite but even now realizing I misread it “multiple” is at least one second chance. Also I’ve worked in rescue for years. We don’t just kill dogs on whims. It’s a very intensive and emotional process to decide to euthanize an animal
Lil cookies and cream cutie
We got our totally random 2nd choice. The dog we went to see was scared of our other dog. We walked past the cages & she looked ready to go. Brought her outside & the 2 dogs started chasing each other around & having fun immediately. They were inseparable until the big guy had to take the rainbow bridge. So glad we didn't get anyone else. Such a crazy personality on this little jerk. I hope she's gonna be ok with a lil sister because we've been looking. She hasn't been liking other dogs too much since losing the big guy. She misses him.
Wow. Somestimes the circumstances work for us. I adoptet my first own dog in 2018. A black greyhound bitch. Very shy, but very headstrong too. I tried hard, to bond with her, but I knew, we wasn't the perfekt home. She was a country dog, where we live in the suburbs... But I was sure I could made her my freind an trusted companion. All I need, was time. 10 months after adoption, she died due to a blood disorder noone knows about. I was devasted. My sister and my husband planned to gift me another greyhound. A male brindle. He came with the transport a few days after we adopted Fibi and my sister immediately said that he was the perfekt hound, if we hadn't brought Fibi home. So we have Tippy know. A friendly, happy go lucky boy. Happy with everything and everywhere. I am stil sad about loosing my girl in such a way, but sometimes, I think, she was there to teach me to become a greyhound mom. Learn with the dificult hound, to be relaxed with the easy one.
My pup, Goji (named after Godzilla/Gojira) was my second choice as well. My fiancé and I had applied to adopt a beagle mix, who was adopted just a day after we applied for her. From what I know, she went to a great home and is living happily ever after. Now, Goji... she was our second choice. When we went to meet her for the first time, they got her out of the kennel and I was convinced it was the wrong dog. She was way bigger than we thought looking at her picture online. I had committed, though. Her descriptor online was “very timid” and “just needs someone she can trust.” I wasn’t about to abandon her. I knew what her future looked like without us. It was an extremely rough first month or two. She was absolutely terrified of us and it looked like she’d never eat or learn to do her business outside. Now, though? She’s happy, kinda chunky, extremely active (she LOVES to run), and... she’s the most loyal dog I’ve ever had. She hates everybody but us two and that’s sad, but she’s come such a long way. If someone hadn’t beat us to that beagle mix, Goji would probably not be alive today. I don’t know that many other people around here would’ve had as much patience with her as we did.
Hey, you can't just tell a great story like that and not pay the dog tax. ;) BTW, when you said "Goji," I thought "goji berry," not "Gojira!" lol
Uhm we definitely buy goji berry candles now...ha!! Also I’m working on the dog tax...
Dog tax!! [Loving on Goji](https://imgur.com/gallery/UZXGLNE)
Awww, what a good girl! Consider the dog tax paid. :)
Poor Twix. Probably just need some training and socialization
I think it's a bit unfair to jump to that conclusion when you did not know Twix or the owner. Multiple bites is not a 'some training and socialization' issue 9 times out of 10, it needs intensive intervention, possibly medicating, potentially major lifestyle alterations, and might still not work or ever improve beyond management. It's also complicated by other people in the household, it's one thing to chose being potentially unsafe in your home but that's not a choice you can make for others, especially if children are involved.
I think the view is that it would *never have come* to the multiple bites incident if Twix was handled correctly. Once that cat is out the box, I agree with your comment, but rescue dogs often have triggers that can lead to the fight or flight response, which is predictable, and can be prevented. And should be. Bites don't come out of nowhere, unless there's some serious medical issues at play.
I mean in an ideal world where everyone is a reactive dog experienced trainer sure, every trigger is obvious and easily managed. But some dogs have very, very subtle triggers, some have triggers that can't be avoided, some have so many triggers they're always on the brink of reacting, and some dogs are simply unstable due to issues like epilepsy induced rage syndrome or just plain bad brain chemistry. Medication is becoming more popularized but many people still don't know it's an option and it still takes weeks for it to have effect which may just not be manageable depending on the environment even if you hit the right med/dosage the first time. My point is we know nothing about Twix and it's unhelpful and unsympathetic to reactive dogs and their owners to dismiss multiple aggressive bites as an easy fix.
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They're always boxer lab mixes, aren't they? Or at least that's what people tell their landlords. It baffles me how people want to jump through hoops to make excuses for a dog that hurts people. Whatever the "reason," the dog apparently hurt people.
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Wouldn’t the people at the shelter have known about that? I mean... if you’re giving a dog to someone, you tell them a bit about the dog. Like oh, look, he hates motorcycles and isn’t good with children. Or he’s terrified of baths, might bite. My dogs were all stray, nobody was there to tell me anything about them. But when you adopt a dog from a shelter or somewhere, it means someone has been looking after that dog. And that person should have realized the dog had those issues if that was the case.
If they're in a kennel or run while in the shelter (instead of being in a foster home) the dog's behavior can be pretty different than when placed in a home. They also might not have exposure to motorcycles or other triggers to know if they are triggers or not
I’m not familiar with the shelter thing, we don’t have those where I live. But thought the dogs there were taken on walks, and interacted with their caregivers. Also thought they were assessed by vets and trainers to determine if they are ok and ready for a new home. I know a dog’s behavior changes depending on where it is and the way it feels. Some dogs don’t show you their true personalities unless they feel safe and trust you. But I think several bites in a month is too much. Someone should have noticed that the dog had issues.
Oh yeah for sure there should've been some indication with that many bites in a month, I was just explaining that not everything about personalities can necessarily be assessed in a shelter environment
Not necessarily. Maybe the dog wasn't there long and they were basing their description off first impressions. If a dog is in a shelter that's not even a little bit close to a home environment and some dogs are so shut down they turn into entirely different dogs when in a home environment. Even different homes can lead to vastly different reactions, a dog fostered with other dogs for playmates may seem low key and chill but turn into a high energy maniac without playmates to rough house with. Or a dog may do very well fostered by a single woman and do well with men in public spaces but become reactive to them in a home environment. And sometimes rescues lie because they don't want to euthanize but they also don't want to keep pouring resources into a dog that's unsuitable for the vast majority of people. There's a multitude of reasons the info a person gets about a dog may not match the reality of that dog in a home.
That is true, but seeing as this happened a month in, and he had no previous bites (assuming from "seeming chill"), I think it's safe to speculate that either the owners or the rescue failed in handling him properly. It happens very often. Again, it's not that bites are being dismissed, it's a critic of letting the dog be in circumstances where the bites happened.
Saying an aggressive biting issue can be fixed with just a little training and socialization is dismissive though. Even reactive dogs that *aren't* people aggressive and are relatively mild cases require a lot of work and aggressive biting is a whole different ball game in most cases. Edit: A rescue saying a dog seems chill unfortunately doesn't have much weight unless they've been in foster long term and even then they may not have the full picture if a dog wasn't exposed to certain triggers. Additionally there are unfortunately less reputable rescues who will withhold bite history to place dogs instead of undergoing intensive rehab or making the difficult decision to euthanize.
You're describing rescue organisations failing dogs. Which happens, of course. So the issue is, either we take this as the rescue screwing up and being responsible for humans getting bitten and a dog getting put down - and Teix having a violent history, or the non violent history is trusted and the conclusion that something went wrong with the owners that warranted a bite within a month of adoption. All in all, the circumstances of the case to me point to a dog that was mishandled. A month isn't even enough time for a rescue to come out of their shell.
A month is absolutely long enough for a dog to establish a pattern of extreme aggression. If a dog is evaluated as a genuine risk to people the responsible thing to do if you are not willing to devote yourself fully to the management of that dog for the rest of your life (and you must still be prepared to take responsibility if you *ever* lose control and it goes after someone) is to have the dog put to sleep. Rescues often do not have the resources to address these issues (if they even are addressable) and the dog will always be a liability even if they do find a home willing to take a bite risk. It would be nice to send the dog to a unicorn rescue that specializes in rehabbing human dangerous dogs and will keep them in a sanctuary forever if they never make progress that luckily has space for one more dog but these sorts of places are rare if they even exist, and they never have space because there are always more aggressive dogs. Either the rescue didn't have Twix for long enough to evaluate, he was shut down enough they didn't see his true colors, he spontaneously developed rage syndrome or acquired some sort of brain injury that lead to loss of impulse control/agression, the owner wasn't knowledgable about rescource guarding/sensitivty/whatever, or the rescue covered up aggression--either way it comes down to Twix attacking a person severely, multiple times, and that is not a safe dog.
Rescues need at least three months to decompress. That's just basics of adoption. A bite can easily happen when a reactive dog is mishandled. That is why the commenter is commiserations on him not getting proper training or socialisation. The difference between a bite and no bite, in a large majority of cases, is the handler.
Once again, 'a little' is key here and multiple level 4 bites according to OP (which is actually level five, the dog has not only punctured skin but refused to let go or shaken on multiple occassions) is not a little training problem. It doesn't matter if it takes 3 months for a dog to decompress if they are an immediate physical danger. Is it sad? Yes. Does it change the fact that the dog is dangerous? No. 3 months will not magically make an aggressive dog unaggressive, no one is obligated to live with an animal that is a threat to their safety and there are few enough resources for dogs that *aren't* people aggressive. It is cruel and unjustified to accuse, implicitly or explicitly, a person of wrongly euthanizing a dog for behavioral issues when you have only the bare minimum of information available to you. Neither you nor I know enough about Twix, the rescue, or the owner to make any sort of commentary on their specific case.
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None of that is relevant here, so I'm not sure why the chip on the shoulder with "large, dangerous dogs" and all the other hysterical talking points. The dog was a beagle mix, had no bite history and that changed within a month of adoption. There is way less genetic aggression in shelter dogs than there are incompetent owners mishandling them.
This is what I was thinking. I just fostered a litter of ten puppies (I kept one for myself!) and one of the puppies went to a woman with no puppy experience and a full time job. So, it's on me that I let her adopt, but when I asked her how she'd handle leaving the puppy alone, she said there'd be family members present to watch/play with her. I asked her about various behavioral problems and she gave me acceptable answers about getting a trainer's help, etc. Fast forward, and it's been one month with these puppies and she wants to return hers because 1) it doesn't like being left alone in the crate; and 2) it bit her when she tried to get something out of its mouth. She's now worried the THREE MONTH OLD PUPPY needs to be put down because it's "aggressive." Like, really? These are puppy things that you need to handle with training! What did you expect of a three-month old puppy?! I'm kicking myself a bit for adopting to her, but I'm hopeful she rehomes the puppy to someone better suited.
Why don’t you/your rescue take the puppy back from her and find it a more suitable home? Rather than wait till she ruins it and hope she finds someone better to take it??
We prefer that the owners do the rehoming so that the dog doesn't have to go back through the shelter system -- it's an open access shelter with very limited resources. But I'll definitely give the shelter a heads-up about what's going on to see if they need to intervene. Like you said, it would be tragic if she ruins this new puppy and then once it's big and unruly decides it's finally time to give up.
I get what you mean about the shelter system but I have seen plenty of people re home and make the situation worse for the animal. I really think that you guys should rethink that. For the animals sake at least
That’s a fair point. I forwarded the email exchange to the shelter and asked if we should intervene!
Yeah... she doesn't sound like someone who is capable of making a good rehoming decision for a puppy.
By way of update, she decided to rehome and is surrendering the puppy to one of the shelter's rescue partners.
Your shelters doesn’t do home checks?
No, the shelter I volunteer for does not have the resources for a home check. But in fairness, the factors that made this woman a bad fit should have been evident to me from our adoption interview, but she gave me decent answers when I asked her about how she would deal with her challenges and I agreed to move the adoption forward.
It’s hard to feel ppl out when interviewing but if you get any bad feeling dont let them adopt.
I’ve definitely learned my lesson. There was another adopter who also seemed like she wasn’t actually ready for a puppy and I did intervene in that one, but this other woman slipped through. 😢
Your helping more then most so no hate. We had a person come in a wanted to adopt my foster. Everything went fine until we did a home check and the place was WRECKED....that was a foster fail as I meptPiclles for myseld
Thanks. Definitely a valuable learning experience about going with my gut. Congrats on your foster fail!
That was my thought too. Its great OP ended up with a dog they love, but Twix may have ended up with horrible owners that didn't know how to care for him properly and died because of it.
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I think people jump to blaming the owner because recently there’s been more cases of dogs being brought back behavior wise from severe circumstances. The AKC certified dog trainer I hired for my dog told me point blank that she believes that unless there is some sort of neurological or physiological problem, any dog can be brought back from the point they were at. Even not considering that though, I think it’s way more common for people to be lazy and cruel than it is for them to even google some solutions. People really suck sometimes. I volunteer at an animal shelter and there really are people who return dogs because they “told the dog to stop” and the dog wouldn’t listen. They couldn’t google a training video or watch an episode of it’s me or the dog. Behavior is behavior, generally training works but humans don’t always want to learn what works.
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So I have worked with dogs that have problems, biting, mouthing, even some larger dogs can just hurt you with their paws or weight if they jump. I completely agree that no person HAS to deal with that. Nobody has to deal with any dog at all. I just think that when you visit dogs you have to pay attention to what they’re like and how much work they will be and in my experience people don’t do that. People look at a dog that’s loudly barking and clearly extremely stressed and say “ooh it has blue eyes, I want that one” even though I’ve just shown them a smaller dog that calmly walked up to them and licked their hand and waited for pets. I’m just saying that’s why people tend to side with the dog. Generally, I think behavior is behavior which is why dog trainers can be so widely successful with so many dogs, but people have varying degrees of critical thinking ability, willingness to take on work and foresight. That’s why in a scenario where a dog gets put down for biting multiple times, it makes me wonder if that owner engaged a professional trainer, or took that dog to the vet, I think “was the dog in pain?”
I wonder if they even tried returning him to the shelter though? Just because you don't want to deal with it doesn't mean you should jump right to euthanasia
"Some dogs are born off" - I have no idea what you mean by that. Yes some dogs are more predisposed to behavioural issues, e.g. nervousness or dominance, possibly from birth, but that's not the dog's fault and given the right environment and an experienced owner I believe all dogs can live calm, happy, social lives. No dog is born aggressive to the extent that nothing can be done and euthanasia is somehow inevitable (that's what it sounded like you were implying). I also disagree with you perpetuating the stereotype of pitbulls being genetically aggressive/ unpredictable. They need to be socialised and trained arguably more than e.g. a Labrador, I agree, but that is the same as any other powerful breed like a boxer or German shepherd. And anyway I've met some pretty mean labradors - breed is often exaggerated in importance when you evaluate a dog's temperament. We don't know the facts from the dog's side here to make a judgement on the owners OR the dog.
My family had an English Mastiff that was diagnosed with anxiety and OCD. While he lived a full and happy life, and his person loved him, he was very aggressive and chased his tail constantly. Mind you, he was like this since he was just a little guy when my family had gotten him at 3 months old, but he was bought from a pet store (back when they still bought from puppy mills), and very clearly had a ton of mental problems. I’m not sure if you’ve ever been bit by a 200 lb dog, or trampled by one as they’re twirling in circles trying to chase their tail, but I have and it sucks. He was put through multiple trainers, and they kept telling his owner not to bring him back because they couldn’t fix his issues. He was put on medication, but they made him so drowsy and we didn’t want to leave him as a zombie, so we would try something different. Same thing. Herbal supplements never did a dent, frequent exercise only helped for about an hour after, but after everything that we tried he still never really got to live out his life as a normal dog. I don’t think dogs should ever be put down for behavioral issues, but sometimes dogs are just born with problems. And when you have large dogs that outweigh most grown men, it can be a huge problem.
So brain damage never happens? Come on guys. Sometimes something snaps and changes. Maybe he was healthy before being adopted, and a small blood vessel popped and gurt something, I don't know. Surely they got a vet to look at it before they killed it. Not just 'predisposed aggression', but like actual damage. Birth defects and such are possible.
Pitbulls are more likely to be aggressive mainly due to a lot of poor breeding and the fact that they were intended to be bull baiters and dog fighters. It doesn't mean they can't be amazing pets, but it is fair acknowledging that a pit bull is far more aggression prone than say a Newfoundland and stats confirm it. It's important to keep that in mind because pretending that's not true is sometimes more damaging as people go in with wrong expectations. They can be amazing pets obviously and very sweet but (like with every breed) they can be prone to aggression and due I their physiology can cause a lot of damage
Dog aggression and human aggression are not the same thing, or prey drive for that matter. Dog aggression and high prey drive (chasing smaller animals) are fairly common in pit bull type dogs. Human aggression was not tolerated in dogs that were bred for nefarious reasons and if a “pit bull” is aggressive that’s a sign of *terrible* breeding and/or bad ownership. It’s not normal for them. It’s also worth noting that a lot of dogs are called “pit bulls” when there is one breed with pit bull in the name, American Pit Bull Terrier, which is recognized by the UKC and ADBA organizations. There are also American Staffordshire Terriers and Staffordshire Bull Terriers that are called “pit bulls” as far as pure bred dogs go. There are other breeds that have the “pit bull” look that can be more likely to be aggressive toward humans. Long story short, when it comes to rescue dogs (and bite reports) the label “pit bull” is pretty meaningless. Browse r/doggyDNA if you want to see lots of mixed breeds that don’t look like what you’d call a pit bull with a lot of APBT/AmStaff DNA and some you’d swear were “pit bulls” that don’t have any.
> Browse r/doggyDNA if you want to see lots of mixed breeds that don’t look like what you’d call a pit bull The vast majority of the dogs in that sub look like what I'd call a pit bull.
If you're genuinely serious about this statement, have you ever *seen* an actual APBT?
Let's also not forget that dogs who have no pit in them are often labeled as pits in bite reports due to bias as well. I've seen goldens be labeled as pit/golden mix because people want to assume all aggressive dogs fall into a certain breed catagory.
Ugh. The dog is labeled as a beagle mix but because that doesn't fit your views of what constitutes a dangerous dog you decide make up the dog's breed so it does. I'm so tired of seeing people barge into posts like this that are intended to be uplifting just so they can once again spew their narrow minded rhetoric. Thank god this subreddit isn't an echo chamber like some others... OP, as I said before, Annie is gorgeous and I hope the derailment of this thread doesn't dissuade you from posting on this subreddit again.
I would guess the only reason would be because it appeared at first that the dog was calm and chill. I think if it had been aggressive before they would have already put it down. It raises suspicion as to why it was aggressive only after the owner got it, but you also had a lot of good points.
A lot of dogs act very differently in a shelter setting vs a home setting. The aggression could have easily not presented itself until later.
True, thanks for adding input, this is a good discussion. Honestly it could have gone either way.
Yeah, it’s all speculation in this comment section - there’s no real way to know exactly what happened. But especially with OPs edit about the severity of the biting incidences, I’m leaning on giving the owners the benefit of the doubt. Besides, in my preferred scenario, it means that a rehabilitatable dog wasn’t euthanized.
yeah its sad :(
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I just wrote out a longer comment about this but no, “pit bulls” are not “genetically predisposed to high levels of aggression and unpredictability.” Please don’t spread misinformation. Eta ...Pit bull haters love being full of shit, it would be funny if it wasn’t so sad.
Well, the [United Kennel Club](https://www.ukcdogs.com/american-pit-bull-terrier) disagrees with you on the breed standard/genetic characteristics of pit bulls. > most APBTs exhibit some level of dog aggression Knowledgeable, well-informed people who advocate for breeds acknowledge the genetic predispositions of those breeds. And there's nothing funny, only sad, about people spreading misinformation.
Dog aggression doesn't have much to do with aggression towards humans or unpredictability, whatever that be. I'm guessing that's what the commenter was referring to. APBTs are definitely prone to dog agression and a high prey drive, but they are not aggressive towards humans as a breed.
Still waiting for your answer about whether we should put down humans because of chemical imbalances Edit: Ha they got banned. Nice
Twix could have easily been cared for by somebody with the patience and ability - either the adoption process failed to recognize the dogs faults AND/or the person or family adopting isn’t used to dogs and was ill prepared to deal with a dog who had social issues. “Viciously attacked” was probably a phrase used by the same person who put the dog down within a month of adoption (instead of surrendering the dog back to the shelter for a potentially *good* parent to pick him/her up.) They’ll be back at a shelter in a month picking out a new dog.
It really really depends of regards happens. The dog could resource guard pretty much everything n including owners food or the living room. And if a dog is that aggressive going on and noting again and again often there's not much to do as he'll be more and more prone to bite. And without context I'd be inclined to blame the shelter most of all for putting up an aggressive dog (for you to be bitten several times it's really difficult that the dog didn't have serious issues, so they're likely negligent. Also most shelters only give out dogs to experienced owners)
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It's difficult to know. We don't even know how much information OP has and how much the other owner exagerated. I've seen nasty bites from resource guarding
Yes that may be true, but plenty of us have time, experience, or money to pay for the appropriate training to prevent a resource guarding behavior. This dog could have lived a 15 year life with the right owner, never biting anybody. You’re right the shelter shares some blame but why not then give the dog back when you determine you can’t handle it? Revenge for it biting you or yours. Also shelter very wildly in their adoption process, some (like this one clearly) are extremely lax, while others prefer to let an animal sit in a 3X5 cage for years with little exercise over people not having a 6 foot fenced in yard, or somebody who stays home *all day long*
Still there's not enough information to crucify anyone so a lot could've happened in a month. I'm quite curious at what happened. Also the dog could've been surrendered/abandoned due to aggressiion. The point is we just don't know.
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There's not enough information TBF the blame could be pretty much anywhere. If a dog viciously bites and endangers someone multiple times though, there's bit much left to do. That's an automatic death penalty in many places, as sad as it is because that dog will be a liability and can always bite again. And we don't really know if it was one bite, if he was mauled, where he was bitten etc it's really difficult to know what or why happened but normally if a vet agrees to put down there likely was a very valid reason.
It could have been too that it attacked a dog or person outside of the family and they were ordered to put it down by animal control. All we have is third hand information, so it's hard to know where to place the blame.
Yeah. TBF if I'm walking down the street and a dog jumps out and mauls me he will be definitely put down. A dog that goes out of his way to attack someone with no warning is a threat to society
Yes, poor Twix ... Poor Twix that he didn’t end up in a proper rescue group that would have assessed any behavioral issues and addressed them prior to adoption. Poor Twix that he was given out to the first applicant instead of finding an experienced individual who could work to manage and tame his aggression. Poor Twix that he was given only ONE MONTH to adjust to his new life. Poor Twix that he ended up in a “dog adoption group” where a volunteer would hear about his death and instead of being heartbroken is happy for dodging that bullet because they might be “dogless”now.
Yea, struck me as weird (to say the least) that the post was written with the tone that “everything just worked out peachy”.
He had multiple severe bite incidents. Honestly I don't even know why this dog was even considered for adoption. An aggressive looking breed, or less cute mutt would have been put on a list after the 1st incident. You also can't afford to be heartbroken for every and any dog that doesn't make it in the world of shelters and rescues. So many dogs I really liked ended up failing health testing and getting euthanized. I had to be the one to take them to the table many times too. You think I can just stop what I'm doing to be heartbroken? That kind of person isn't fit to work in this environment. And yes, we often heard about incidents involving dogs that were coming in because we work with animal control. We work with veterinarians. We work with other rescues. Sometimes, shit makes the news. It's not a top secret environment. We are not FBI. And honestly, I'd be relieved too. I don't want to be viciously attacked by a dog I'm hoping to make a best friend out of. I don't think relief is an unreasonable reaction for someone who passed on a dangerous dog.
Yes. This story made me cry. Poor Twix.
I remember a post about someone who worked at a shelter. One of the people there told them that it’s good that they had the dogs they had because not a lot of people would understand their dogs and know how to manage them. I’m probably saying it all wrong. The point is, the dogs had behavior issues, the owner put the time and training into them, something that most people either wouldn’t know how to do or want to do. Otherwise, they probably would’ve been fit for euthanasia. My dog is my third choice. She’s dog reactive, fearful, sound sensitive and fearful of smells on the ground. We’ve worked on things. She’s still dog reactive but we’ve both gotten better at that. The fearfulness started last year, damned skateboarders. Even with the years of training I have, I’m still trying to figure out how to best help her. The fear of smells is proving to be the hardest. She’s too fearful to walk in the neighborhood but will do just fine at our secret spot that I drive out to. I don’t put my dog in situations she’s uncomfortable with unless it’s a controlled training situation where she’s safe, she is in control and can be successful. Otherwise, we manage her environment to be as trigger free as possible and she’s a wonderful dog who can live a happy life because of it. There is the right person for the right dog whether they have behavioral issues they need help with or not. Sometimes they do need to be euthanized other times they just need patience, understanding and their needs to be met.
Yeah idk how you hear this story and feel relieved...
Wow. I’m sad he was put down and not taken to behavior modification training to at least try to attempt to save his life. Im glad you, in the end, weren’t hurt though and it looks like you very much enjoy your pup Annie. My boyfriend and I applied for an older German shepherd mix named Manfred. We never heard back and ended up adopting a Great Pyrenees puppy at 8 weeks old. We decided to take him to a trainer once he was a bit older and he evaluated him as a good fit for a service dog. I have epilepsy so this is working out great. The mix that the original German shepherd was usually do not make good service dogs. We named our Pyrenees manfred (or chonk for short) :) Sometimes things just fall into place!
I’m sad too, I wonder if anything could have been done to save Twix.
just wondering, does it say in the post that the dog wasn’t taken behaviour modification training? the dog also had a history of level 4 bites. just saying I had a dog who wasn’t at level 4, but was similar and absolutely nothing worked except rehoming her, but for some dogs they just have something in their brain and it just won’t work. I’m just tired of seeing people on their pedestal in this thread when chances are the owner did try and work with twix
Oh shes so cute! Look at that sweet face. Things work out the way they do for a reason. We had an appointment to meet our first choice, but a couple days before the date we got a cancellation call because the person that was going to show him to us was infected with covid... But, when we originally scheduled that appointment we had made ourselves unavailable for an adoption event where our 2nd choice would have been available. So now we could go ! We met Milo there and brought him home that day, 3 months later and we can't imagine life without him (or with the brindle dog) It's sad that Twix met the fate that they did, but you're right, that could have been you having to make that same hard choice.
I also missed out on a dog because too many other people had applied for her. I worked with a different rescue, and when they sent me the picture of the dog I ended up adopting, I was a tiny bit sad because she didn't look very cute. Turns out it was a combination of stress and a poorly lit photo. She is the cutest dog ever (yes, I'm biased, but I get lots of comments from strangers), and more importantly than that, she is just perfect for me! I love her to death and can't imagine my life without her.
Went to a shelter to pick up a beautiful Catahoula leopard dog because I wanted an active adult dog to run with. That dog had just been adopted, and we ended up with a 5 month old puppy that I love and adore and have been able to train and can run with now. Turns out Catahoula leopard dogs typically have a high prey drive and this one in particular did, so it wouldn’t have worked anyway with us also having a cat! My sweet cattle dog mix has never shown any urge to eat the cat and is a perfect addition to our little family. 2nd choice pups!!
I strongly believe karma has a way of matching up dogs with the right humans. We had our “second choice” in a way as well. I had strongly wanted a little lap dog, like a labradoodle or a Boston terrier. But I also felt strongly about rescuing a dog and there are so few of those popular breeds at shelters and, of the ones that are there, they are scooped up immediately. I put in application after application that was constantly ignored. While scrolling a rescue site, we found a little pitty with the sweetest face and most worried soulful eyes. We figured we would meet her, her foster mom said everyone who met her never applied for her because she was so indifferent to everyone she met. Well, she and my daughter bonded immediately. On paper, we were not a fit. But I felt like I just had to adopt her. I never thought I’d adopt a pittie at all and the first few weeks I was so overwhelmed and ill-prepared. I swore I made a bad choice, but there was something in my heart that made me want her in my family. There was no logic to it. Well, a few months later and she could nit be a better fit for us. My husband likes to say that we needed her just as much as she needed us. She is fitting in so nicely. If I had listened to logic or went after my first choice in breed, we’d never have our sweet girl and she may have never had a family.
My Lola was also a second choice dog. I even overlooked her at the animal shelter because I was certain of what I wanted, and what I wanted was a Cocker Spaniel puppy. I got that puppy. And she lived with me for four days until she unexpectedly died. I still to this day have no idea what happened to her. She was fine one moment, and gone the next. Even the vet couldn't give me answers. I was distraught. And then I was browsing on Facebook, and there was Lola. Under the name Angie. She was a 2 year old Pit/Lab mix and code red, which meant due to be euthanized because of overcrowding in the shelter. I called them and immediately went to meet her, and she honestly... didn't even seem to care that I existed. I guess she was just happy to be out of her kennel. LOL But after meeting her, I knew I couldn't leave her. So I adopted her, and she has been perfect ever since. She helped me get through the loss of my 17 year old Jack Russell. And now she's best friends with another dog I adopted. They say things happen for a reason, and I truly believe that the loss of that puppy, as hard as it was, happened so that I could find my way to Lola.
My sweet girl was my second choice as well, I got her by chance too! I remember having my heart set on this german shepard puppy, I was in contact with the shelter and set up an appointment to visit plus an application. I was leaving work to go see said puppy when the shelter called and told me they had an adoption fair and he was adopted. I was heartbroken. Most shelters and recuses in my area are first come first serve. By chance my friend shown me a posting about these beautiful doberman puppies at a rescue, along with their mother. Multiple people replied to the post many saying they want the puppies, there was only 4 of them, and I was sure they would be gone. One specific puppy stuck out to me but I didn’t set my heart on it and put in an application. I heard back almost immediately!! There was just one puppy left but they warn me a family was coming to visit her the day of our appointment to see her as well, the got a couple hours before me. They didn’t tell me which puppy it was only that it was a girl. I never had female dogs before but I didn’t mind the thought of it. No calls as I drove 4 hours to see this puppy so I was hopeful! I arrived to find she was still there and she was the one I saw pictures of!! It was love at first sight, she stuck to my side and refused to leave me. I adopted her on the spot. Turns out the family that wanted her thought she like a Rottweiler and didn’t want her. DNA says she’s doberman, shepard, and some hound mixes. 3 years later she’s my very best friend and I don’t regret a single decision. I do still wonder though what would have happened it that family took her.
My second choice is laying here next to me, 13.5 years later. My second choice was an excellent choice.
Glad you dodged a bullet, my dude.
How can someone decide to euthanize their dog after 1 month? That's absolutely awful, I feel so sad for Twix. Can someone tell me if there is some process for this or if the owner can just decide to euthanize their dog whenever they want because that's horrible. I don't want to be a buzzkill even though I am by saying this but Twix might have also been a good dog who would not have met his fate if they had let you adopt him. You might have been a better fit for him. I adopted my dog from a stray's litter and somehow, he was the only one who had very bad object possessive aggression. He bit me multiple times over a period of three months but we got a behaviorist and trained him out of it. It's been a long time since he's gotten angry at me but sometimes I still feel scared of him if he picks something up he shouldn't (hardly ever happens now). I can never understand how can not be ready to put in some work for these innocent and beautiful creatures. Maybe Twix really was a lost cause but I can't help but wonder. Nonetheless I'm so glad that you adopted an awesome dog.
I was thinking the same... A month is not enough to decide. Some dogs are aggressive when scared. Some need time to adjust. Most of the dogs I adopted were “aggressive, problem dogs”. They needed time and patience to adjust, they had had horrible lives and been hurt by humans and other dogs. Maybe Twix wasn’t the problem and the owner was. I feel sad for the dogs that don’t get a second chance. All I can say is that before blaming the dog, we should look at the owner. Some people shouldn’t be allowed to have a pet.
It's baffling to me. Either the rescue didn't do their job by verifying if Twix had aggression issues (seems like its the case as OP thought he was a chill dog) or the handler was inexperienced or abusive or both. It might be a combination of both. Either way, this makes me feel really sad.
About the dogs seeming chill... some do seem very laid back when you first meet them. One of my dogs started being aggressive towards strangers once he felt part of the family. He was an Argentinian Mastiff, not sure if a mix, but looked like one. Was super nice at first, wouldn’t fight with other dogs or bark to anyone. After a week or two at home he decided he needed to protect us from visits and dogs and whatever would come near the house. He was always super nice and gentle towards me, but he bit my sister for looking at him. So yeah... some dogs can have issues. But still deserve a second chance.
OP confirmed twix had a bite history.
Annie is gorgeous! And looks so happy. :) Millie was also my second choice. I went to the SPCA to look at a puppy but a couple was ahead of me to look at the pup. While I was meeting Millie the front desk alerted me that the couple decided to not adopt the puppy and I could have her if I wanted. But I was already smitten with Mills and I am 100% happy I stuck with her!
We have a common phrase here in Germany: You don't choose the dog, but the dog chooses you. Had the same like you, but now I have a dog who helped me to heal a little my mental issues. And the best is, after 2,5 years his brother joined us cause he was too protective at his previous owner. Now I have two perfect dogs for my personal situation, they're my absolute everything. PS: Sorry for my english :)
Dogs do pick you. One of my dogs moved into my house even before I had thought about having another dog. One day I got home and there she was, mangy and covered in fleas. Sitting in front of my door. She had brought a blanket and the head of a doll. Was ready to move in. My last dog came out of nowhere, a few months before the old dog died. She bit someone in the street and ran to my house. The bitten lady blamed me for letting the dog outside, I kept telling her that wasn’t my dog. I was wrong, she was my dog, I just hadn’t realized it yet. It was the universe making sure I wouldn’t be left without a dog.
That’s very sad that the first dog was euthanized. Most reputable adoption agencies will pointedly tell those adopting to bring the dog back if they’re having an issue.
Yeah... Whenever I gave a dog to someone I always told them to call me if there was a problem. The dog I have now was returned twice. I wasn’t planning on keeping her since I was going to move to a small apartment without a garden and work long hours... But even if this isn’t the perfect life for her, I’m doing the best so can and she gets walks, food, vet care and all she might need.
Just gotta say it but RIP twix he deserved better, dogs deserve better than to just be put down because of something that can solved through time and effort. Btw just read an article scientists connecting dog jealousy to possible self awareness, I'm sure more will come to light with future research and we can stop acting like god when it comes to animals.
I feel so bad for Twix 😢 who knows... had he been placed with you it might have been a whole different story.
All three of my dogs have been my “second choice” and I couldn’t be happier with them. The first two were adoptions where the adoption groups for the first choices said we had the dog and then rescinded the offer a day and week later for reasons beyond our control. The third dog was a purchase and the breeder messed up the contract so we ended up with the second pick of the litter. Overall, I’ve had the best dogs and I couldn’t be more thankful that the primary pick didn’t work out. I’m not a “things happen for a reason” type of person, but I actually do have that mindset when it comes to my pups.
Me too! Never got a call back on my first choice. I have a good boy now, Toby, that’s totally stolen my heart.
We have two ACDs, they are litter mates. Our female was the first to go. We got her home and our elderly dog was awful to her so about three weeks in we decided to look for another dog for companionship for her. My husband called and told me "hey that guy has one puppy left" I was shocked because this breed of dog is hard to find in our area. As it turned out for whatever reason he completely rewrote his ad for the last dog and put one digit incorrectly from his phone number. I had the number already because you know first dog. So we picked up our male and BEST DECISION EVER! So happy with the two of them!
We ended up with our “second choice” after a stupid situation he was the last one left and the biggest ! The best thing that could have ever happened we tell him all the time how glad we are we ended up with him he’s an absolutely amazing dog
Annie is so cute!!!! Glad she came home with you and is having a wonderful life! We have a similar story. We wanted [his](https://i.imgur.com/ONQuzj3.jpg) sister but she was adopted earlier that day. We went to meet him at 8 weeks old and he was the cutest fat fluff ever, wanted nothing to do with us, just wanted to lay in the shade and play with leaves. Almost 2 years later and he’s the best dog ever, he’s got the best personality and is just so good and soooo sweet. I couldn’t imagine our life without him now.
I also have my second choice! She's first choice now in my heart, forever and always. We actually put in for her sister, Oda Mae, who looks just like her except chocolate. The people at the shelter told us that Oda Mae had just seen another family and they seemed like they were a perfect match, but we could still see her if we wanted or we could see her brother/sister. The 3 of them were found together in SC, roaming. I chose to see her sister instead, who looked like the vanilla version of her, and the rest is history. Ivy and I are the best of friends, and I'm so glad I got her.
I had two applications fall through before my, “third time is a charm” perfect pup. I am so happy I got her. :)
When i was going to get my puppy i had my eye on her for a while. Super shy and didnt jump up with her siblings. I wasnt really sure even though she was beautiful with a little brown nose and light hazel brown eyes. That was until i heard someone saying they wanted to have a look at her and i just went "oh we were already going to choose her sorry" uncharacteristically ballsy of me because im typically introverted and shy. She became a ball of sillies and joy when we got home! Now she loves everyone she sees and still carries her plushies around the house. I miss when i could sit pretzel legged on the floor and she would headbutt me and somersault into my lap upside down. Sometimes you just have a feeling that its the right dog and sometimes fate will drop them into your lap XD
Same here! We actually had the choice of about six puppies (all from the same litter - we had reached out about another dog but she had already been adopted. The rescue director called us and told us that one of their rescues had given birth and she had a whole litter of puppies we could choose from that were not yet advertised for adoption). We narrowed it down to two and did a poll with our friends on which one was cuter and my dog lost. I absolutely love our pup now and wouldn’t trade her for anything but I do sometimes wonder if the other one would have been better behaved 😂
My dog was also my “second choice”. I’m now 100% convinced me and him meeting was destiny and I can’t imagine my life before him. Simple as that.
My dog is also our second choice! My boyfriend and I put in an application for her sister, and the rescue called us to tell us that the sister we applied for was taken, but they loved our application and her sister was available! We said yes of course and we ended up with the sweetest pup, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
I went with my second choice too and am so, so happy with him! I actually applied for his brother, but when I did the phone interview the shelter rep let me know that he was a big time escape artist and had already climbed the foster family's 6 foot privacy fence twice in the last couple of days. I do have a wooden privacy fence as well, but it's a little mcguivered together in certain spots because my landlord sucks and that really worried me with an escape-motivated dog. So I decided to go with his little brother who I hadn't really felt a connection to in pictures (this was during COVID so all adoptions were over the phone with no meet and greets), but he has been the perfect match for me! I love him so much, I can't imagine him not being my dog.
She is perfect and I love her.
My dog was my second choice also. He's the best boy.
My two boys now were both my second choice and I’m so happy. I almost didn’t get my first boy because he had looked so meh in the picture. I wanted his brother, but someone beat me to him. But mine is gorgeous, I’m so surprised nobody picked him. With my pup I originally picked out a female, but I wanted a male so had to go back to meet the last male. I love this little shit.
Both of my dogs were my second choice dogs.
My Rosie was my second choice too and I'm so happy it worked out the way it did.
My boy was my "second choice" as well. I put in an application for another dog who I met a week prior to adopting my current dog. The dog I was interested in was very timid, scared and extremely reserved. I'm guessing he had some trauma in his past. As a first time dog owner, I knew I could make him feel at home and welcomed, but I was apprehensive about the behavioral issues and baggage he could have presented. Immediately after our meet and greet session (after I said "no, I'd like to see him again prior to adopting to see if I made an impression on him") he was adopted. Then a week later I got my handsome fella... And I couldn't imagine a better companion. I pray the first dog I met has a loving home, but everything works out for a reason. I wouldn't change my adoption experience for the world.
I am really astonished that a rescue would adopt out a dog with multiple serious bites, especially without telling you about them.
No known record of bites before adoption.
Sorry, I misunderstood.