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.

I feel really sorry that you have had to come to this decision, you obviously love her very much and it is terribly difficult, you are very brave.

Cheery that sounds an awful situation am so sad for you

The amount of people who were saying 'give your dog to someone who will train it' as if it hasn't already bitten her and her kids five times for no reason. What's not clicking?

So OP yesterday evening you were asking the question, and less than 24 hours later your poor dog is dead

Pannalash , so what ? The dog bit the OP and her children over a much longer time than that , she’s tried behaviourists , spoken to vets , sought advice and I have no doubt at all , thought long and hard about her decision to PTS . This was no knee jerk response . There are just some dogs you cannot help . You can’t always train it out of them , and frankly who wants to take that risk ? Would you be willing to risk your family’s faces ? Because I wouldn’t . Not being willing to pass on that risk to someone else doesn’t make you a bad owner , it makes you a responsible one. Something we badly need more of .

Death is not the worst thing that can happen to an animal . Living your life in misery is .

@Pannalash oh give over will you? Nice non bitey dogs are pts every day in this country because there are no homes for them. Life is too short to live with an aggressive dog. People are far too soft and sentimental about pets these days which is why the dog population has exploded, people are breeding from dogs with bad temperaments and there are dogs in shelters for years on end.

Being PTS at home, in a safe environment is not the worst thing that can happen to an animal.

People who haven't been in this situation haven't got a clue what they're talking about.

@Pannalash do you think that when OP posted on here it was the first time she'd considered her options?

Definitely the right thing! Horrid decision though...

To all those saying dangerous? Dogs just need a loving home.... Some do... Some don't.. As they already have one and are still too difficult to manage.

A good corollary are sex offenders--some just need a different environment...most don't. At what point do you say the risk is too great and they need to be permanently excluded from contact with any potential victims....

It's a moral decision.... And with legal consequences and emotional distress when it all goes wrong.

Surely there are enough healthy balanced dogs in rescue

NotAHun

I am rather surprised that you found a vet to put your healthy dog to sleep to be honest. And after such a short decision making period. It may sound harsh, but dog behaviour really is all about how an animal is raised and trained. What many consider a loving home is often an over indulged home, which can be just as bad for a confused dog as ill treatment. Dogs need consistent, reinforced training. They need lots of time and effort to get across that constant barking is not good, that getting their own way isn’t allowed, that aggression is definitely not allowed. Training shouldn’t be cruel or physical, but reinforced every time the dog misbehaves until it learns that what it is doing is wrong. And everyone in the household has to know the ground rules otherwise the consistency on what is right or wrong doesn’t work. They also need socialising, to get used to visitors, other family members, so that they know that owner doesn’t need looking after. And no, I would never trust someone else’s child with my dog. They don’t know the dog, and the dog doesn’t know them. Recipe for disaster. Dog rescue centres know and understand how to retrain dogs (they can even manage to give highly aggressive trained to hurt service dogs a better life with the right owner). So I am sorry that you have gone through this upset, but getting it right from day one would have helped, and earlier intervention by someone who could have helped and given the dog a chance might have been a better option. Certainly for the dog.

I am rather surprised that you found a vet to put your healthy dog to sleep to be honest

It wasn’t a healthy dog.

@ I am rather surprised that you found a vet to put your healthy dog to sleep to be honest“
A vet will put a dog to sleep regardless of the reasons. I know of vets who say they’ve had to put dogs to sleep when the owner is e.g. moving abroad or if they just don’t want to rehome it. The rescues are full of dogs and the alternative is that if the vet doesn’t do it, then the owner may find a less humane way of doing it. So you will in fact rarely encounter a vet who would refuse to put an animal to sleep.

Aside from which, an aggressive dog is not a healthy dog.

HipHop
The OP is an experienced dog owner with other dogs that have no issues.

The dog had already been seen by a vet and a behaviourist.

I think in your position I would PTS. It’s not worth the continuing risk.

@Hiphop2 you're not the font of all knowledge when it comes to dogs, in fact your post shows you to be lacking in a variety of knowledge.

You're not a person to give advice on this situation.

My apologies. I will bow out and just reflect on my many years of dog ownership, including breeds others wouldn’t take on, an ex guard dog, and the three other rehomes we successfully took on, without any of them biting anyone, and going on to live long and very happy lives. Not an expert, but lots of successful experience.

@Hiphop2 I think it's a good idea to bow out, OP also had years of experience and this one couldn't be dealt with. Hopefully you won't ever experience it, but OP has.

@Hiphop, a huge element of dog behaviour is genetic. It's not all about how the animal is raised and trained. An untrained pointer will go on point. A ten week old Collie pup will try to round things up. I've seen it happen and the science agrees.

GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman beat me to it. Breeders invest in lines to cement the genes that cause some behaviour traits and try to eliminate others.

If you've never dealt with an aggressive dog, you don't actually have much experience. They aren't something well meaning people should muck about with. Ask any behavioural trainer if they treat cases of aggression, and if not why not.

Missing her so much tonight. I feel so guilty. But I know I had to do it. I loved her so much.

@notahun I agree you've made the right decision. For behaviour to change that much, it could well have been an underlying serious condition that wasn't picked up in the tests you've had done. I've been there too as I said further up thread. Our boy was 3 when we had to make the decision, symptoms started when he was 2 and we had him put to sleep when he'd just turned 3. For him it started with thirst, weight gain and hair loss, it quickly progressed to aggression and I was afraid for my children as well as my existing dog. We could have pushed on and kept him separated from the children and our other dog, but that's no kind of life for any dog. It's hard and it's going to be hard for a few days, weeks, but you made a decision that was best for you and your family, and her. She's not going to be sat in a kennel waiting for a home that may never come. Be kind to yourself, you made a very tough but a very reasonable and completely understandable decision.

Let's not forget OP bred from this dog before it turned aggressive the breeding could well have been the cause of the aggression and if not OP has possibly passed on those genes to unsuspecting owners already.

I do think more money should have been spent on behaviorists and OP obviously doesn't lack the money for that since she breeds but it's done now and hopefully lessons will be learnt.

Oh and any dog can bite, doesn't matter that you think your other two wouldn't dream of it. You don't know your dogs that well as you have shown by breeding a dog that then became aggressive "for no reason".

I repeat if you've not been in this situation you haven't a clue.

But hey, carry on thinking you know everything.