looking for some advise

[IvoryRain]

I wish that were the case. My friend adopted a dog from a local shelter. She asked about the dog's personality, and was assured the dog had no problems. She brought the dog home; discovered the dog was fear-aggressive and hyper-reactive (went into a blind, spinning, foaming at the mouth rage when people approached--and yes, I witnessed the dog doing this many times). When my friend contacted the shelter, and pressed for details, they finally admitted that yes--the dog had in fact bitten at least one shelter worker while she was there. Yes, they had seen this rage displayed. Yes, they knew the dog was fear-aggressive and hyper-reactive. They adopted her out anyway.

"Dog Specialists"--there is no standard for qualifications. Any schmoe can call himself an "animal behaviorist" or a "trainer" or a "dog specialist". A few of them may actually have gone to college, may actually be a veterinary behavior specialist. Most have no college degree. Some are qualified to assess a dog's behavior, through experience and classes. Many are not. There is no governing body, no licencing regulations, nothing, to determine that a dog trainer or behaviorist is actually qualified to do anything with dogs. I could call myself a dog trainer and behaviorist, and set up a practice--and probably make a lot of money. I have absolutely no qualifications to do so, but I do know how the jargon goes, and could probably fool people for quite a while.

It is always unfortunant when an employee or volunteer of a shelter tries to "protect" an animal by giving out false information. I am sorry your friend had to have that bad experience.

 

[SnowOwlMoon]

Once a dog bites a person, or another dog, it is going to do it again and a again. No amount of animal psychology is going to change the animal's ingrained instincts. Once it has tasted blood it will go after more. I know this because I have studied animal behavior.

No, this is not true. There is a difference between aggression to another dog, or animal, and aggression to a human. A dog may be aggressive to other animals, but very gentle with humans (in fact, I have one like that here at home), or very aggressive with humans, but friendly to dogs (my obedience instructor had one like that). There are also many reasons for a bite; the dog may be in pain (my dachshund mix bit me when she had several exploded disks in her back, and the pain was excruciating), the dog may have been teased past it's breaking point, the dog may be defending a litter of puppies . . . dogs always bite for a reason, and many dogs bite only once. It is an old wive's tale that dogs who have tasted blood will always go after more. Many people feed their dogs raw meat (the BARF--Bones And Raw Food--Diet), and the dogs are not savage biters. My relatives were all midwest farmers who fed their dogs scraps; the dogs also cleaned up after butchering, eating the offal that fell on the ground, and licking up the blood. These dogs never turned into killers, wanting more blood.

Methinks you need to study more animal behavior, or at the very least find a new instructor.

 

[SnowOwlMoon]

If they don't let them adopt then what happens to them?

Euthanasia.

 

[IvoryRain]

If they don't let them adopt then what happens to them?

They are euthanized.

Sorry SnowOwlMoon - I hadnt seen your answer before I posted.