Well, hell. Now what? (Dog bit me) - 2nd Update: #353
- Thread starter alaskanseminole
- Start date
Come on man. If you want to say that there is no guarantee that any dog won't bite, that's fine. But to suggest that a dog with a history of biting is no more likely to bite in the future than a dog without a history of biting is not reasonable. Past behavior, whether it is in humans or animals, is probably the best indicator of future behavior.
Exactly this. It's a bell that cannot be unrung.
And to the "I can't believe people would give up on a family pet so fast" crew. I love my dogs, but they are not "fur-babies". They are pets. My actual babies are my top priority, and a dog that is now proven to be a biter isn't a risk I will keep in my house. For the safety of my children. Period.
The dog just bit the shit out of its owner. It wasn't a snap or a nip. That's not normal dog behavior. At some point it will bite the next owner as well.
A dog that has been professionally treated with operant conditioning is no more likely to bite than any other dog. That’s just a fact.
Whether a dog is a candidate or not is a professional decision. Whether a family can commit to it is a personal decision.
You seem to know a lot about a dog I bet you never even knew before this thread was created.
I suppose you’ll say you’ve had dogs your whole life as well so you know everything about them.
This dogs only 2 years old and can change with the right environment. Hell it could change with the same environment if someone wanted to put themselves through the training and risks involved.
Here's our discussion with the veterinarian/trainer that is tied to the training company we used.
Positive Considerations:
- Wrestling with Joey is a non-factor in this. Overall, he has been very well trained.
- She asked if he's had injuries. Sometimes that can be the culprit to the reaction. We said no.
- "IF" we didn't have a child in the home additional training could definitely be a viable approach. She (the vet/trainer) has seen a lot of success and rehabilitated dogs. However, see below:
Negative Considerations:
- Vet said this almost certainly wasn't a resource guarding issue (which stinks because we can train him out of that).
- Since we don't know what was stressing him out, it makes this very difficult to retrain. What behavior are we trying to fix? We don't know.
- Turns out, this was the 2nd time (I was unaware of the first) that he lunged out. Joey did it to my wife last fall when I was out of town when she tried to get a sticker-burr out of his paw. (Level 2--no skin break, she had forgotten).
- Mine was a Level 4/5 bite. Vet does not recommend rehoming for anything above a 3. Now we know, without question, what Joey is capable of.
- Vet agrees with our primary concern being our son and his friends' safety (hence why no additional training works for us). We can't live with ourselves if something ever happened.
Results:
So, it turns out the breeder is unable to take Joey after all. Her husband said no. Therefore, I will be euthanizing Joey later this week. I will be going at this one alone and I'm not looking forward to having to do this a SECOND time in under a year. Putting down my Jack about broke me. This one will break my son's heart. Just watching my wife hang up the call, hold Joey and bawl was enough.
Hasn't even been 12 months:
iowa.forums.rivals.com
Positive Considerations:
- Wrestling with Joey is a non-factor in this. Overall, he has been very well trained.
- She asked if he's had injuries. Sometimes that can be the culprit to the reaction. We said no.
- "IF" we didn't have a child in the home additional training could definitely be a viable approach. She (the vet/trainer) has seen a lot of success and rehabilitated dogs. However, see below:
Negative Considerations:
- Vet said this almost certainly wasn't a resource guarding issue (which stinks because we can train him out of that).
- Since we don't know what was stressing him out, it makes this very difficult to retrain. What behavior are we trying to fix? We don't know.
- Turns out, this was the 2nd time (I was unaware of the first) that he lunged out. Joey did it to my wife last fall when I was out of town when she tried to get a sticker-burr out of his paw. (Level 2--no skin break, she had forgotten).
- Mine was a Level 4/5 bite. Vet does not recommend rehoming for anything above a 3. Now we know, without question, what Joey is capable of.
- Vet agrees with our primary concern being our son and his friends' safety (hence why no additional training works for us). We can't live with ourselves if something ever happened.
Results:
So, it turns out the breeder is unable to take Joey after all. Her husband said no. Therefore, I will be euthanizing Joey later this week. I will be going at this one alone and I'm not looking forward to having to do this a SECOND time in under a year. Putting down my Jack about broke me. This one will break my son's heart. Just watching my wife hang up the call, hold Joey and bawl was enough.
Hasn't even been 12 months:
To put my pooch "down" or not. :(
My Shih Tzu is 12 years & 8 months old and has Cushing's Disease since he was 7. He's on meds for that plus two for a subsequent bad heart. He's been overweight since being diagnosed (23lbs vs 15 for his breed). He's also on an eye drop regimen. For the last 3 months his quality of life...
iowa.forums.rivals.com
You approached this as best you could. Sad, sad result.
Edit: but you still have a penis without teeth marks, something positive
Edit: but you still have a penis without teeth marks, something positive
Sorry to hear the bad news. It’s to bad we couldn’t tell our pets why it was happening.Here's our discussion with the veterinarian/trainer that is tied to the training company we used.
Positive Considerations:
- Wrestling with Joey is a non-factor in this. Overall, he has been very well trained.
- She asked if he's had injuries. Sometimes that can be the culprit to the reaction. We said no.
- "IF" we didn't have a child in the home additional training could definitely be a viable approach. She (the vet/trainer) has seen a lot of success and rehabilitated dogs. However, see below:
Negative Considerations:
- Vet said this almost certainly wasn't a resource guarding issue (which stinks because we can train him out of that).
- Since we don't know what was stressing him out, it makes this very difficult to retrain. What behavior are we trying to fix? We don't know.
- Turns out, this was the 2nd time (I was unaware of the first) that he lunged out. Joey did it to my wife last fall when I was out of town when she tried to get a sticker-burr out of his paw. (Level 2--no skin break, she had forgotten).
- Mine was a Level 4/5 bite. Vet does not recommend rehoming for anything above a 3. Now we know, without question, what Joey is capable of.
- Vet agrees with our primary concern being our son and his friends' safety (hence why no additional training works for us). We can't live with ourselves if something ever happened.
Results:
So, it turns out the breeder is unable to take Joey after all. Her husband said no. Therefore, I will be euthanizing Joey later this week. I will be going at this one alone and I'm not looking forward to having to do this a SECOND time in under a year. Putting down my Jack about broke me. This one will break my son's heart. Just watching my wife hang up the call, hold Joey and bawl was enough.
Hasn't even been 12 months:
To put my pooch "down" or not. :(
My Shih Tzu is 12 years & 8 months old and has Cushing's Disease since he was 7. He's on meds for that plus two for a subsequent bad heart. He's been overweight since being diagnosed (23lbs vs 15 for his breed). He's also on an eye drop regimen. For the last 3 months his quality of life...
Here's our discussion with the veterinarian/trainer that is tied to the training company we used.
Positive Considerations:
- Wrestling with Joey is a non-factor in this. Overall, he has been very well trained.
- She asked if he's had injuries. Sometimes that can be the culprit to the reaction. We said no.
- "IF" we didn't have a child in the home additional training could definitely be a viable approach. She (the vet/trainer) has seen a lot of success and rehabilitated dogs. However, see below:
Negative Considerations:
- Vet said this almost certainly wasn't a resource guarding issue (which stinks because we can train him out of that).
- Since we don't know what was stressing him out, it makes this very difficult to retrain. What behavior are we trying to fix? We don't know.
- Turns out, this was the 2nd time (I was unaware of the first) that he lunged out. Joey did it to my wife last fall when I was out of town when she tried to get a sticker-burr out of his paw. (Level 2--no skin break, she had forgotten).
- Mine was a Level 4/5 bite. Vet does not recommend rehoming for anything above a 3. Now we know, without question, what Joey is capable of.
- Vet agrees with our primary concern being our son and his friends' safety (hence why no additional training works for us). We can't live with ourselves if something ever happened.
Results:
So, it turns out the breeder is unable to take Joey after all. Her husband said no. Therefore, I will be euthanizing Joey later this week. I will be going at this one alone and I'm not looking forward to having to do this a SECOND time in under a year. Putting down my Jack about broke me. This one will break my son's heart. Just watching my wife hang up the call, hold Joey and bawl was enough.
Hasn't even been 12 months:
To put my pooch "down" or not. :(
My Shih Tzu is 12 years & 8 months old and has Cushing's Disease since he was 7. He's on meds for that plus two for a subsequent bad heart. He's been overweight since being diagnosed (23lbs vs 15 for his breed). He's also on an eye drop regimen. For the last 3 months his quality of life...
**** brother. I am really sorry to read this. Your son is in for a tough night. What are you going to tell him?
Sorry. What a terrible situation.
It sounds like the common thread is grabbing his paw(s)?
It sounds like the common thread is grabbing his paw(s)?
Damn man, I'm terribly sorry you're going through this. You approached this situation better than anyone here likely would have and went down every possible avenue. I wish all the best to you and your family and thank you for being a role model for all of us with pets.Here's our discussion with the veterinarian/trainer that is tied to the training company we used.
Positive Considerations:
- Wrestling with Joey is a non-factor in this. Overall, he has been very well trained.
- She asked if he's had injuries. Sometimes that can be the culprit to the reaction. We said no.
- "IF" we didn't have a child in the home additional training could definitely be a viable approach. She (the vet/trainer) has seen a lot of success and rehabilitated dogs. However, see below:
Negative Considerations:
- Vet said this almost certainly wasn't a resource guarding issue (which stinks because we can train him out of that).
- Since we don't know what was stressing him out, it makes this very difficult to retrain. What behavior are we trying to fix? We don't know.
- Turns out, this was the 2nd time (I was unaware of the first) that he lunged out. Joey did it to my wife last fall when I was out of town when she tried to get a sticker-burr out of his paw. (Level 2--no skin break, she had forgotten).
- Mine was a Level 4/5 bite. Vet does not recommend rehoming for anything above a 3. Now we know, without question, what Joey is capable of.
- Vet agrees with our primary concern being our son and his friends' safety (hence why no additional training works for us). We can't live with ourselves if something ever happened.
Results:
So, it turns out the breeder is unable to take Joey after all. Her husband said no. Therefore, I will be euthanizing Joey later this week. I will be going at this one alone and I'm not looking forward to having to do this a SECOND time in under a year. Putting down my Jack about broke me. This one will break my son's heart. Just watching my wife hang up the call, hold Joey and bawl was enough.
Hasn't even been 12 months:
To put my pooch "down" or not. :(
My Shih Tzu is 12 years & 8 months old and has Cushing's Disease since he was 7. He's on meds for that plus two for a subsequent bad heart. He's been overweight since being diagnosed (23lbs vs 15 for his breed). He's also on an eye drop regimen. For the last 3 months his quality of life...
It's tough right now, but you're making the right (and safe) decision for your family.
Get another dog in a few weeks if you need to, and this one will be just a distant memory soon.
Get another dog in a few weeks if you need to, and this one will be just a distant memory soon.
Looks like you could not have handled it any better. You reached out to the real experts and they told you the information you needed to confirm the difficult decision. Hearing the breeder not interested and prior bite of wife helps a bit make the choice “easier”. I don’t envy you at all, but it is the prudent decision. As tempting as it may be to still re home to a better situation, the experts seem to dictate why that is a bad idea and I am sure you would feel bad if you later found out he hurt someone else very bad.Here's our discussion with the veterinarian/trainer that is tied to the training company we used.
Positive Considerations:
- Wrestling with Joey is a non-factor in this. Overall, he has been very well trained.
- She asked if he's had injuries. Sometimes that can be the culprit to the reaction. We said no.
- "IF" we didn't have a child in the home additional training could definitely be a viable approach. She (the vet/trainer) has seen a lot of success and rehabilitated dogs. However, see below:
Negative Considerations:
- Vet said this almost certainly wasn't a resource guarding issue (which stinks because we can train him out of that).
- Since we don't know what was stressing him out, it makes this very difficult to retrain. What behavior are we trying to fix? We don't know.
- Turns out, this was the 2nd time (I was unaware of the first) that he lunged out. Joey did it to my wife last fall when I was out of town when she tried to get a sticker-burr out of his paw. (Level 2--no skin break, she had forgotten).
- Mine was a Level 4/5 bite. Vet does not recommend rehoming for anything above a 3. Now we know, without question, what Joey is capable of.
- Vet agrees with our primary concern being our son and his friends' safety (hence why no additional training works for us). We can't live with ourselves if something ever happened.
Results:
So, it turns out the breeder is unable to take Joey after all. Her husband said no. Therefore, I will be euthanizing Joey later this week. I will be going at this one alone and I'm not looking forward to having to do this a SECOND time in under a year. Putting down my Jack about broke me. This one will break my son's heart. Just watching my wife hang up the call, hold Joey and bawl was enough.
Hasn't even been 12 months:
To put my pooch "down" or not. :(
My Shih Tzu is 12 years & 8 months old and has Cushing's Disease since he was 7. He's on meds for that plus two for a subsequent bad heart. He's been overweight since being diagnosed (23lbs vs 15 for his breed). He's also on an eye drop regimen. For the last 3 months his quality of life...
What any good dad would, he's going to live on a farm and run free (or something along those lines)
Turns out, our vet doesn't perform behavioral euthanasians, so I'll have to find someone else. The owner of the dog we're watching (Joey's best pal) gets home Wednesday. She's a single lady (pediatrician). Joey stays with her whenever we go out of town. My wife wants to ask her if she'll take him (with full disclosure first) before I schedule. She loves Joey and has never had any issues.
I told her I will schedule regardless for Thursday and cancel if she wants to take him.
You're right in that I have owned dogs my whole life. I don't take any of this lightly.. I've also had to put my own dog of 13 yrs down just 3 weeks ago. Physically she was ok, but her dementia had reached a point where there was no quality of life for either of us. I went through life and death (literally) with her. My heart is broken. I feel for the OP and what he and his family are going through. With that said, this is a dangerous animal and there are no less horrible solutions than humane euthanasia.
Here's our discussion with the veterinarian/trainer that is tied to the training company we used.
Positive Considerations:
- Wrestling with Joey is a non-factor in this. Overall, he has been very well trained.
- She asked if he's had injuries. Sometimes that can be the culprit to the reaction. We said no.
- "IF" we didn't have a child in the home additional training could definitely be a viable approach. She (the vet/trainer) has seen a lot of success and rehabilitated dogs. However, see below:
Negative Considerations:
- Vet said this almost certainly wasn't a resource guarding issue (which stinks because we can train him out of that).
- Since we don't know what was stressing him out, it makes this very difficult to retrain. What behavior are we trying to fix? We don't know.
- Turns out, this was the 2nd time (I was unaware of the first) that he lunged out. Joey did it to my wife last fall when I was out of town when she tried to get a sticker-burr out of his paw. (Level 2--no skin break, she had forgotten).
- Mine was a Level 4/5 bite. Vet does not recommend rehoming for anything above a 3. Now we know, without question, what Joey is capable of.
- Vet agrees with our primary concern being our son and his friends' safety (hence why no additional training works for us). We can't live with ourselves if something ever happened.
Results:
So, it turns out the breeder is unable to take Joey after all. Her husband said no. Therefore, I will be euthanizing Joey later this week. I will be going at this one alone and I'm not looking forward to having to do this a SECOND time in under a year. Putting down my Jack about broke me. This one will break my son's heart. Just watching my wife hang up the call, hold Joey and bawl was enough.
Hasn't even been 12 months:
To put my pooch "down" or not. :(
My Shih Tzu is 12 years & 8 months old and has Cushing's Disease since he was 7. He's on meds for that plus two for a subsequent bad heart. He's been overweight since being diagnosed (23lbs vs 15 for his breed). He's also on an eye drop regimen. For the last 3 months his quality of life...
Crap. Sorry to hear but the professionals giving you the same end direction has to make it a bit easier of a pill to swallow. The right decision isn't always the easy one.
I'm sorry. This is one of those moments where you wish you didn't own a pet. I just lost mine a few weeks ago. My heart breaks for you and your family.Here's our discussion with the veterinarian/trainer that is tied to the training company we used.
Positive Considerations:
- Wrestling with Joey is a non-factor in this. Overall, he has been very well trained.
- She asked if he's had injuries. Sometimes that can be the culprit to the reaction. We said no.
- "IF" we didn't have a child in the home additional training could definitely be a viable approach. She (the vet/trainer) has seen a lot of success and rehabilitated dogs. However, see below:
Negative Considerations:
- Vet said this almost certainly wasn't a resource guarding issue (which stinks because we can train him out of that).
- Since we don't know what was stressing him out, it makes this very difficult to retrain. What behavior are we trying to fix? We don't know.
- Turns out, this was the 2nd time (I was unaware of the first) that he lunged out. Joey did it to my wife last fall when I was out of town when she tried to get a sticker-burr out of his paw. (Level 2--no skin break, she had forgotten).
- Mine was a Level 4/5 bite. Vet does not recommend rehoming for anything above a 3. Now we know, without question, what Joey is capable of.
- Vet agrees with our primary concern being our son and his friends' safety (hence why no additional training works for us). We can't live with ourselves if something ever happened.
Results:
So, it turns out the breeder is unable to take Joey after all. Her husband said no. Therefore, I will be euthanizing Joey later this week. I will be going at this one alone and I'm not looking forward to having to do this a SECOND time in under a year. Putting down my Jack about broke me. This one will break my son's heart. Just watching my wife hang up the call, hold Joey and bawl was enough.
Hasn't even been 12 months:
To put my pooch "down" or not. :(
My Shih Tzu is 12 years & 8 months old and has Cushing's Disease since he was 7. He's on meds for that plus two for a subsequent bad heart. He's been overweight since being diagnosed (23lbs vs 15 for his breed). He's also on an eye drop regimen. For the last 3 months his quality of life...
Sorry you’re going through this. We had to put down our elder puggle in January. He was the best fvcking dog, and I loved him. I’m tearing up now as I type this. T’s and Ps truly.Here's our discussion with the veterinarian/trainer that is tied to the training company we used.
Positive Considerations:
- Wrestling with Joey is a non-factor in this. Overall, he has been very well trained.
- She asked if he's had injuries. Sometimes that can be the culprit to the reaction. We said no.
- "IF" we didn't have a child in the home additional training could definitely be a viable approach. She (the vet/trainer) has seen a lot of success and rehabilitated dogs. However, see below:
Negative Considerations:
- Vet said this almost certainly wasn't a resource guarding issue (which stinks because we can train him out of that).
- Since we don't know what was stressing him out, it makes this very difficult to retrain. What behavior are we trying to fix? We don't know.
- Turns out, this was the 2nd time (I was unaware of the first) that he lunged out. Joey did it to my wife last fall when I was out of town when she tried to get a sticker-burr out of his paw. (Level 2--no skin break, she had forgotten).
- Mine was a Level 4/5 bite. Vet does not recommend rehoming for anything above a 3. Now we know, without question, what Joey is capable of.
- Vet agrees with our primary concern being our son and his friends' safety (hence why no additional training works for us). We can't live with ourselves if something ever happened.
Results:
So, it turns out the breeder is unable to take Joey after all. Her husband said no. Therefore, I will be euthanizing Joey later this week. I will be going at this one alone and I'm not looking forward to having to do this a SECOND time in under a year. Putting down my Jack about broke me. This one will break my son's heart. Just watching my wife hang up the call, hold Joey and bawl was enough.
Hasn't even been 12 months:
To put my pooch "down" or not. :(
My Shih Tzu is 12 years & 8 months old and has Cushing's Disease since he was 7. He's on meds for that plus two for a subsequent bad heart. He's been overweight since being diagnosed (23lbs vs 15 for his breed). He's also on an eye drop regimen. For the last 3 months his quality of life...
Here's our discussion with the veterinarian/trainer that is tied to the training company we used.
Positive Considerations:
- Wrestling with Joey is a non-factor in this. Overall, he has been very well trained.
- She asked if he's had injuries. Sometimes that can be the culprit to the reaction. We said no.
- "IF" we didn't have a child in the home additional training could definitely be a viable approach. She (the vet/trainer) has seen a lot of success and rehabilitated dogs. However, see below:
Negative Considerations:
- Vet said this almost certainly wasn't a resource guarding issue (which stinks because we can train him out of that).
- Since we don't know what was stressing him out, it makes this very difficult to retrain. What behavior are we trying to fix? We don't know.
- Turns out, this was the 2nd time (I was unaware of the first) that he lunged out. Joey did it to my wife last fall when I was out of town when she tried to get a sticker-burr out of his paw. (Level 2--no skin break, she had forgotten).
- Mine was a Level 4/5 bite. Vet does not recommend rehoming for anything above a 3. Now we know, without question, what Joey is capable of.
- Vet agrees with our primary concern being our son and his friends' safety (hence why no additional training works for us). We can't live with ourselves if something ever happened.
Results:
So, it turns out the breeder is unable to take Joey after all. Her husband said no. Therefore, I will be euthanizing Joey later this week. I will be going at this one alone and I'm not looking forward to having to do this a SECOND time in under a year. Putting down my Jack about broke me. This one will break my son's heart. Just watching my wife hang up the call, hold Joey and bawl was enough.
Hasn't even been 12 months:
To put my pooch "down" or not. :(
My Shih Tzu is 12 years & 8 months old and has Cushing's Disease since he was 7. He's on meds for that plus two for a subsequent bad heart. He's been overweight since being diagnosed (23lbs vs 15 for his breed). He's also on an eye drop regimen. For the last 3 months his quality of life...
Damn man, I'm sorry.
Sorry to hear that. You did everything you possibly could have done to avoid it. Hard as it will be, be with him until the end. 😥Here's our discussion with the veterinarian/trainer that is tied to the training company we used.
Positive Considerations:
- Wrestling with Joey is a non-factor in this. Overall, he has been very well trained.
- She asked if he's had injuries. Sometimes that can be the culprit to the reaction. We said no.
- "IF" we didn't have a child in the home additional training could definitely be a viable approach. She (the vet/trainer) has seen a lot of success and rehabilitated dogs. However, see below:
Negative Considerations:
- Vet said this almost certainly wasn't a resource guarding issue (which stinks because we can train him out of that).
- Since we don't know what was stressing him out, it makes this very difficult to retrain. What behavior are we trying to fix? We don't know.
- Turns out, this was the 2nd time (I was unaware of the first) that he lunged out. Joey did it to my wife last fall when I was out of town when she tried to get a sticker-burr out of his paw. (Level 2--no skin break, she had forgotten).
- Mine was a Level 4/5 bite. Vet does not recommend rehoming for anything above a 3. Now we know, without question, what Joey is capable of.
- Vet agrees with our primary concern being our son and his friends' safety (hence why no additional training works for us). We can't live with ourselves if something ever happened.
Results:
So, it turns out the breeder is unable to take Joey after all. Her husband said no. Therefore, I will be euthanizing Joey later this week. I will be going at this one alone and I'm not looking forward to having to do this a SECOND time in under a year. Putting down my Jack about broke me. This one will break my son's heart. Just watching my wife hang up the call, hold Joey and bawl was enough.
Hasn't even been 12 months:
To put my pooch "down" or not. :(
My Shih Tzu is 12 years & 8 months old and has Cushing's Disease since he was 7. He's on meds for that plus two for a subsequent bad heart. He's been overweight since being diagnosed (23lbs vs 15 for his breed). He's also on an eye drop regimen. For the last 3 months his quality of life...
Bummer, hats off for being responsible. That said, if euthanizing the dog is as devastating as you seem to indicate, there is a reasonable alternative. Despite your vet's recommendation not to rehome anything above a 3, you don't have to follow their recommendation. The breeder would have been a great outcome if they were willing, but why not someone else?
My guess is there are plenty of people who would be willing to take the dog even with the full disclosure. It might take a bit of time and effort to find a responsible person with the right circumstances, but I doubt it'd be that difficult.
My guess is there are plenty of people who would be willing to take the dog even with the full disclosure. It might take a bit of time and effort to find a responsible person with the right circumstances, but I doubt it'd be that difficult.
So sorry OP, nothing good about any of this at all.
They did re-home some of Michael Vicks dogs. I would have no idea how to get to people like that though. Maybe contact some animal activist groups?
Just take him out to some nature preserve a few hours away and let him loose.
See Post #217 - We're going to at least ask the owner of the dog we're sitting for. She's been watching Joe since he was 6 months old.
Here's our discussion with the veterinarian/trainer that is tied to the training company we used.
Positive Considerations:
- Wrestling with Joey is a non-factor in this. Overall, he has been very well trained.
- She asked if he's had injuries. Sometimes that can be the culprit to the reaction. We said no.
- "IF" we didn't have a child in the home additional training could definitely be a viable approach. She (the vet/trainer) has seen a lot of success and rehabilitated dogs. However, see below:
Negative Considerations:
- Vet said this almost certainly wasn't a resource guarding issue (which stinks because we can train him out of that).
- Since we don't know what was stressing him out, it makes this very difficult to retrain. What behavior are we trying to fix? We don't know.
- Turns out, this was the 2nd time (I was unaware of the first) that he lunged out. Joey did it to my wife last fall when I was out of town when she tried to get a sticker-burr out of his paw. (Level 2--no skin break, she had forgotten).
- Mine was a Level 4/5 bite. Vet does not recommend rehoming for anything above a 3. Now we know, without question, what Joey is capable of.
- Vet agrees with our primary concern being our son and his friends' safety (hence why no additional training works for us). We can't live with ourselves if something ever happened.
Results:
So, it turns out the breeder is unable to take Joey after all. Her husband said no. Therefore, I will be euthanizing Joey later this week. I will be going at this one alone and I'm not looking forward to having to do this a SECOND time in under a year. Putting down my Jack about broke me. This one will break my son's heart. Just watching my wife hang up the call, hold Joey and bawl was enough.
Hasn't even been 12 months:
To put my pooch "down" or not. :(
My Shih Tzu is 12 years & 8 months old and has Cushing's Disease since he was 7. He's on meds for that plus two for a subsequent bad heart. He's been overweight since being diagnosed (23lbs vs 15 for his breed). He's also on an eye drop regimen. For the last 3 months his quality of life...
This posts kind of sucks now that we know Joey's fate. Hopefully the lady that dog sits him will take him.
Ah, good, in terms of strategy: Are you going to give them the impression that if they decline, Joe is a goner?
This might be the worst idea ever.
I can't believe how effing stupid some people are on this website.
This brought a literal tear to my eye. Sometimes life just sucks.Here's our discussion with the veterinarian/trainer that is tied to the training company we used.
Positive Considerations:
- Wrestling with Joey is a non-factor in this. Overall, he has been very well trained.
- She asked if he's had injuries. Sometimes that can be the culprit to the reaction. We said no.
- "IF" we didn't have a child in the home additional training could definitely be a viable approach. She (the vet/trainer) has seen a lot of success and rehabilitated dogs. However, see below:
Negative Considerations:
- Vet said this almost certainly wasn't a resource guarding issue (which stinks because we can train him out of that).
- Since we don't know what was stressing him out, it makes this very difficult to retrain. What behavior are we trying to fix? We don't know.
- Turns out, this was the 2nd time (I was unaware of the first) that he lunged out. Joey did it to my wife last fall when I was out of town when she tried to get a sticker-burr out of his paw. (Level 2--no skin break, she had forgotten).
- Mine was a Level 4/5 bite. Vet does not recommend rehoming for anything above a 3. Now we know, without question, what Joey is capable of.
- Vet agrees with our primary concern being our son and his friends' safety (hence why no additional training works for us). We can't live with ourselves if something ever happened.
Results:
So, it turns out the breeder is unable to take Joey after all. Her husband said no. Therefore, I will be euthanizing Joey later this week. I will be going at this one alone and I'm not looking forward to having to do this a SECOND time in under a year. Putting down my Jack about broke me. This one will break my son's heart. Just watching my wife hang up the call, hold Joey and bawl was enough.
Hasn't even been 12 months:
To put my pooch "down" or not. :(
My Shih Tzu is 12 years & 8 months old and has Cushing's Disease since he was 7. He's on meds for that plus two for a subsequent bad heart. He's been overweight since being diagnosed (23lbs vs 15 for his breed). He's also on an eye drop regimen. For the last 3 months his quality of life...
When it's out there starving and weak and being eaten alive by coyotes I'm thinking you're wrong.
Maybe somebody will pick it up? At least it had a shot that way.
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