Jack Russel biting problem

[Gabi]

Hello

I'm coming here with the question of advice, because we have to take the decision to take the chance and find a trainer (NO clue how to find here around one) or to go to the vet and have our dog put down.

We do have 2 dogs. One is a Cavalier King Charles and no problem at all. Ashley is well behaved, listens well and is very enjoyable. About 2 months ago we took a little Jack Russell (Lucy) in the house to get her out of a bad situation.

Lucy lived basically for 2 years on her own in the garden, no attention, no contact with other dogs. She was meant to be a companion to 3 little kids, but that experience went a bit wrong and after Lucy bit the kids - repeatedly - in the face. Because of that they weren't playing anymore with her - which is understandable. She got also her fair share of punishments - which likely resulted because of her biting. Sooo....when the family got themselves a new puppy which was allowed inside the house they wanted to get rid of Lucy. Us being normally pretty good with animals felt sorry for her and took her in with the intention to train her.

Problem is only ....she bites - in the face. She bit me the second day in the face (nose and cheek), a week later a friend of my daughter who is a model (thank god she only nipped her in the lips), my husband got bitten in the hand couple of days later, next one in line was our little niece....again in the face, just under the eye...and today again my husband ...in the nose.

These are no nippings, she really bites, all bites mentioned above were bleeding pretty much. And there is no warning, there were in none of the cases any reason for biting. She didn't get teased, she wasn't hunted, noone was hurting her.
She bit me after she licked my face, one second licking, next second she bit. No growling, no barking, no warning at all. She bit the daughters friend when both laying on the couch ...the girl was asleep when she got bitten, my husband got first time bitten during play...today without warning while Lucy was sitting on his lap... our niece was bending down to her. No growling no warning...one second Lucy was friendly, next she bit the little child right in the face. Our niece will have a scar from that.

Theoretically we would be willing to seek professional advice and training. BUT....can we take the risk? We are afraid that she will scar an innocent child sooner or later again, which is not an option. She tends to run away, and even with being very careful it might happen. She runs to kids....enthusiastic....plays with them, but her mood can change in a split second and she will go for the face.

At this moment I'm pretty devastated and don't know any more what to do and if we can take the risk. As much as I love Lucy, I don't want to cause any harm to children. She is for the rest such a lovely little bugger who just starts to trust and loves to be part of a family - enjoying walks - and enjoying her new life.

Do you think that a dog with a behavior problem like Lucy can overcome that and become a trusted dog? Or will there always be the chance that she might harm a child?

Thank you for listening

Gabi

[melody]

Hi Gabi, your pup surely needs professional training. In my humble opinion, despite the fact that she had histories of very aggressive behavior (biting won't be tolerated when it comes to kids especially) it's still fair to give her a chance to undergo professional training and the chance to be the opposite of what she is these days. There are many great stories of dog behavior problems which were treated perfectly after training.