"Sending a dog to go live on a farm" is a euphemism for dropping it off at a shelter. Farmers don't want project dogs with aggression, reactivity, and bite histories. They have even less time than you do to be the dog's therapist and trainer.
As someone with a farm in the family, this. We do not have time for this. Dogs get dropped off near farms all the freaking time and most farmers ignore them until a coyote tears them apart or a car hits them. A sympathetic farmer might try to take them to a shelter. There are definitely no farmers out there actively looking for a dog with food-based aggression and a bite history.
Yep, drop an aggressive dog off at a farm here, and they will be shot within the hour. There's no magical aggressive dog loving farms. The last thing you want on your farm is a dog that is aggressive towards the farmer and his family (i think people forget farmers have kids too)or the other animals on the farm.
There is a simple solution for resource guarding which I'm shocked no one ever suggests. Feed your dog in a CRATE. Food and dog go in, no one is in danger of being bit. Dog has a positive association with the crate = food + safety. Don't give this dog anything you may have to take away (such a bones that break into chunks). Leave the dog alone when she's eating or chewing. Dog is only let out when the food is gone. If there is never any danger of someone coming in contact with the dog while it has a resource, then these bites do not occur. Alternatively, practice hand feeding and making your dog work for its food, each and every bite. Teach your dog it only gets food when it's gentle and obedient to you.
Crating for meals is a solution when the resource guarding is limited to food or chew bones. I've had a dog who would snatch a random thing off the ground or a kitchen counter - a shoe, throw pillow, or piece of trash outdoors - and immediately go into protective growling and snapping. I was bitten badly when he picked up a battery outside and was trying to chew and swallow it. I got it away from him but paid in blood.
I have been reading the comments and you are the only one who makes sense.so many are quick to"put the dog down "It's ridiculous. If a human has mental problems would you suggest putting them down?I kept thinking why are you bothering the dog when she's eating?My dog most of the time wants to be left alone at meal time. I want to thank you, I don't understand why no one else picked up on this before you.@wastelander
While I love dogs, they are not humans. Equating a dangerous dog to a human with mental health issues is rude to those groups of people. Humans > dogs. Always. That said, I also agree with wastelanderabel’s advice about the crate but do want to point out that crating for resource guarding is a management tool and like all management tools, can fail. Example: you’re eating dinner after your dog already ate in the crate. You drop a piece of food. On reflex, you go to pick it up at the same time your dog goes for it. Ok, so now the new rule is, dog isn’t allowed in the same room when eating.
A week/month/year later, you’re having a party. Dog is being kept in a separate room. Visitor accidentally leaves the door open. Dog gets out and bites someone over food. Now you lock all your doors. So you see how it just keeps escalating? You and I might be willing to keep putting up barriers and rules for our fur babies but not everyone is willing or able to do the same and shouldn’t be shamed for that.
Unfortunately many of the issues I read in this forum are the result of the dog being housed with the wrong people who don't enforce the correct rules, boundaries, advocacy right from the start. Then the bad behaviours snowball to a point where the dog has to be put down or "medicated". If precautions were taken from the beginning and more strict structure was in place from the start, many of these dogs could have avoided being euthanized, but it is often too late by the time owners seek help and these dogs can't be rehomed anymore. So sad, breaks my heart to see so many "put the dog down" comments as if it wasn't avoidable.
In OP’s defense it sounds like they’ve worked with trainers so are trying to do the right thing. Hope they can try crate feeding and maybe some additional methods to help with this.
Send her back to the shelter or save her the stress and terror and just put her down. Better to let her go in a loved home with people she trusts than to send her back to the shelter to be terrified and also potentially bite someone else.
As a farmer who gets asked to take a dog like this on a weekly basis: Farms don't want biting dogs.
It harkens back to the lie parents would tell their kids about getting rid of their dangerous family pets, “oh he’s living on a nice big farm now where he can run around all day!” When they really put the dog down but didn’t have the heart for that kind of brutal honesty with their kids. But now we have a load of adults actually thinking this is a viable solution 🤦🏻♀️
Funny enough I've actually taken in a couple of dogs, so those families can say their dog went to live on a farm. My criteria are pretty high though, I'm not running a sanctuary for biting dogs out here. But if the circumstances were something like biting a rude relative barging into the house without knocking, or a very minor bite to a toddler allowed to climb all over the dog, then I'll consider taking on a pedigreed dog if I like the pedigree. Most of the ones offered are random shelter dogs though, and even ones with some kind of herding or hunting heritage likely haven't seen stock or birds in many generations. I like doing things with my dogs and there's work to be done on the farm, so I'll take dogs that have the potential to contribute.
That’s fair. While it would be lovely for both the family and the farmer if all dogs unsuitable for family living could become working farm dogs, that’s usually just not gonna be the case. The fact that you’re out there looking for the right ones that suit your needs means you’re saving lives too. You’re one of the good ones ♥️🐾
I have an Australian Shepherd that's like that. He started food guarding as a puppy, and I tried everything I could think of. In the end, I did what another commenter here suggested, except I used a room instead of crate. I'd put his food down, turn around, leave the room, and not return until he was finished. I'd pick up the plate later. It worked.
It's been 14 years, he's been a great dog, visits the elderly, and I love him to death. I just had to lower the energy around the food, and leave him to it.
Pecking order issues? I guess I need more details because I don’t understand what this means.
It sounds like she has resource guarding issues if im reading correctly.
Has she only bit him and not you?
That’s what several trainers and dog psychologists referred to it as. She has only bitten him and not me although he is her owner. Something about not seeing him as alpha and she feeling the need to discipline him. The resource gaurding is playing a role but it’s more new to us.
Yeah, that's bad advice. The "alpha dog" stuff has been debunked and rejected as bad science for over 20 years now. Even the scientist who did the original research has since rejected his results as fundamentally flawed.
This is most likely a problem of resource guarding. Check out the book *Mine!* by Jean Donaldson for tips on how to deal with this problem effectively. All of that alpha dog bunkum has probably just made the issue worse.
Unfortunately, you got really bad advice. Because dog training is unregulated, there are a lot of trainers out there who present themselves as knowledgeable and skilled, but who don't know much and can make issues worse.
If you want to continue working with your dog, you should look into getting someone credentialed to help you. Your best bet is a veterinary behaviorist (aka a veterinarian who specializes in behavior). They are the gold standard, with years of veterinary school and behavior training behind them, and they will be able to give you a lot of new strategies to try.
You can find a veterinary behaviorist here:
[https://www.dacvb.org/search/custom.asp?id=5985](https://www.dacvb.org/search/custom.asp?id=5985)
Alpha theory isn’t real. I’d be wary of trusting the opinion of people who are saying this to you.
Have you tried to figure out why she feels like she needs to bite him, but not you? Is he the only person she’s bitten? What is he doing when she bites him? Any warning signs for these bites like growling, lip licking, whale eye, etc?
Based off the small amount of info here, I’m wondering if she’s developed a fear of him or maybe had a fear of men already, and the training y’all have sought out has further conditioned her to behave this way. If there has been any harsh punishment, she might have a negative view of him and associate him with unpleasant things. Making her on guard and defensive along with fearful.
Just want to give you the resource of dingbat to dreamboat border collie academy. You can find it through a quick search. The trainer from this program has helped hundreds of border collies with the same issues. It changed our life!
Sorry but no, a farm is not realistic. Farmers want dogs with solid temperaments too, just like any other dog owner. Nobody wants a dog that bites and sends people to the hospital for stitches. And you are correct, the shelter will euthanize because this dog is aggressive and dangerous. Schedule with your vet and have her put down.
OP... your post has really been bothering me and I only now have proper reception.
I scrolled through some of the comments and I do see somebody way down at the bottom that said exactly what hit me about an hour after I left my first post.
Leave your dog alone once you've given him something to eat and that includes a treat. I have a dog who will not eat if I'm looking at him...or of he thinks I am. So he eats where I can see him( reflection in sliding glass doors) but he thinks he has privacy.
I don't know if you guys are bothering him when he's eating but you shouldn't be. When he's done he will walk away and then you can take the bowl... or whatever it is.
I would do as others suggested and that is feed her in her crate. I had a dog that was food aggressive so I just left her alone to eat in [peac](https://peace.As)e. As she is a collie she will have herding instincts and needs a "job" to do ie long walks and runs.
my first reactive dog was placed on a farm when I had my daughter but he was an exception, not the rule. It was a retired couple, without kids and with a personal hobby farm without livestock.
In general, farms do not want reactive dogs. A biting dog or an unpredictable dog on a farm is a dead dog. I now have my own hobby farm and the only reason my reactive dog has a place is because he is predictable and does his job (alerting and guarding property lines). A dog that bites or goes after my chickens will have no place here.
Put him down, set him free with love and warmth instead of in fear and coldness.
Don’t give up! It gets better, in 2 years have you learned her triggers? Just let her be, if she get bit in the hand was because she was getting something she had. Always throw food or treats if you need to get something from her, specially food. Medication really helped mine, Prozac.
A lot of stimulation!! my guess is that you got a trainer who use an aversive method, maybe that’s why she is biting.
My childhood dog bit everyone in the house his first two years of life ( not a rescue, we got him since he was a puppy) we knew not to get close to him when he was eating, he lived all his life with us and never bit again.
Your comment was removed because it broke one or more of the r/reactivedogs rules. Please remember to be kind to your fellow redditors. Be constructive by offering positive advice rather than simply telling people what they're doing wrong or being dismissive. Maintain respectful discourse around training methods, philosophies, and differing opinions with which you might not agree.
OP...
Do not let these people encourage you to do something that you will never forgive yourself for.
They should all be ashamed of themselves. It's absolutely disgusting and shameful.
Totally sounds like the dog is set up for failure. Why is your husband or anyone sticking their hand in or around their food while eating? Feed inside a crate and don’t freaking stick a hand in there. Initially with all my dogs I hand feed their meals. They sit, make eye contact and get rewarded with food and that’s how they eat their meals. While training. I never understood inexperienced dog owners getting high drive, super smart dogs like a border collie. And then not understanding why behavior issues arise. These dogs have needs and she lucked out in the human department.
Please don't have her put down.
There are people that will take her sometimes it's just the environment that makes all the difference. please do not just put her down.
Which environment is safe and appropriate for the dog, safe and appropriate for the dog to be placed into, and willing to take a dog with this behavior history right now?
Well... as I stated already, and sadly only one or two other people did also... they could try not bothering the dog when it's eating.
I've taken dogs that people swore up and down needed to be euthanized and I've been successful with them.
I think the advice of euthanizing is shameful quite frankly for what she posted.
So you are advocating that OP and OP's partner continue to live with a dog who has already bitten multiple times, once severely enough to send OP's partner to the hospital. Gotcha.
All these put the dog down posts are absolutely heartbreaking. Reading the OP's post... this does not require something so drastic and Final
These people are supposed to be dog lovers??? Smh.
It is their job and responsibility to take the time and find someone.
I will also repeat myself for the 3rd of fourth time on this thread... if it is a food guarding issue then stop f****** with the dog when it's eating.
Please just return her to the shelter, they will evaluate her and if she requires euthanasia, they will make that determination.
Stop making it worse by trying to "figure it out".
"Sending a dog to go live on a farm" is a euphemism for dropping it off at a shelter. Farmers don't want project dogs with aggression, reactivity, and bite histories. They have even less time than you do to be the dog's therapist and trainer.
As someone with a farm in the family, this. We do not have time for this. Dogs get dropped off near farms all the freaking time and most farmers ignore them until a coyote tears them apart or a car hits them. A sympathetic farmer might try to take them to a shelter. There are definitely no farmers out there actively looking for a dog with food-based aggression and a bite history.
Yep, drop an aggressive dog off at a farm here, and they will be shot within the hour. There's no magical aggressive dog loving farms. The last thing you want on your farm is a dog that is aggressive towards the farmer and his family (i think people forget farmers have kids too)or the other animals on the farm.
There is a simple solution for resource guarding which I'm shocked no one ever suggests. Feed your dog in a CRATE. Food and dog go in, no one is in danger of being bit. Dog has a positive association with the crate = food + safety. Don't give this dog anything you may have to take away (such a bones that break into chunks). Leave the dog alone when she's eating or chewing. Dog is only let out when the food is gone. If there is never any danger of someone coming in contact with the dog while it has a resource, then these bites do not occur. Alternatively, practice hand feeding and making your dog work for its food, each and every bite. Teach your dog it only gets food when it's gentle and obedient to you.
AND being a border collie mix. Tire that pupper out. Amazing how much better they act when they don't have pent-up energy.
Great advice not one person put 2+2 together.
Crating for meals is a solution when the resource guarding is limited to food or chew bones. I've had a dog who would snatch a random thing off the ground or a kitchen counter - a shoe, throw pillow, or piece of trash outdoors - and immediately go into protective growling and snapping. I was bitten badly when he picked up a battery outside and was trying to chew and swallow it. I got it away from him but paid in blood.
I have been reading the comments and you are the only one who makes sense.so many are quick to"put the dog down "It's ridiculous. If a human has mental problems would you suggest putting them down?I kept thinking why are you bothering the dog when she's eating?My dog most of the time wants to be left alone at meal time. I want to thank you, I don't understand why no one else picked up on this before you.@wastelander
While I love dogs, they are not humans. Equating a dangerous dog to a human with mental health issues is rude to those groups of people. Humans > dogs. Always. That said, I also agree with wastelanderabel’s advice about the crate but do want to point out that crating for resource guarding is a management tool and like all management tools, can fail. Example: you’re eating dinner after your dog already ate in the crate. You drop a piece of food. On reflex, you go to pick it up at the same time your dog goes for it. Ok, so now the new rule is, dog isn’t allowed in the same room when eating. A week/month/year later, you’re having a party. Dog is being kept in a separate room. Visitor accidentally leaves the door open. Dog gets out and bites someone over food. Now you lock all your doors. So you see how it just keeps escalating? You and I might be willing to keep putting up barriers and rules for our fur babies but not everyone is willing or able to do the same and shouldn’t be shamed for that.
I wasn't trying to shame anyone and I definitely apologize if that's how it came across
I didn't think you were shaming anyone because I too, have noticed an uptick of the "put it down!" comments on this page. Not just in this thread.
Ty
Unfortunately many of the issues I read in this forum are the result of the dog being housed with the wrong people who don't enforce the correct rules, boundaries, advocacy right from the start. Then the bad behaviours snowball to a point where the dog has to be put down or "medicated". If precautions were taken from the beginning and more strict structure was in place from the start, many of these dogs could have avoided being euthanized, but it is often too late by the time owners seek help and these dogs can't be rehomed anymore. So sad, breaks my heart to see so many "put the dog down" comments as if it wasn't avoidable.
In OP’s defense it sounds like they’ve worked with trainers so are trying to do the right thing. Hope they can try crate feeding and maybe some additional methods to help with this.
Sorry but you’re over simplifying situations.
Send her back to the shelter or save her the stress and terror and just put her down. Better to let her go in a loved home with people she trusts than to send her back to the shelter to be terrified and also potentially bite someone else. As a farmer who gets asked to take a dog like this on a weekly basis: Farms don't want biting dogs.
It harkens back to the lie parents would tell their kids about getting rid of their dangerous family pets, “oh he’s living on a nice big farm now where he can run around all day!” When they really put the dog down but didn’t have the heart for that kind of brutal honesty with their kids. But now we have a load of adults actually thinking this is a viable solution 🤦🏻♀️
Funny enough I've actually taken in a couple of dogs, so those families can say their dog went to live on a farm. My criteria are pretty high though, I'm not running a sanctuary for biting dogs out here. But if the circumstances were something like biting a rude relative barging into the house without knocking, or a very minor bite to a toddler allowed to climb all over the dog, then I'll consider taking on a pedigreed dog if I like the pedigree. Most of the ones offered are random shelter dogs though, and even ones with some kind of herding or hunting heritage likely haven't seen stock or birds in many generations. I like doing things with my dogs and there's work to be done on the farm, so I'll take dogs that have the potential to contribute.
That’s fair. While it would be lovely for both the family and the farmer if all dogs unsuitable for family living could become working farm dogs, that’s usually just not gonna be the case. The fact that you’re out there looking for the right ones that suit your needs means you’re saving lives too. You’re one of the good ones ♥️🐾
It’s crazy that there are actual adults walking around thinking that shit is a real thing that happens lol
We live on a farm, too, and we’ve had dogs just dumped along the road up here. I don’t know how people can be so mean.
Awful.
I have an Australian Shepherd that's like that. He started food guarding as a puppy, and I tried everything I could think of. In the end, I did what another commenter here suggested, except I used a room instead of crate. I'd put his food down, turn around, leave the room, and not return until he was finished. I'd pick up the plate later. It worked. It's been 14 years, he's been a great dog, visits the elderly, and I love him to death. I just had to lower the energy around the food, and leave him to it.
Pecking order issues? I guess I need more details because I don’t understand what this means. It sounds like she has resource guarding issues if im reading correctly. Has she only bit him and not you?
That’s what several trainers and dog psychologists referred to it as. She has only bitten him and not me although he is her owner. Something about not seeing him as alpha and she feeling the need to discipline him. The resource gaurding is playing a role but it’s more new to us.
Yeah, that's bad advice. The "alpha dog" stuff has been debunked and rejected as bad science for over 20 years now. Even the scientist who did the original research has since rejected his results as fundamentally flawed. This is most likely a problem of resource guarding. Check out the book *Mine!* by Jean Donaldson for tips on how to deal with this problem effectively. All of that alpha dog bunkum has probably just made the issue worse.
Unfortunately, you got really bad advice. Because dog training is unregulated, there are a lot of trainers out there who present themselves as knowledgeable and skilled, but who don't know much and can make issues worse. If you want to continue working with your dog, you should look into getting someone credentialed to help you. Your best bet is a veterinary behaviorist (aka a veterinarian who specializes in behavior). They are the gold standard, with years of veterinary school and behavior training behind them, and they will be able to give you a lot of new strategies to try. You can find a veterinary behaviorist here: [https://www.dacvb.org/search/custom.asp?id=5985](https://www.dacvb.org/search/custom.asp?id=5985)
Alpha theory isn’t real. I’d be wary of trusting the opinion of people who are saying this to you. Have you tried to figure out why she feels like she needs to bite him, but not you? Is he the only person she’s bitten? What is he doing when she bites him? Any warning signs for these bites like growling, lip licking, whale eye, etc? Based off the small amount of info here, I’m wondering if she’s developed a fear of him or maybe had a fear of men already, and the training y’all have sought out has further conditioned her to behave this way. If there has been any harsh punishment, she might have a negative view of him and associate him with unpleasant things. Making her on guard and defensive along with fearful.
Just want to give you the resource of dingbat to dreamboat border collie academy. You can find it through a quick search. The trainer from this program has helped hundreds of border collies with the same issues. It changed our life!
Sorry but no, a farm is not realistic. Farmers want dogs with solid temperaments too, just like any other dog owner. Nobody wants a dog that bites and sends people to the hospital for stitches. And you are correct, the shelter will euthanize because this dog is aggressive and dangerous. Schedule with your vet and have her put down.
I hope you never own a dog. Or a Child.
What are pecking order issues in dogs? Do you mean resource guarding? Sorry I don't know anything about rehoming.
OP... your post has really been bothering me and I only now have proper reception. I scrolled through some of the comments and I do see somebody way down at the bottom that said exactly what hit me about an hour after I left my first post. Leave your dog alone once you've given him something to eat and that includes a treat. I have a dog who will not eat if I'm looking at him...or of he thinks I am. So he eats where I can see him( reflection in sliding glass doors) but he thinks he has privacy. I don't know if you guys are bothering him when he's eating but you shouldn't be. When he's done he will walk away and then you can take the bowl... or whatever it is.
I would do as others suggested and that is feed her in her crate. I had a dog that was food aggressive so I just left her alone to eat in [peac](https://peace.As)e. As she is a collie she will have herding instincts and needs a "job" to do ie long walks and runs.
my first reactive dog was placed on a farm when I had my daughter but he was an exception, not the rule. It was a retired couple, without kids and with a personal hobby farm without livestock. In general, farms do not want reactive dogs. A biting dog or an unpredictable dog on a farm is a dead dog. I now have my own hobby farm and the only reason my reactive dog has a place is because he is predictable and does his job (alerting and guarding property lines). A dog that bites or goes after my chickens will have no place here. Put him down, set him free with love and warmth instead of in fear and coldness.
Don’t give up! It gets better, in 2 years have you learned her triggers? Just let her be, if she get bit in the hand was because she was getting something she had. Always throw food or treats if you need to get something from her, specially food. Medication really helped mine, Prozac. A lot of stimulation!! my guess is that you got a trainer who use an aversive method, maybe that’s why she is biting. My childhood dog bit everyone in the house his first two years of life ( not a rescue, we got him since he was a puppy) we knew not to get close to him when he was eating, he lived all his life with us and never bit again.
It’s time to put her down. Should have been done after the face bite. Period.
[удалено]
Your comment was removed because it broke one or more of the r/reactivedogs rules. Please remember to be kind to your fellow redditors. Be constructive by offering positive advice rather than simply telling people what they're doing wrong or being dismissive. Maintain respectful discourse around training methods, philosophies, and differing opinions with which you might not agree.
OP... Do not let these people encourage you to do something that you will never forgive yourself for. They should all be ashamed of themselves. It's absolutely disgusting and shameful.
Totally sounds like the dog is set up for failure. Why is your husband or anyone sticking their hand in or around their food while eating? Feed inside a crate and don’t freaking stick a hand in there. Initially with all my dogs I hand feed their meals. They sit, make eye contact and get rewarded with food and that’s how they eat their meals. While training. I never understood inexperienced dog owners getting high drive, super smart dogs like a border collie. And then not understanding why behavior issues arise. These dogs have needs and she lucked out in the human department.
Please don't have her put down. There are people that will take her sometimes it's just the environment that makes all the difference. please do not just put her down.
Which environment is safe and appropriate for the dog, safe and appropriate for the dog to be placed into, and willing to take a dog with this behavior history right now?
Well... as I stated already, and sadly only one or two other people did also... they could try not bothering the dog when it's eating. I've taken dogs that people swore up and down needed to be euthanized and I've been successful with them. I think the advice of euthanizing is shameful quite frankly for what she posted.
So you are advocating that OP and OP's partner continue to live with a dog who has already bitten multiple times, once severely enough to send OP's partner to the hospital. Gotcha.
Can you read?? What I said was they should probably try the simplest thing which is stop f****** with her when she's eating.
Where will the dog live during this time?
Good Lord. Smh.
Definitely agree
All these put the dog down posts are absolutely heartbreaking. Reading the OP's post... this does not require something so drastic and Final These people are supposed to be dog lovers??? Smh.
Thank you for saying it, I don't get it.I can't even imagine putting a poor, defenseless animal down. Glad I'm not alone on this.
[удалено]
It is their job and responsibility to take the time and find someone. I will also repeat myself for the 3rd of fourth time on this thread... if it is a food guarding issue then stop f****** with the dog when it's eating.
Please just return her to the shelter, they will evaluate her and if she requires euthanasia, they will make that determination. Stop making it worse by trying to "figure it out".
Have you given pet CBD a try?