Call to vet to PTS - behavioural euthanasia

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My OH and I have made the difficult decision to call the vet in the morning and ask for our 6 years old rescue lab to be put to sleep.

We got her at 1 year old, no apparent bite history although we know that people don’t always give the full story when giving up a dog. She has always been extremely anxious and if I’m being honest there’s just something about her temperament where we feel like we have a ticking time bomb in the house.

Prior to Xmas she started to display some aggression towards us, snapping and completely intolerant of being handled in anyway. We took her to the vets immediately and she has undergone all manner of tests and scans with no obvious medical cause. Her behaviour is now escalating and we have had a couple of bites towards us. To be clear we very much leave her be, no fussing or anything like that however she is constantly on high alert. If I sit next to her on the sofa I’m wary about how I might move in case that sets her off. We have muzzled her out and about but now we just don’t feel safe with her in the home. We had a visitor stay last week and it really struck me how tense we were the whole time (obviously we warned said visitor not to touch her etc). We now have a situation where she’s not entirely safe in the home, is unpredictable and we can no longer have someone safely look after her if we need to be away.

The decision was made yesterday after a bite and now we have this sickening wait to call the vet in morning when they open to start the process. It feels devastatingly
awful and I feel like I can’t look at her. We haven’t slept and have both been crying since we came to the decision.

I suppose I’m just curious to know what it will be like speaking to the vet. We know rehoming is out of the question and continuing to live like this isn’t for us either. I feel like we have failed her.

To add - it is ridiculous to give a dog every chance when it's a dog with such dangerous behaviour and such a poor chance of success. A lab is big enough to do serious harm, and this one lacks predictability.

Dogs have no sense of the future. They live in the moment. You know what's happening but she doesn't.

All she will know is that she's quietly going to sleep surrounded by people who love her.

You're doing the right thing. She isn't a happy dog to be living with whatever is going on and there's only so many chances she can be given if she's actively biting.

normal behaviour 😂 my dogs are terriers and will fight to the death so no it was a huge huge risk. Pose a risk to humans? Ok I’ll just watch the two things I love most tear each other from limb to limb🙄 Listen your cool with the dog being pts. I’m not so I moved away from
the thread. I maintain it is not ridiculous to seek help and advice of a trainer. They see and have been trained to recognise things we can’t. I went through a few because giving up for me was simply just not an option. This isn’t my dog and therefore not my choice so I respectfully left it after making a sensible suggestion. Let’s agree to disagree, have a nice day

Thank you for explaining this. She had the back leg injection when we had her sedated during her x-rays so we know what that looks like. And what you say about other things we could do is how we feel. We will never be assured she is safe and ok and we can’t continue to live like that. My husband felt extremely passionate about getting a rescue and how people shouldn’t give up and even he is saying out loud that having her has taken a great toll on us.

How can you possibly say that she's suffering from anxiety issues having never met this dog, and having a tiny, tiny snapshot of information over an internet forum?

How irresponsible. This dog has already bitten multiple times.

Be kind to yourself, you are doing the right thing. It sounds like the poor dog is suffering, maybe anxiety or stress if nothing physical appears to be wrong.

try : 01803 813160 / [email protected] / there is also a Facebook page

if she has a space, she will have your dog.

the below is copied from their website:

Devon Dog Behaviour Rehab & Rehome
Devon Dog Behaviour Rehab and Rehome was founded in 2012 by dog behaviourist Ruth Owen, who also runs Devon Dog Behaviour. Having consulted for a rescue centre for a number of years, she realised that there was a huge gap between what a rehoming centre offers and what many of the dogs need, in order to get a second chance at life. For the first year, Ruth funded DDBR&R herself, but as the demand increased she realised that this was not sustainable. So DDBR&R was formed as a Community Interest Company (CIC), which is a not-for-profit organisation, in July 2013. DDBR&R’s Company Registered Number is 08625025. The ethos is a simple one. We take dogs of all breeds and ages from clients, vets, rescue centres and members of the public. We focus on the dogs that need our specialist training and behaviour skills to get them to their next life. We also take puppies – which are easily homed but need skilled placement to make sure that they too do not end up in rescue centres.
We also make what space we can for oldies that much of society seems to shun. We generally focus on local dogs to us in Devon although there is a huge demand nation wide for welfare places. However, once in a while, we take a desperate dog from elsewhere that fits the only space we have at that time. In short, we help as many dogs in dire straits as we responsibly can, without compromising the dogs we already have.

Yes, sometimes a dog will get serious enough in conflict to attempt to kill another dog. That's within the repitore of normal dog behaviour.

Of course you wouldn't leave the dogs to kill each other. My point is that once the risk is recognised, you can keep the dogs separated, and manage the risk. This gives you time to work. From the description that OP gives, this dog does not have manageable risk.

I
I don't think the vet will try to dissuade you with her history and it doesn't sound like your dog is comfortable in life for whatever reason, it's sad for you but its swift, painless passing and I wish we humans could have the same. I'm not one that believes bite = pts either as have been bitten by my half asleep dog who turned out was in pain and so with that treated the risk disappeared (I presume the vets did a pain medication trials anyway after the x-rays etc were inconclusive).With you all being hyper vigilant to manage the situation your dog likely senses that tension too so not a good situation for any of you.

I feel for you as it's hard decision and even though you'll likely be relieved I'm sure you will also miss her or you'd not have managed her for so long already.

There are more specialist vet home euthanasia companies now thankfully as with many practices being short staffed they can't always offer this service. It's more expensive but is my preference with planned euthanasia for both dog & my own benefit it's less stressful. They can offer sedation first if feel the dog is likely to stress but none of mine needed it.
Some insurance polices may cover towards euthanasia & cremation costs.

If you don't plan to bury at home the vets have contracted cremation service for either individual if want ashes back or cheaper mass option if not. You can also pick your own local crematorium, I have done this since we just missed the vets 2wk service schedule as it was much quicker and could either drop off direct or they would collect from home/vets. I also preferred seeing place they went to myself as it wasn't long after a pet crem scandal and is much like the human equivalent so i found the service with its staff much easier to deal with to organise & collect ashes while feeling raw, than my busy vets.

But they won't be able to rehome an aggressive dog anyway, so even if they did take the dog back what kind of a life would it have stuck In a rescue it's whole life? Sometimes putting to sleep is kinder than keeping the dog alive just to have it sitting in a rescue for years.

I don’t think people fully understand the stress and strain which comes from living with a dog with issues.

We have had our 3 year old rescue for just over 18 months and it’s been a really tough journey (with a couple of bites along the way), has cost us a small fortune in behavioural therapists and medication (he has been on Prozac for the last few months).

We too wanted to give a rescue a chance (we are life long dog owners/lovers) and although I know many people have a wonderful time with their rescues there is also a whole group of hidden rescue dog owners struggling like hell (just look at the fb support groups, that will give you an idea of the extent of it all). The truth is that when these poor dogs come to rescue centres no one knows the true picture of their neglect and abuse because who the hell is going to admit to that? We believe now that our poor dog was abused much more than the rescue either new about or let on.

But we are getting somewhere with him and will,stick with it for the time being but the truth is that we don’t know what the future holds. He is now ok with dh and I (although no one else) but I do live on edge a little wondering when he may change (the last bitting episode was due to a double ear infection). I can’t lie and say that behavioural euthanasia has never crossed my mind because it has.

We have quite a restricted life now due to him not being able to be looked after by anyone else. It’s bloody tough and I wouldn’t judge anyone for going down the road you are. You’ve given your dog 5 years longer than she may have had and need to praise yourselves for that. You took her on with only good intentions as we all do with rescues.

Good luck, I hope it’s able to be done quickly for you all.

Because it’s a suggesting following someone posting over an internet forum. It’s unlikely that everyone will just say the same thing isn’t it.

It wouldn’t be my decision to do what the OP is doing either. I’d also go behaviourist and medication route- or at least try.

You're not giving up though. You're doing the best thing for your dog.

People talk about rehoming in this situations and i think that's immoral - passing along a known biter to an uncertain future, probably into incredibly incredibly stressful situations with people she doesn't know - all to just say that they didn't pts? I think rehoming is the cowards way out of having to make a difficult decision.

My BIL had a mastiff for a short while that he rehomed from what seemed to be a good background. While with him, it bit a child, so they rehomed it to people who promised they would never let it near any children. It then bit another child and got rehomed again. God knows where it is now, or how many more people its bitten, but BIL couldn't bear to PTS, which is what he should have done.

I think the kindest and most responsible thing anyone can do with a dog who is a biter is to pts quietly. Grieve for her but you can be safe in the knowledge that you took responsibility for your pet, you gave her the best possible life for the last 5 years but now it's time to let her go.

I had a cat pts at home due to old age. It was the calmest, most peaceful ending. He was pts on his favourite chair on a warm sunny day with a belly full of his favourite food.

Cost a fortune but he hated going to the vet. It helped me a lot with grief to be able to control the end of his life to that extent and knowing he just slipped away, happy and contented. I definitely recommend a home visit for PTS if you can - for your sake as much as the dog.

I do as we lived with a high bite risk rescue for 16 years. We managed to modify things enough that she lived a really happy life and was never triggered enough to bite. It is no mean feat but also I would want to exhaust everything before euthanasia - pain trial, anxiety meds and specialist help for my OWN peace of mind.

Could she be in pain ?

Try not to apthropmorphise its a dog not a child. Dogs are kept our entertainment and pleasure if that isn't working PTS and get a different one. If people spent the same on the animals in the fields as they did on their captive ones meat would be very expensive.

What a terrible attitude - you aren’t entertaining me anymore so I will trade you in for a better model . Hideous .

Have you tried one of the main dog rehoming charities? My uncles dog bit someone on a walk and became more aggressive but they somehow managed to retrain him and he went to live with someone on his own

I don’t think rehoming is an option. She herself is from dogs trust and she was incredibly stressed in that environment even though she was only in there for a couple of weeks before we adopted her. Realistically with her history she would be unlikely to be homed quickly if at all and that to me would be worse than PTS.

Gosh how sad for you all.
this still the ultimate last kindness that you can do for your dog though. This is a dog who is very stressed and unhappy all the time thru are awake. Living like that isn’t a good life. You’ve tried everything and it’s not worked.

there are so many worse outcomes for a dog than just going to sleep at the vets that they know , with their person ( please don’t leave them alone ) and just not waking up.

alk the best x

I think you are doing the right thing. There are people who understandably will try everything and anything and not pts but continue to take risks. I am of the opinion that sometimes it is just kinder to let them go peacefully. You said she's been an anxious dog since you got her so really she has had heightened emotions for 5 years, that's a lot of stress. Yesnim sure the trust would take her back and rehome her but I wouldn't suggest that would be in her best interests.

I'm so sorry to hear you're going through this. We had to have our wonderful dog PTS a couple of months ago, although for medical reasons rather than behavioural so I can answer your questions about what to expect.

We had her PTS at home. Initially it was booked for the next day but I couldn't cope with the waiting and knowing, so we called back and they were able to come the same day. I won't lie to you, it was absolutely the worst moment of my life, absolutely devastating, but the vet and nurse who arrived were incredibly kind and understanding. They came with a blanket to wrap her up in and take her away as we agreed over the phone in advance for a private cremation. She was lying in her bed and we fed her bag after bag of her favourite treats while they put the cannula in. Then they tell you they will now inject the anaesthetic. One minute she was eating and the next minute she was asleep. It was very quick and very peaceful and she knew nothing about it. They wrapped her in the cosy blanket and took her. The home euthanasia and private cremation was actually a lot less expensive than I expected maybe a few hundred.

I was glad we didn't have to wait, I couldn't bear looking at her knowing what we were planning. The vets were excellent.

I really wish you all the best and hope it's peaceful for you and her. It's absolutely heartbreaking.

To me it doesn't sound like the OP's failed her at all. She's given her the best life possible and it sounds like she's spent a lot of money on tests. What else is she supposed to do, wait until she attacks someone?

Can you put a rehoming post on a Facebook group. Stating all of this obviously. My thinking is perhaps a behavioural dog trainer might see it and take her from you. Making g sure to mention the next step is for her to be pts.

We can’t do this. We’d have no idea where she would end up and how stressed this would make her. This way we know she will have had a quiet last few days with us and that she will go in peace and no longer be anxious. If she did it again we’d have
to live with that.