put my dog to sleep?

[booksandchoc]

I am being unreasonable, I feel terrible and I deserve whatever flaming I get.

I've made an appointment to get my little dog put to sleep. I'm tried to rehome him, but all the rescues around here are full, I spoke to the dog warden and he advised in our situation to get him pts.

We got him 4 years ago when he was 2, an elderly acquaintance had him a few months but couldn't cope with him, so we stupidly took him on without knowing his history.

He is aggressive to other dogs, every other dog, he has no recall, he barks constantly whenever we leave him in the house and now he has started snapping at DD. I don't know what else to do .

Are you saying it would cost her one payment of £60 to solve all the dog's problems?

In my area a 1 to 1 consult with a qualified behaviourist is £65 for 45 minutes. Around the same price as putting to sleep a small dog.

In that time the behaviourist will observe the dog. Chat with the owners and make an action plan to prevent further incidents and resolve the issues. Included is ongoing email and telephone support and occasionally you get a follow up visit in with the price.

If op lives down south then it will be more expensive but so will put to sleep.

D0oinMeCleanin ...and in the meantime the dog is increasingly unhappy and a danger to her daughter.

I assume you are willing to take this unhappy dog on, if it is so easy and cheap to sort its problems out?

I would be yes if I didn't have two of my own dogs.

And no in the meantime the dog is not increasingly unhappy because op and the behaviourist would work out what is causing the aggression and remove or counter condition those triggers. Op really ought to be supervising the dog around her young child regardless of any issues.

Pffffft. This is ridiculous. Because people with violent behaviours can be completely fixed with one trip to the therapist. Come on...hopefully op is no longer reading.

It's a dog. Last time I checked dogs were not people.

And behaviourists were not therapists. They're not going lay the dog on a day bed and ask it to talk about its puppyhood ffs. They will assess the dog and devise a behaviour modification and management plan for op to carry out.

Yes but you do have two dogs already - which is exactly the point I made upthread. The vast majority of the people with the time, experience and confidence to take on a dog with these issues will already have a dog. So it's all very well for you to sit there judging the OP, but unless you can offer either immediate practical help or support for the difficult position she's now in, how about you STFU.

And it takes more than "a bit of effort" to rehabilitate a dog with multiple issues, which this one appears to have. It takes a LOT of time, confidence and, quite often, a fair bit of cash (ingrained dangerous habits + novice owner does not = quick fix after one behaviourist session). We've had our dog-aggressive dog for just over a year, have spent well over £100 on behaviourists alone, have a lifetime's experience with dogs, have the time to dedicate to working with him (retired DH, no children) and although slowly improving, he is nowhere near 100% - and the key is, he probably never will be. He will get better and we will get better at managing him and avoiding trigger situations but he will never be 100% trustworthy with all other dogs. That's fine, we can live with that. But it would be irresponsible to expect the OP to live with a similar level of risk when it's her daughter that would be harmed if she got it wrong.

Op hasn't even tried. That is the point I am making. If this dog was so bad why has it taken her four years to realise she can't cope? And how will she know how much effort it would take to rehabilitate the dog without even looking into it?

In my previous home I would have taken this dog in an instant however the new layout of my home means I am no longer to keep dog aggressive dogs separate from own dogs.

Doin, insurance doesn't always cover behaviouralists. My £15 a month policy doesn't and neither does my mother's £22 a month policy so your comment was rather harsh.

Op has a two year old dd, that makes this a critical issue, this is exactly the age when dc start bothering dogs. My point obviously was it's very unrealistic to say that a dog can be fixed so quickly, all the issue dogs I know have taken years to get better.

A lot of insurance plans will if there is a referral from a vet.

Not all dogs can be rehabilitated, even with unlimited funds, time and experience.

You can't win them all, you can't save them all. You've done your best for his life and now you're doing your best for his death. At least you tried - he knew love and a happy home. That's more than many dogs left at shelters will ever know.

It seems to me to be a simple case of child trumps dog.

Which is absolutely right.

Dooin. Both mine and my mums specifically state behaviouralists are not covered under the policy.
I had cause to check last month because of an issue with my mums dog and it prompted me to check mine (different company) which was the same.
Referral or not many policies will not cover this.

If he was mine op he'd haves nice bit of steak for dinner then off to the bets tomorrow.

You've clearly given him a chance despite his dog aggression but if he's started snapping at dd theres no other option.

Be kind to yourself. There's many worse things than a peaceful dignified death xx

She hasn't tried. What has she tried besides trying to pass the problem onto already over stretched rescues?

If Op had been down the behaviourist route and found that she was unable, for genuine reasons, to follow any behaviour plans then yeah, fair enough. But she hasn't.

She has no idea how ingrained this behaviour is or what is causing it or what could resolve it because she hasn't tried.

If you all want to handhold and pat her back while she takes an easy out then I guess I can't stop you. I have my own dogs to deal with now so will be leaving it now.

D0inMeCleanin, if you honestly think it an "easy" thing to pts a dog which, for all it's problems, is clearly a dog the OP is very attached to and has taken good care of, then you can't be all that attached to your own dogs.

(Funny how it would be so easy for other people to sort out this dog's problems, but not D0oin, as her excuses are totes legit and valid....)

OP, ignore her, and concentrate on having a last few good days with your dog.

I paid out £70 for a behaviourust for our problem dog - biggest waste of money ever. Its very easy to give advice to others but when its your own dog that has set behaviour with you its hard
I am willing to bet money that I could walk the op's dog confidently and without incident. Because its not my dog im not emotionally invested in him. The op and this dog are in a cycle of anxiety and this would be hard to break. Regardless of how much money you throw at someone who will have the dog behaving impeccably for them. Yhat wont change for the op. Its like kids that are little darlings for great aunt hilda but demon spawn for thier parents.

The OP has tried. Is no longer able to cope and it would be wholly irresponsible to even try to rehome this dog which would either be pts in the end or end up in kennels -I know what I would want for my pet.

I hope that one day you are able to have another dog op. You would be a loving owner -yes its painful now but in time you'll know you did the right thing for the dog. You gave him four happy years which if it wasn't for you he wouldn't have had. Its shit - it would be betyer to rehome him but sadly that isn't going to happen.

All I would say is this: please stay with him at the end. He will feel safe with you x

I recently took on a rescue dog. The dogs trust said he was 3 years old. He has been destructive and totally not housetrained. He also chases the cat (I was told he totally ignores them) and when I am alone he stands in front of me, stares, barks and then lunges. I have been petrified. He is also petrified of men.

I paid 130 on a credit card to a behaviourist recommended to me by a well know dog training club. (I had already done the dog training which just did not work at all as dog too exciteable). Turns out the dog is no more than twelve months old and has grown considerably since we had him.

Some hints were really good but how do you keep a dog on a house lead when he bites it in two seconds? The male in the house has now ignored the dog for four months as advised and the dog still growls and is petrified. The dog still chases the cat and I have resorted to using bones when alone (stupid I know).

He is slowly getting slightly better but I believe this is due to him calming down as he gets older and training by us not the behaviourist. Incidentally 130 covers one session only, a two hour visit. Allegedly you will not need him again but if you do telephone advise always available.

The one time I did phone I was told "well not everything works". We got him from the Dog's Trust, when I phoned their behaviourist it took one week for them to call back and his advise was as useful as a chocolate teapot (the dog had managed to open kitchen cupboards and eat everything in sight, mess all over the carpet and destroy everything in slight incuding a settee). The behaviourist's response was "awesome I would have been taking photos not stressing".

Please don't flame op she has a two year old and unless you are in the position you cannot know how it feels. And incidentally I still have my dog and still would not judge. I do not however have a two year old.

Flowers for you, books. You are doing the right thing and it is very very hard I know. So sorry,

My sister loves dogs trust but she's had nothing but problems with the dogs she's gotten. One of them has bitten her - she had to have quite a few stitches and they're costing her a fortune in vet bills - she's on benefits and can barely afford to run a car, let alone huge bet bills.

I just fail to understand why people think that for a creature with no sense of the future or of time, being put in a cage for the foreseeable future is better than dying peacefully and painlessly. There are far worse things that can happen to a dog than being PTS. Seriously.

Gen why did your sister get as dog if she cant afford it?