Koda was surrendered to us by a family who said that he wandered on to their place and stayed for a year, during which time he was guarding their goats. They said they allowed him to stay, until he killed one of their chickens, and then he was no longer welcome. When they brought him to Windsong Ranch, it was clear that they were afraid of him, though they had not previously mentioned that he was aggressive. While they were here, Koda bit one of the owners. The bite seemed driven more by fear than aggression, and it would have been easier to tell them we couldn't take Koda. But we have dealt with other dogs who have a bite history, and we are usually able to manage them well enough to keep ourselves safe and allow the dog to have a good quality of life.

We put Koda in one of our barn kennels to start, and taught him to back away from the gate and SIT before we entered with his food. After we were comfortable that we could get him on a leash safely, we took him to the vet for vaccines and neutering. Once he recovered from surgery, we put him in a paddock with a couple of goats. He is very trustworthy with our goats, and seems happiest when he has something to protect. He also likes having another livestock guardian dog as his companion.

We were content that he was making progress and thought there was the possibility he might be adoptable under the right circumstances, to the right adopter. Then one day Lynnette made the mistake of not approaching him carefully enough, and he attacked. He seemed to be frenzied, continuing the attack as though his life depended on it. Lynnette struggled to break free.  After that, we knew that we could not allow him to be adopted. We're not sure what his future holds, because his unpredictable behavior is worrisome and potentially dangerous, but there may be as much risk in getting him to the vet for euthanasia as there is in simply letting him live in a paddock, enjoying his role as LGD. After that attack, we know that we must be more cautious than ever not to do anything that may trigger Koda. We don't know what may have happened in his past to cause the anxiety that seemed to drive his aggression. Generally, he is a sweet boy who enjoys when we pet him and seems to WANT to be a good dog, but that hairpin trigger is definitely worrisome.