Urgent advice needed please

[countryman]

My Daughter has a Dalmatian I think she is 6 years old, they have had her from a pup, she has always been greedy with food but things have taken a bad turn yesterday, some food was on the ground and her other small dog went to pick it up when the Dalmatian attacked her other little dog, long story short she nearly killed her, luckily my wife was there as well and managed to get the Dalmatian off the little Dog who needed surgery and is now recovering. The vet said you have 3 options with the Dalmatian, put her to sleep, re home with someone who has no dogs or completely separate her, maybe live outside in a kennel, obviously my Daughter is attached to the dog and is in a state about what to do. Any advice from Dog owners much appreciated.

[benbobailey]

Hello, given this scenario I would opt for the sleep option, sadly. Regards

[Rob85]

If that happened with myself I doubt the dalmatian would make it as far as the vet to be PTS. Imagine that was your child who bent forward to pick up a biscuit they had dropped.

[ditchman]

this is not the first time i have heard this sort of thing to happen regards a Dalmatian....it may be because the gene pool is not wide enough

[Old Boggy]

1 hour ago, benbobailey said:

Hello, given this scenario I would opt for the sleep option, sadly. Regards

I totally agree.

As Rob85 said above, the possible scenario with a child just doesn`t bear thinking about.

OB

[oowee]

My sister had a dalmation, a very expensive acquisition. Exactly the same scenario. The thing was loopy. It was rehoamed.

[loriusgarrulus]

3 hours ago, countryman said:

My Daughter has a Dalmatian I think she is 6 years old, they have had her from a pup, she has always been greedy with food but things have taken a bad turn yesterday, some food was on the ground and her other small dog went to pick it up when the Dalmatian attacked her other little dog, long story short she nearly killed her, luckily my wife was there as well and managed to get the Dalmatian off the little Dog who needed surgery and is now recovering. The vet said you have 3 options with the Dalmatian, put her to sleep, re home with someone who has no dogs or completely separate her, maybe live outside in a kennel, obviously my Daughter is attached to the dog and is in a state about what to do. Any advice from Dog owners much appreciated.

The big problem with rehoming is could you live with the fact the dalmation could do it again, possibly with a person. Its just passing the problem on, not solving it. If the attack was that bad that major damage was done its risking it. When a dog does this they are a timebomb and you are constantly on edge watching them incase they try it again. No joy in owning a dog like that.

If it was my dog I would put it down, but you have to make your own decision.

[JDog]

The dog should be put down. No question. It may happen again. 

[lozrob]

i had a spaniel with cocker rage , if resting somewhere , ( always late at night ) if any of the family disturbed her she would attack.

she bit me hard one day and i had the same thoughts as you in what to do , i decided to keep her outside in a kennel , putting her away for the night at 8pm.

we managed to control this aggression thing for 3 years .

no one got hurt.

then one day late at night she was with my daughter , we missed the curfew , she bit my daughter hard on the hand.

the decision in what to do was then very easy to make.

sorry for the essay but i agree with everybody else.

 

[countryman]

Thank you for the comments, I will pass on what has been advised, like I said it’s not my Dog it belongs to my Daughter so the decision is hers, the hard thing is the dog is very affectionate to people, never even growled at anyone, it’s all ways food that she is aggressive with, my son-in-law can take away her bowl when she’s eating and she does nothing, if another dog gets near her then trouble but never on the scale like yesterday. My Daughter is absolutely devastated by it, she loves that dog like a child but she knows something has to be done, the other little dog is in a bad way but will make a full recovery in time. I feel terrible for my Daughter, she is a responsible dog owner of many years. 

[benbobailey]

42 minutes ago, countryman said:

Thank you for the comments, I will pass on what has been advised, like I said it’s not my Dog it belongs to my Daughter so the decision is hers, the hard thing is the dog is very affectionate to people, never even growled at anyone, it’s all ways food that she is aggressive with, my son-in-law can take away her bowl when she’s eating and she does nothing, if another dog gets near her then trouble but never on the scale like yesterday. My Daughter is absolutely devastated by it, she loves that dog like a child but she knows something has to be done, the other little dog is in a bad way but will make a full recovery in time. I feel terrible for my Daughter, she is a responsible dog owner of many years. 

Hello again, I understand all your concerns but please advise your daughter fully re possible safety/ danger outcomes. Not a decision that should allow for sentiments. As I answered previously, if it were my dog it would be unfortunately put to sleep. Regards

[bruno22rf]

Put the thing down, they are very head strong and whilst it may behave around anyone it considers dominant, it will not hesitate to do the same again to anything "beneath" it.

[Downforce]

4 hours ago, JDog said:

The dog should be put down. No question. It may happen again. 

Theres plenty of dogs (like but others as well) greyhounds that have had their prey instincts developed but when they finish running the owners muzzle them outside the house - or take other appropriate steps.

I personally believe that if you do take on a dog or other animal you really have to have a long hard look at your abilities and situation (which could change) but you owe it to the dog to be the right owner to the dog and if you cant do that recognise that you cant do it and get the dog properly rehomed - maybe by the breed specialist organisation - they often have people that have the experience.

We used to get involved in Weimararner rehoming and very often the owners just didnt have an understanding of the breed and/or their experience/capabilities.

So I would recommend trying rehoming to a single dog family via Dalmation society or something like that. I'm not saying dogs trust/RSPCA couldnt do something - just advice.

D

Edited December 9, 2021 by Downforce
Cant spell!

[stumpy69]

My Uncle was in a very similar situation with one of his Dalmatians, gave him a chance after the first time, second time was a one way trip to the vet. 

He said he didn't even consider rehome as he was very experienced dog owner including dalmatians and would just be passing the problem on to someone possibly less able to deal with it. 

[Mungler]

If we’re talking full on gone nuts and not just a nip / single bite and there are children present / visiting the property then I wouldn’t take the risk. 

You could try an electric collar and forcing a scenario as many times as it takes to get the dog to stop, but what about that one occasion no adult is present / there’s no shock collar to reach for?

And yes Dalmatian’s are not just nuts: I think they have previously been ranked as the most unintelligent breed of dog which doesn’t bode well for training or altering behaviour. 

[WalkedUp]

I would favour destruction. I am not sure how people look themselves in the mirror if they just ship a problem dog along and know it could cause serious damage to an unfortunate person or dog. 

I believe Dalmatians are carriage dogs, as such their breeding (similar to sight hounds) may make they may seem less intelligent if your judge of canine intelligence is biddability. 

[12gauge82]

On 09/12/2021 at 08:45, countryman said:

My Daughter has a Dalmatian I think she is 6 years old, they have had her from a pup, she has always been greedy with food but things have taken a bad turn yesterday, some food was on the ground and her other small dog went to pick it up when the Dalmatian attacked her other little dog, long story short she nearly killed her, luckily my wife was there as well and managed to get the Dalmatian off the little Dog who needed surgery and is now recovering. The vet said you have 3 options with the Dalmatian, put her to sleep, re home with someone who has no dogs or completely separate her, maybe live outside in a kennel, obviously my Daughter is attached to the dog and is in a state about what to do. Any advice from Dog owners much appreciated.

I absolutely wouldn't put the dog down, the simple answer is never let another dog near when it's eating or food is around, shut it out when eating or preparing food.

As for any issue with people, it's usually very simple to solve with the correct training, I don't like to give advice over the net particularly if aggression is involved as all dogs and issues are different and a miscalculation by an inexperienced dog owner can end in injury if they make a mistake, if it were my dog I would start by throwing higher reward treats into its bowl as its eating and progressing over a long period of time until I was actually giving the dog high reward food out of my hand in the bowl, the dog will then see peoples hands going into its bowl while eating as a positive, there are many other techniques that can be used and I've literally had some of the most food possessive dogs literally eating out of the palm of my hand. Obviously don't reward any sign of aggressive behaviour and it needs to be done very carefully, gauging the dogs body language and possible reaction before progressing further each time. I would get professional help and I'm not advising you to try what I say. 

As for advice to put the dog down, it shows a complete lack of knowledge and understanding.

Edited December 10, 2021 by 12gauge82

[captainhastings]

The dog went for another dog near its food it happens. It was sort of her own fault. You can't put a dog down for that 

[walshie]

Seems like very odd advice from the vet.

Most in-house dog squabbles are food related and if they had been similar size dogs, the damage wouldn't have been so horrible. I fail to see that a dog attacking another dog over food makes it dangerous to humans.

I don't think the question can be answered without knowing the full facts and previous history. 

[gdadphil]

I am a past not current dog owner and as a teenager had a border collie that would bite me (only me ) re food so I stayed out of the way. but in todays litigious society I would not have kept him would have PTS. Not only liable for Civil damages but possibly Dangerous dog prosecution. Sorry but not worth the risk. 

gdadphil    

[London Best]

I will only say that at least three different owners in our village have Dalmations. Each dog, without exception, is an untrained, unruly nuisance.

[bigbird]

13 hours ago, captainhastings said:

The dog went for another dog near its food it happens. It was sort of her own fault. You can't put a dog down for that 

Agreed, unfortunately for the wee dog size was on the Dalmation’s side!

Very different I know but our two Malinois I know would kill one of our JRTs given half a chance so they’re simply kept completely separate from them. 
 

I remember when I was younger we had a collie x GSD that was food aggressive - he was fed outside and we were told in no uncertain terms that we were to leave the dog alone whilst he was eating and if we didn’t it was our own stupid fault!

[chrisjpainter]

16 hours ago, captainhastings said:

The dog went for another dog near its food it happens. It was sort of her own fault. You can't put a dog down for that 

This is slightly different though. @countrymancould correct me, but this doesn't sound like dinner bowls down time, but food falling from a counter and an opportunist moment. Plus, it's escalated behaviour. It is apparently getting worse. 

This isn't just about the dog's food being there, it's when any food is around and there's a chance to hoover something up. I'm not sure it's worth the risk of a child dropping something, the dog seeing it and moving in and then the child trying to retrieve the item. It's gone the way of needing the dog to not be anywhere near when anyone's got food. That's not easy to police and one mistake could be disastrous. 

Edited December 11, 2021 by chrisjpainter

[captainhastings]

1 minute ago, chrisjpainter said:

This is slightly different though. @countrymancould correct me, but this doesn't sound like dinner bowls down time, but food falling from a counter and an opportunist moment. Plus, it's escalated behaviour. It is apparently getting worse. 

This isn't just about the dog's food being there, it's when any food is around and there's a chance to hoover something up. I'm not sure it's worth the risk of a child dropping something, the dog seeing it and moving in and then the child trying to retrieve the item. It's gone the way of the dog not being anywhere near when anyone's got food. That's not easy to police and one mistake could be disastrous. 

That is different and it sounds like the dog needs putting in its place. But its not unusual for dogs to compete over food. We had same sort of situation with a big old lurcher and cocker. They were fed well apart and both dogs new they weren't allowed to dive on any thing that was dropped. Only ever had an issue once were the cocker accidental strayed near the others food bowl one day and we were all ways on the ball with them. No small kids around. Only the owner can make the call and good luck 

[al4x]

I’m glad to see some sense has come up in this thread. It’s not unusual especially if both are bitches and size is the real issue.  You have to stamp on this kind of behaviour and manage it.  Feed separately and get right on top of the aggressor. It certainly isn’t a sign of aggression to children and family members