To have my dog put to sleep?

[NotAHun]

Not sure this is the right place to be posting this. Long time poster but name changed for privacy...

We have a small ish breed dog. She’s 5, over the last year she’s bitten 2 of my dc one twice, and two other times when people have knocked at door, once when taking a toy off of her, she’s also bitten me hard enough that I lost my nail. She just punctured ds’s arm right on the bony bit and through a long sleeved top and jumper because he tried to push her away as he opened the door to let me in (I hadn’t knocked and she would have heard it was my voice the other side of the door.

I cannot walk her off lead as she would definitely bite a toddler unprovoked she hates tiny children! My dc are all over 5. I don’t feel comfortable re homing her because no one can guarantee that they never come into contact with children and I feel responsible.

It’s awful because we all love her but if ds had been wearing a t shirt and not a jumper she could’ve done serious damage. I feel so guilty at the thought of having her pts but no idea what to do.

You dont just kill her, you speak to a behaviourist. Have you taken her to the vet? She could be ill. You need to work on and with her.

I feel like pts may be the right choice HOWEVER—have you investigated first why she might be behaving like this? It may be a physical problem that can be treated. Infections can cause confusion or she might be in pain which is lowering her tolerance level? I think a vet visit would be a good first step if you haven’t already. I would also ask the vet to refer you to a behaviourist who can visit you in your home and assess the dog’s behaviour. Then if you do decide to go ahead and pts at least you will know that you have done what you can first and have had a professional opinion to help you make your decision. It’s really difficult.

Sorry should have clarified yes spoken to vets already had bloods etc. Spoken to a behaviourist who said it’s resource guarding. Tried to manage it but it’s now the 5th time that she’s bitten one of us.

Please do not think this is something I’m taking lightly. I love her but I also must protect my children. She is small but sticky (ie not chihuahua size) big enough jaws and strong enough to do serious damage and each time she’s drawn blood.

Oh dear that’s a tough one .
I’m wondering she is some sort of terrier as her guarding behaviour at the door is taking her over the normal into a bit of a frenzy ?
My own dog has never bitten but is really nervous with toddlers . I can’t trust him fully with GS either so watch like a hawk .
I don’t know if you can afford a behaviourist but if you can give her a chance . I admire the fact you don’t want to pass the problem to anyone else and hope it doesn’t come to that .

I love my dog but if she showed aggression to my kids she couldn’t be in my house full stop. A line has to be drawn somewhere and it’s all good and well saying she might be poorly but how can you explain that to your child when their face is scarred for life?

• I do admit I might be bias as one of my friends has a permanent scar across his face from a dog bite when young. He’s 30 now and it still affects his breathing

Def more than 3 strikes op. Hardly fair to risk anyone else being bitten imo.
I am sure a vet would support pts.

Don’t kill her. Send her to a no kill shelter for re-homing. They will specify she needs to be in a family or single person without children.

If you’ve already had professional help and are unable to manage her well enough to keep your DC safe... then having her PTS is an option, probably a better one for her than rehoming and her carrying on biting and being passed about until she is PTS by someone else.

I really hate the idea of getting dogs PTS for anything other than serious aggression, but it sounds like a pattern of behaviour that’s unlikely to stop.

What is resource guarding? Food?

She’s not a terrier no. The thing is I keep on top of her, but we always have other children in and out the house, which I love but am constantly terrified she may bite them. so have to keep her on a lead. It’s just got to a stage where it isn’t manageable. the first time was forgivable as a one off but I think to allow this to keep happening is putting her before my children and also putting them at risk.

I could very easily re home her but one she is strangely despite the aggression very devoted to us and would struggle I think and secondly I really don’t think it’s fair to put other children at risk?

My mums toy poodle bit my sisters face, he was put down. I had a small dog that wouldnt tolerate small children and was rehomed via a rescue and i made it PERFECTLY clear she was not to be around children and explained why. I dont think your unreasonable, speak with your vet, see what they suggest aswell x

The thing is even through a re homing centre no one can completely 100% avoid contact with children.

I think PTS is the right option here.

Can you get a soft muzzle on to her?

I think you know what you have to do OP. Rehoming isn't an option for you and you can't keep her at home with you.

Absolutely she can be rehomed somewhere she won't have any contact with children. Give her to a rehoming centre and they will take the responsibility for finding the right home for her. Plenty of people adopt dogs who have shown they cannot be around children and they take on that dog knowing this. In a quiet home, somewhere rural, with no children, new owners could work on her resource guarding. That's very different from forcing a dog who cannot tolerate children to live in another a family home. Your dog's stress levels are probably at the limit more or less permanently because she is in an environment she cannot cope with (busy home with children), so she's at her very worst. If she is a particular breed you may be able to rehome her through a breed rescue to someone committed to the breed with the right set-up.

I’ve tried a muzzle they won’t stay on. Plus is it fair to muzzle her for hours at a time?

I feel so awful about this. We have two other lovely dogs incidentally that are bigger than her, she terrorises them too :-(

My ex had a 9 year old dog - about middle aged for that particular breed. She bit me on my arm for no reason....
His mum took the dog to a behaviourist, they did lots of classes and training. They saw a vet to check nothing was neurologically wrong.
A few weeks later she bit my ex.
Then a week later she bit my exes father, all down his face. He has been left with one eye and a lot of scarring.

You know your dog best. Providing you've done the behaviourist and the vets, it's really upto you.
Have you contacted a rescue that may train the dog before rehoming or would you still feel uncomfortable?

Sending you a hug, because I know how horrific this sort of decision is and can bet you'll get a lot of stick

She's 5 and this has only happened in the last year OP?

Did behaviourist say what training or steps could be done to to reduce the resource guarding?

Rather than keep her on lead in the house when others visit, can you not get a baby gate and keep her in a room away from others?

Wouldn’t sending her to a no-kill shelter for rehoming maybe be more stressful for her than a quiet, painless end with the owners she loves? I really don’t think getting put to sleep is the worst thing that can happen to a dog. You absolutely cannot risk any children getting more seriously hurt though.

I don’t know about PHTS. However I know one thing. She should not be around your children. The next bite they may not be so “lucky”.
She needs rehoming. I’m not telling you to do anything about this but Has she had pups, If not. Having a litter may mellow her out. Like I say just a possible observation not a suggestion.

She has had a litter previously but no way now would I purposely put her in pup. I would never knowingly breed from a dog with aggression issues.

I also agree with Laser that PTS is not the worst thing that we can do and is often the kindest. I just hate the thought of it. I am also a realist though and know that we have all been lucky so far not to be seriously injured.

I guess it’s possibly been longer than a year but has seriously escalated the last few months

Also the lay out of house makes it impossible to keep her away with baby gates not to mention she scales gates, tried a puppy pen type set up which is higher than a gate but she also scaled that

We got our dog from a rehoming centre and she was the only dog out of about 50 dogs that they would let go home with children. I really don’t get why you think they’ll just swan her off with some other kids?

Speak to a rehoming centre. The Blue Cross are very good.

I would give her a second chance personally. Things aren't right in your house but that's not to say she would be the same living with a little old lady.

Our cat lived with a toddler and a kitten and used to bite/roam. I think he was just really unhappy. All fine now living in the lap of luxury here.....