I am posting here in the hope of some support or words of advice.
Today I have a vet appointment booked to euthanise my dog. This follows us exhausted all other avenues for help. He was adopted from a rescue centre 7 years ago (he is 8 now). He has always presented with fear based aggression but I could manage this, most of the time. We hired a behaviourist, did dog training classes and utilised the support from the rescue centre. He was always nervous around humans and larger dogs, and could escalate with little to no warning signs and bite. As I say, this was manageable as I knew him and his triggers, so did what I could to keep him feeling safe in the environment - eg few visitors, his own designated space, clear boundaries, lots of love and attention.
Unfortunately, over the last 18 months he has turned on me. He has always aligned himself with one primary attachment figure and this would either be me or my partner. Over the last 18 months he seems to have developed the idea that I am the enemy. He guards my partner and I am at risk of attack if I approach. He is small so usually goes for my feet or legs. I have had multiple bites now, small but drawing blood. Our management strategy at present is to keep him or me separate - which obviously isn’t ideal. I think his change towards me happened due to my pregnancy and he has since acted as if I was a different person.
Furthermore, after thinking that we could not conceive we have now had our miracle baby. Please, no judgement here as I know people have views that what we are doing is selfish. Clearly the risks our dog presents with mean we can’t take our eyes off him for a second with our baby around. We keep them separate to keep our dog calm and our baby safe. I feel that our dog's quality of life simply isn't good anymore.
Over the last 6 months I have contacted 20+ rescue centres to discuss rehoming. The rescue centre we adopted him from said that he could not be rehomed safely and this may cause him even more stress. They said there did not seem to be any variable that could be changed to improve his well-being and behaviour. As such, they advised euthanasia.
I have never been in this position before and it is horrible to think about putting down a beautiful, physically healthy dog. He has always presented with emotional problems and fear based aggression but his recent escalation is simply not manageable anymore and I don’t know what to do.
As I said, we have the vet appointment booked for today but I am not sure if I can go through with it.
Please, can anybody provide any words of support or guidance?
Thanks in advance.