Hello,
I'm new to the Forum. My name is Pete and I just recently returned our Doberman to the breeder for biting my 13 year old and we are devastated about the entire situation. Did I do the right thing is my question.......
Back History on Enzo the Doberman: He comes from an exceptional breeder, he is 20 months old, no health problems, we socialized him from 8 wks old with every dog and person we could find. We hand fed him from 8wks until 6 months old and loved and worked on discipline daily.
My 13 year old would play games with Enzo, chasing each other, playing catch, hide/seek, etc. Sometimes times the dog would get a little more aggressive and bark and nip the kid. My son would grab him and head lock the dog.....I told him not to do this anymore. They looked like a couple of boys rough housing....this was an obvious mistake I let go. This dog is an absolutely fantastic dog and is friendly wagging his little tail at everyone. Lately he seemed to get more and more attached to my wife and almost guarding her......he never growled at me ever.....he was my best friend. (spooning on the couch watching football with me) but recently he started growling at me......it seemed like he was changing. He really was all about my wife.
On the night of the incident my son let the dog get out of the house, He chased the dog next door to get him back. When he reached the dog, he grabbed the dog by the collar and told him to follow, Enzo growled, my son kept pulling, and the dog kept growling. ( I told the kid a 1000 times not to continue whatever you're doing if Enzo growles at you.) The dog finally turned and bit my son on the hand and wrist while pulling him to the ground.....then he let go of my son and ran back to our front yard. My son got up and tried to get into the house for help (he was bleeding badly) the dog would not let him get back into the house. The neighbor called my wife on the cell phone to come outside to help (she was unaware what was going on because she was in her office in the back of the house.) She was able to get the dog under control and in his crate. My son had to go to the ER and get stitches for a deep wound on the wrist and several punctures on the hand.
I made the decision to return Enzo 2 days later. We discussed the retraining of Enzo and the entire family. (Especially the 13yr old) I feel like we worked really hard for this dog and gave him 100% love.....but maybe not enough training for the kid and the dog. I obviously failed the dog and my kid by not training them. My wife is very very upset about returning the dog without trying to retrain everyone. But given the severity of the bite......I didn't feel Like it was a choice. My wife wants to get another Doberman and I'm just not sure .....
Very sad Doberman family...
Any advice is much appreciated.
I'm new to the Forum. My name is Pete and I just recently returned our Doberman to the breeder for biting my 13 year old and we are devastated about the entire situation. Did I do the right thing is my question.......
Back History on Enzo the Doberman: He comes from an exceptional breeder, he is 20 months old, no health problems, we socialized him from 8 wks old with every dog and person we could find. We hand fed him from 8wks until 6 months old and loved and worked on discipline daily.
My 13 year old would play games with Enzo, chasing each other, playing catch, hide/seek, etc. Sometimes times the dog would get a little more aggressive and bark and nip the kid. My son would grab him and head lock the dog.....I told him not to do this anymore. They looked like a couple of boys rough housing....this was an obvious mistake I let go. This dog is an absolutely fantastic dog and is friendly wagging his little tail at everyone. Lately he seemed to get more and more attached to my wife and almost guarding her......he never growled at me ever.....he was my best friend. (spooning on the couch watching football with me) but recently he started growling at me......it seemed like he was changing. He really was all about my wife.
On the night of the incident my son let the dog get out of the house, He chased the dog next door to get him back. When he reached the dog, he grabbed the dog by the collar and told him to follow, Enzo growled, my son kept pulling, and the dog kept growling. ( I told the kid a 1000 times not to continue whatever you're doing if Enzo growles at you.) The dog finally turned and bit my son on the hand and wrist while pulling him to the ground.....then he let go of my son and ran back to our front yard. My son got up and tried to get into the house for help (he was bleeding badly) the dog would not let him get back into the house. The neighbor called my wife on the cell phone to come outside to help (she was unaware what was going on because she was in her office in the back of the house.) She was able to get the dog under control and in his crate. My son had to go to the ER and get stitches for a deep wound on the wrist and several punctures on the hand.
I made the decision to return Enzo 2 days later. We discussed the retraining of Enzo and the entire family. (Especially the 13yr old) I feel like we worked really hard for this dog and gave him 100% love.....but maybe not enough training for the kid and the dog. I obviously failed the dog and my kid by not training them. My wife is very very upset about returning the dog without trying to retrain everyone. But given the severity of the bite......I didn't feel Like it was a choice. My wife wants to get another Doberman and I'm just not sure .....
Very sad Doberman family...
Any advice is much appreciated.