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What Could Have Happened To Oreo?


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Hi all,

I am a foster Carer with a rescue group and have been fostering for 7 years. Today I received a phone call from an adopter, who adopted Oreo an Aussie terrier x in 2010. He was about 12 months old when adopted and had spent about 4 weeks in my care, before being adopted. He had the most gorgeous nature. He went to a fantastic home and they kept updating me on his progress and it was all good. They loved him to pieces and was the perfect dog.

Today I received a call from them saying he has suddenly turned into a very human aggressive dog, who wants to attack everyone who comes to their house and even attacked there son the other day who lives a the house, yet whilst on the phone to me he was a calmly sitting next to his owner.

I have no idea what is going on. Can a good dog suddenly become bad? Has anyone had this or know of this happening? Any advice on what could have gone wrong?

Any advice on what they should do?

Is it a salvageable situation?

At al loss as to what's gone on.

Thanks for reading.

Cathy

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Thanks for the replies. I will suggest a trip to the vet, but their opening line when I answered the phone was " we need to get rid of him". I hope they will be up for some investigation as to what's going on, as I believe there has to be an explanation.

Apparently he started exhibiting human aggression about 6 weeks ago and he's been getting progressively worse, but attacking the son was a tipping point. He also tried to get out of their gate to attack someone walking by, which he'd never done before.

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Thanks for the replies. I will suggest a trip to the vet, but their opening line when I answered the phone was " we need to get rid of him". I hope they will be up for some investigation as to what's going on, as I believe there has to be an explanation.

Apparently he started exhibiting human aggression about 6 weeks ago and he's been getting progressively worse, but attacking the son was a tipping point. He also tried to get out of their gate to attack someone walking by, which he'd never done before.

I completely understand why they'd want him gone but I hope they also understand that you cannot responsibly rehome a human aggressive dog.

If they can't or won't have the dog checked out and rescue can't take him back, the ONLY responsible action is to have him PTS.

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I have also spoken to a trainer who said maybe something has happened whilst they've been out at work as he's in the yard when they are out. So I have rung them back and they are first of all going to take him to the vet to see if there's anything obvious going on. Phew! I also asked if anything had happened in the yard at some point whilst they had been at work, and indeed it had. Someone tried to break in and came in throu the yard and it was exactly the time he started to exhibit a different behaviour and became aggressive towards strangers so,they are going to seek professional advice. They hadn't realized that it could have caused an issue for him. I have my fingers crossed that the situation is salvageable but at least they are going to seek professional advice now.

Thanks for the advice.

Cathy

Edited so it now makes sense.

Edited by CathyM
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Guest lavendergirl

I have also spoken to a trainer who said maybe something has happened whilst they've been out at work as he's in the yard when they are out. So I have rung them back and they are first of all going to take him to the vet to see if there's anything obvious going on. Phew! I also asked if anything had happened in the yard at some point whilst they had been at work, and indeed it had. Someone tried to break in and came in throu the yard and it was exactly the time he started to exhibit a different behaviour and became aggressive towards strangers so,they are going to seek professional advice. They hadn't realized that it could have caused an issue for him. I have my fingers crossed that the situation is salvageable but at least they are going to seek professional advice now.

Thanks for the advice.

Cathy

Edited so it now makes sense.

I am surprised they did not make the connection :confused: Perhaps a course of medication could help the dog along with some re-training. If they have had the dog for 2 years then surely they would be willing to give it a try? Glad they are seeking veterinary advice anyway.

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Someone tried to break in and came in throu the yard and it was exactly the time he started to exhibit a different behaviour and became aggressive towards strangers

aahhh .

Hope the damage is not permanent- poor little guy. :o how did I miss this ..apologies.

Edited by persephone
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Poor little dude, he obviously no longer feels safe at home.

Make sure the owners tell the Vet that they've had an intruder in their yard. Give him a good check over for injuries. A few x-rays could be quite reasonable in this case. Check the mouth etc.

After being given the all-clear physically they should consult a Vet Behaviourist. He may need meds but he also needs a concurrent retraining program to help change his perceptions of the yard/house.

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Thank you for all your advice, it's not often I feel out of my depth, but today, when they called, I did. I'm hoping we are on the right track to resolving Oreos issues. His owners are prepared to bring in the professionals to assess him and we will go from there. I'm hoping it will be positive outcome, but we'll see. Plenty more for me to learn though.

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His owners are prepared to bring in the professionals to assess him and we will go from there. I'm hoping it will be positive outcome, but we'll see.

That is such good news :) It must be hard for them ..and just awful for poor Oreo . :(

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Guest lavendergirl

Poor little guy. It may be that they were quite happy for him to be a watchdog and some sort of trauma has happened to him and he is now very stressed. It may help if they are able to make an area for him away from the front of the house where he cannot see people walking past. I really hope they can resolve this because it sounds like he has been a loyal little guy for the past 2 years.

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