free purebred german wirehaired pointer

[spinach]

I Have a 18 month old german wirehaired pointer that needs a new home. Today while I was at work I received a call from my wife that Jack was play fighting with the neighbors very small dogs, another neighbor stepped in the middle to keep them apart and Jack bit her in the back of the leg, he broke skin a little and she has a small welt. Now the hard part is knowing I have to get rid of the dog. I am willing to Give him away for free if somebody would like to take him. Jack is a good house dog, sleeps in his kennel in the basement, he gets along well with children and other dogs. he hunted pheasants a few times late last season, he loves the water and retrieves well. he has a ton of energy and loves to play. But just recently I took him out pheasant hunting and when he heard his 1st gunshot of the year he ran back to the truck and jumped in his kennel. Last year he was introduced to loud noises and gunshots and it never bothered him.I talked to Labs4me a couple of days ago and he suggested that Jack might have a confidence problem which could be corrected. I just cannot take the chance of keeping him around with my 5 month old son getting ready to start crawling soon. I figure I have 2 choices. #1 give jack away and be honest with the new owner, or #2 ####### I can't even type it. Anyways if anyone is interested or even thinks of any other way please call me 651-775-7670 (woodbury Mn.) thanks, Pat

[fishnutbob]

Pat, I had a similar situation with one of my setters I sold it to a family with a yough child, and the dog bit him and he needed stiches. But also the dog I sold was in a new home and I dont think he had enough time to adjust. Also I have four dogs and sometimes they get at each other and as well as they know me if I try to break them up they will go at me, when two dogs are in battle they go at anything. Your young son is another thing if the dog knows him well maybe ok, but you never know. The dog that bit the young child I put him to sleep, as i didnt want that to happen again. But the dog is young maybe you can kennel him outside and when your son is older bring him back in the house, or leave him in the kennel and have him visit in the house wtih family. The dog I sold was a outside dog not around kids so if your dog has growen up with your family he may be fine. Did you get him as a pup? Hope this helps. I left you a phone message if you care to call Bob A.

[Guest]

If the Pup is available today, please call me at 952-983-3514.

Thanks!

------------------
Chells

[Flash]

Be careful here guys. The way I understand it, Minnesota has a one-bite law. You are not criminally liable for the first bite. If the dog bites again, you could be charged for it. You now have the knowledge the dog bites and if they bite once, they will do it again. Just my 2-cents worth.
Flash
"Set the hook"

[Bushwacker]

Spinach,
That is tough. I do agree with the above post that talks about dogs fighting with other dogs. My finacee's brother, Russ, has a scar on his hand from when he was 7 and took his dog down to the lake with him. There was a stray dog there and they started fighting. Russ was scared and tried to seperate the two and his own dog bit him bad with one chomp. Russ and this dog did everything together and they always went to the lake on the edge of their property. They were going to put the dog down, but Russ went crazy and said one more chance. They had the dog another 6 years and it never bit anybody again. When these dogs go at other dogs the worst thing a person can do is try to seperate them. Their animal instinct is at its highest when they are fighting. There is a great chance that your dog will never bite again, but I don't think I would be willing to put a child at risk to find out. That being said, I am an insurance agent and sell about 10 different companies' house insurance. All of them have the question about dogs and dog biting. I don't think I have one that would accept a house that has a dog that has shown agressive behavior and bit somebody. They say that dog bites account for more home liability lawsuits than all other causes combined.

[This message has been edited by Bushwacker (edited 10-24-2003).]

[Fisher Dave]

Bushwacker has it right ... if you try to seperate 2 dogs fighting .. wheather they are your own, or someone else's.. your very likely to get bit ... I learned something from my mother years back that works great .. throw some water on them and they will seperate .. that also works on dogs that are *locked up*(mating) most the time.

As for the dog this post started about ... This is not a mean dog by any means. It is showing good pointing skill on our cats (playing with them), and has taken to us very well .. including our son that is almost 3. It is a good dog that was somehow stuck in a bad situation.

[spinach]

Congrats to fisherdave and sherri who drove down to the cities and took Jack home last night. Thanks for all the replies everyone and all the positive input. I know Jack went to a great family. (we miss him allready) Pat

[Duffman]

spinich....
You did what you felt was the right thing to do. There will be other hounds down the road for your family, let the little one grow up a little, and then go get another furry bundle of joy. My hats' off to both you and Fisher Dave for putting forth the effort in making sure this story had a happy ending. Thanks Guys

[Duffman]

I'm in agreement here, a dog fighting is in a totally different state of mind. My folks raised huskies, even when you got them seperated, they had this look in their eyes for a few seconds, a crazy gaze of survival. You usually have two choices in a dogfight, stand back and hope the vet bill isn't too bad, or get involved and hope the emergency room bill isn't too bad. Those huskies were the nicest dogs in the world, except when they were in combat. You shouldn't have anything to worry about FisherDave, congrats to the newest member of the family!