My message was on the visitors board, but to update;
My parents who live in Somerset (I live in Wales) have a 5 yr old bitch that has occasionally bitten people. She has had behavioural therapy which has helped whilst the family have been consistent with her. At the moment my family are having a major crisis and I beleive that this has had a detrimental effect on the dog, she has bitten 2 people in the last two weeks, bothare family members (my dad and my brothers girlfriend) my mum has decided that the dog should be put to sleep. She has previously bitten people occasionally. The dog has also shown some unusual nervous behaviour in the last 2 weeks. i.e. arching her back, shaking and walking in a crablike fashion. This happens for a few minutes. My mum is taking her for a brain scan to rule out a tumour, if there is one she will have Tanzy destroyed, if not she will still have her destroyed unless she can be rehomed. Can anyone recommend a home for her or is she beyond help as she has bitten people?

at the age of 5 and having an obvious temperament problem do you think it would be in the dogs best interest--or for that matter the person willing to take her on,-to be rehomed-you say shes acted strangley on a couple of occasions recently BUT shes bitten before, if whatever the outcome your mum will have her destroyed, why put the dog through having a scan, im sorry and feel its an awful position to be in but so many nice kind dogs are in need of a home it would be wrong to rob them of a chance and have someone bitten by rehoming yours, i think you probably know the answer to what should be done-

A police dog handler told me , The first bite a dog gives is HARD.... the second one is a bit easier and the third one is a piece of cake.

HI Emma

If the dog is showing unusual physical symptoms, such as those you have described, your mum should have a chat with the vet because it could be a tumour or some other neurological problem, and it is possible this may have a bearing on Tansy's behaviour. What you have described is not normal and is certainly a cause for concern :(

When i say havea chat with the vet, i mean to talk about whether it may be something other than a tumour. It seems shame if she was getting better with the help of a behaviourist and now is slipping back to her old ways because of family upset.

It has been known for dogs to become so stressed that they do react physically, such as for instance, tail chasing and believe it or not, moon walking!!! Yes, really!

If you feel the problem is basically due to family problems maybe the dog could be rehomed wiht a calm older couple or something, but she would need to be assessed.

I am not sure about organsations etc. ..... try lookng in Dogs Today magazine (W H Smiths) for details. Good luck.

Lindsay

From what you say about arching the back and such....she could be having seizures or even small strokes. The mystery of seizures is that they could be also caused by the stress going on in the home or an actual physical reason. The biting could be the first step of stress and if the stress is unrelieved manifest itself into seizures. But who knows? A vet visit might rule something out, but the money does add up in doing various tests. It just depends how firm your mother's decision is to put the dog down is in the first place.
Good luck with whatever you do. It's a difficult situation.