Will you give me permission to put my Ddog to sleep

[Inaverydarkplace]

I am completely heartbroken and in turmoil. We’ve had our Ddog since he was a puppy, socialised him, trained him, loved him. He was perfect until the teenager stage. When the aggression started. We’ve found lots of ways around it and given him space but this summer he has really escalated. He’s bitten several people, leaving puncture marks that break the skin. He can be so loving and cuddly but he just has this switch that flips into aggression. He’s 3 now and he adores us and we adore him but he bit my 6 year old last night. Dchild just wanted to stroke their dog. Today he’s still growling at our child so they can’t be near each other. I can’t re home him, he would be so upset, he’s completely obsessed with me and adores DH too. If you tell him off he challenges you so we normally move away and give him space. He’s aggressive with his crate (he sleeps in there in our bedroom), he’s aggressive when he gets in the car (he has to go in the car every day for his walk), I can’t give him high value food/treats because he’s aggressive then, he’s frightened of other children. He has to be sedated and muzzled at the vets and still puts up a fight and be pinned down like a wild beast. He growls when you wipe him with a towel, when you hose him off (I used to take him to the bathroom but he became too aggressive to do that), he barely tolerates us getting seeds off his fur. He doesn’t let you brush him, if he hurts himself he won’t let you near him to help him (eg if he has a thorn in his foot). He has been raised in a loving house, he’s not been abused or neglected. He has the most wonderful life. A different off lead walk every day, I’m at home with him all of the time. I socialised him from day 1, followed all of the advice. I don’t know what has gone so wrong. He can be so gorgeous and loving so I feel so much guilt and shame. Everything has just escalated and he’s bitten several times this summer. Getting near him with a muzzle is an ordeal. Yet so many of our friends haven’t seen him like this and would be completely shocked that such a loving dog will be PTS. But others have seen the other side of him and would understand. We know his mum and she’s the most loving dog, which is why we had him but his dad is a working dog so I think his intense personality is from him. He’s a springer spaniel. I am so so sad, we all are 😭 please tell me I’m doing the right thing.

100%.

Dogs really don't need to be kept alive at all costs - if he was physically suffering nobody would even be questioning it.

It’s not crazy. Have a look at spaniel aid and the many dogs they take in and safely rehome once their pain has been dealt with.

I have sympathy for owners who have done everything they can. Euthanasia is often the kindest option. This isn’t the case here. No mention of pain trials or even investigation. No behaviourist. I say that as having had a severely vet aggressive dog who could be treated by my very experience vet even if she needed sedation.

Ear infections are classic aggression triggers and relatively easy to sort out. Dogs do not behave like this for nothing. A rescue may well say euthanise but they have often seen it all before.

Sending u support and permission if that is what will help you.

First off you are doing the correct thing. Had to make the decision myself a few years ago. Did all the above suggestions. Even had him neutered to try and help. The vet even said behaviourist would not help.

He guarded me and became obsessive. Food guarded. Went mental at the door. Could jump over gates. Snapped at everything. Bit me twice. Tried to go for children and my parents.

The vet fully agreed no rehoming. Had him pts in my home as too much to get him to the vets. He was given strong sedatives in food in the morning. Think even diazapam and Tramadol ? He was still bouncing around the house with no affect. He still needed an injection sedative while in his cage to even calm him down. I say held his paw and still feel awful about it but he was then at peace. Whether he was in pain physically or mentally it was utterly an awful existence for him and our family.

Sorry for the long post but it isn't such a cut and dry decision as some posters seem to think. Vets will be honest and know rehoming can be awful for a pet and the new owners if there is aggressive behaviour involved. Yes you can fork out hundreds if not thousands on behaviour training, but success is so varied.

So please have the dog pts.

I sympathise, have been in this situation, one was a rescue from the RSPCA, he bit a friend's face for no reason, didn't give any kind of warning,no growling nothing, friend wasn't touching him,we were just sitting talking. A work colleague got a dog from a friend of a friend a breed she was very familiar with, when her dog died suddenly,dog went for her face, made a real mess. We worked hard on the dog for 2 years and then the RSPCA put him to sleep. We had a rescue from The Blue cross,met the owner,who clearly lied about the dog, she leaked urine, I suspect this is why the lady with a very posh Georgian house got rid of her,it was misdiagnosed by the vet. She was so aggressive,you couldn't put your feet on the floor! Blue cross said we had to keep her because we had signed the adoption forms. Ex H said we would have her PTS. They have a policy they will never put a healthy dog to sleep. She was re homed by a couple in their 50s no children. I also worked in the ED,back in the days when it was called Casualty, and one of the worst things I ever saw was a 10 year old boy with his face hanging off in bits. I love dogs,I have 2, but people come first.

💐 PTS sounds like the kindest option for this dog.

@Newpeep they can't do any of those things as they can't even get him treated for a simple ear infection due to his aggression - even sedation isn't working as the dog is fighting it.

I have had to do behavioural euthanasia on a beloved dog - feel free to DM me.

It might be best to:
Firstly, consider the safety of your child. If you cannot keep your child safe, the dog needs to go elsewhere (speak to one of the spaniel rescues) or be PTS.
If you can keep your child safe, see if the vet if able to check the dog for pain, and if there is a pain issue, to trial medication.
At the same time, speak to a breed-specific rescue first, like Spaniel Aid or English Springer Spaniel Welfare and see what they suggest. IME they are very good and compassionate.

I'm not blaming you, OP, as people only know what they know, but there is a pattern on MN of working-line spaniels in pet homes who are too much dog for the (loving, caring) owners. They won't walk well on lead, or they resource guard or are reactive to everything under the sun or whine for constant attention. Some working line dogs are nightmares in unprepared pet homes. I'm not saying that this is the case with your dog, but the regularity with which it happens suggests that there is a general issue out there.

Sedation works. I’ve seen it on the most aggressive dogs and those in extreme pain. Often a little more is needed but it works. Vets use it to take down wild animals so I’m not sure what is going wrong here.

I’m generally a kind and laid back person. I like people. I’d never intentionally hurt anyone. I’ve got back ache at the moment and my goodness whilst I probably wouldn’t bite I’m struggling to not be short and grumpy and have been already (thankfully my colleagues are very sympathetic).

Pain is a massive behavioural trigger.

Is he a working type springer?
We had a working cocker, replacing our much loved WC bitch who had been wonderful with the children when they were young and lived a long happy life.
But the new one was male, which I now realise makes a bit difference imo, and similar to yours went from soppy loving puppy to teenage terror almost overnight as he hit puberty.
After he had bitten both me and my daughter we recognised he wasn't a good family pet. We were able to give him to a local gamekeeper who was delighted with him.
I have no regrets as the dog was so much happier in his new home. He really benefited from just having the one handler training him, loved the company of other dogs in the kennel and most of all loved being out working all day long.

You might find a similar regime would work?
You could try contacting a breed rescue for more advice.

In the meantime while you investigate possibilities I would put him in kennels to protect your child.

I’m another one who would at least call Spaniel Aid , this is a young dog who is obviously in the wrong home and obviously cannot stay there but he may go on to have a lovely life somewhere more suitable .

I've seen a rhino under sedation, staggering about and being pushed in the right direction by a squad of game rangers.
It's a dosage issue.

Yep, I get that @Newpeep but I honestly think there comes a point where further intervention is unkind for everyone.

I'm all for working through behavioural problems and finding the source of a dogs' pain, but this should have been addressed years ago - not when the dog has bitten multiple people (including a child) and is so fearful and aggressive that it can't even have its' ears checked.

Some dogs have a rage, normally cocker spaniels but it can happen with other breeds. A friend of mine had something similar. It’s not always you - it’s their brain doesn’t work in the normal way. My friend put hers to sleep after biting her daughter - she could have been killed in all honesty. On the morning of taking the dog, it bit her child again! It was a good but very sad choice.
I don’t see a way round this given how much the dog is struggling to be around any kind of normal environment.
tou will feel extreme guilt and sadness but it really is no life for you or the dog which is just awful. I certainly wouldn’t feel it was the wrong choice. But if you are aware of its behaviour and it does something far more serious - can you forgive yourself?

So the OP rings SA they take dog, actually get a vet to be a vet and sedate to investigate and then deal with pain and rehome him away from children.

This happens. I’ve got numerous friends with dogs from SA who have a pain related bite history. My colleague has one. Bit his owner who dragged him out from under a table to say ‘hi’ to a visiting child. The vet actually spoke to SA in that case as dog was booked in to pts.

A call to specialists hurts nobody and may result in a happy dog.

I agree that this should have been dealt with years ago but there are some last resorts now. The OP has not done everything they can quite honestly. The OP is asking for permission to kill their dog. If they had my views would be very different. My last dog was a RSPCA rehome after growling at the children in her first home. Whilst she had her quirks, she lived 16 very happy, safeand healthy years with us before dying of old age as our home was very different.

This is a hugely stressful life for him and he isn't happy. You can't trust him with your child, you can't keep them apart and you can't rehome him with a history of biting children. I can't really see what other option you have.

It's not your fault but it is your responsibility to handle. What if he really hurt your child? It's not easy but has to be done.

I put one of mine to sleep due to aggression. A Dobermann. He wasn't aggressive to people just other dogs and I had it under control. He was muzzled and wore a harness with a grab strap as well as his collar and lead. Every walk was at defcon 3 looking out for other dogs and one day one came out of a side path. Little terrier being held on a lead by a child.

He went batshit. Went straight for them. I had to drop my other dogs lead to hold on to him and literally pin him down. He tried to back up and nearly got his collar off and with it the muzzle. I wrapped his lead round his neck as a back up but seriously thought I might lose my grip on him.

Child was terrified and the parents didn't even yell they were so afraid of him.

My other dog jumped between them snarling at him (she was very protective of children) and I just remember thinking that even she knew he was a liability. She'd have taken him on and she'd have lost. She was a Labrador, slender and small for her breed. A working line, not a chunky show Lab. She'd have had no chance. She could have been hurt, the other dog could have been hurt, the bloody CHILD could have been hurt.

I put him to sleep the next day and it broke my heart but it was the right thing. Even with all my contingencies he still almost overpowered me and all it takes is them getting away from you once.

The dog isnt going to know he's being put to sleep. He will know he's going to the vets that he won't like much but that's it. Give him a lovely last weekend feeding him his favourite foods and going to his favourite places

This is about you, and your emotions and that is valid, but he doesn't sound happy, he sounds in pain with something and if that cant be identified then PTS is the best option. You don't want the next time he bites to be your child's face or worse andit doesn't sound like rehoming isthe right option so you have to make the tough call which it sounds like you have.

Yes, this.

How absolutely awful for all of you, very bad luck. It's a safeguarding issue, I would definitely PTS. I have had two beloved family pets and thank goodness we've not had this but of a dog bit my child, unless it was an accidental nip from a game, it's not on.

I'm sure it happens @Newpeep but Spaniel Aid are currently full to bursting. Their page is constantly full of updates about difficult dogs who are in their care and who need super specific homes for various reasons.

The likelihood of a dog like this finding a wonderful forever home is tiny.

This is very sad to read, how awful a decision to have to make@Inaverydarkplace.

I don't believe dogs need to be kept alive at all costs (nor humans but that's a different thread). It sounds like you've done everything you can and also highly unlikely he'd be able to have a fulfilling life anywhere else.

You don't need permission, but you have mine.

So in summary, you haven’t engaged a behaviourist? I struggle to believe there is only one behavioural therapist in your area with a 6 month waitlist. We live very rurally and I know of at least 3.
I absolutely would not be getting a dog pts without seeking specialist help first.

Of course they are. Like most rescues.

But is it ok to shrug your shoulders and say ‘oh well I’m sure they’re full so I’ll just euthanise anyway’?

These dogs often don’t need specialist homes, just those who understand them and that’s if it’s not a pain issue and can be treated.

It’s not the behavioural euthanasia I am arguing with. It’s the ‘oh well I tried’ attitude when there are numerous things to be done before the last option.

Spaniel rescues are currently overwhelmed - it's difficult enough to find homes for dogs that don't have issues, so I would definitely have him put to sleep. I've had to do it with a rescue of mine who had bitten - sad as it was, I have never had a sleepless night worrying how he is, is he being treated well, has he harmed anyone? Do the right thing, love him and be with him to the end and know that he is at peace (he may be suffering from an illness or brain tumour) and you will have peace of mind too. Sending hugs.