Our hearts our broken

[3rdtimeinflorida]

Our 3 year old cockapoo has had tendencies every now and again to show signs of nervousness, anxiety and high levels of resource guarding which has appeared in signs of aggression. He can snap at other dogs and always seems like he is in high alert. We have tried behaviourists, figuring out his triggers and knowing how to handle him and not putting him in situations that he can’t handle. We have done all this because we love him so much and wanted to keep him with us for as long as possible. As a family of 2 ad and 2 teenagers he has been showered with love and affection and our world has revolved around him.
Now the hard part- On Sunday night he bit my son unprovoked on the leg badly which led us to call an ambulance. They have obviously had to call the police who turned up and said from what has happened we feel it is everyone’s best interests and our dogs that we sign him over to them and they will put him to sleep.
We were all shocked, upset and traumatised obviously in the moment and thought we were doing the best. (At no point could we have him back in the house), but now we are all absolutely devastated and heartbroken beyond words that he will be PTS without us there to hold him and cuddle him. The police have said please be assured that he is being well looked after but under no circumstances can we go and see him as it is unfair and upsetting for everyone involved including our dog. He will. be held and cared for as he is PTS.
We know he had his faults but he loved his walks and his orange ball, laid on the sofa cuddling (where he was at his most relaxed) and giving paw for treats. His recall was excellent but he just had that side to him.
We look around our house now and it is just empty. Reminders of him everywhere. We haven’t eaten or stopped crying for 24 hours.
We are grateful that our son’s injuries weren’t as bad as they could have been and we fully realise this situation could have been so much worse. But we are broken that it had come to this.
My husband cried this morning as he would usually have taken him out for his morning walk round the block.
I work part time and am dreading being in the house on my own as he was my little shadow.
Thank you so much if you are still reading this and not judging. Please be kind.

Ps I was due to take him to the vets to discuss his issues so please no hate.

That's very sad and shocking for you all. It doesn't sound as if you have any choice about seeing your dog again.
Maybe reassure your DS that this isn't his fault in any way.

Thats so sad and unfair that you can't see him.

I'm so sorry, what a sad situation. It sounds like was very loved and well cared for and you did everything you could. Don't blame yourself

I know, that is what we are doing as obviously he is heartbroken and he wishes he hadn’t gone downstairs to see him before he went to bed but we are explaining that something like this was just waiting to happen and something in our dog wasn’t right and the kindest thing to do is to let him go even though it really doesn’t feel like it.

Thank you for your kind words x

how is your son? will he be left with any scarring?

i imagine your son is quite scared of him now

I'm so sorry, this must be absolutely devastating for you all, it sounds like you provided him with a wonderful home and life and I bet he loved every second of it x

Thank you for asking. He needed stitches for the biggest wound and has got a few puncture wounds, so hopefully not too much scarring. It’s obviously the psychological impact now as he is devastated x

Thats so sad, I am sorry for all of you
Will The Police not allow you to collect him and take him to your vet to be PTS?
Unless that would be more difficult for you

Yes, even though he is completely heartbroken and traumatised at losing him in this way. We have all agreed that he couldn’t be in our house anymore as we would never forgive ourselves if something like this were to happen again, and I all likelihood it probably would and maybe worse.

Thank you for your kind words. We tried to give him the best we could and I’d like to think that despite his issues he loved it here and loved us as much as we loved him x

Poor you. That is such a nightmare scenario and probably all moved to quickly you didn't have time to think until now.

From the sounds of it, all the decision making was taken away from you, so there isn't really anything you could have done.

Big hug, it must be very difficult now the dust is settling.

My guess is that they don't trust people to actually do it and they don't have the manpower resources to follow up and then deal with the noncompliant.

And they probably forbid any visits or requests to be there for the event due to not wanting to deal with hysterical or obnoxious people. They've got the dog and they want to control the process entirely.

It's hard on the owners but I can understand why they'd be that way.

OP I'm so sorry you've been going through this. I hope your son is OK.

I live with this daily. My vet and I have a plan in place and if my dog ( medicated, treated etc) does the same ( v likely) then she will be pts immediately. You did your very best, you gave her a good life when others wouldn’t..
Only thing I would do differently is to push being allowed to be with her ( one of the adults)
Thinking of you

My husband is trying to find this out as we are all so devastated anyway that we feel we could take him to our vets and do it but at the minute it doesn’t seem like this is an option.

I'm so sorry for what you're going through but I genuinely don't understand why they won't allow you to go and see him at the end.

Their reasoning makes no sense to me given that he's being PTS anyway. It just seems so cold that you don't get to say goodbye.

Sending you a big hug x

Thank you. It’s so hard isn’t it because you don’t want to give up on them. I’ve now got deep regrets about not going to the vet sooner as maybe there is something that could have been done, but now I will never know and I have to live with that. Hope you manage your way through x

Thank you. I know we don’t understand either. My kids are just as devastated that they don’t get to say a final goodbye to him. We are really pushing for it but the only option we seem to have been given is if we apply for a court order to take him back in our care. But I feel cruel doing this as it is just prolonging his life spent in police kennels.

You will have those regrets and guilt no matter you had done.. those feelings always come after a pts esp an emergency one.. the what ifs and maybes… but in a few weeks I hope you can look back and know you did your very best for him and gave him the best life you could..
I know it’s only a matter of time until I’m in the same position and I know I will feel the guilt, the what ifs etc but I know I will work my way through to the ‘I did my best’ and I really hope you all can too…

Yes, we think this too and are trying to reason with it, because we know there are not responsible dog owners. We just feel bad thinking I’d be alone? Is he scared, worried? Will he think we have abandoned him?
Thank you for your kind words x

Thank you so much. I’m hoping for you that you don’t have to go through this xx

The police will not let people see an aggressive dog as it may harm the people visiting.

If the dog has been seized by the police - Did you sign anything when they took your dog away? No visitors will be allowed for safety.

It is unfortunate that the dog took the dog as they can be kept in kennels until the legal bit has been sorted. If you have keep the dog and contacted your vet you would have control but you passed this over to the police.

Thank you for your kind words. Yes it all happened so quickly and our concern and priority was our son. My husband is reassuring me that this situation was taken out of our hands and they wouldn’t have let him
stay with us x