If Your Dog Has Bitten

Dog rescues hear it all the time.  "I have a wonderful, loving dog that is great with the family, but he/she is a little protective and territorial and has bitten a child walking by.  I think the ideal home for him/her would be a home in the country where there are no children, no strangers coming to the home, and can have lots of room to run. I need to find him/her a new home because I can't take the risk of him/her biting my child."  Think about it.  You don't want to risk the safety of your own family, but you are willing re-home the wonderful, loving GSD that bites and let someone else assume the risk of the dog biting again.  Reality check.  There is NO ideal place for a biting dog.

If your dog is aggressive with people or has ever bitten anyone, you shouldn't give him to anyone else. Could you live with yourself if that dog hurt another person, especially a child? Can you deal with the lawsuit that could result from it? You stand to lose your home and everything else you own. Lawsuits from dog bites are settling for millions of dollars in damages.

Our society today has zero tolerance for a dog with a bite history, no matter how minor. A dog that has bitten - whether or not it was his fault - is considered by law to be a dangerous dog. In some states, it's illegal to sell or give away a biting dog. No insurance company will cover a family with a biting dog. And to be perfectly honest, no responsible person in his right mind would want to adopt a biting dog.

No matter how much you love your dog, if he has ever bitten anyone, you only have two responsible choices - take him to a professional trainer or behaviorist for evaluation and maybe the dog can be rehabilitated. This could be costly and time consuming but could be very rewarding. If this is not an option for you, take him to your veterinarian and have him humanely euthanized. Don't leave him at a shelter where he might be frightened and confused and put other people at risk. Don't try to place him as a "guard dog" where he might be neglected, abused or used for dog fighting.