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Dogs – and owners – who bite

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Sonoma Valley Sun

Dear Dr. Forsythe:  We recently rescued a Bull Terrier and wanted to ask you some questions about several strange things that “Belle” is doing that is making me and my family a little worried.  I should also tell you that the shelter never mentioned this strange behavior when we were in the process of adopting her.  As if that weren’t enough, we never noticed anything peculiar from Belle during the three visits we made to get to know her before we decided to adopt.

The first thing she did when we took her home was storm into the house and run all around and then she tore through a very expensive sliding glass door.  Thank goodness her injuries were minimal, but we have already had to pay $400 to get the door repaired and $326 to have her stitched back up.  Anyway, to make a long story short, she finally settled down and we had no problems until she began growling at us when we tried to pet her.  We are in the process of contacting a pet behaviorist to help her with the adjustment to our house and family.  But earlier today the worst thing happened.  Our gardener was working in the yard when Belle walked out to him slowly then apparently jumped up and bit part of his ear off.  I did not see the incident, but the gardener must have been in shock because he ran to his truck and drove away.

I think you can tell that we have good reason to be worried that Belle has numerous problems that we didn’t know about when we took her from the shelter.  Do you think we could spend time and effort and make her a good pet, or is her growling and biting just a sign that she is poorly socialized or vicious and won’t ever be trustworthy around people?  I feel like something happened to her the minute we adopted her; either that or the shelter (which has a good reputation) neglected to tell us that Belle possessed these negative traits. – Sign me, Sick as a dog over this

Dear Sick as a dog: Holy Moly!!  This sounds like a disastrous situation you’ve found yourself in.  For me personally, any one of the bizarre, “off the wall” behaviors she demonstrated the moment you got her home would be a huge red flag for me.  When you add the darting through the door, growling, and gobbling up the gardener, she sounds like a dog with many behavioral challenges that make her an undesirable pet for your household.  Now don’t get me wrong, I would do just about ANYTHING to help a pet with challenges succeed after an adoption.  If the owners are motivated and willing to do the training, get educated on the best way to handle the problems and work to overcome them, I would support that.  However, when Belle quietly walked out to the gardener and turned him into a modern day Vincent Van Gough that would have pushed me over the edge.  You are now possibly going to face legal action for her attack and, although she is probably a beautiful Bull Terrier, she is a loose cannon and dangerous.  Pets are so important to a happy family, but it may very well be that this girl has too many serious behavioral issues to consider keeping her, particularly since you have children.  I would return her to the shelter “from whence she came” in a New York minute. And make sure you let the shelter workers know what you have been through so another unsuspecting family doesn’t have to go through all this calamity and bedlam.  In my opinion, the severity of the problems more than justify you protecting your family (and any future gardener you may be fortunate enough to have).    I hope my rather strong opinion has helped you, not offended you. – Dr. F

Dear Dr. Forsythe:  My son and his boyfriend have lived together in Los Angeles for two years.  They have a darling little Brussels Griffin dog that they purchased from a very good breeder when they had their commitment ceremony.  In fact, “Fuzz Bum” (yes, that is the name) has been the joy of their lives and those of both extended families.  However, we recently received the sad news that my son is going through a nasty break up with his boyfriend.  His boyfriend is planning to join the Peace Corp and our son will be working in the travel industry.  Neither boy can take Fuzz Bum with them, and each has promised the dog to his own family.  It is out of the question for us to “share” the dog because the families live on opposite sides of the country.  What do YOU suggest we do in this case? – Feuding families

Dear Feuding families:  Well this is a real DILLY.  I guess it was only a matter of time after same sex marriage began that the same horrible casualties would begin showing up in the gay divorces.  Why did the two guys think they had the right to give their very special little friend to their OWN families?  I’d say step one would be to get a conference call going with the mothers and the sons.  These boys need to know that they’ve opened up a can of smelly sardines through their thoughtless feelings of entitlement.  You moms need to lower the gauntlet and let the guys have it – since they created this desire by both factions, the guys need to do some serious damage repair and find a good, responsible fair and loving pet owner for this casualty of their relationship.  Perhaps there is a third party, a “girl” friend or other acquaintance of the two men who would be responsible and loving and offer a permanent home that would not foster ill will between the two families.  I suppose we should be thankful neither of these former lovers planned on dividing Fuzz Bum into two pieces and calling a taxidermist.  But even THEN, your families would probably argue about which one would get the front end and which end would get the fuzz bum.  This poor little dog needs a good, drama free life with stability and happiness.  They are wonderful, sweet and loyal little doggies.  My heart goes out to Fuzz Bum – it sounds like that poor little dog is surrounded by nimrods.

Hope you find a cordial solution. – Dr. F

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