# My puppy bit someone :/



## KymberLeAnn (Sep 16, 2012)

Finally took some time for myself to stop worrying about the animals today and spent the evening at my boyfriends house playing cards and watching tv.
When I got home my dad told me that someone had come to pick up the grader (we recently got our driveway paved) and the dogs took after him. We're not exactly sure how serious it is but we do know the man got bit. Sounded like it was kind of bad, but we don't know. My dad is going to talk to the guy tomorrow.
We have two dogs, one is a German Shepherd/ Anatolian shepherd mix and the other is her puppy.
Not exactly sure what he's mixed with (sneaky neighbor dog). But we think there may be some pit bull.
Sascha, the older dog is very sweet an gentle and we've had her stay with the goats before. But with Zeke around we decided to separate because he's just over a year and likes to chase.
He is a bit more aggressive and attacked a goat who got his head stuck in the fence last year. Ripped the poor baby's ears off and dad decided it'd be best to put the goat out of it's misery than to let it suffer.
Sascha has a protective nature, and has passed this on to Zeke, but he has a hard time distinguishing between protect and attack. This is why we think he's the one who bit the guy. My dad thinks the only option we have now is to get rid of Zeke, wether that be by sale or bullet I'm not sure yet.
He's my puppy, and I really don't want to have to get rid of him but I don't see any other options,. I've tried working with him with the goats. And when I'm around he's great.
But when I'm not is when the problems start 
Any suggestions?


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## KymberLeAnn (Sep 16, 2012)

They're both very gentle dogs, here's a photo of both of them sharing a pear with my little cousin. They've never attacked a person like that before. They will bark to warn us and let us know there are people at the house but have never before gone after a person,..
They usually cuddle right up to new people as soon as they realize they're welcome on our property. Nobody told the dogs that this person was welcome is why I think they may have attacked.


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## sunshinegoat (Feb 7, 2012)

Sorry to hear of your situation  
I am a dog trainer and have helped many dogs get over issues such as fear, aggression and territoriality. If you do decide to find your dog a home he should go to someone who has dealt with these issues before and needs to know in great detail any and all of his "quirks". 
If there was no one there to see what happened before the bite you really don't know what caused it and how it was dealt with...it is a tricky situation unfortunately.
If you decide to keep him you need to find a professional who is willing to come to your farm and work with you and your dogs. This is the type of training we do and it gets you the fastest results.
In any case the dog needs not be left to roam free because this tends to fuel the fire when a dog is territorial. He needs a job with lots of structured exercise. If he is frustrated from pent up energy this can lead to aggression issues. 
In our experience aggression can be dealt with in the hands of a competent trainer and willing owners..
There is hope! Good luck


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## emilieanne (Oct 15, 2012)

Sounds like to me, maybe the guy is scared of dogs or something and they tried cuddling up to the guy and he pushed zeke away and he got a little angry at that and snapped?
I had a chocolate lab and a red bone (Huntin dog) and the red bone liked to snap because she was just not a happy dog and it took time but when we gave her a time out like in a crate or caught her when she did something bad, showed her who was boss around the farm, and she stopped. She would actually go and take the lid off the goat feed trashcan then open the gate for them to come out Nd let's the goats eat everything in there while the chocolate lab would come and put em back in.. 
So I think just show him who's boss then if you really have to, give him to someone or do what you gotta do. 
I'm realy sorry and hope he gets better!!


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Without knowing the details of what exactly happened wewill never know i do have a question though , do the dogs make more of a fuss when people leave verses when they first come ?


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## Used2bmimi (Oct 3, 2012)

It is Hard to say without knowing the details of the situation but this sounds like a good dog put in a rough spot. I mean, I keep my dog (German shepherd) around as a deterrent and protector of the farm and she does a good job. If someone were to come onto our place when we were not here and especially if they were messing with our stuff, I would certainly expect to have the same result as you. That is the nature of a protective dog. However, there are people who come here, like the UPS guy, meter readers, lost travelers etc. that are welcome, but do not have permission. My dog can't be expected to decide who is ok and who is not. So, when I am not here, the dog is confined to an area that she is allowed to protect that does not include the driveway. A protective dog can be an asset but must be managed well. As for the situation with the goat, that does send up a red flag, but it too is somewhat understandable. I mean, a squalling, thrashing little thing is bound to draw the attentions of an instinctual predator. I hope your family looks at this situation from the eyes of the dog to determine if this is a dangerous dog that needs to be put down or a protective dog doing what he thought he should. I agree that if he is not a good fit for your family, that you need to give honest details about him to anyone considering taking him so that he can receive any training he needs to be happy and safe in his new home.


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## Used2bmimi (Oct 3, 2012)

And oh my gosh I can't believe I didn't say this up front! Iam so sorry that you are going through this. It is horrible to have a loved pet in trouble.


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

For me, any dog that attacks my goats is GONE. I had one that killed tow babies. She I know was just trying to play with them, she ran they ran and she was like OH it's time to play, but she killed them. About a week later she dug out and got to another baby. i did catch her before she killed her but her neck was so swollen and sore she could not move it side to side for several days. I know you said this dog did not kill the goat but you had to put it down. Nope it would be gone. I toolk my dog straight into town if I could not of found a home for her I would of taken her to the vet and had her put down, no way was she coming back to my place.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Are these dogs running loose on your property? My dogs are nice dogs but they would definitely bite someone if they just came here. We have our dogs fenced in. They aren't allowed in with the goats or chickens. We tell everyone that they MUST let us know when they are coming so we can make sure the dogs are properly secured. I would suggest having a fenced in area for them if they aren't already.


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

Oh man, I'm sorry! Was your dad there? If not, I say the dogs did exactly what they should have done. You should probably tie them up if you don't want them to attack people they see as intruders.
On the other hand, if you want them to be friendly even toward strangers, then you may or may not be able to train the aggression out of them.
I don't know all the details of the situation, but it sounds like they may be very good guard dogs, and I personally would not want to train that out of them - though I would certainly in future take steps to make sure that wouldn't happen again. And I wouldn't tolerate aggression toward the farm animals. Just my :2cents:


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## KymberLeAnn (Sep 16, 2012)

I do lock the dogs up at night because Sascha used to wander quite a bit. And I will say they how been locked up more than not lately with kidding season and all I figured it would be best to have them locked up while I was worried about the goats. "Locked up" for them is a 3 acre pasture though so they are in no lack of room to run. But they do get pent up energy because nobody goes out to play with them much. Most of my family was home but they didn't know the man was coming and everyone was in the house.
My sister heard the dogs barking, so she yelled at them to quit and they did. And then she realized they were barking at a person. We didn't find out the man had been bit till later.


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## clearwtrbeach (May 10, 2012)

Sorry for your struggles. I had one show dog who turned and corned me to bite, he was put down. I had an older lab who had been beaten as a pup so he was always leary of men. We worked on that but still always kept an eye for any signs. He did nip a guy, but that was more my fault- I opened the back door to put him in the kennel and the propane guy was just walking up to the door and it was dark out. That being said, which ever one bit the goat -enough to cause that kind of injury would be gone. Most dogs once they kill other animals can't be trusted. Hopefully the man didn't get a bad bite and won't pursue you, then you just have to figure out what to do about the dogs. 
My bouviers were very protective, they would've never bitten a child or other animal. If there was a kid acting badly they'd just separate the kids with their body and 'herd' them away. At night when it was just me and the kids at home, I have no doubt if someone tried to enter the house (adult) they would've 'asked first' then bite. 
again, sorry you have to deal with this.


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## Ninja Goats (Sep 6, 2011)

Sorry you have to deal with this. Hopefully the person who got bit won't cause a big stink. For the 10 days after a person is bit you're supposed to keep the dog "quarantined" or at least know where it is. If for any reason he dies he needs to be checked for rabies. Just keep that in mind.

For the future I'd keep the dogs in a yard unless you're out with them. The pasture they have now sounds great but if it's too far from the house for them to get any attention maybe consider fencing in something around the house? 

My dogs are not the friendliest sounding when people pull up. I've had friends who won't go thru the yard with out me until the dogs get used to them. The other day the dogs were on the porch (it's all sealed up with a heater for winter) so they didn't hear the car pull up. They heard the gate open. When I heard them going nuts I ran to the window and saw a guy in a suit with a clipboard slowly backing out of the gate. I ran out there and turns out he was stopping by for some questions on a neighbor who's going thru a security clearance. Anyways, I'm surprised my dogs didn't bite him and I'm sure if they had ran out before he came in the yard he wouldn't have thought of opening the gate.


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## KymberLeAnn (Sep 16, 2012)

Well Dad said Zeke has to go.
When the goat got attacked it was actually both dogs, they sort of got that pack mentality but Sascha will not hurt the goats when she is there by herself. When zeke attacked the man he said that He never even barked.
Said he got out of his truck, and was walking toward the grader and the dog just attacked,.. No bark,.. Just ran straight for him teeth bared.
Dad says it might have been understandable if the dogs had Atleast barked and told us there was someone here before going after him. But we decided Zeke has to go, and I will probably put Sascha back in with the goats when he does so she doesn't get lonely. She makes a great LGD.
I have someone who may be interested in talking him because they are an older couple with a lot more time to spend with him. They had one of his litter mates but he went missing on them about a month ago. I hope they decide to take him, I told her of all the problems we have had with him so she is fully aware of everything.
If she decides not to take him I think my dad will probably give me a week to find him a new home before he "goes to sheltering pines".


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

I'm so sorry 

Is Sasha a LGD breed? If not please don't put her in with the goats -- they are predators, goats a prey animals. If she chases them she will end up hurting them eventually.


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## KymberLeAnn (Sep 16, 2012)

She doesn't chase, she's Anatolian shepherd/German Shepherd. Anatolian is a LGD breed, they look similar to a German shepherd but are taller, lighter in color, not as tight bodied and I have heard they have one of the strongest bites but I'm not completely sure if that's true.


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## KymberLeAnn (Sep 16, 2012)

Oh, and I don't think the bite was too bad, sounds like all he got was the guys hand before he climbed up on his truck where the dog couldn't reach.
I don't think he'll press charges or anything, he's a friend of my dads.


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## KymberLeAnn (Sep 16, 2012)

Here's a pic of Zeke
His ears don't always look that goofy,.. He just lays them back when I talk to him,..


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Aw, what a sweet face.


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## Used2bmimi (Oct 3, 2012)

What a handsome guy. I am so sorry for your troubles.


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## KymberLeAnn (Sep 16, 2012)

Thank you guys for all the support,
My sister posted an ad for him on a Facebook page for our area for selling pets and a lady replied from about two hours north of us.
We told her all the problems we've had with him and she has been emailing my sister quite a bit, excited to find a time and place we can meet!
I am soo happy that we found someone who will take him, let alone someone excited about it 
Looks like Zeke should have a new loving home within the next couple of days


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## Stacykins (Mar 27, 2012)

My old dog Noah (who passed over the rainbow bridge earlier this year at 15) had a bite strike against him. But it was a weird situation, even the animal control officer wasn't sure what to classify it as. He was a black lab, dalmatian mix we got from another military family when he was two. The incident happened when he was five, I think. 

I was with my mother and my sister's friend in the kitchen. We were all talking, the friend was standing with her back against the counter. We JUST got home from a trip. Right behind the friend was my mother's birthday cake, but we did not notice yet that it had a big chunk missing (from Noah). Cue Noah, he came into the kitchen, looked at the friend, and then jumped up on her and bit her nose. Well, less of a bite, and more of a scratch. But teeth touched skin. 

No growling, no aggressive posturing, his body language did not indicate anything out of the ordinary. The ACO who evaluated him even tried to elicit a response from him near the cake. Nothing, he just kissed and wiggled. He was known for his enthusiastic greeting sometimes, so perhaps he tries to jump up to lick her face, and missed. 

My parents considered strongly euthanizing. But eventually decided just to take precauctions around strangers, crating him. And he never did anything like it the rest of his long life. The friend's family knew us well, and knew Noah well, too. They even thought it was an unusual situation. The friend held no hard feelings against Noah at all. So thankfully they pressed no charges against us.


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## Used2bmimi (Oct 3, 2012)

Oh yay! I hope he gets a great home. I am sorry that you are going to miss him though.


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## KymberLeAnn (Sep 16, 2012)

Zeke found a new home with a family in Portland, OR today.
Looked to be a happy home, they came prepared with milk bones and asked for his vet info for incase they want to bring him to the groomer. (He's never been groomed in his life and is terrified of water) I hope they have fun with him! Lol 
I attached a few photos of him growing up 
He will be missed <3
(Btw, he is not hurting Sascha in the photo of the two dogs, they're just roughhousing and I snapped the photo at the perfect moment) I love their faces


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Those are great pictures ! I'm happy for Zeke , sounds like he is going to a great home .


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## Used2bmimi (Oct 3, 2012)

Nice pictures...I'm glad he has a new home, I am sure such a handsome fellow will be well loved.


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