Is this ok to post..I am sorry if not and understand if it is to be deleted. Tonight a distressed friend tells me a family member's cocker spaniel will have to be put down if they cannot find a new home. He has gone for their baby and then dad as he rescued daughter. He is 5 and has been a lovely animal till now. No local rescues, the club will not take him and the RSPCA would only keep him 7 days. Obviously he could only be rehomed in the right place and I do know a young man who trains gun dogs who may know someone willing.take him on. But overall it looks pretty grim for him. The owner is willing to travel anywhere to a rescue who will do their best to find somewhere and of course he is free to a good home.

Wish I could help, my cocker is 6 with the loveliest temperament you could wish for. I'd be devastated if he did turn, still don't think I could have him pts though. Really hope yours is found a new home soon.

What a horrible situation for a pet owner to be in. You really can't take a risk with a little one in the house. I do remember something about certain Cockers (think it was the black ones?)having this unpredictability.
There are lots of rescues about, but I guess the dog has to go right now in these circumstances, so finding somewhere that quickly is the problem. I do hope they sort something out.

Can I suggest a site called dogsey, they have a section for private rehoming and also some excellent people who can help with training and keeping everyone safe.

I'm sorry, but any responsible rescue won't take a dog that has bitten. We certainly wouldn't. If they did, and the dog was rehomed then bit again how would the previous owners feel? What if it was more serious the second time?

I have been here, with my own dog and child and had to make the decision to euthanise, it killed me but was the only decision that was right, for all concerned.

Whilst I agree completely sometimes dogs can be rehomed privately, of course a lot more detail needs to be known but it sounds like the dog may be ok in a home with just adults. It can never be around children but may get a second chance if the right home can be found.

I think cocker spaniels are close to the top of the list for dogs that develop - with no warning - 'sudden rage syndrome', and are not a good choice of breed for anyone with young kids, for that reason. Several breeds that have a rep for being 'benign' are actually more likely to suddenly 'turn' than those breeds with bad reps.

I'm with bazaar1, here - time to euthanise. Even if you could find a child-free home for it, there is no control over who might ultimately end up with the dog - and no control over what situations it could land itself in, even with a caring owner, where someone else outside its immediate family could get bitten. Kinder, then for the dog, to be put to sleep.

No rescue will take a dog that has been bitten and if the owners pass it on knowing it could attack a child they could be held liable personally I would have it PTS as there are thousand of dogs out there that need a home that are not aggressive and have shown no such history.

Unless it can be 100% guaranteed that this dog will not be near a child again then it should be euthanised

i don`t think it`s fair to rehome, especially as it has gone not just for a child but its adult too.

I don't disagree whoever we did take on a couple of biters both remained biters all their lives of anyone not in their immediate family but we managed to make it work and they were lovely at home. It's about managing risk IMO and you need a special home and people determined to make it work.

I am not saying it will work or should be attempted just it might and realise not everyone will be willing to PTS so seeking the absolute best advise and home may be the best way forward.

Brings back awful memories of my childhood and the horrible Cocker Spaniel we had

Any other breed I might say good luck re-homing, but having seen Cocker 'rage' first hand, I really think euthanasia is best for the dog.

The problem is mollie, whilst the dog maybe rehomed to someone responsible, it's more likely that it won't be, the majority of the dog owning world are not overly responsible (sorry but it's true) and even if the dog is rehomed to a house with no kids, what if some children come to visit, what if they have children, grandchildren? Who's to say the next one to be bitten isn't an adult?

It's one thing for an owner to keep a dog that's bitten, being aware of the risks, buto rehome such a dog, is, IMO irresponsible.

As above, spaniel range syndrome is one that comes with no warning and the dog can be normal two seconds later, but it's Incurable and not manageable. I said on another thread about one of the worst bites I've seen, being from a spaniel, and it's down to rage syndrome, the lady was in hospital for weeks and had plastic surgery to repair her face, all due to her beloved pet, who'd been her friend for 6 years previous.

A charity I have on fb were ranting about a dog they have taken in who bit a child (who needed stitches) and was due to be pts so they took him. The put him straight up for rehoming, but did say he was to go to a home with older children :0 they also blamed the child for the bite. Whilst children are no angels, and should never be left alone with a dog, and the child may have pushed the dog, it cannot be classed as the child's fault. The dog in question is a Romanian stray who was brought over just 2 months ago, he's 11 months old. The kind of trauma he must have gone through in that short time is heartbreaking, but it doesn't take way from the fact that he's bitten.

Absolutely agree but as I said I just know some people will not PTS.

No, some won't, and it's not an easy decision for any (or at least it shouldn't be)

Horrible situation. Just heartbreaking

My friend was bitten by her boyfriends dog, she was leaning over the dog to get something off the table (not the best thing to do I know ) Anyway, the damage to her face was pretty bad, she had to undergo hours of plastic surgery whih skin grafts taken from her thighs. The dog had snapped before at someone else but luckily no damage was done. I think they tried to find a home in the countryside for the dog but it didnt happen so it was PTS. My friend was gutted by this as she loved the dog but did not trust it.

As heartbreaking as it is I would have to have this dog euthanised.

It would be a hell of a thing to live with if it seriously mauled someone or worse - especially a child.

I'm sorry to inform you, but no rescue/ rehoming centre would take on a dog with biting history. Not only will it leave them open to huge problems if the dog goes for someone else, even if they did agree to take it, it would be virtually impossible to find it a home. Nobody is going to want a dog that could potentially get them into serious legal trouble, especially in this 'where there's blame there's a claim' day and age, and where dog attacks are reported on an all too frequent basis in national newspapers. Apart from all that anyway, how could anyone happily pass on a dog that bites to someone else? That is extremely unfair on whoever took it on, and one hell of a weight on your shoulders. Neither is it fair on the dog, to make sure it never happens again, this dog would need to be kept away from people for the rest of its life, that is no life for a human oriented animal that thrives on company. Cocker rage is dangerously unpredictable, like another poster, I've also seen it first hand, the dog is fine one minute then mental the next, and they get so worked up they can't control themselves, going into a snapping frenzy. Someone once asked me to clip their cocker saying 'he didn't like people'. It actually had cocker 'red rage' , and the second I went near it went for me, very narrowly missing my hand and snapping at anything in its path. Needless to say, they didn't get it clipped, not off me anyway. Afraid I agree with other posters here, hard as it may be, having him painlessly put to sleep is the only fair option that is best for both owners and dog. There are plenty of lovely, friendly dogs that need a home, why keep a ticking time bomb in your house?

We don't know enough to say most of that, we have no idea if this is rage or what happened to trigger the bites. I am not suggesting it's something to go into lightly but without some more information and a vet check it's a lot of guessing on our part to suggest definite plans which was why I suggested getting further help from a dog site.

i wish i could help...but i will add that a friend of mine was bitten by her dog, not badly but enough that she didnt trust him any more, she chose to rehome him and he was so much happier in the new home that they (so far) have not had a problem with him.

Sadly I can name dozens of rescues hat will take known biters and try to rehome them, I also know plenty more who take poundies and don't assess them at all, then wonder why they've bitten in the home. Not all rescues are responsible, and many have a no euthanasia policy, which is, IMO, stupid,

I should have put no rescue that is worth its salt. A decent rescue wouldn't take on a biter, and with good reason. As to those that do, they should be shut down IMO, what a horrifically irresponsible and totally idiotic thing to do

What are poundies?

Agreed, I got into quite a row with a fellow student of mine who worked for some such rescue, who was boasting about rehoming a dog that had bitten several times


Dogs who come from the dog warden pounds, after 7 days they need to go into alternative care (rescues, foster etc) or are euthanised. Whilst many are just lost pets who can be successfully rehomed, many ares trays for a reason and every single dog, poundie or from a home, needs to be fully assessed before rehoming, that's with people, other dogs, general behaviour etc, many crappy rescues don't do this, they believe in rehoming every dog regardless of its temperament, which is quite frankly, dangerous and very irresponsible. To give you an example - we took in 5 poundies a couple of weeks ago, only one made it through the assessment, he was all ok until the weekend when he was introduced to the dog he was (hopefully) going to live with he attacked in minutes, silent, no warning and he wouldn't let go. Luckily we managed to get him off, and fortunately it happened at true center where we are trained to deal with situations like that, and fortunatley we didn't rehome him and let it happen out and a about. But it's not all doom and gloom, the following weeks poundies all passed assessment and went on to find new homes, so it can be a mixed bag.

I can think of few things that are worse or more irresponsible than a rescue centre rehoming a dog that bites And its those types that give all centres a bad name, or people saying ' don't get a dog from a rescue, it will be nuts'. I adore dogs, but I've no time for ones that bite and attack, I've been badly bitten myself, it is extremely painful and very frightening. IMO once they bite (unless provoked or in self defence), they go, end of, otherwise it's like having an explosive in your home that you never know who or what will set it off or cop it when it does. I used to be on another site, and I remember when those dogs that ripped apart that young girl from Manchester, some moronic lunatics on the site where saying they shouldn't have been put down, and to rehome them!

I know there is an issue with certain Cocker Spaniels having 'rage syndrome' but I actually own a black English Cocker Spaniel and he is the mildest tempered dog I've ever had.

It is true that solid coloured English Cocker Spaniels (not patterned) are more prone to it and apparently the worst affected are lighter coloured dogs, not black as stated by some others.

Dogs that are bad with children CAN be rehomed and at the age of 5 there is potential that the behaviour can be controlled but obvious measures need to be taken to avoid any problems.