Keep, re home or PTS a dog that bit?

[Puppalicious]

Our dog bit my dh yesterday, punctured the skin and its now infected. It was entirely my DH’s fault - she was lying under a bush, he lifted her to pull her out (she’s increasingly hard to get out from her “den”), she almost went upside down so he had her by the back legs. She has hip dysplasia, it must have been excruciating for her. I don’t know what he was thinking. However, I worry now she’s crossed a rubicon.

The problem is we have 3 small children, the smallest of whom’s face is low enough to get a bite there. The dog is 3 years old but in pain - we thought it might be one bad hip and get a referral to a vet hospital. However, she’s actually got something wrong in all 4 legs (hip dysplasia in back ones, a touch of arthritis and carpal hyperextension in the front). They recommended weight loss, librela and conservative management in the first instance, all of which we’ve done, and then consider surgery. But in all 4 legs? Is it fair to any dog to do that? She’s not improving. She’s terribly slow on walks.

Last night she looked at me and growled for no reason. My littlest just told me that she petted her this morning and she almost bit her (made no contact - I always thought she had good bite inhibition but maybe not following yesterday). I worry that my DH’s idiocy yesterday has made her even more reactive. I worry a dog in pain is maybe not safe with children in any event. She thinks she’s one of them and will often try to lie beside them - especially the little one - but that means its very easy for one of them to knock her.

She has a lovely sweet gentle nature (she was at the groomers last week and they commented on how friendly and good-natured she is) but I just can’t take any chances with my children. They’ve all been warned sternly this morning to take a lot of care. But is it safe? Should we look at rehoming her to somewhere with no children - but who would want a disabled dog who has bit, beautiful and sweet natured though she is? She would also miss us so much. Should we look into surgery, see if that would help - but all 4 legs?! Is that fair on any dog? I can’t really contemplate the last option in my title - but would that be the fairest thing for her, if she’s in pain?

I know the doghouse can be very rough so I’m expecting some abuse here, but at the same time I’m wondering what good dog-lovers would do.

but, then when would the right time be?

I think the myth of the 'right time' is incredibly toxic. There is no magic right time - there is just us humans (with all our gifts and flaws) making the best decision we can for the good of the dog with the facts and resoruces we have at our disposal.

Love is not finding the perfect time. Love is doing the best you can when everything suddenly is a lot less then perfect. And doing it with the dog's welfare as a key consideration in your mind.

Which is, of course, all very easy to type when it's someone else dog. When it's your own, it's so much harder

Given my former profession, I’m very unlikely to abuse a dog then lie about it. But thank you for the well-wishes

@Killingoffmyflowersonebyone it's not abuse though is it and saying this kind of thing just makes people less likely to seek help with their pets

I think some people have really gone over the top here @Puppalicious. Talking like your DH hurt here on purpose.

I think you need to fully understand the outcomes of surgery before making any rash decisions. If the back legs could be fixed and ongoing pain management you may not need to worry about the rest. Or at the very least she maybe easier to rehome if she is still untrusting with the kids. Just make sure this is via a reputable rescue.

My DD accidently stood on our rescue dog very early into him being with us, he was fast asleep and must have been startled, he jumped up and went for her, DH had to grab him and pin him down. We were very worried but after talking to the rescue and other behaviorists, we all agreed it was an accident and we were willing to keep trying with him. Nothing like this ever happened again.

How much is your insurance for? Because a dog I know recently had an op for hip dysplasia and it was £5k (without anything else). That's £20,000 for all 4? Without anything going wrong.

I've only seen policies covering up to £15k.

The put plates in, it's a lot to recover from once, never mind 4 times.

I also would PTS unfortunately. I couldn't put mine through pain every single day, as hard as it would be to say goodbye.

I wish you all the best, it's such a horrible situation to be in.

It is abuse.

She was lying under a bush, he lifted her to pull her out (she’s increasingly hard to get out from her “den”), she almost went upside down so he had her by the back legs.

^^

Dog was in a safe space, not doing any harm to anyone. 'DH' lifted (and I assume dragged, given he had to 'pull her out') the dog when it was calm and comfortable.

I'd say the same thing about someone dragging a dog out of its crate or yanking it off the sofa. If you need to resort to being physical with your dog then you are an abusive owner. End of.

@Killingoffmyflowersonebyone op says it's getting harder to get her out, implying that they needed the dog out and she wasn't co-operating.

If you never touch your dogs they must have a miserable life devoid of any and all affection

I don't think rehoming at this point is right. There's a lot of dogs needing homes without a bite history, or the medical issues this dog has at the age of only 3.
If I was you I would be discussing how much of the pain is the hop dysplasia and how much is tge front end arthritis. Bearing in mind librella is usually used after other treatments have been exhausted it really leaves you nowhere to go except surgery.
The bite incident happened due to pain so you need to be able to eradicate that for your dog to be safe in a busy household.
I would be having a very honest conversation with your vet asap and would go ahead with the surgery on the hips only if the front end issues are controllable also.
Maybe get a second opinion.

Don't twist what I said. I said I never yank dogs, or tug them - not that I do not show them affection.

Please stop justifying the animal abuse that OP's 'DH' committed - it's quite sickening. Regardless of whether it is hard to get the dog out, there is no excuse for 'pulling her out' as OP's 'DH' did.

I'm going to stop engaging with you now. I don't have time for animal abuse apologists.

Poor, poor dog. How did you think pulling a dog that’s in pain would go. I would be absolutely brutal with my husband for doing this. Of course the dog will bite in these circumstances, I would. Poor dog.

Please don’t get another dog🥲

@Killingoffmyflowersonebyone
We have no idea why he needed to move the dog, maybe they were going out, or it was getting late, or what the reason is he needed to move the dog.
A rough collie isn't exactly and lap dog that would be easy to lift.

It's a bit nasty to assume he was deliberately trying to hurt the dog.

OP ignore people slagging off your DH. I’m sure it wasn’t intentional. They’re missing the point that whilst that was a deliberate act by your DH it could just as easily be an accidental or innocent act by your children that gets them bitten.

I had a similar incident and rehomed my dog, but he was younger and had much better prospects (he isn’t a bad dog - there were some environmental factors that upset him) he bit me right down to my knee joint - had it been my kids it would have gone through to the other side of their legs! My friend is a vet and said she’s PTS dogs for far less.

Your dog doesn’t sound particularly happy anyway because of his ailments so it might be a case of better a day too soon than a day too late to PTS anyway.

Don't be soft

Abuse. Jesus christ.

I've asked for welfare checks on animal for less than this and they have been rehomed because of it.

So yes, it is abuse.

People are talking like the husband deliberately abused the poor dog. He was a twat and made a stupid mistake, but he didn't kick the dog around the room.

OP, I agree with a PP that rough collies are glorious dogs, but they can be temperamental. We had them for years and they do sometimes need their own space, which can be tricky in a house with 3 young children. They are also prone to hip problems, particularly in the back legs but not usually in such a young dog. She must be in terrible pain constantly and in my experience, I think she may bite again because of that. One of ours bit my dad when he was sitting snoozing in a chair on the other side of the room from her; she had had surgery (for a hip issue), dad was snoring and it woke her up with a start. It all happened so quickly it was a shock to all of us as she was the sweetest natured thing. A dog in pain is not safe and I'm afraid that as her quality of life is unlikely to improve, the kindest (and safest) thing may be PTS. I hope that whatever you choose to do works out for all of you.

In my experience when an animal seeks out dark quiet places and won’t come out, they have sunk very low. Unless there can be immediate relief of some kind, it does sound like it would be kinder to
let her go… how heartbreaking

For an owner picking a dog up?

Ok then. I believe you... not.

I've reported your earlier unhelpful bs posts as well. Crying abuse doesn't help when there is no bloody abuse.

Yeah I was thinking this about cats, they seek out quiet dark places when the end js near

If you never touch your dogs they must have a miserable life devoid for f any and all affection

How utterly embarrassing that you’ve twisted what she said. You now exactly what she meant. Lame.

Your ddog hid because it is in pain I am guessing.. Your dh got bitten because your ddog is in pain.. Unelss the surgery would 100 % 'cure' your ddog then please end it's misery.

My dm kept a large breed ddog with hip displaysia.... Cruel. That poor thing was doped up in pain it's entire life... I vowed never to be that selfish...

Get a grip.

Not smug, just amused.

Fuck sake, way over the top.
Picking up a dog is not 'animal abuse'. Sometimes there isn't a great deal of choice. We used to pick up our elderly dog to get him in and out of the car to go for a short walk: he didn't like the being picked up, but he loved the walk. I daresay he should never have gone to the woods again...

The man made a mistake. And I am sure you HAVE made mistakes, though perhaps not with dogs. Coz if you haven't you're clearly the Second Coming...

Your can't rehome a dog that is this disabled - how's that fair on the poor animal?

Pts is your only option not because of the bite but because she's already in unacceptable levels of pain and the only possible way out of it involves surgery on all 4 legs - it could be a year or more before she's fully recovered from 4 operations, all the while she's living in huge amounts of pain.

It's not fair or ethical to put her through that and she is suffering now.

Your husband is a dick for trying to get her out of her den and causing her even more pain. No wonder she's hiding.

Well I've never dragged a dog out that was hiding.

'DH' 'lifted and pulled'

That is abuse. Dragging a dog about is abuse. Just as dragging a cat about is abuse. End of discussion.