Hi
We have a male dachshund and he is know one year old. He has bitten my boys age 7 and 8 previously but a couple of day ago he bit my eldest son very bad.
Pluto(our dog) was lying with my husband in the bed when he bit my son. We have given him to the SPCA as we are scared that next time it my be even worse. We are all vey sad and we were thinking that if he is maybe sterilazed that it might make a difference and then we rather go fetch him.

Will this behavior change or not?

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Originally Posted by Granrex

Hi
We have a male dachshund and he is know one year old. He has bitten my boys age 7 and 8 previously but a couple of day ago he bit my eldest son very bad.
Pluto(our dog) was lying with my husband in the bed when he bit my son. We have given him to the SPCA as we are scared that next time it my be even worse. We are all vey sad and we were thinking that if he is maybe sterilazed that it might make a difference and then we rather go fetch him.

Will this behavour change or not?

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Having him neutered is not going to keep him from biting people. This is a behavior issue.

What did you do the first time or times he bit? Did you consult with your Vet or an animal behaviorist?

In my area if you surrender a dog you cannot change your mind and get him back. Also, a dog that has bitten is euthanized IF the people who surrender the dog are honest about the history.

I don't think neutering a dog is all you need to do to change behavior but it can help, and it's a good idea anyway. It can reduce the aggressiveness of a male dog and also help with other undesirable behaviors like marking walls, etc.

Dachshunds are sporting dogs and while they are small dogs and people like to coddle them and make them into lap dogs, they need exercise and something to do. They are very smart (I've had three of them). They are busy and relentlessly looking for food.

A one year old dog has not yet reached maturity and is still a puppy in many ways, though he may be full grown physically. Puppies put everything in their mouths - just like babies. And any dog will bite in the wrong circumstances. Not seeing what was happening with the interaction with the kids, it's hard to say what the correction is. Most dogs will bite someone taking their food away - unless they are trained otherwise. Most dogs will bite if someone scares or hurts them, unless they are trained otherwise. Few dogs bite unprovoked. Both the family and the dog have to be trained. The family have to be trained how to manage the dog and train him out of bad behaviors, and encourage good behaviors and the dog needs consistent messages from all the people training him.

I would take the dog back if you can, have him neutered and go to obedience training with him. If you are worried about the biting, you can use a muzzle as a temporary aid. Or if you can't get this dog back and still want a dog, immediately get involved in puppy training classes with the dog and commit as a family to practice what you learn. Involve the whole family in the care of the dog, too.