Hstead
Member
We have had a terrible day today, a terrible weekend really. Unfortunately, we had to put Spielman down today at 4 years 4 months. He was a great dog, but he was a very dominant dog. He loved my wife and I to a fault, and for 4 years he loved both our 19 year old daughter and 15 year old son as much as they loved him. But for some strange reason, Spielman became aggressive a few weeks ago toward my son.
Out of the complete blue, he would be fine one minute and the next thing we knew he would charge and attack him. He bit my son once after trying to attack him three times one evening. I have been around dogs and owned a lot of dogs and have never seen anything like this. Spielman knew many commands, although he could be defiant at times and strong willed, he was still a well behaved and obedient dog. I have always been able to be the pack leader, my wife learned with Spielman, but my kids never reached that level with him despite me trying numerous times to teach them and explain dog behavior to them.
After discussing the first attack evening with our breeder, she recommended a shock collar which we tried. He responded to the vibrate mode well and learned quickly one evening that his behavior wasn't acceptable. You could see in his demeanor and body language when he would start gearing up for aggression. But after a couple of good weeks where he showed no signs of aggression at all, he attacked when my son was scratching his hind end which was Spielmans favorite. Spielman would move as you scratched him to a point where he wanted your hand to be scratching. Then suddenly he attacked and clamped down on my sons are with all of his force and locked. My son had a hard time retrieving his arm. My wife jumped into action and blocked him from further attacks. I was not home. It was terrible.
After much deliberation, reading on here and other sites, my wife and I decided our only option was to put him down so he could not injury anyone else or as a result himself in the future. We were afraid if our breeder placed him in a new home, even one without kids, he may snap and injure someone and we would be responsible. We just couldn't bring ourselves to risk someone being seriously injured or maimed by Spielman.
It was so hard. The vet checked him over and nothing could be found to be causing Spielman's aggression and the vet agreed with the euthanism.
My wife and I held him as the vet put him down. The pain is enormous for both my wife and I. We miss him so. We know we had to do it and we made the only responsible decision, but it doesn't seem to ease the pain. He was otherwise a great member of the family. Tragic end and a lose lose situation. My sons arm is healing with no infection so far. We are grateful he didn't get bit in the face. It is just so hard for us to understand. There seem to be no good reasons for any of the behavior. My kids were nothing but kind to the dog. We just hate it happened.
RIP Spielman.
Out of the complete blue, he would be fine one minute and the next thing we knew he would charge and attack him. He bit my son once after trying to attack him three times one evening. I have been around dogs and owned a lot of dogs and have never seen anything like this. Spielman knew many commands, although he could be defiant at times and strong willed, he was still a well behaved and obedient dog. I have always been able to be the pack leader, my wife learned with Spielman, but my kids never reached that level with him despite me trying numerous times to teach them and explain dog behavior to them.
After discussing the first attack evening with our breeder, she recommended a shock collar which we tried. He responded to the vibrate mode well and learned quickly one evening that his behavior wasn't acceptable. You could see in his demeanor and body language when he would start gearing up for aggression. But after a couple of good weeks where he showed no signs of aggression at all, he attacked when my son was scratching his hind end which was Spielmans favorite. Spielman would move as you scratched him to a point where he wanted your hand to be scratching. Then suddenly he attacked and clamped down on my sons are with all of his force and locked. My son had a hard time retrieving his arm. My wife jumped into action and blocked him from further attacks. I was not home. It was terrible.
After much deliberation, reading on here and other sites, my wife and I decided our only option was to put him down so he could not injury anyone else or as a result himself in the future. We were afraid if our breeder placed him in a new home, even one without kids, he may snap and injure someone and we would be responsible. We just couldn't bring ourselves to risk someone being seriously injured or maimed by Spielman.
It was so hard. The vet checked him over and nothing could be found to be causing Spielman's aggression and the vet agreed with the euthanism.
My wife and I held him as the vet put him down. The pain is enormous for both my wife and I. We miss him so. We know we had to do it and we made the only responsible decision, but it doesn't seem to ease the pain. He was otherwise a great member of the family. Tragic end and a lose lose situation. My sons arm is healing with no infection so far. We are grateful he didn't get bit in the face. It is just so hard for us to understand. There seem to be no good reasons for any of the behavior. My kids were nothing but kind to the dog. We just hate it happened.
RIP Spielman.
