Sad endings

[Alicia]

I have a story to tell:

My first official foster dog for a local resuce group I was fostering for was an ACD mix. He was approx 1 and underweight and not much was known about his history. We were about 2 weeks into our foster with him. I had been working on getting him to come out of his shell and taking him places for socialization. He was beginning to work on basic commands but was terrified of the clicker and other sudden noises. He seemed to be doing ok around the kids. He really liked the little ones but seemed wary around the adolescent boy. He was neve left alone with the kids.

We were out in the yard playing and my husband sent my son out back with us to get a rake. He was walking through the yard swinging the rake, as adolscent boys tend to do. The dog had run under the deck which he did alot when playing with the other dogs but I did not realize this time he had run under there because he was afraid. As my son walked by with the rake in his hand he ran out and aggressively bit him on the arm. Fortunately he did not cause any more damage than a scrape. I surmised it had to do with the rake. So over the course of the next week or so I watched him carefully and he was ok with my son unless he had something in his hand. I figured he had been abused or beaten by an adolescent boy. The last straw was the dog was lying next to me on the floor in my office and my son came in to hand me the phone. Once again he went to bite my son but this time I was able to grab him. I contacted the rescue group and told them he would have to go to a new foster home since he seemed to have a problem with adolescent boys when they had something in their hands. Otherwise he seemed to be coming around to living in a home. She aggreed and arranged for another foster home to take him.

When I took him to the new foster home the new foster mom was really rude to me. She questioned my being allowed to foster, accused me of just trying to "get out of" fostering him, exaggerating the situation etc. I felt bad about it and was second guessing myself. I contacted her a couple times over the next few weeks and was told he had not had any more issues etc. I later learned from another person within this rescue group he did, in fact have a similar occurrence with a teenage boy in her home. He was adopted to an adult only home but unfortunately the new adoptors lied about contact with kids and there was another bite involving an adolescent boy. Finally as a last resort they were working with another behavioralist. Sadly it was determined that he could not be rehabilitated and would always be unpredictable around boys with stuff in their hands.....the exact thing I stated initially.....He was sadly euthanized by the rescue group's vet.

My point is it was important to fully disclose the situation. It needed to be known so that it could be dealt with appropriately and even with the information he was eventually euthanized but not before people essentially accused me of lying or exaggerating the situation, I was told I should not be fostering or even owning border collies with kids. I was told I should not have said this dog attacked my son because it could lead him being deemed unplaceable and I was not doing justice by the dog lying about it. I should just come clean and admit I do not want to foster etc.......sound familiar?? Lucky for me this was handled between myself and the rescue organization and I did not post in on any rescue board or thread involving a particular dog.......I fear what the response would have been.

It may not be a direct corrolation to recent events involving a board member trying to warn about a bite incident involving a particular dog but I think it has enough similarities for me to feel badly about the way the situation was handled here and hope the next time it occurs board members will ask more questions and get the facts before resorting to calling someone a liar or accusing them of exaggerating a situation. I sincerely hope for the dog, and the new owners that this was a one time incident and sincerely hope the new owners were made totally aware of any possible fear aggression issues during restraint. Otherwise I fear the outcome next time might not be good.

Just my 2 cents:

Joe, you may feel the need to delete this thread but I hope not. I hope it can be discussed rationally and people might learn something from this whole unfortunate experience.

[in2adventure]

I'm sorry that happend to you It's sad that people won't look outside the box for answers. The dog's could have been saved, or at least put in a better spot, if the other people involved had listened to you.

Just as not every dog is made to fit in every home, not every foster home works for every dog in need. They must also be placed with care and concern for the household and dog alike. The rescue should not be so judgemental.

[carolinaBC]

This is a topic that I have pretty strong feelings about. I was another one villainized for posting honestly about a rescue dog in an attempt to find a new foster home who could handle his issues. Six months on he has been through several foster homes as well as one adoptive home. The rescue who took him on not realizing the extent of his problems (because I was made out to be a liar and exaggerator, and others who didn't want to ruin his chances denied what I said was true) tried valiantly to save this dog. Six + months down the road now he has been turned over to a trainer who it is hoped will be able work with his dog aggression issues and rehabilitate him. The trainer will be responsible for adopting him out as the rescue rightfully feels they cannot take the chance on liability.

The sad part is that due to all the moving around and being in several situations that were not suitable this dog's issues have become worse. I still hold out hope that a knowledgable and dedicated trainer can rehab him, but much of it could have been avoided if people weren't so afraid of ruining a dog's chances for adoption that they kept quiet or even outright lied about the extent of problems. He could've been put in an appropriate foster home and worked with before his issues became so much worse.

Joe makes a good point about a public forum maybe being too visible to make such disclosures. Unfortunately there are many rescue people who are not willing to give full disclosure, even privately, because they don't want to ruin the dog's chances at a home. It's that kind of holding back information that makes the much more public disclosure on the board necessary. Members should be able to post about firsthand knowledge regarding aggression or other serious issues with a dog in an honest and factual way without being accused of lying or being a horrible person with terrible motives. Yes, disclosure may make things harder for the dog, might even result in non-adoption or euthanasia. On the other end of the spectrum, not making such information known can result in injuries to the dog, other dogs, animals or people, the dog being shuffled from foster to foster and possibly winding up in a shelter again or even euthanized anyway because the known issue was not disclosed and therefore not dealt with.

IF all rescuers could temper the love of dogs they have in their heart with pragmatism and understand that not all dogs can be saved and that secretiveness and outright lying does not benefit the dog or the potential adopters in the end and simply be honest at every level it might not be necessary to post such information in such a public forum as this board. As long as we have a good number of rescuers who would hide the truth to better the dog's chances then posting here is a necessary evil. The very sad part is that hiding the truth in reality does not help the dog's chances. If he has an issue it's going to come out, and being in a situation not prepared to deal with it is a recipe for disaster.

Just my thoughts.

[dinah_kay]

IF all rescuers could temper the love of dogs they have in their heart with pragmatism and understand that not all dogs can be saved and that secretiveness and outright lying does not benefit the dog or the potential adopters in the end and simply be honest at every level it might not be necessary to post such information in such a public forum as this board.

I often think the same thing when I hear about certain dogs and the lengths people go to save them. I am all for saving dogs, but sometimes the time and money spent on one dog with issues could have been spent on saving 5 dogs. I think in the case of aggressive behavior people need to be honest. I can understand the issue with "strangers" posting on a public forum about a dog's behavior in a inflammatory way. I do think though that rescues/fosters need to be honest with each other in regards to a dog's behavior. I personally think that this can be done privately between the parties involved. In the recent case of this on the board I think in the end it is the shelter that has the responsibility to disclose the issues/event to a potential adopter, but I don't think it needed to be posted on the web since there are two sides to every story.

Not every dog is going to work in every foster home, and it is up to the rescue to handle placing the dog in a new foster home if it isn't working out in it's current home. I am shocked that a fellow rescuer would treat you that way Alicia. It is just wrong. You did the right thing, and it isn't like it is a shock that a herding dog wasn't getting along with a child. That is why there are child free foster homes and eventual adopters that don't have children. Just my 2 cents

[Hulls_Haven]

Your love for the foster dog MUST extend to being honest about the dog's behaviour. It is ridiculous to lie, or not tell ALL, because in the end, it will come out, and never in a good way. The dog is the one who suffers. We have had to euth two for severe aggression. I will never put fosterers or adopters at risk. We just don't knowlingly take aggressive dogs. There is no space, and not time sadly. One aggressive dog took a YEAR to rehab and rehome. How many dogs could have been saved in that time? Was her life worthwhile? OF COURSE. But at what cost?
YOU did nothing wrong, end everything right. Those who chose to cover it up made a very bad situation much worse.

My last foster attacked my dogs three times. I thought I had everything in place to prevent the last attack, but I was wrong. Frodo got bitten and blood was drawn. The dog is now in a home with no other dogs, thank God...and placed through the old owner. We were not told of any aggression, and she swears she didn't know either. Aggression is a very scary thing, and should only be dealt with by those who know how.

[PCarpenter]

I think full disclosure is essential, whether it be a rescue group, a shelter, or an owner trying to rehome or surrender his dog. If I know that a dog has an issue, I can make the decision on whether I can handle it or not. I also am alerted as to what triggers might exist. If I'm a potential adopter and nobody gives me the straight story, well, as other posters have said, the dog may be the one to pay for the little white lie (that wasn't so little!) and my opinion of the group or shelter will plummet. You can bet I would never adopt a dog through that particular organization again and would steer other potential adopters away. That's supposed to be the whole beauty of a foster home, to get a clear picture of what a dog is really like in a real life home situation. So keep being honest about any dog you work with. If he's a lost cause, so be it. But if he is manageable, let someone who can manage the issue deal with it.