Update 10/21 - TLDR - This started as me trying to re-home my dog, but I have ended up keeping him in the end. I have a great deal of gratitude for some of the membership here. You know who you are - some really, truly, great people I have been fortunate enough to interact with and meet. This has been a humbling experience and likely will continue to be for the rest of Zekes life, but I owe thanks to a handful of guys for helping me get this far.

—————————————————————————————————————


Hello, all,

I have to re-home or euthanize Zeke. His euthanasia date is August 25, this is a last ditch effort to see if anyone would like to give him a second chance. This is destroying me.

He CAN NOT go to a home with kids. He is fine with other dogs, has met and socialized with hundreds and never an issue. Never met a cat so I don’t know. He DOES NOT want anything to do with kids. NO KIDS.

Zeke has been a companion to me for his 6 years, we have thousands of hours training. I don’t even know where to begin, every basic command, many advanced commands, hell, if you have mulch or woods he wont even poop on your grass. Sit, stand, stay, heel, finish, stand-stay, lay, up, down, off, upstairs, downstairs, garage, truck, inside, outside, he knows them all. Has the basics in German, bliben, zeets, plotz etc. We dont have a fence and he doesn’t leave our 2 acre yard. AKC certified, no health issues.

Trouble started when our first born son started getting mobile a year ago. Zeke showed signs of aggression whenever the kiddo would crawl toward him. I reluctantly made a feeble attempt to re-home him then, but instead we hit some more professional training real hard in hopes we could work it out of him, and it seemed to as we had no issues over the year.

We welcomed our second son a month ago and things have been going smooth, but this morning Zeke turned on me out of nowhere. The newborn was laying on the ground and Zeke was across the room lightly growling at him. When I moved toward Zeke to herd him out of the room he turned on me and showed teeth. I got positive control of his collar with my left hand but when we got to the door I moved my right hand to open the door infront of him and he took his shot at my hand . No thrashing etc but a few deep puncture wounds. It was largely unprovoked and I have no trust for him being in the house with my kids/wife. I hate it but he has to go. Kids make him incredibly uncomfortable.

He’s beautiful, super smart, incredibly obedient, no wander lust. Our third 1 hour session with our trainer he couldn’t even believe how good he is. Said he could win amateur competitions with him right then as he was, with no treats or anything. Zeke will work hard literally out of respect. He’s  the perfect dog in almost every way, he just isn’t affectionate and HATES kids.

I don’t know what else to say. If you’re interested please ask questions and Ill answer. I can’t even look at him without coming to tears knowing what lies ahead for him. He’s been my best friend.

Ill get some current pics up tonight when the kids get to bed.











Here he is today.

Blkvodoo,

I can pretty much do any day with a few exceptions over the next few weeks. Just PM me and Ill send you my number.

sorry brother.  I have 2 females and they are great with my 4 kids.

Hope you find a home and thank you for being upfront with people.  Had a friend give me his male GSD back last year, he did not let me know that there were problems with adult males, crazy dog bit mt 5 times before we put him down.

They are the best breed, IMHO!

It  is what I can do. For Joker1. No dog goes alone.

Depending on the date i can possibly transport from Akron (canton) Ohio area to maybe Indiana border but that's pushing it

I need OH to MN

I will give the driver from OH to MN a gift. which will supersede the gas expense.

You’re a good man.  God Bless you.

Im sent.

Fuck yeah!!! Good man!!!

I cant help with the move. To far south.

Free bump....

I will help with gas expense to anyone that can get the dog to BLKVoodoo. Email if needed.

I can go a bit farther west if needed.
In honor of Joker1.
Ohioans: make it happen!

This place is pretty awesome, wish I could help with transportation.

I will pay for the fuel, if someone will step up and drive him to where he needs to go.

Thank you, sir.  Hopefully, it works out with you.  Sounds like a good dog just not with kids, and that’s ok.  Unfortunately, rescues and shelters are full, tons of beautiful shepherds dying in shelters and with this issue, likely none would make room and take the liability.  

You’re a biter?!



Good on you for trying to save Zeke

As much as I hate to say it, this.  OP, he needs to go.


It still breaks my heart, but I've been there with our 5 year old 200 lb. Mastiff.  

This doofus.  We suspected he was mildly retarded.



He snapped and bit me, then we had a knock down drag out.  I don't recommend fighting a 200 lb. dog.

Akron is is shorter than Canton for me.
I'm happy to meet in Akron if you can do a leg of travel.

I've had GSDs almost my entire adult life, and I'm pushing 60.

Were you totally drunk or smoking crack when you got him?  They are overly protective and VERY family oriented.
My latest girl was 'mothered' by a West Highland Terrier.  Taught her to be a fighter.  It takes lots of time and attention to train a stubborn dog.

Attention. Attention. Attention.

(Removed, CoC-6~guns762)

Let's get the dog.

I might have a ride from Ohio to Minnesota. Stand by

Im still in the maybe category depending on when the move would happen. I honestly have no idea how those get coordinated here on arf.

Since i just sold my house I'm in the process of moving with any free time i have between work so this would be a burden on me but I'm still willing to do some transport if schedules line up.

I may have a ride from Ohio to Minnesota. I will know on Monday.

@BLKVooDoo
@zegermanznew
ETA @FluffyTheCat

I'm in NC so I can't help with driving but I will help with gas $.

I'm really sorry that OP has to deal with this issue.  The potential liability of a large dog who hates kids would make that dog unacceptable to most people...even people who don't have kids would forever have to worry that the dog might bite a kid that just happened to get near him.  

During the dog's life time, the odds that a kid will have contact with the dog is very high.  Whoever is considering taking on the dog would be wise to speak with a civil liability attorney first.    Having prior knowledge of the dog's aggression toward kids (by something like the posting in this thread) really skyrockets the potential liability.

I really love dogs, but I would be worried about loosing everything I have worked for during my lifetime in a civil lawsuit because I took in a dog that I knew was aggressive toward children, and that dog attacked and harmed (or killed) a child.

I know you are hurting from having to let him go but DO NOT kill him.

Find a foster.

GSDs are highly desired by people in this forum.

Don't kill him.

Looks like you may have a good resolution.   Please update the title and current status at the TOP OF THE FIRST POST.

Wish I could help with the drive but I'll definitely help with fuel hotel room ect.

BTT.

Same, I’ll toss a Ben Franklin in for fuel.

@blkvoodoo - i can transport across Indiana from 8/20 through 8/27. (I80/I90 corridor)

I'll send you my cell so we can communicate.

@fluffythecat - perhaps that will help sweeten the deal for the contact you're working with

ANY issue is a training issue. Period. Why the fuck would you kill that beautiful dog??  There are countless rescues and no kill shelters.

Don't pass the problem to someone else. Who's to say he wouldn't end up in a new home with kids if you drop him off at a shelter.

Perfect dog for me
I hate kids also

lol

BLKVooDoo and Fluffy- IM sent.

I appreciate the well wishes and kind words and I even appreciate some of the criticism. Ill try to respond to some of the questions tomorrow when I can. My right hand barely works at the moment and it hurts like hell to type.

I can’t thank everyone enough for stepping in. I can pay for the gas for anyone willing to drive. I’ll be happy to get him into Pennsylvania if someone is willing to take him from there.

Zeke is anxious in cars and will likely whine the whole time, just as a heads up. We could go ice fishing for 12 hours and he still wont sleep on a two hour ride home.


Someone asked about a kill date and I just want to clear it up. Its a very good and valid question. This event this morning took place 15 minutes before my brother and sister in law were due to arrive from TX with their two young kids. When I got home from the doctors I had to put on a happy face all day for the kids and entertain, and pretend I was not distraught by the events of the morning and what the future was for my companion.

When I got 5 minutes this afternoon, literally just before my OP, I called our vet to talk about euthanasia. It turns out in CT law, if the euthanasia is prompted by an attack the dog either needs to be tested for rabies, or needs to be “quarantined” for 14 days prior to euthanasia. Testing for rabies requires brain matter apparently, so if I wanted Zeke put down anytime before the 14 days it meant afterwards they would basically literally cut his head off and ship it to Boston for testing. Now at the time I was barely holding it together for the conversation in the first place, but when I heard that it did not seem like a dignified option, so the date was scheduled for 14 days later. His last vet appointment would be 8/25 at 8am.

The little Buddhist part of me thought that might be the universe sending me some kind of sign, so I asked a group of people Im rather fond of if anyone thought they might have what my friend here needs.

Zeke does not hate kids in the sense that when he see’s one he seeks it out to kill it. Zeke is around kids all the time, not even just my own.

Zeke is pretty much the epitome of the saying “Let sleeping dogs lie”. He loves the people in his pack, he wants to be in the same room as them. When you sit on the couch he wants to lay on your feet. He just doesn’t want you to acknowledge he’s there when he’s laying down.

He doesn’t care about kids until they acknowledge him. He becomes visibly uncomfortable. Its not even all the time as you can tell from the pics I posted. Its really mostly just when he’s laying down. We’ve gone as far as to train him to get up and exit the room when it happens. We were very careful not to train the growling out of him (like cutting the tail off a rattlesnake).

I thought someone saying they had a kill date already arranged before they tried to find it a new home was dumb. But trying to tell a future potential new dog owner to consult a lawyer first just took the crown. It sounds like someone who knows what he is doing will take the dog. He doesn’t need to talk to a lawyer first. He is an adult that makes his own decisions

I hate to be wishy washy and noncommittal, but depending on the day/time and the end location in MN, I can possibly get the dog the distance of I90/I94 though WI from Beloit, or maybe Rockford, IL as far as Hudson, WI or Woodbury, MN.

OP, have you figured out if your dog is aggressive with all kids?  Or is your dog maybe only aggressive with your kids?  It wouldn't surprise me at all if it's the latter, and if so, that might help with the rehoming?

I have a GSD that's spectacular with kids.  But he does kinda hate other male dogs.

As a fellow minnesotan local to BLKvoodoo, i can offer the following....

I will gift unlimited Delta Miles to anyone who needs transport to a point along the route to bring the dog home.

I will gift unlimited Delta miles for anyone to fly to the dog to facilitate air transport to MSP airport.

I will work out a cost sharing arrangement to cover Delta Pet Priority costs for carriage. Airfare for his escort is covered.


BLK voodoo, make the arrangements and you will have the dog by Monday.

PM and lets get this done...

Duke.

You're doing the right thing.
You can't keep a large powerful dog you don't trust anymore.

That's not what worried me . I didn't like the fact that it took a bite of the OP's hand . The guy who raised him for 6 years. That's not a pup or a 8month old dog doing that it's an adult dog who he spent 1000's of hours training and spending time with .

That's awesome Bro!

Where we at? Ohio?


I can get the dog to blkvoodoos house. But Ohio is a haul for driving. Can we get a little closer?

Damn, Duke!

Not bad for a 22er.

That sounds like the dog is autistic.

So you are just going to kill your friend just like that?
Find someone for him.

I have a wedding to attend tomorrow. I can ride him anytime from Saturday afternoon til any weekday evening next week. I have no plans til next Friday.

When I think of it, I'd rather take the turnpike with a dog who may not enjoy windey backroads lol, so you guys tell me what works.

Looking at the map, I'm fine with going to the 76/71 interchange (above Seville?) if anyone is around that way.

@zegermanznew

Can you update title and op so we can keep this thread for logistics only at this point.