Putting my 8 year old dog to sleep....

[loubbyloob]

2 years ago we got Sam from the kennels.
He has been badly abused by his last owners (burns to his skin,matted fur etc )
After a few weeks he snarled at me and showed his teeth.
The week after he bit me (when I went to kiss boyfriend )
I think he thought I was going to hurt bf.
He is a nervous wreck,jumps at any noise,won't let us stroke him.
We have had 3 bites In two years and needed antibiotics.
We have no kids so there's no risk there.

He will only sleep in our bedroom.
Otherwise he howls all night long.
We bought him a single bed so he wouldn't jump on ours.
The last two weeks we go to bed at 11pm and he spends 4 hours just staring at snarling (there's nothing there)
Jumping as if someone is there and barking.
He won't settle.
We are shattered all the time.
He finally falls to sleep at around 3am

My boyfriend wants to put him to sleep.
I don't.
I want him to have a nice life.
I rang vets and booked in next week.
They recommended herbal calming tablets.
I've ordered them.

Any ideas why he is doing this ?
Is he seeing things?
Does he have PTSD?
He is so unpredictable and we can't stroke him or let him kiss us because he just flips.

We take him out for two walks a day.
We can clip his lead on fine.
He doesn't mind that as he knows we are going for walks.

Two years is a huge time to not have been able to work through the fear of being struck thing, the longest it has taken with any of the rescues I've fostered or helped with is six months. Poor ddog, he's clearly had a really shit past. Good for you rescuing him from a council kennel direct, but downside is that you've not had any of the support that a responsible charity or volunteer based organisation would had offered. What breed is he (mostly)? A specialist charity rescue might be able to offer advice and support more tailored to his needs.

Sorry had an internet crash and there's half an hour of xposts!

@FudgeFlake he is more poodle.
I love him,even tho he doesn't really show much affection.
Everytime I come home he jumps up wagging his tail and brings his toy over.
I know that he has a nice dog in there.
He is just messed up

Apologies if this has been mentioned but the op said he shows his teeth alot, i worked with a dog who did this when excited, he was relaxed and happy but his top lip would go up almost like a twitch. Often people backed away from him even though he was showing happy/confident signs, could it be this? obviously depending on the rest of his body language/signals. Is he a Border Collie or Spaniel type?

Getting rid of the cunt boyfriend would help

Oh, your poor ddog, and poor you, that sounds really difficult. A vet can refer you to a behaviourist that they work with, book in with them (your vet) and tell them what's going on. I have a friend who tried everything before putting their dog on anti-anxiety meds, the dog is SO much happier now, and they might slowly wean him off the meds with a behaviourist when he's able to be. You need both a behaviourist and to ask them if meds might help before you consider putting the dog down. There's no doubt you can't cope with the dog like this, but please don't lose hope!

Is this for real?

You adopted a dog from a council kennel (I'm guessing this isn't in the UK as local authorities don't operate adoption shelters) with issues but you didn't seek any help with addressing those.

The dog has has a change in behavior two weeks ago.

You've not taken it to the vet to investigate a physical cause.

You instead query whether the dog might be seeing ghosts.

WTAF?

Find a force free behaviourist through pet professional guild or IMDT. You have a really distressed dog that needs your help. If you aren’t the right person for that and you are wanting something different then let someone else take over.

@loubbyloob

Could you have rats or vermin in the house?

Years ago I fostered a young dog who settled well to begin with until we opened an extended part of the house that had been empty for over a year. Little Dog would go mental in the evenings, snapping and snarling and barking at seemingly nothing, staring at the walls, growling at the ceiling etc

I kick myself now but at the time it just didn't make any sense. We also had two other dogs who had no reaction and so I thought there was something "wrong" with this already troubled dog. The rescue I foster for arranged for him to go to a more experienced foster home and our household carried on as usual for another week until one night we could hear scratching in the wall cavity and realised we may have rats. A quick look around the loft space confirmed it and I felt so terrible, this poor little dog had only been doing his "doggy" thing and we had dismissed it as a behavioural issue. I've always felt guilty about it as he was a sweet little thing. (He did find his forever home eventually).

Anyway, is it worth checking this sort of thing out just in case?

If you do decide that you can no longer look after your dog, then the breed rescues will invariably take crosses of their breed

For example
Bedlington rescue - does take crosses www.bedlingtonrescue.co.uk/surrender/
Doodle trust - only takes poodle crosses www.doodletrust.com/

This would be a much better option than PTS

You would be very unreasonable to have him put down. You need to get him checked over at the vets to see if he has anything causing pain. And you need a dog behaviourist to help him.

Everything @DogInATent said

If the snarling us not a new trait your dog could be scared of men because of past trauma. Can you try to rehome him (dog not BF or maybe vice versa!)

Poor little guy. He deserves better X

Please don't ever get another dog.

@IWantAllTheDogsInTheWorld I had a very similar experience. DDog (terrier cross) was going intermittently mental at the floors, and occasionally the ceiling. No sign of vermin inside the home whatsoever.

Couldn't get the landlord to send in a pest controller - they just dismissed what I was saying. TBH the only reason I knew we had rats was because DDog was telling me so. Later on told them I could hear scratching in the walls, and they said it must be neighbour noise.

In the end DDog found a rat in the garden and the landlord finally sent in a pest controller. Lo and behold, DDog stopped going mental at the floors.

Bedlingtons are terriers and were historically used as ratters, amongst many other things.

Though this would only explain one issue the OP has, and she does still need to get a behaviourist in.

I hope the vet can give your dog something to help calm him a bit. He must be on high alert the whole time due to his history.
See if the vet can recommend a behaviourist to help you work through this too. I understand why your partner would want to put this dog down, but I think given his history he needs a bit more time to trust you and be able to relax and enjoy his life.
The baring the teeth thing. We met a Dalmatian on a dog walk once that came running up to us baring it's teeth. Turns out it was smiling! It was the friendliest dog but it did put me on edge until the owners said what was happening.

"I would PTS, but then I don't really get the point of a "pet" that just makes everyone's lives miserable, to be honest."

Oh this, so much this. Pets are supposed to be enjoyable and rewarding.

They're living creatures with their own wants and needs. Animals without the problems of this dog can become ill or develop health problems as they age, you shouldn't have them PTS for your convenience rather than what is best for them.

It may be that this dog can't be helped, in which case being PTS might, sadly, be an option as a last resort, but it shouldn't be top of the list!

Have you tried a hot water bottle? Or something similar he can't tear to shreds and cause a puddle, perhaps a well-wrapped stone warmed in the oven. We had a neurotic years ago, it didn't solve the problem but it did calm his night behaviour.

@user1477391263

I would PTS, but then I don't really get the point of a "pet" that just makes everyone's lives miserable, to be honest.

Agree. An aggressive, snarling, bitey dog, who girls all night, needs his Oren single bed (!) and you have to sleep with the lights in for it.

Put to sleep. Don't pass it on to another family.

Your dog is telling you really clearly that he doesn't want to be touched. Why are you continuing to touch your dog?

2 years and she can't even touch the dog. Sod that. Dogs are supposed to enhance your life. An aggressive dog with a history of biting will never be rehomed. Most rescues would put it down because for it to be behaving this way means it's not a healthy dog whether that's physically or mentally.

Id be looking at pts to be honest if a behaviourist couldn't suggest anything. But then i don't think that keeping a dog alive is necessarily the best thing if they've got a history of unprovoked bites. Next time it could be a child.

It doesn't matter where you got the dog any pet charity will give you some advice.

It's so odd on Mumsnet some posters make it sound like there are people falling over themselves to give a home to unwanted aggressive dogs with a history of biting. There are far more dogs needing homes, than there are people who can provide the kind of extremely experienced, knowledgeable quiet home that this dog would need. Even dogs that have never bitten anyone. The chances of finding such a home are very slim indeed and just passing the problem on. Unless the ones that are telling the op she should never get another dog are willing to take in this dog?

It sounds like dementia.