If a dog bites, should it be pts?

[Snappedandfarted1]

After a discussion with my dog loving friend, I’m curious as to how many of you dog owners would have your pet pts if it bit you or a member of your family? I don’t mean just a nip, I mean a bite which bleeds a fair amount and requires stitches.

To me, that says that a dog cannot be trusted around a human at all and should be pts, but my friends opinion is that unless the bite causes serious damage it should ultimately be ignored. She did agree that an elderly dog should be pts in this situation but not a young or middle aged dog.

Opinions?

Also, people that mention rehoming a working sheepdog - that's likely to be cruel too. Taking a dog that's out running for ten hours a day then putting it into a pet home isn't likely to work

A farmer will know by the time a collie pup is 5 months old whether it will make a great herder. No collie pup is running the fields for 10 hours a day 🙄

Collies don't tend to be placed in re-homing centres. They don't do well being caged in. There are plenty of collie rescues who home Collies "who are no good for herding". They are placed in foster homes, with people who know Collies, assessed and found a suitable home with people who have had experience of Collies.

Some animals just arent great natures. I've got cats that will slap me - they've been ill treated and have reason. I have cats that have never had a bad day - and still slap. They just feel like it. Absolutely no reason other than bloodymindedness. No big deal, the damage is nearly nothing and I love them. But a dog that can do real damage is a huge risk. One mistake with that dog, an a person's life is changed forever. If you want to define 'a knob' as undesirable behaviours, that's fine.

I've seen dogs be put to sleep for aggressive behaviour. Most could be worked with I guess. One was just born with nasty traits. I was nearly bitten by her because I walked past her about ten feet away when she was playing with a carrier bag when she was young. She went on to bite several people and other dogs nearly killing one who was sitting quietly away from her that she'd grown up with and was an elderly submissive girl. She wasn't trainable or rational, she just got a crazed look and flew suddenly. I fully agreed with pts, it was no life for the owners being scared and anxious about what might happen next.

Most undesirable behaviours aren't an issue. Injuring humans or other animals is. A big or strong dog can do considerable damage and the risk keeping them alive while hoping training works and keeps the people around them safe for the rest of the dogs life is too great.

User, you realise the difference between a collie pup who nips ankles and a large (untrained) dog who has a history of biting and injuring people... no? 🤔

The sad thing that has become crystal clear on this thread is that people miss - or ignore - warning signs. And usually the dog pays the price for it

one error by the owners could result in serious damage

Which is why responsible owners know their dog's triggers & take steps to manage them. With professional help if required. I hate this idea that a dog pays with its life because people cannot or will not be responsible. I've had several 'aggressive' rescues, including one who came to me as an escape artist on a warning. Funnily enough i've never had a problem managing them around people or other dogs...because I know it is MY job to keep the dog in check, nobody else's

@Namechange000001 I assume when you say your cats slap you, you mean the swatting action that cats do because, well, they're cats?
I wasn't defining knob, I was asking how you defined it because all I'm reading is you pointing out things that animals do and branding it as bloodymindedness. Are birds knobs because they fly? Are fish bloodyminded because they swim? If not then why is your cat bloodyminded for acting in a way that comes natural to them? Why are dogs branded aggressive for behaving as a dog?
Again I think you're missing the point in that it's the humans around the animal that cause the issue in the first place. Yes dogs can bite and cause damage, but it's highly highly unlikely in the correct hands and with the correct training. I personally think that anyone planning to own a dog should have to have some kind of education on it first.

One of my dogs has bitten me and left a scar. I wouldn’t consider having them PTS.

Out of interest, what should have happened in this scenario:

1. Person goes to visit a house, they are expected.
2. The instruction given is to phone the resident on their arrival because there are dogs who need to be indoors.
3. Resident is phoned, visitor is told that the dogs are inside so the visitor is told to open the gate and come to the side door.
4. Resident's employee is unaware of the visitor and lets the dogs out.
5. As the gate is opened four large (tall, sturdy) dogs run down the path towards the visitor.
6. One dog jumps up at the visitor and bites them on the upper arm

near the shoulder enough to make a hole in their clothes and leave broken skin.

What should have happened to the dog?

Nothing. The owner should already have in place that nobody lets the dogs out without first checking it is safe to do so. Human error all the way there. The owner is irresponsible

My rescue had to be rehomed after biting me, dh (badly) and a farmer. He was a very high energy dog who was absolutely terrified of life especially people (god knows what happened to him to cause that - abuse i imagine) . His biting was always redirected fear aggression onto the handler.

I'm a dog person but not an expert and the poor thing needed expert help which vets and hundreds of pounds of training couldn't help.

It broke my heart and i felt like a complete failure but sometimes its for the best, he needed therapy. I tried my best but it wasn't enough. 😔

@pissedoffdotcom

I had my very fear aggressive rescue put to sleep because I couldn’t protect him and couldn’t keep him safe from everything he was frightened of.
I didn’t want him to spend his life so terrified of the outside world the only way he could cope was to lash out and so he was put down in my arms, the only place he had ever felt safe in his life.

Yes, I suppose he paid with his life, but what life did he have anyway in a permenant state of fear and anxiety.

Some dogs just aren’t able to cope in society sadly.

Greyhorses you did right by your dog imo. When a dog has huge triggers you cannot avoid, it is cruel to keep them alive. But if a dog's trigger is kids, you can rehome to somewhere without kids. If the trigger is food orientated, you can deal with that.

My ambull i rescued would have had a shit life because you cannot avoid men & children & still give a dog a good quality of life. What you did was for the dog, not based on some emotional response to a reaction without trying to find the root cause.

Hope that made sense 🤔 i have brain fog

@brizzledrizzle
Nothing. The dog was just protecting its territory as dogs have been used by humans for thousands of years to do. The resident and his/ her employee need to communicate better.
Human error caused that situation

“I had my very fear aggressive rescue put to sleep because I couldn’t protect him and couldn’t keep him safe from everything he was frightened of.”

That’s hugely different to having a dog PTS because it’s bitten someone.

Sometimes it is the best thing to have a dog PTS for behavioural reasons, but that isn’t the same thing as saying, well it’s bitten so it needs to be PTS.

I'm not against an animal being PTS. IF it is the best thing. Being PTS isn't the worst thing to happen to an animal. What i'm against is this knee-jerk 'dog must be PTS' without taking the time to a) calm down & b) evaluate the situation/reason behind the incident

Tabulahrasa he did bite someone unfortunately, out of pure panic.
Regardless of why he bit, I knew I could never be 100% sure he wouldn’t slip out of the door or somehow come into contact with a stranger again and so the decision was made.

There are many reasons dogs bite but ultimately I do think it’s up to the owner whether they can ensure it never happens again and I would never ever judge someone for putting to sleep a dog rather than give it away to an uncertain future.

I do agree that proper behavioural assessment should be done to see if it’s something that can be worked on but sometimes rehoming isn’t the best option for the dog as I’ve seen first hand myself.

Greyhorses - what I mean is, the answer to whether a dog should be PTS after biting should be, it depends.

I would have my dog PTS if he bit somebody, because I know he has a behavioural issue, Rehoming him would not be in his best interests and it would mean I wasn’t capable of managing him anymore.

I’m not considering it because he’s had issues for 5 years now and it hasn’t happened, but it was decided early on that that was the only realistic option if I was unable or unwilling to manage him.

So I’m not judging people who have felt like that was the best option, I’m judging the blanket answers that dogs just should be PTS rather than it being a considered decision.

Deoneds on circumstances if it wasn't her fault then no. I wouldn't.

Depends on the situation. If it had been trained to be violent and attacked someone without provocation then yes. If you jump on it's back, smack it, mess with it's food... well, you started it and it was behaving naturally so no..

Although if it was my dog that bit me unprovoked? No I wouldn't, I'd take them to more training and be careful around others. I can take a life because I got a little bit hurt, it's just not within my ability

@Bdrizzle:

I think pts- in a perfect world no, but it sounds too likely that something can go wrong and they sound big enough to do serious damage

Sorry @bizzledrizzle !