Dog question for dog people regarding aggression

[Slipper]

My mother and step-father live next door to us. We live in the country, so next door is several acres apart. We have a dog that is part border collie who was a stray. (We live on a road where animals frequently wander up). We don't have fences, so animals occasionally wander around and it's typically not a big deal. Our dog stays in our yard other than the occasional visit to neighbors, including my mother and step-dad. Same with other neighbor dogs, they may wander up for a dog treat and then they leave. Re-reading this, it sounds odd and a bit like doggy trick or treat, but I'm not sure how else to explain it.

 

Mother and Step-Dad decided they wanted a dog. (They had previously had a dog that was part lab who died of old age). They decided to purchase a chocolate lab from a breeder. He was absolutely adorable as a puppy and we quickly grew fond of him. As he became older (and much larger), he was still friendly, but perhaps a bit more tiresome when he came to visit. 

 

The current situation is that he is 1 1/2 years old and frankly, too much for my mother/step-dad to handle. My step-dad prides himself on being able to train dogs. (We all think he's full of $hi+). This dog is very big and well over 100 pounds. They let him outside in the mornings and don't check on him unless we call and complain. We have goats and chickens and he runs at them (even though they are in fences, they still scatter). Occasionally, we have to take the goats out for moving them or grooming and he is all over them (again until we call my mother). He hangs around our house (probably because we have kids and other animals) all the time, digging in our trash and yard, and using the side yard as a 'restroom'. 

 

My mother and step-dad's solution was that we should shoo him away by swatting at him and throwing rocks. The girls tried to do this for one day, and he nipped at my daughter's hand. (I should add that my step-dad disciplines by swatting him hard - he says it must be hard to get his attention. We think it's too hard and even my husband is upset when he sees it). After the nipping incident, I told the girls no more swatting so we bought toys and treats and tried to simply exercise and play with him ourselves. Things settled down for several months and he quit coming over.

 

Last week, our youngest daughter's voice teacher came over. She is an animal lover, young, sweet looking and acting - no threat at all to anyone. As she was walking up to our porch, mother's dog came running over from her yard and started barking and making small growling noises at her. It was a bark I hadn't heard before and it immediately brought me outside. She was trying to talk to him and make friends, but he didn't calm down until I came outside. He walked up the porch in front of her and stopped. The poor voice teacher was literally stuck between the dog and the side of the porch. I told her I would move mother's dog out of the way and she said, (accurately) "He's not moving unless he wants to move" and she was right. I finally had to coax him off with a dog biscuit so she could get into the house.

 

I called my mother and told her about the incident because something about the behavior and bark really bothers me. Something about the way he was barking and acting was unusual. I was worried that he was about to attack the voice teacher if she had continued to try to get onto the porch without me there. Mother's suggestion was that we should let them know if we have visitors coming over, and I told her that wasn't a good solution since we have delivery people, unexpected visitors and I'm not always home. She said they would try to watch him better. I told her plainly that I worried he was becoming aggressive. They won't re-home this dog, I've already asked. We have no animal control in our county/city.

 

Any ideas what this new behavior might be? And ideas on how to deal with it? I'd rather he not hang out at our house, but mother still insists that we can "shoo" him away. Other than the one-time nip (it didn't break the skin, it almost seemed to be a 'warning' to her) to one of our daughters, he has never been aggressive towards us in any way and is very loving. The girls are not scared of him at all. (Granted, having a dog that size nudge up against you will put us off our feet, but that's not his fault). What are the legal liabilities of her dog coming onto our land and biting someone? (We can't fence in our entire property because of shared driveways and it's just too big). She won't fence in a section for him because she says it's too expensive. He's too big for any of us to physically try to control. 

 

Any suggestions would be helpful. 

[Pamela H in Texas]

UGH.  That is horrible.   Honestly, she is in deep doo-doo if that dog bites someone since she is well aware he has aggressive tendencies.  It is likely a combination of fear and being undisciplined, but possibly true aggression also.  But it should NOT be allowed.  

 

But being family, you will really have a hard time getting them to listen.  If it were a stranger, you could say, "I don't want to cause you any trouble, but that dog is a true nuisance, possibly a danger.  If I see him on my property again, I'll be calling the county."  You have to decide if you want to hardline it like that with family.  EEK.  

 

It really is unfair for family to take advantage the way they have.  It is really unfair to the dog to not have him properly trained and kept up with.  The dog would be happier if this was handled.  And you'd stop complaining to them.  It is a win for EVERYONE if they will just handle their dog correctly (or give him to someone who can). 

 

And then there is the sad reality that there may be something wrong with him and that they'll have difficulty finding a capable and responsible owner for him.  <sigh>

 

I'm so sorry.  It really is unfair to everyone right now.  I would search myself for the strength to be "the meanie."

[Pawz4me]

A large, higher energy, untrained dog is never a good thing.

 

And my guess is that's all it really is -- he's like a punky teenage boy who doesn't have anything constructive to do to keep himself occupied, so he goes looking for mischief.

 

I feel sorry for him, and for you.  I don't know that there's much you can do w/o your mother and step father's cooperation.  Unless you can make contact with a lab rescue group and make the dog "disappear."  Note I'm not advocating that.  Just throwing out the possibility.  Such things have been done before.

 

I doubt you would have any liability if he injures someone, but I'm not an attorney.  I just don't see how you could be expected to keep another person's dog from coming onto your property.  You're not obligated to fence your property to keep other people (and their pets) out.  That's not how things work.

[Lanny]

The owners are irresponsible.  That it is your mother and step father involved make it less horrible. But, it is horrible.  IMHO they either need to keep their dog on their own (fenced) property, or, they need to get find a new home for the dog.

 

Throw rocks at him? No!   

 

The incident with the Voice teacher was probably a polite introduction to what will happen in the future. He is "protecting" your property. He is doing it in a way that is unacceptable and potentially extremely dangerous and catastrophic.

 

We have dogs, including a Rottweiler, and we would not tolerate that behavior from any of them. That said, we love them and they love us and if we were in danger,  we are certain they would protect us.

 

Either you need to fence your property or your parents need to fence their property or find another home for him.

 

Bad situation for the dog.  GL

 

 

[Alicia64]

When he's protecting the property from strangers, he's acting like a normal "good" dog. That's not bad. Your step dad really isn't clued into having a dog this size.

 

And when I read, "My mother and step-dad's solution was that we should shoo him away by swatting at him and throwing rocks," I couldn't believe it.

 

How to make a dog mean in one easy step: Throw rocks at it.

 

The kindest thing you can do for your parents, your kids, your family and your life is to read a book on dogs and how to properly train. This poor guy is being given no guidance (other than rocks) and then is being labeled "aggressive." (Again, the dog doesn't know that the young woman coming on "his" property isn't there to hurt you. He's trying to protect you. It's what dogs do.)

 

Please read books (check out at the library), call a trainer, and just accept that your step dad isn't going to step into reality on this one. If you help the dog, your life will greatly improve.

 

Alley

[Murphy101]

I'd tell the owners, and my sympathy on them being family, that I will not call about it. If the dog comes over again and is aggressive with livestock or people, I'll have no choice but to put him down bc that's the only responsible thing to do.

 

And my children would be forbidden to go visit them until the dog was dealt with. I have no doubt the dog will bite again bc the person in charge of training it thinks throwing rocks is reasonable. Of course the dog bit your kid. I'd bite them if they threw rocks at me too. Of course your kids aren't scared of it. They are kids and it belongs to grandma. They are right to presume grandma wouldn't keep a pet that will hurt them. Not their fault she actually would.

 

I'd be pretty darn angry at them for putting me in this situation if I were you.

[zoobie]

Call animal control or take him to a lab rescue. I will advocate for that. The dog is being mistreated.

[Murphy101]

If you can take over ownership of the dog and train it effectively, I think that is great.

 

But if you can't, then it is not safe or reasonable to just wait for the next incident, possibly far worse, to call mom and tell her it happened.

 

The dog needs trained or put down.

[Lara in Colo]

you could try to adopt and retrain

 

you could get a hand controlled zap collar for when you are home-- when you aren't.........

 

THEY could get a zap collar with a perimeter wire(we have one and it was about $200 from home depot and controls my 100 lb dog very well.-- we didn't even bury it, just put it around the yard with u shaped brackets.

 

You could put it down yourself-- because I don't know what YOUR liability is if you knowingly let it remain on your property and it harms someone-- just because they own it, doesn't absolve you of your liability-- since you knew about the behavior and did nothing

 

 

[Lanny]

We have a little boy (and his mother) visiting us for 2 days and 2 nights. He's probably about 5 years old.  He has been in and out of the house and some of the dogs, especially the Rottweiler, are occasionally inside the house. . There is no way we could have him here, if any of our dogs were aggressive. 

 

The situation the OP has is potentially dangerous and if her mother/stepfather will not eliminate the problem, probably the OP should call Animal Control. The dog is owned by irresponsible people.

 

[Slipper]

Thanks for the replies. Our county does not have animal control. If there are problems, people are typically advised to shoot the animal. (Most animal problems are due to strays and such). I wanted to clarify that I did not tell the girls to throw rocks and swat, that was my mom's advice. When I found out (which I did after dd was nipped), I told them not to do it.

 

I also don't have time to discipline, train or adopt anything right now. I'll suggest the invisible fence a PP mentioned and see what they think. I wanted to re-emphasize that he has not shown aggression towards any of us and what I saw the other day was the first time I had witnessed that behavior. However, any attack by him would be horrific, mostly due to his size. We can't fence our area as we would have to get in and out of the car to open the fence as it would go across our driveway. That would basically negate the whole purpose of the fence since he would be right there if he's outside my mom's house. 

 

Any other suggestions, I am all ears. :) 

[Slipper]

Thanks for the replies. Our county does not have animal control. If there are problems, people are typically advised to shoot the animal. (Most animal problems are due to strays and such). I wanted to clarify that I did not tell the girls to throw rocks and swat, that was my mom's advice. When I found out (which I did after dd was nipped), I told them not to do it.

 

I also don't have time to discipline, train or adopt anything right now. I'll suggest the invisible fence a PP mentioned and see what they think. I wanted to re-emphasize that he has not shown aggression towards any of us and what I saw the other day was the first time I had witnessed that behavior. However, any attack by him would be horrific, mostly due to his size. We can't fence our area as we would have to get in and out of the car to open the fence as it would go across our driveway. That would basically negate the whole purpose of the fence since he would be right there if he's outside my mom's house. 

 

Any other suggestions, I am all ears. :) 

[Laurie4b]

You could have your kids train him. There are good videos on Youtube such as kiko pup. They would need a clicker (very cheap--you should be able to get one at a pet store or online for a few dollars)  and some treats. 

[Ellie]

Your mother and step-father should not own a big dog. The dog's behavior is atrocious, even without the aggression. The best thing they can do is to rehome him; they could start by calling the breeder and asking if he will take the dog back.