Reasons for Surrendering Your Dog – Aggression

This is the first in a three-part series for people who are thinking of surrendering, a.k.a. getting rid of, their dog.  Whatever terminology you want to use.  In Part 1, I will try to help you decide whether you should part with your pup because of its aggression.  Full transparency. I speak from experience because in my almost 35 years of owning pups. I have rehomed two pups because of their aggressive behavior and lived with one until its death, trying to manage it.

So, if you’re having significant problems with your dog’s aggressive behavior, let’s go deeper into these aggression issues.  Can you find professional help, a trainer who specializes in aggressive behavior, or should you surrender the dog, or try to rehome it?  Because bottom line here, if you surrender your dog to a city/county shelter because of aggression issues, your dog will be euthanized.  If you try to surrender your dog to a rescue, they may or may not take it, because rescues generally do not have the time or resources to rehabilitate your dog, and, the dog’s history will follow it, making it virtually impossible to find it a new home. It is not an easy decision. But if you do give up your dog, it is something that will stay with you for the rest of your life. Trust me.

Reasons for Dog Aggression

There are many reasons for a dog’s aggression: pain, fear/anxiety, territorial, food as in resource guarding.  Fear aggression, which afflicts most dogs, is one of the toughest problems to solve, they “want to get it before it gets them.”  This is a link to an article from VCAhospitals.com where a veterinarian discusses different types of canine aggression and causes. 

Besides there being different types of aggression, there is also severity, as well as to whom the aggression is directed. Is the aggression toward another animal within your own family?  Then I ask, how were they introduced?  Do you know if your dog was socialized, beginning at an early age as a puppy?  That socialization, meeting other dogs, other people, is extremely important in a dog’s mental, social, and emotional development. If you adopted your puppy during the COVID lockdown and were unable to get to training classes or doggie day care, or even walking your dog, then that can be an underlying cause if your dog is having a problem.

And if the aggression is toward a person, do you know the reason why?  Do you know if there was something in the dog’s past — was it abused by an adult or even a child that makes it aggressive out of memory and fear?  Do you know if the dog is being abused now?  There are any number of “experts” who will tell you that dogs live in the moment, that they don’t have memories, to which I resoundingly respond, no, dogs do have memories and emotions. Know that dog’s can experience trauma just as humans can.

Now if you said no to all the questions I just asked, no abuse, or you don’t know the dog’s history, then have you had your dog evaluated by a vet to ensure there is no underlying medical issue that could be causing the dog pain, and hence the aggression.

So what do you do?  What’s your alternative?

When it comes to aggression, there are certain triggers that will set a dog off.  Once you’ve identified those triggers, you must decide whether you can perform a balancing act of working with your dog to neutralize the triggers, while keeping you, other people, and even other dogs, safe.

And you can only do this with professional help from trainers that specialize in aggression issues.  That leaves out the Petco/PetSmart trainers who are well-meaning, but usually way out of their competency when it comes to these issues.  Because keep in mind one other key point — your own personal liability if your dog does bites someone or gets into a dog fight.  And when I say bite someone, there’s a nip, like a pinch; then there’s a bite that breaks the skin, but you can survive with antiseptic and a band-aid; and then there’s the bite that will cause serious injury resulting in damage to a limb, potential mobility loss, not to mention the mental and emotional suffering sustained by an adult or child, or even a dog that has been attacked.

If you have serious dog aggression issues, I repeat, do not try to handle this yourself.  Serious aggression issues cannot be handled through merely treating and “good dog” your way out of them. This is a link to Tom Davis and his website, Upstate Canine Academy.  Tom is a well-known trainer, having appeared on The Today Show, Fox & Friends, and his YouTube videos have millions of views.  Tom specializes in problem dog children, all breeds.  You might see something in these videos that can point you in the direction you need to go, and help you better understand what you are dealing with. I’ve personally had two Zoom calls with Tom on other behavioral issues and he’s very good. (No, I’m not getting a commission for referrals.)

What if you can’t solve the aggression problem?

With my own personal experience, I rehomed my two Dobermans because of life-threatening behavioral issues toward my other dogs that were not successfully addressed by professional trainers.

With both of my Dobermans, I had been in contact with their breeders through phone and email for some time.  Lexus was adopted by a single man who owned 20 acres on the Willamette River in Oregon and had just lost his female Dobe.  Luxor, the male, found his final forever home with a couple in Montecito, California. In both cases, my Dobermans went to homes where they were the only dogs, the new adopters were experienced Doberman owners, and were fully aware of the aggression issue and the causes.  But I don’t think that this successful rehoming is the norm.

If you adopted your dog through a rescue, most rescues in their adoption papers, specify that they must be contacted first, and will take the dog back, if you decide you can no longer keep the pup.  Be very straightforward with the rescues as to the reasons and causes for the rehoming, because what you tell them will go on the dog’s record. The rescues can then re-evaluate and determine if the dog needs to be and “only dog” or if “no children under 12” are applicable.

Again, when you decide to give up your dog, make sure you have exhausted all avenues of help and that you’re comfortable with your decision.  Because once you sign the surrender paperwork, there’s no going back, no “I’ve changed my mind” option, etc.  And as I mentioned previously, if you surrender your dog to a shelter because of aggression issues, they WILL end up on the euthanasia list within days.  And you’re going to have to be able to live with that.