We are a small animal rescue centre and we have had a 2 year old Patterdale with us for about 6 months.  He has been re-homed about 5 times and each time is returned because he is vicious towards other dogs, small children, chickens etc.  He is great to the staff - good fun to take out, but as soon as he is homed he turns nasty.  Is there any hope for him? (he is neutered).

A few years ago I fostered a little terrier bitch for a local rescue. She had been rehomed 3 times and the longest she lasted was 24 hours. Each time she was returned for being aggressive. They didn't know what to do with her as once she came back there were no signs of aggression at all. I took her home to see just what was happening and it turned out to be extreme food aggression. If there was so much as a crumb of food anywhere that she could smell she would fly at the other dogs and at me and was quite ferocious making a lot of noise but she never actually drew blood or broke the skin. Once the rescue was aware of the problem we were able to wokr on it and she was rehomed to people that had the knowledge and experience to deal with this issue. She stayed with me for 3 months and was much improved although still a bit feisty when she was rehomed. Have you actually witnessed this behaviour? Do you know what is triggering it? If you could find an experienced person to foster him and monitor his behaviour and perhaps see what is triggering it then maybe it could be sorted out and he may then find a permanent home.

Thanks for the suggestions.  I think the key to this is finding an "experienced" person who will have the time to monitor his behaviour.  We have never witnessed the trigger to his behaviour but suspect that as he is a lively little so-and-so, he is allowed to get over-excited without proper discipline.

Snip "We have never witnessed the trigger to his behaviour but suspect that as he is a lively little so-and-so, he is allowed to get over-excited without proper discipline." Snip

Sounds v. likely, very few terriers know where their off button is.  Hope he finds a good, terrier friendly home soon.

Hi Valerie, If he is such a lively little monster sounds like a prime candidate for agility!! :-D You could try putting him on the rescue pages on www.agilitynet.com

There are more than a few terriers in agility and plenty of people that know how to deal with them, you could perhaps just ask for a volunteer to foster him and then see what happens, it wouldn't do any harm. :-) Wish I could take him but I have my hands full at the moment, I have a bit of a soft spot for terriers. :-D

Patterdales do need to have lots of mental stimulation My neighbours patterdale is not 9 years old & still very fit & active.

Patterdales are bred to work, but also to live in family atmosphere & environs They, according to the experts in the breed like Sean Frain, should have very good temperaments

He sounds to me like he needs a home where his brain & body need to be exercised extensively 

If you get your hands on a book called The Patterdale Terrier by Sean Frain(Swan Hill Press, Wykey House, Wykey, Shrewsbury, SY4 1JA Tel: 01939 261616
ISBN: 1 904057 57 8 )it gives a good insight into the breed