Aggressive Dogs...

I've been innundated lately with calls and emails from clients facing aggression in their dogs. Listening to each dog's recent history, I hear the all too familiar pattern of behavior unravel and feel for the owners as they describe accounts where their dogs have bitten house guests, attacked other animals in the home or threatened the safety and well being of their devoted families.

Living with an aggressive dog is an all around exhausting experience - both physically and mentally draining, leaving family members on edge, fearing the inevitable and requiring them to live constantly 'on-guard'. Progress is slow and it requires well over 100% commitment to the program, which includes all members of the family be on-board. Even still, sometimes the challenge is far more than a family can handle, at which point, the toughest decisions must be made...

Although I accept cases of this nature on a case-by-case basis, I am all too familiar with the risks, the dangers and the tremendous effort that is required in 'rehabing' an aggressive dog. I've shared my own home with dogs of this nature and it is a choice I would not recommend to anyone, if given the option up front - which is, wherein, the problem exists...

What I find most alarming is that the vast majority of these dogs are newly acquired family members adopted from shelters and rescues - dogs with no previous record of aggression towards people or other animals. I understand first hand that it is often times unlikely that an animal will exhibit his or her full 'repertoire' of behavior prior to being placed into a family due to a number of factors, but this is no excuse for non-disclosure. The tools that are available to rescues and shelters are designed to evaluate the liklihood for these tendencies to develop, in order to determine an animal's safe placement. But these tools are only as good as the professional utilizing them, if at all utilized.

It is as heartbreaking for me to watch a family struggle with aggression as it is for the family to stuggle with their options, torn by the feelings of commitment and fear and love for their animal. What I find most frustrating in all of this is the thought that regardless of what happens in the long-run, this animal will exist as a 'happily-ever-after' for the organizations that placed them in the home, whether or not they anticipated the final outcome.

We, as members of the community, depend on our local rescues and shelters to place safe animals into the homes of our neighbors and friends. With the marked increase in phonecalls and emails in regards to aggressive dogs, I am forced to wonder what tools are being utilized and what protocols are set in order to assure that this is occuring...