Petra,
Can I just put a bit of a different slant on Otis's situation, for you to think about… Please bare with me, trying to make a long story short :)...
Reading on another dog site, where a German Shepard lived for 6 years being a loved family member. This family had 3 kids themselves, but also fostered other kids from babies to young teens. A very busy, active family, people coming and going all the time, all times of the day and night. G.S was fine till recently, when he began to display unprovoked attacks/bites, on the foster children only, not on his family members, (at least not that Im aware of). People walking through the house, etc. Was offered a lot of info from the Forum, (and I will just add, the original poster was also offered a lot of nastiness, but thats a whole different issue :mad:), which she followed up on.
Anyway, I have placed an 18 month old Cattle Dog in a home with 3 young kids, and this boy, (who has been recently castrated), was also nipping the kids friends, washing machine repair man, her friends etc, etc. NOT the children of the house though. Long story short, I emailed this lady with the G.S. to let her know I was going through the same issue with my placed boy, (thankfully this incredible dog savvy lady seems to be getting things sorted out, with Nosh, with our input, and her common sense !!).
As it turns out, I got a followup email from the G.S owner, yesterday... She got his thyroid tested, and he was normal. She had behaviorists in to help with his issues etc, etc. She did everything in her power to try to sort her boy out. Unfortunately, the behavior continued, he had a full medical workup, only to find he had multiple brain lesions, which was causing his temperament/behavior changes. He was given his wings last week, RIP Ben.
I debated whether to tell this story, but reading about the bite to the young girl this week, I decided to tell you. I feel for what you are going through, I really do. I know this is probably a very long shot, and is really quite a rare and extreme case, but...
I wish you the very best of luck with Otis, my thoughts are with you... I am hoping that Otis's story wont follow Ben's.