Grooming advice - very aggressive terrier, help!

[Nasrine]

I foster my MIL's West Highland Terrier. Have had her for a couple of years now, since MIL became too old to cope with there. Dog is 15, a rescue from a puppy mill, and really difficult to love. She's just so aggressive :-( She'll tolerate being gently stroked on her back, but everything else you have to be careful as she snaps. Her eyesight is poor, not helped by lots of hair growing over her eyes. She can't get up or down stairs and she needs lifting up and down the hallway stairs (only 2 steps) - we do this repeatedly all day, because her 'routine' is to go between the sitting room and the kitchen on and off throughout the day. When she wants to go down or up she stands in the hallway screaming. Not barking. Screaming. You then have to be very careful how you lift her or you might get bitten.

The biggest problem we're facing with her now is grooming. She's bitten the last 3 groomers I've taken her to and literally everyone has given up trying to groom her face, which is a matted mess with lots of hair over her eyes. They all eventually muzzled her which meant they couldn't do her face properly. I've sedated her before taking her to the groomers with medicine the vet gave me, but no matter how early you give it to her, it always seems to kick in after she gets back from the groomers. We then have 24 hours of me thinking she's about to die as she staggers around trembling and falling over.

At what point do we throw the towel in and have her PTS? I'm reluctant at the moment because she still has some quality of life - she spends a lot of the day enjoying licking the dishwasher and hoovering up crumbs from the kitchen floor. She also likes her food, and clears her plate every meal. I don't think she's in pain. But she's so, so smelly and blind with her hair growing over her eyes. She did go to the vets last year and they put her under anaesthetic and shaved her, but they STILL left her face looking like a mess. Really don't know what to do. I've just put her in the bath and washed her body with dog shampoo and a long handled silicone bath brush to avoid getting bitten. Couldn't do much about the state of her face though. Any thoughts?

If she can't get up and down two steps, then I would imagine she is in a great deal of pain. Most dogs of that age have arthritis to some degree or other. It could be why she bites when picked up and doesn't like being groomed.
My foster dog could barely get up my garden steps when she arrived. She's now on pain medication and fairly runs up and down them.
I would take her to the vets and start a pain trial. I would also get a ramp for the steps so she can get up and down them unaided. A piece of wood with carpet stuck to it would do. Something that she won't slip on.
I think grooming has to be little and often. You might be better off having her sedated at the vets again and having her shaved, ensuring they tidy up her face too. Then work on her tolerance levels every day. Starting with a few seconds of brushing and increasing slowly. If she reacts, stop. Give her the opportunity to vote with her paws - if she has had enough she can walk away.
Can she be distracted with food? I stick a frozen licky mat to my kitchen cupboard door to keep the dogs busy while I shave them.
One of mine wasn't keen on being groomed and would only tolerate it for so long. It sometimes took me three days to totally shave him, so he'd look a bit of a mess for a while. But he didn't care, so I didn't either.
Good luck. It's good of you to have taken her on. It's a big ask when it's an easy dog, and a lot harder when it isn't.

It’s far better to let an animal go BEFORE they are in absolute agony or something else happens. This poor dogs aggression is probably linked to pain and they have a crap quality of life already however much you try to help her so the kindest thing would be to out her to sleep and put her out of pain and misery

It sounds like her quality of life is practically at zero and I would strongly consider having her put to sleep. I’m sorry.

Thank you everyone. I'm not sure I agree with her quality of life being zero. She enjoys pottering around the garden and loves her food. She'll spend hours licking peanut butter or pate off her lick mat. I think her problem with the stairs has more to do with not being able to see - partly because she's got poor eyesight, but also because her fur is growing over her eyes and I can't cut it. We have black and white floor tiles in the hallway and I think the patterns confuse her.

I think I'll try to gently do little bits of grooming while I distract her with her lick mat. I've got some silent clippers and I think I just need to be more persistent. I'll make her another vet appointment (she saw the vet a few months ago). If I thought she was in a lot of pain I'd want her PTS, and she's always been aggressive. It's not a new thing. MIL is so down at the moment and pretty poorly herself - I'd feel really bad putting the dog down unless it was clearly indicated.

Even if you can't tackle the rest of her face can you muzzle her and trim around her eyes?

She sounds pretty miserable to me. Can you not sedate her one last time and once she’s back from the groomer if they’ve not managed everything, you can tidy up the remaining bits while she’s zonked? Or simply sedate and tidy her up at home so she’s less stressed?
Ultimately if it’s a care/wellbeing issue you are going to have to tackle it. If it’s just she looks untidy,leave well alone

100% regardless she NEEDS a pain meds assessment with her vet! She is clearly in pain and it must be addressed

Why don’t you do it yourself it’s not hard

@Nasrine most dogs will eat right up until their final seconds - it doesn’t really mean anything in terms of quality of life.

You’ve described a dog who is in pain everyday, who can’t see properly and who can’t even tolerate being stroked without trying to bite you. Keeping her going because she still likes peanut butter seems very odd to me.

She is old and in pain - let her go while she still has some dignity left.

Because the dog is in so much pain it snaps, snarls and bites.

Euthanising a dog without doing a pain trial first seems very odd to me.

She sounds like a scared dog who is in pain, 15 is a great age and I would definitely be looking to pts in these circumstances.

If this was a young and otherwise healthy dog then I’d absolutely agree with you - but for me, the kindest thing to do for a geriatric dog who has a long history of behavioural aggression and who is now suffering physically is to put it to sleep, not force it to endure multiple vet visits (as well as sedations to be groomed so it can see properly), especially when it’s unlikely to survive the sedation anyway.

Yes, exactly. If she was five or even 10 or 12 my answer would be very different, but a geriatric dog with a history of aggression who now can’t even be groomed safely? Keeping her alive would be for the humans benefit, not hers.

Mmmmm. OK. I'm judging by my 10 year old foster dog. She couldn't walk for more than 5 minutes and struggled to get up two garden steps when she arrived. She's now on pain meds and has regular physiotherapy and acupuncture. She enjoys half hour walks, manages short runs and is currently wrestling on the floor with my puppy. I find it upsetting to think people wouldn't give another dog the same chance of enjoying life.

I don't know what age my cut off point would be.

Each situation is different though isn’t it? It isn’t clear if this dog is on regular pain meds (although imo she absolutely should be) There could be dementia at play too. Pain meds could make a good difference, or none at all
The responsible course of action is a vet trip to discuss this dog as an individual. Anything else is simply guess work by internet based on our random experience with other dogs

She need to be PTS sorry @Nasrine 15 is an amazing age for a dog. Time to let her go........ ❤

@SpanielsGalore for me, the difference is that 10 isn’t especially old and many dogs at that age can go on to live another 3-5 years with relatively few issues.

But this dog is 15 - she has a history of behavioural aggression, snaps when stroked and can’t even have her fur trimmed without trying to attack. The likelihood of her even surviving sedation at that age is minimal - so for me, the kindest thing to do is to have her put to sleep, not make her spend her final months in and out of the vets while you trial various medications - especially as they’re not going to give her some massively enhanced life even if they do work.

@tumblingdowntherabbithole I get your point. Personally I would have done a pain trial when she was unable to go up two steps. So maybe it is too late now. That's for the OP and her vet to decide.

Yes - I didn’t want to say it but this dog should have been on pain killers years ago by the sounds of it. All very sad.

Re: the biting and can't get up stairs being because she's in pain - I'm just not sure that this is the case. Her eyesight is terrible and the stairs she can't get up or down are black and white checked. I think it's a vision thing. She doesn't snap at you when you brush her body, stroke her back or scratch her behind her ears, and if you let her know you're there and don't just pick her up willy nilly, she'll let you lift her without biting, which I do many times a day. She likes being carried - I tuck her under my arm and she relaxes against my body. The problem is grooming her face and her bottom - both her dirtiest bits. It may be that groomers have pulled on matts or been a bit rough with her.

If I thought she was in serious pain I'd ask MIL to have her PTS. But I'm just not sure. She went to the vets a few months ago - they didn't feel she needed euthanising and her behaviour hasn't changed since then. I'll get DP to make another vet appointment though and discuss whether she could be in pain and whether the time has come for her to be PTS. I really hope not, at least not while MIL is so unwell herself (and fairly recently bereaved - DP's dad died 2 years ago).

Pain is a very tricky thing to see in dogs. Many are incredibly stoic and the signs can be ridiculously subtle.
As an example, one of mine has terminal bone cancer. VERY painful to the point the bone could have snapped at any time according to his surgeon
The only sign I got was a tiny bit of blood in the water and two days of him being slightly quieter than normal.
NEVER discount pain as a potential would be my advice