Thoughts anyone?

[Maryellen]

a puppy was placed with a foster home that never had a dog before. let alone a puppy. Said foster home has 2 small kids, 2 1/2 and 6.. Foster mom was advised by me to never leave children and dogs alone, keep foster onleash for the 1st 2 weeks. Foster dog has major dog aggression issues, bone and toy guarding issues.. how found out? dog aggression was found out the day the foster took the dog to her sisters to play with her sisters female doberman.. took 3 hours to get them together. not good right there..

bone and toy resource guarding- found out the hard way. dog had a bone. daughter supposedly stepped on the dogs tail or foot, but foster mom didnt know which as she admitted she wasnt watching them , dog jumped up and nipped child inthe face. no skin was broken.

next incident. foster mom and children are outside. son runs around side of house and scares dog. dog reacts by growling,lunging, hackles fully up barking as well...

told foster mom to supervise children around dog, and remove bone from floor. make sure dog is not on furniture and beds.
told foster mom to have son NOT wear hooded shirts as this might have triggered the other reaction...

notify rescue of the bite incident and the other incident.. tell rescue that the dog MUST be removed from the home due to inexperience of the foster home, and that the children are not supervised around dog, and that dog is showing dominant tendancies..

foster tells me the kids and a relative took dog for walk on flexi leash. dog got scared, person holding leash dropped it, and dog ran all the way to the house with the flexi behind him petrified.. foster said one of the CHILDREN was holding the flexi leash. i told her no flexi, use regular leash and no kids holding leash..

i notify rescue of this incident as well..

i tell rescue i will try to work with said dog, but i feel the dog should be removed immediately from the home again.. should be in a experienced foster home.

ok... enter me. go there 2 sundays to train dog and foster mom.. 1st session, foster dog trys to attack sonny my bombproof rott mx... after working with the dog for a half hour straight i was able to get him to sit next to sonny without being a jerk.. however, during the training said foster mom is reprimanding the children while i am trying to teach her what to do..

so i notify rescue i will not waste my time with a foster who cant control her kids while i am there.. and i dont go back.

meantime, said foster is on the phone with the rescue during the month raving about how GREAT this foster dog is with kids, and how he is improving with my training advise to other dogs... so fast forward to last night... i get a phone call at 9 pm from the foster mom she wants said dog out of her house by today.. dog bit her son.. i ask, is son alright? i am told , dog bit son in face. drew blood.. son is 6 years old..

soooo, i ask what happened... ready for this??

dog was on floor chewing a toy.. child was sitting near dog ....child moved toward the dog... dog lunged and bit child in face ...

ask foster, what were they doing?

her response? I DONT REALLY KNOW... I THINK MY SON MOVED TOO CLOSE TO THE DOG.. BUT I WASNT REALLY PAYING ATTENTION....



so, she wants the dog gone, i tell her not tonight. crate dog, leash dog, keep kids away from dog. pick up toys/bones, put them away in closet..

tell her its not the dogs fault and dont be mad at the dog.. after all, said dog is only 4 1/2 months old, and owner who surrended him said he used to beat up the other puppies.....

now, i have been complaining to said rescue for 3 WEEKS to get this dog out of this home due to lack of supervision, experience, and general common sense.... so the rescue thinks i am now lying about the dog and the children because the foster mom has been telling them how wonderful the dog is...

comments anyone? everyone??

[cheekymunkee]

Holy crap. I think I know which dog you are talking about? Why would the rescue place a dog such as him in a home with NO dog experience? Not that he is a bad dog, just that his breed warrants an expereinced foster home. Tell foster mom to call rescue HERSELF & explain why she wants the dog gone.

[KaylasMomJenn]

Why is she contacting you instead of them?

I would tell her you can't help her anymore (since its obvious she doesnt want to help herself) and god forbid she gets anymore fosters, because, she sucks! If that rescue wants to have a serious problem on their hands, it might take a few more issues for them to realize you are not being a jerk, that the dog really is biting her son (again, because she sucks as a foster)

I'm sorry you are in such a predicament.

[Maryellen]

yep,its arturos brother mosley. who is very dog aggressive, a dominant dog, and needs serious training..

foster called me because i was the only one who answered my phone at 9pm at night.. when i hung up with her,i tried calling the rescue people but got voice mails for everyone... and because i went to her house twice to workwith her and him, and gave her advise over the phone as well..

because it was either put said puppy in a kennel, or her house.. the sister of this foster is the one who said she could foster him... the one rescue person heard me say to the sister,

WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE NEVER FOSTERED A DOG BEFORE? DO YOU WANT TO KILL HER?? the sister laughs, and says she can do it.. i question her in front of the rescue person... they are both ok with a new family that is not screened to watch a dominant dog..

i gave her the numbers to call last night.. i got an email today from her, she is bringing said foster to the rescue vet to be quarantined for the 10 days since he bit and drew blood...

mind you, for 3 weeks i have been demanding the dog be moved....

[dogcrazyjen]

I agree. I would pull out as middle man. Document everything (send this post, perhaps) to rescue, and another copy to the foster mom, and say you are done with this whole thing. They need to communicate directly.

[muse]

Tell foster mom to call rescue HERSELF & explain why she wants the dog gone.

I second that suggestion.

I admit when Jesse came into my home she was a like a 2 yr old on crack. No manners, no boundries. She snapped at everyone and was constantly misbehaving. Though I had no experience with the breed before, somehow we all managed to change her ways. Just takes discipline and determination and a much more stubborn attitude then she had.

Shes awesome now, but it took ALOT of work.

Good luck.

[luvmyangels]

If the rescue knew the puppy had issues why did they place the it with an inexperienced home? It makes you wonder????

Sorry you are now in the middle of this situation. I would have the foster contact the rescue and have her tell them what transpired and what has been going on up until this point and to not sugar coat it. Try and remove yourself from the situation. Although I understand you are in the middle of it now. That really stinks.

I hope it all works out. Please keep us updated.

[luvmyangels]

yep,its arturos brother mosley. who is very dog aggressive, a dominant dog, and needs serious training..

foster called me because i was the only one who answered my phone at 9pm at night.. when i hung up with her,i tried calling the rescue people but got voice mails for everyone... and because i went to her house twice to workwith her and him, and gave her advise over the phone as well..

because it was either put said puppy in a kennel, or her house.. the sister of this foster is the one who said she could foster him... the one rescue person heard me say to the sister,

WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE NEVER FOSTERED A DOG BEFORE? DO YOU WANT TO KILL HER?? the sister laughs, and says she can do it.. i question her in front of the rescue person... they are both ok with a new family that is not screened to watch a dominant dog..

i gave her the numbers to call last night.. i got an email today from her, she is bringing said foster to the rescue vet to be quarantined for the 10 days since he bit and drew blood...

mind you, for 3 weeks i have been demanding the dog be moved....

That is horrible to put a brand new foster mom in a situation like that. A hard dog to deal with to begin with for someone with no experience and then no support from the rescue itself. That is horrid.

[Asta]

What a sad, scary and frustrating situation! For everyone...Yeah its apparent that she isnt equipped/ready to foster a dog that needs some extra attention. Maybe not even one that doesnt for all i know?
I am sorry youre in the middle of this ME, its really unfair!
I am really curious to hear what the rescue has to say about this?

Åsa

[Maryellen]

because what happened was originally arturo was going into a kennel, andi was goingto foster mosley..but when i evaluatedthem i knew that arturo was too soft for a kennel, so i switched that mosley would be kenneled and arturo would be with me.. so the rescue didnt want mosley kenneled since the woman said her sister would foster..so mosley went to the foster home.. which i didnt approve of...

[luvmyangels]

Wow! What a messed up situation.

[Maryellen]

the rescue doesnt believe me .. they have been told by the foster how wonderful mosley was during the past month... so they are doubting my word... isnt that nice?????

[Maryellen]

and, to top it off, in the beginning the rescue told the fostermom since i only fostered puppies i could help her with mosley.. so i said ok.. she asked me up front that if mosley isnt deamed adoptable what would happen would he be euthanized? i said, it could happen yes. thats why dogs are placed in foster homes.. and thats why mosley and arturo have to stay in foster homes until they are 6 months old to make sure their temperment is ok..

[luvmyangels]

the rescue doesnt believe me .. they have been told by the foster how wonderful mosley was during the past month... so they are doubting my word... isnt that nice?????

That's extremely screwed up. Don't they think you have enough experience to make an assessment. Plus what you have been told and relayed to them. No offense but I would not want to deal with a rescue that does not respect my word. You are very experienced and knowledgeable. Why were you sent in there in the first place? Sorry I just don't find that fair to you.

[luvmyangels]

and, to top it off, in the beginning the rescue told the fostermom since i only fostered puppies i could help her with mosley.. so i said ok.. she asked me up front that if mosley isnt deamed adoptable what would happen would he be euthanized? i said, it could happen yes. thats why dogs are placed in foster homes.. and thats why mosley and arturo have to stay in foster homes until they are 6 months old to make sure their temperment is ok..

Could it be that she is afraid that he will be euthanized if they find out what has been truly going on with him? Or is it that she did not want to fail with her first foster?

[Maryellen]

thanks mary ann. funny you should ask... what happened was a woman posted on the nj4pit bull site i belong to about if anyone can help with 2 pit/mastiff mixes... i was off on good friday, so i said, where are they? if they are within a 2 hour drive i will help evaluate them. when the woman said they were about an hour away i went with 2 of the rescue members to see the dogs.. lo and behold,, here are arturo and mosley.. definitely not pit probably.. and yes part mastiff.... so we were there for an hour at least.. i tested both dogs individually alone.. and the rescue people watched.. i said that mosley was more dominant, and arturo was more withdrawn.. they asked me which one would fare better in a kennel. and i said mosley.. they didnt really have a foster home lined up, and were going to kennel both... i volunteered my home to arturo since he was more withdrawn and shy.. (stupid me) and said mosley would be fine in a kennel ... so the next day (saturday) iwent to meet the one of the rescue women and a volunteer to get arturo.. at that point they told me that the volunteers sister would foster mosley.. then i found out she had no experience.. i didnt want arturo to be possibly ruined since he was so withdrawn ... so i took him home and the rescue gave mosley to the new foster who had no experience.. but since the sister has a female dobe she said she would help her sister out.. then a few days later i get an email from the rescue asking for help for the new foster... and it was downhill fromthere....

[Jesseca]

How can the rescue not recognize the bites to the kids? Obviously the dog is NOT doing well, no matter what the fostermom says. That dog needs to be pulled out of that house and evaluated in a home where people know what the heck they are doing. Is there a temp spot he can go at all? Geez, I'm sorry Maryellen, that just sucks

[luvmyangels]

So much for the sister helping...huh? It sounds like you got the raw end of the deal here. How come the volunteer sister is not relaying anything that is going on and it is ending up on your shoulders???

[Maryellen]

because the foster mom is telling the rescue that everything is great.. and the rescue told me that due to conflicting stories from me and her, they are calling everyone involved to get the true story... even the vet and the techs told the rescue that the foster couldnt control the dog or the kids at the visit...and since i have arturo, i have to wait it out w/ the rescue until he is adopted.. mosley can go to a kennel, but right now he is quarantine at the rescue vets office for 10 days due to the bite..and i found out they dont like euthing dogs that bite either.. which i am not saying should happen to mosley, i just want him into a better foster home. to reevaluate him..

[msvette2u]

At 4.5 mos. of age, and guarding to the extent that people are getting bit, that dog needs to be PTS. It is my belief that there's too many good dogs without such issues that can be rescued. Why waste your time on one that's got these dangerous tendencies. But that's just my opinion as an ACO.