um. no. I have a high drive ACD, and she doesn’t get tons of physical exercise. What she does get is mental exercise. Many high drive working dogs are euthed because too many people make too many excuses (he’s X breed, or he’s protective or whatever) for bad behavior and the dog finally bites someone. As dog owners, we have a general responsibility to the public and as a dog trainer, I am held to a higher standard, so if I recommend euthing a dog, it’s because I think the dog is a serious liability. I did not recommend euthing this dog, by the way.
This dog is very smart and obviously trainable. I hope the right home can be found as obviously not a good fit for you.
many gray area dogs are very trainable. Being very trainable does not equal safe to be around strangers or in public.
True personal example. Black dog was taken as foster by training partner. We did not know her history except she had been owned by a person with small children and tied out a lot. They were moving and could not take the dog. Training Partner, is experienced and had sporting breed dogs at the time (ie: high drive). Black Dog was good for about 2 weeks and then began to show her real personality. She cornered and then started a fight with one in-house bitch, the male dog intervened. She backed off when he stepped between them. She was incredibly trainable, absorbed the training quickly and did not forget what she was taught. Training Partner got her to the point she was pretty good at all commands she had been taught, though she had occasional outbursts with the in-house bitch and once started a fight with my Corgi bitch. We decided that she needed to be placed in an only dog home. After a great deal of searching we found a home that understood and enjoyed training, who put in an expensive underground fence, conditioned the dog properly to the fence and thought we had a home.
Until the Black Dog blew through the fence to attack a toy dog walking down the street.
I checked when I picked the dog up that afternoon and the fence was working correctly. It was simply worth it to her to take the zap to get to the dog on the street.
She came to my house after that and I had her for about 4 months where she became accustomed to my pack. We placed her again, that lasted 2 days (was on a working ranch). Then she came back again. Kept her for another 2 months, placed her again and that lasted about 2 months. We tried a rescue group who would not take her and finally Training Partner decided she was too invested in picking fights with dogs to place so she was euthed.
So where do you place a dog like this safely? We tried a residential home, a home on a working establishment, a farm outside the city and a rescue group? The first home was very willing to invest in training and lessons. There was plenty of room to run at the working places.
And this dog had not bitten PEOPLE.
Good for you for finding those rare homes where anxious dogs don’t come in contact with other dogs or people or kids or whatever their trigger point is, but many don’t have that luxury.
I don’t see where anyone is suggesting the OP take the dog. I agree that based on what she has posted that would be a big mistake.