SubstantialGrass1158 t1_jafe2hv wrote on March 1, 2023 at 1:07 AM

Honestly this dog may not be adoptable. I had to do a behavioral euthanasia for one of my dogs about 3 years ago. She was beautifully trained in obedience and had multiple titles in.

It started out with aggression towards strangers. I took her to a trainer who used an e-collar in training and she was fine for about a year after that training program until she started showing aggression towards her family members. I later learned that the trainer just suppressed her aggression vs ‘fixing’ it.

About 90% of the time she was a normal, non aggressive dog. But you could see the switch in her eyes and she’d go from enjoying getting a pet to trying to take your hand off. There was no rhyme or reason to it. The last straw was when my son got off the couch to go to the bathroom and she came out of another room and attacked him completely unprovoked.

We tried medications, other trainers, etc but in the end she was not a safe dog. It was not a training issue but something off with her brain chemistry. It killed me to do it but it was not safe for my family and it felt unethical to rehome her and endanger someone else. Her vet team also agreed with my decision.

dannyjbixby t1_jafkctk wrote on March 1, 2023 at 1:54 AM

I also had to do a behavioral euthanasia for one of my dogs several years ago. It was so hard, but am completely convinced it was the right choice. And my vet also encouraged the decision. Not everything is fixable. Sometimes the hard and painful decision is the right one.

krikkitykrik OP t1_jafh8l9 wrote on March 1, 2023 at 1:31 AM

I started crying when I read this. He's a good dog, I couldn't take him with me after I moved out because the only apartment that would work with my credit doesn't allow excessive noise, and he barks a lot when I'm away from home. Whenever I adopted him I was working from home, and then after that when I lived with other people he pretty much always had someone around. He knows how to get out of a crate and has terrible separation anxiety, he'll chew everything in sight. He's only aggressive towards strangers, or when children act erratically around him. Which I know doesn't really help his case. I just wish I could find someone who was home a lot and didn't have children. But even then, he can't be trusted to be around other dogs or the general public. So it would have to be someone that lived somewhere remote. All the local shelters are closed for tonight. I'm just really holding onto hoping that I can find someplace that can work with him.

SubstantialGrass1158 t1_jafjnr0 wrote on March 1, 2023 at 1:49 AM

It was the absolute worst decision I’ve ever had to make. I still cry myself to sleep over it but I don’t regret it. She was a good dog too, just had some demons no one could help her with but now she is free from them.

I wish you both the best and that you can find somewhere for him 💜

krikkitykrik OP t1_jafpsly wrote on March 1, 2023 at 2:35 AM

I am terribly sorry that you had to go through that, but you did everything you could and made the right decision for everyone.

Thank you 💜

usedtobepinkie t1_jahfv28 wrote on March 1, 2023 at 1:45 PM

I had to do the same thing with my sweet Springer Spaniel after a "friend" traumatized him. We never knew when he would lunge and try to bite someone. It was heartbreaking. I explained the situation to many different people; trainers, rescues, the vet, etc. They all said his behavior was too unpredictable.