# fear/agressive behavior in adoptable sweetheart



## redwood739 (Sep 9, 2008)

Hey all:

I wanted to get your opinion on what happened to my girlfriend and I this past weekend. We have been talking about getting a dog a for awhile now and after getting the details worked out, went down to an adoption place. 

We found a dog we both loved and seemed to fit perfectly into our lifestyle and the few restrictions it has. After thinking about him for awhile we went back and said we wanted it. They offered his file for us to look over and both of us were blown away with what was in there. Basically a long letter from the previous owner stating three occasions where the dog showed aggressive behavior. Two involving kids and another one, while in another kennel, about "taking a female worker down." It even stated the dog doesn't like males with facial hair. Well, i am a male with facial hair and he licked my face! Now all the "incidents happened when the owner was not around, so the solid facts still remain out there. In their defense the last 1/3 were great things about the dog. Anyways we waited to talk to the lead trainer who dismissed every incident in the letter stating it was normal behavior and the owner should have been more responsible. It seemed from the letter that the owner had two more dogs and 3-4 kids....a lot to handle. 

Let me tell you, the dog was the sweet thing ever! We both couldn't stop thinking or talking about it after we left the first time and had to come back. All the volunteers loved it too! But after reading the file we developed reservations. I called and talked to my parents (Yea I am almost thirty and still call them for advice) who brought up the good points of just not putting yourself in a potential bad position. Are we being naive to think the dog will be fine? I grew up with dogs but never owned them myself, would this be too much? We were going to go through training for sure. I guess I would just like your opinion on the subject. Is this OK behavior? Or should we move on to find a better fit? 

thanks, sorry for the long post.


----------



## Pepper (Jan 27, 2008)

I would think you should try it out, usually shelters will not let a dog be adopted if it shows any aggression in the tests they put it through. I would say ask to take him for a walk first maybe, around the block and see how he acts, and if he shows any aggression go from there and decide if you want to try and work with him, or just let the shelter decide what to do.


----------



## Criosphynx (May 15, 2008)

If you are really dedicated to working with this dog, i'd say go for it. If you are commited, you can "fix" anything.

You are _generally_ not going to find a rescue dog without som' level of baggage, good or bad. It also sounds like the dog didn't have the stimulation it needed from the previous owner.

That said, there are plenty of rescue dogs with little to no baggage that still need homes. 
Personally, since this is your *first* dog, i'd go for som'thing *you* are confident you can handle... also don't get hooked on the first dog you meet...people tend to do that...

its unclear also from your post if the dog is truely aggressive, or was acting out of fear.


----------



## redwood739 (Sep 9, 2008)

thanks for the advice. We are both confused, but hearing the advice from a third party is very helpful. thank you. 



Criosphynx said:


> its unclear also from your post if the dog is truely aggressive, or was acting out of fear.


Honestly the letter was long and also unclear. So it's hard to convey exacting what happened.


----------



## Mach1girl (Apr 17, 2006)

Usually, if a dog comes into a shelter with human aggresion issues, the dog is euthanized. Animal aggression issues can be overlooked by adopting to families as an only pet. But shelters assume to big of a liability to adopt out animals with any HA issues. Yiou said the letter stated that the dog "took a lady down" and "doesnt like males with facial hair" Thaat would be considered HA.

Either the shelter thought the letter to be bogus or overlooked it.

I would try it out. I mean you have already grown fond of the dog, it has yall as well, what other chances does it have after that letter is out now?

How old is it?

I would take it home, buy a crate and establish alpha immediatly. Crate train it, etc.

Good luck


----------



## redwood739 (Sep 9, 2008)

thanks again everyone. we decided tonight to go back and adopt him. The next adoption hours are friday so it will be a few days. it will give us sometime to get things ready. honestly thanks again. I will have to post a picture some where. we're both very excited!


----------



## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

Did you ever get this dog, and if so, how are things going?


----------

