Tippi

This has been an extremely trying period for myself and my husband, so please keep your comments kind and positive otherwise, to yourself. It's really not great to read some of the comments directed at us in regards to Tippi possibly having gone to the wrong home, etc. I grew up with large dogs, dobermans in particular and so I most certainly know how to handle the larger breed of dog. I have also volunteered at animal shelters for quite some time so have learnt how to deal with all types of dogs. In regards to the tradesperson visiting our property while we were not home. We specially told him that it was not a good idea, but he insisted that he didn't mind and wanted to finish the job. For someone to imply that we are irresponsible dog owners is extremely hurtful. I have been making enquiries with dog behaviouralists today and will hopefully find someone that is able to assist us. We're not yet ready to give up on her.

Sir Snook le Faux - She is an extremely smart dog and the things that she is taught she picked up within that lesson of first being shown. We have definitely seen improvements and have a better understanding of how to manage her. When she is at home, she follows commands down to a tee however, as soon as we step outside her security blanket (steps outside our gates) it seems to go out the window completely and not even food treats seem to get her attention. Lulusuki - I'm really sorry for your loss. It's been an extremely emotional roller coaster over the past few months. Having grown up surrounded by many types of animals and never imagining my life without them, this experience as really scared me from having any further pets. If you don't mind me asking, when you put Jesse to sleep, did he seem at any point to struggle during those last moments? It really upsets me the thought of going down this path, but every vet or shelter I've spoken to seems to think this is our only option.

Thanks for the very quick responses. I'll try to respond to everyone's questions in one go... The extent of her aggressive behaviour - She has drawn blood on another dog once over food when we were visiting relatives. Usually, her first response when coming into contact with another dog is to freeze. Then if it comes up to her, she will either growl or puff her chest up (while wagging her tail in the air - I've been told that just because a dog is wagging its tail doesn't mean it's friendly/happy). When we first got her, we took her to an off-leash dog park where she initially interacted quite well with other dogs, however as they all started to get more and more boisterous she seemed to become more and more aggressive and dominating without realising they were all still just playing. We have since never allowed her off the lead when in public. In regards to men, she will typically growl at any unknown man who approaches her. Yet again though, she is always on the lead even when we have guests over so as to avoid any problems. However, three months ago, we were not home and a tradesperson (who is known to us) visited our property to finish some works, he said for the first 30 or so minutes she just sat on her bed however, as he was getting ready to leave, she nipped him on the ankle from behind. It was similar to a graze but did drawn blood. We were extremely lucky that we know this tradesperson and no further problems arose. This is when we realised how severe her behaviour could in fact be which lead us to contacting a dog behavioural therapist. His opinion on Tippi is that she isn't a "bad" dog but rather she has years of behavioural problems (anxiety, he referred to her as a "half glass full" type) that could possibly be helped with a strong willed person and continued monitoring. He is a wonderful trainer but we have spent quite a sum of money on having her assessed and lessons, plus the travel time to and from these lessons, it literally took up an entire Saturday each week. It's just not manageable to continue with those lessons. Due to his schedule, our trainer was unable to visit our home as an alternative. We have spoken to a vet about this behaviour. Their response was prozac (from memory) however, the vet did not believe she was an ideal candidate as she wasn't showing excessive signs of anxiety. The alternative the vet told us was to put her to sleep. I really just cannot go down this path - not sure I'd ever forgive myself for putting down a perfectly healthy dog. Perhaps if anyone has any trainers close to the North/West part of Melbourne that are reasonably affordable - we may be willing to go down this path again.

Hi all I am hoping someone may be able to assist myself and my husband with our 4y/o Rhodesian Ridgeback x Mastiff. We adopted Tippi from the North Melbourne Lost Dogs Home in June 2013. Tippi is a very loving dog towards myself, my husband and our cat - this is making our decision all the more hard of whether we surrender her (knowing what will most likely happen) or rehome her (in an ideal world). It is a very different story with unknown men and other dogs - she becomes aggressive and wants to dominate that situation. It takes a slow introduction before she is okay to be around a dog. Unknown women she doesn't seem to have a problem with though. Since adopting Tippi last year, we have taken her to two trainers. First one was a group session with other dogs which she handled reasonably well as long as a dog didn't get in her face. At her graduation from the training class, she allowed another little dog to lick her face so she is definitely not all bad. The most recent was much more expensive 1:1 training. The trainer handled her brilliantly and she seemed to learn so quickly and did amazing things. However, we are still really struggling to deal with her aggression towards unknown men and other dogs and the rudeness from people in the street when they see that behaviour. I have contacted the LDH in North Melbourne who have been anything but helpful. They simply told me that if we surrender her, at a fee, they would simply put her down as they don't believe she is "rehoming material". Putting her to sleep is just a horrendous thought for us and something we are not willing to even contemplate as she is dearly loved. LDH has turned the cards on us and basically said that when they adopted Tippi out that she was fine so it's happened in the last year. Which is most certainly not the case. We have tried our hardest with Tippi and have spent a small fortune in the process. Basically, what I'm trying to find out is if there is anything or anyone that can assist us with this. We don't want to put her down but we don't feel we can keep her any longer with the behaviour. The anxiety of having a dog with behavioural problems is becoming too much. I'd really love to hear from anyone who knows of an organisation where they can take dogs with aggression problems and possibly rehabilitate them or even a professional dog trainer looking for another dog. Thanks