Sad, sad day

[ZodiacsDad]

Mistakes have been made.

Bought our Rotty from a backyard breeder. This was before we visited this great site, and learned of the problems that could occur with purchacing a pup from such 'mills'. We wrongly thought we were doing the puppy a favor by taking her from this home.

She is absolutely beautiful, and adjusted well to the Jack Russell Terrier we rescued from the pound.

Fast forward 3yrs, we moved to the country, 5 acres for dog romping! Our 12yr old Terrier attacked a moving motorcycle, and ended his life. They always say that breed never dies from old age, we know that for sure now.

Anyway, we now have an 11month old baby girl, our first, and Zodiac is GREAT with her. Let's Morgan roll around with her, and take chew bones out of her mouth. All under adult supervision.

We got a yellow Lab to fill the Terrier void, best breader we could find in the tri-state area, we did our homework this time. After Z and 'Honey' got along very well, about 3 weeks, we started testing the two of them in the kennel together at greater time periods.

Last night after seeing we had a UPS delivery on the porch, went to release the dogs from their kennel (all our dogs are inside dogs, kenneled during work hours only), and found our Lab dead. Zodiac must have bit and shook Honey on the hind quarters area, and killed her. We think the UPS guy on the property worked her up, and the floppy, playfull pup thought it was a game, and Z over-corrected Honey.

My wife is devistated, knowing she (we) made some mistakes, and now will be without all three of our dogs. We can not keep Z, she has broken our trust. How can we keep her with our baby girl around?

I have not visited this site in many months, but will need to research your Rescue group, to possibly find her a good home, if one of our friends decides to not take Z in.

Thoughts? ideas?

Jason

[KatMc]

Jason,

I don't know what to say except your post brought tears to my eyes, I'm so sorry.

Hopefully someone that only wants one dog and will only have that one dog will be happy to take Zodiac.

Give your wife my thoughts,
Kathy

[Bucky's Mom]

Please give your wife my regards - I am sorry to hear of your situation - I hope your friend can give your dog a new chance - Lisa (Bucky's Mom)

[ZodiacsDad]

thanks for your reply!

[LORHEL]

I am very sorry to hear of your situation... please give your wife a big hug from makita and I. This sure is a difficult and sad situation...I will be praying for your rottie girl and your family...

[halliebear]

Hi Zodiac's Dad
Sorry to hear about the lab pup :( How sad for you and your wife.

I know I'll catch heat for this, but I'm going to say it anyway.
Why are you getting rid of Zodiac? It's not her fault that she responded to a situation like a dog. Its not really possible for her to apply human morality to this situation - she is a dog.

As you said, mistakes were made. One was leaving two dogs unattended together all day.

I know it hurts, but please don't remove your dog from the only home she has ever known because of your mistake

Halliebear (Amy)

[frontierrots]

I am very sorry for your loss but I too have to say that no puppy under a year old should ever be left with an adult dog unsupervised, especially pups under8 months of age. They are obnoxious and also injure very very easily

One of my babies was injured when her owner did not listen to this advice from me and let the pup play unsupervised with their adult male. He somehow injured her neck and caused permanant nerve damage that resulted in seizures later on and eventually she had to be put down :(

[Storm]

Originally posted by halliebear
As you said, mistakes were made. One was leaving two dogs unattended together all day.

Very good point, this is no demon of a dog here, they should never have been left alone, at this stage and it's wrong to dismiss the other dog now. For some reason she redirected and probably channeled into the first thing around, the puppy. Sure very unfortunate indeed, but these are dog's entrusted to us.

[ZodiacsDad]

This was what I wanted to get, feedback from this group about getting rid of Zodiac. thanks to all who take the time to help!!

Right now, the trust in her is gone, and the risk to my 11month old daughter far out weights the fate of Zodiac.

I love my dog now!, don't think differently. But I just don't see me being able to police the separation of a toddler and a house dog, 24-7, not going to happen, no matter what all the books say to do. I could blow my nose and loose sight of them for the amount of time it would take to do ANY damage to my daughter.

And that's the rub, Love the dog, can't trust her to never hurt anyone, and I guess I was nieve before thinking there would never be an incident, and they may never have one, but the risk is absolutely not an option.

I fault myself and wife for this incident, how can I make another mistake with my daughter??

Kennel Z for life? not our style, she's apart of the family, who killed another family member, Honey the pup. Even though it's our fault for setting up the situation. Damn this is hard!

I know Z will never have as good a life as she has had with us. She loves us, and us her. I'd almost rather put her down than pawn her off to mystery family #2.

I'm not against the breed at ALL, but Z has shown sides of being skittish, and forgetting my wife is her "mom" and acting like she was going to take her arm off, hair up, barking, even after repeatedly saying, Z it's me, why are you barking at me Z? After several minutes, she just 'realized' she was barking at my wife (primary care giver) and was VERY sorry, cowaring, tail (ass) tucked. Like I said backyard breeder, mystery bloodline.

I'm not getting rid of my daughter, and I'm not going to endanger my daughter either. I'm also not going to exile a dog.

So, I have to get rid of her, right?

[K9-man]

Originally posted by ZodiacsDad
I'm not against the breed at ALL, but Z has shown sides of being skittish, and forgetting my wife is her "mom" and acting like she was going to take her arm off, hair up, barking, even after repeatedly saying, Z it's me, why are you barking at me Z? After several minutes, she just 'realized' she was barking at my wife (primary care giver) and was VERY sorry, cowaring, tail (ass) tucked.

I'm not clear w/this.

What was the situation here? Did your wife just come home when this happened?

[halliebear]

Did you state any of this in your initial post?

I was responding to the post I thought I saw - the dog killed the puppy and you were going to rehome it because it broke your trust.

If this is the situation, then you need to get this dog evaluated by a behaviorist RIGHT NOW, and figure out what to do.

If your dog has bitten though, please be honest about it with the shelter or rescue group. You will find that it is hard to rehome a dog with a history... but it would be irresponsible and dangerous to not be honest.

Amy (halliebear):(

[Barbara Surplus]

I'm really sorry to read your post. What a terrible situation for everyone. I do know that dog/dog aggression is not the same as dog/human aggression if that puts your mind at ease although perhaps that's little comfort to you right now since you have a small child to consider. Our dogs tussle at times but they clearly know that aggression to humans would never be tolerated.

Having said that, I'm not sure I could live in the same world as this dog but I know it's causing you enormous heartache and you have a very big decision ahead of you. I'm sorry that I couldn't be more helpful.

Perhaps Judi or some of the other experts will respond to give you their worthy advice. I'm hoping for the best outcome.
Barbara

[Judy Chrusch]

Jason I think you need to do what's best for you and your family. None of us live with you therefore don't know the everyday behavior of this particular dog. Apparently their have been signs of problems before but that's neither here nor their now. Perhaps a rottweiler just isn't for you and your family and that's o.k. You don't really know what transpired when the pup was found, like what took place before the incident that would make her go after the pup. There's so much that is unclear to me. One thing I do know is you have a fear of something else other then this incident bc why else do you no longer trust her when you don't really know what led up to the puppy dieing. The bottom line is you need to do what's best for you and your family or try to fix the present problem whatever it is. I feel as though we don't have enough information to make a judgement whether the dog stays or goes, I sense some fear here. My heart goes out to you and your wife and hope what ever decision you make, it was well thought out and for the right reasons. I'm just so sorry for the whole situation :(.

Judy

[JoJo]

What form of training has your dog been thru? Have you thought of maybe taking responsiblity and take your dog to a trainer and you "BOTH" learn how to act and inneract with each other. How much socializing have you done with this dog? Is she spayed? Is your wife "alpha" to the dog? Too many unanswered questions. This just doesn't sound right to me.

I guess I'm just so sick and tired of hearing about "family members" being exiled because of one reason or another. Mainly because of the irresponsiblities of their owners. DOGS ARE NOT DISPOSIBLE!! Train them, socialize them, be their friends and include them in your family. If this dog is only now showing "problems" I think it's more human faults and not dog faults. Aggression would have shown alot sooner then in her 3rd year of life unless there is more to this story then being told.

JoJo

[Bucky's Mom]

So, I have to get rid of her, right?

Before I found her a new living situation I would have her evaluated by a top behavior specialist. That way you could give an honest evaluation to the girls new owner. I understand that living with you is uncomfortable because even though you take the blame for the situation - you still think she is a killer dog and you don't seem to be able to get past that. I am sorry you have to go through this - but please have your dog evaluated - she deserves a chance to have her actions "explained" - Lisa (Bucky's Mom)