Deciding to euthanize and aggressive dog?

Question

A few months ago, I pulled an Australian Shepherd mix (Caleb) from a rural shelter in Georgia. A huge amount of effort was placed into even getting the dog here (I am in New England). He arrived emaciated, covered in ticks, and infected with heartworm. After a fundraiser and three months later, he is heartworm free, tick free, and gaining weight. He is set to be neutered on Tuesday (so please keep in mind that this dog is unneutered at the present moment).

At first, I noticed little quirks with his behavior. The first time I tried to bathe him, he snapped at me. I quickly corrected him. He didn't snap at me for three months- not so much as a growl. For others, however, it is a different story.

It started with just growling. He would shy away and growl when someone tried to pet him. But he would go to people- he even climbed in my father's lap several times. The growling quickly turned into snapping after his heartworm treatment was complete. At the vet, he tried to bite anyone who touched him- I had to hold him for the last part of his treatment.

Once he began to feel better physically, his behavior detoriated rapidly. He would growl and snap at anyone who entered a room with me in it. He has bitten a few people- but never hard enough to even break the skin.

Up until today, his only exception has been me.

For the past week, I was on vacation, and had to kennel Caleb. The kennel staff reported that he tried to bite several people while in their care (this doesn't surprise me).

Caleb came home two days ago.

Yesterday, I brought home another unneutered male- a mini Aussie. Caleb (the first dog) did what he usually does upon meeting new dogs. He growling, lunged, showed teeth. I corrected him (once having to actually physically hold him back by his scruff because he was going for the new dog). After he got over the initial reaction of there being a new dog in the house, he simply got used to the idea and followed the second dog (Pyg) around the house.

Today, while I was petting Pyg, Caleb lunged at him. There was a quick fight during which Pyg backed off and Caleb kept advancing. I promptly separated the two of them, and muzzled Caleb (which he usually doesn't mind too much). I was out when this occured so I had to drive back home with both of them in the same car (uncrated, bad idea, eh?). As we're driving, Caleb is still muzzled. He crawled into my lap, and put his face next to mine- something he routinely does. This time, however, he growling and lunged at my face so hard that the force of his muzzle hitting my face actually hurt. He was fine with me afterward.

Many hours later (about twenty minutes ago), Caleb was laying on the floor in the belly up position. He does this when I want him to go in his crate, and I usually pick him up to get him in, but given today's events, I didn't want to push my luck. Instead, I tried to coax him into his crate. When that didn't work, I leaned down to pat his belly and he lunged at my arm. He seemed to realize halfway through his attack that he was attacking mom, becasue I felt his teeth on my arm, then he backed off, nipped my finger, sniffed, then backed away again.

Up until today, I was determined to fix this problem of his, determined to see if there was anything I could do. I thought he would never go after me- but now I realize that you can never say never with dogs. He has not done any serious damage yet, but I feel like it is only a matter of time. Should I stick with my plan of seeing a behaviorist, or does it sound like this dog is too far gone? I'm going to think this over for a few days and see if his behavior improves, but it is getting to the point where I am anxious about petting him.

It is very important for me to mention that this is not a dog I intended to keep. He is a foster dog, and I was planning on adopting him out once his problems all seemed to be settled. But now I realize I could never give anyone this dog. He is not trustworthy, and I don't know if he could ever be trustworthy.

Some opinions and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

That dog is not adoptable and is not safe for you to have in your home.  Unless you are prepared to keep it forever, never have any other pets, and will hire a behaviorist/trainer, put it to sleep.  

Keep everyone away from the dog, especially children.

Answer 2

Sorry to say I've been in a similar situation.  With Butch, my concern was that he would get out of the house and attack other kids in the neighborhood.  He was beyond aggressive and was quite vicious.  We had found him on the back porch one day and after unsuccessfully trying to find his owner, adopted him.  He never would do anything to my family, but he was psychotic around strangers or other visitors.  After working with him for months to try to acclimate him to others, I had no choice but to put him down.  

   Is it the right choice for you?  Hard to say.  I know it tore me up even though we had no reasonable alternatives.

Answer 3

No, don't euthanize him. The problem is this; the dog is showing being dominant over you, and the leader of a pack will defend the pack. He feels as if it's his job to defend you from every one. So now you have to show him that this behavior is not wanted by you. You have to show him that YOU are the leader. One way to do this is to have lots of people that you know come over one at a time. No eye contact and no touching. ( Eye contact is a challenge to a dominant dog.) Have the person come in and without saying a word, give your dog a piece of meat or a treat that he likes, and then leave. Praise the dog every time the person comes in and gives him a treat. Do this many times until he associates people with something good. The same thing can be done with the vet. Bring your dog in to the vet, but not to get a check up, just to get a treat or a rub and a GOOD BOY. He has to associate the vet with GOOD things.

  

Answer 4

I was watching an animal cops show, and I watched them get a sickly pit bull.  At first, the pit bull was fine with dogs.  As it slowly got better, it ended up hating other dogs.  The behaviorist said sometimes a dog's true nature comes out when it feels better.  That dog actually was VERY people-friendly.  It ended up in a 1-dog home where it was the only dog.  Of course, dogs who need to be the only dog in the home are not that uncommon, and it isn't necessarily the pit bull type dogs that are given the warning.  

In this case though, you have a dog that is not people or dog-friendly.   If this dog was picked up in rural Georgia, he probably wasn't socialized at all and running wild.  Give the behaviorist a try, and warn the behaviorist.  Might as well give the dog one last chance.  

If the behaviorist can't even handle him though, put him to sleep.  Don't feel bad.  Some dogs just aren't meant to be pets.  I lived in Georgia for a few years.  Some people who live in rural Georgia... especially Southern Georgia... certainly have a different way of "taking care" of their animals (meaning they let the animals run who-knows-where).  Unfortunately, this is the result.

Answer 5

I would say that you should talk with your vet about it and maybe an animal trainer.  Once he is fixed, his aggression may stop as well.  It's hard to tell what's going on with a dog.  What I do know, is that I would feel terrible having an animal put down for aggression without trying a trainer first.  I know you don't want an aggressive dog and I wouldn't either.  I've known a lot of people who have gone through dog training where they went with their dogs that speak very highly of it.  Best of luck, I'm sure this can't be an easy situation for you to be in.  I watch It's Me or the Dog a lot and Victoria Stillwell claims no animal is untrainable, so I wouldn't give up hope.  She deals with a lot of animals who are aggressive as well.  I hope this was helpful.

Answer 6

Personally, I don't think it's right to put down dogs that are aggressive.  Dogs are living beings, and deserve full lives.  Putting down an aggressive dog, in my eyes, would be like putting down a child who hits people.  If this were the case, I'd be dead, because I regularly hit and pushed other kids as a child.

I think you should wait and see how he is after neutering, and a bit of behaviorist training.  If it's really that bad, then I guess you have no other choice...but, I disagree with that choice.  I could never bring myself to kill an animal unless it was in extreme pain.  But you and I are two different people with different opinions, so do what you wish.

Good luck!

Answer 7

Here's my opinion.

This dog should not be adopted out.  He's too much of a liability.

If you are considering keeping him as a permanant addition, and accepting his quirks and learning to deal with them, then you may at least want to consider an evaluation from the behavoiralist before deciding to euthanize.

If you're not really wanting to make him a permanant addition, then I say to have him humanely euthanized.  Its hard when you've put so much work into the dog.. but you just cant risk him possibly injuring another person or dog.  There's so many other nice dogs out there who have no temperment issues that would be better adoption candidates.

ADDED:

Why do people think that Cesar Milan is the answer???  He's just another trainer..  he's not a "miracle" answer.  He trains dogs one praise at a time like ANY OTHER trainer.  He just happens to have a TV show.  He gets lots of calls and emails, he can NOT possible take on every case!  Im sure they pick and choose to only air the successfuly trained dogs on TV too..  not all dogs can be rehabilitated.. Im sure he's taken on some that ultimately still had to be euthanized.

Answer 8

That is a tough, sad situation.

Especially given the effort, time, and no doubt, considerable money you've put into the dog.

Think about this ... if this dog were in a shelter, he'd be considered unadoptable and would have already been euthanized.  The fact that he has bitten would make it too risky to adopt him about ... there's no way of knowing who or what might set him off.

He's already shown himself to be unreliable and untrustworthy with strangers, and now he's showing aggression to you.  

I don't think that you CAN, with a clear conscience, even consider rehoming him.  I hate to ever recommend euthanasia, but with his behavioral problems, I don't see another choice.

Answer 9

Okay, I think you have to remember that this dog has had a pretty terrible life. I'm wondering how old Caleb is actually. He probably doesn't know how to react and is just as scared of you as you are of him. I say, take him to a behaviorist and see what happens. I think his behavior will change for the better.

Answer 10

You're obviously not the type of person who gives up on a dog easily and I so admire those who foster dogs and help prepare them to be adopted.  I know it takes tremendous love and commitment.  I'm sure you know exactly what it takes to make a dog adoptable.  It doesn't sound like Caleb will ever meet that standard.  That's not your fault.  It's not Caleb's fault.  It's just what happened.  What kind of life is it for a dog to live muzzled or to never be allowed around other dogs or people?  It's an absolute tragedy for anyone who loves dogs to go through this and whatever you decide to do, my heart goes out to you and Caleb both.  

Answer 11

What bothers me the most is that he attacked you. He'll never be able to be re-homed and I doubt that neutering him will help. Or for that matter a behaviorist.

You have done your best and given him a taste of the good life. Its sad when this happens. I have a feral female that I am working with and I know she will never be re homed. Could you keep me posted as I am interested in the outcome of your story.

Answer 12

I think that if you were committed to being a single (Caleb) dog household for the rest of that dogs life, and you were committed to having Caleb muzzled almost 100% of his life, then you could consider keeping him.  His behavior however sounds too erratic and scary to be acceptable though in my opinion... He sounds like he's extremely territorial over yourself, and extremely reactive/dog aggressive.  

I also don't think it's fair to the rest of the dogs in your household to have to live with a reactive and unpredictable animal... as shown by Pyg backing down after being attacked, and Caleb still advancing.  He's also obviously never going to be safe for rehoming.

I can't comprehend how hard it'd be to put a dog down, but a dog that's people aggressive has used up his chance.  I know you'd do your best to keep him away from people, but waht if someday he attacks the mailman?  Or heaven forbid a child who doesn't know any better?  I don't think it's worth it.  

Answer 13

Please contact Cesar Millan.  I know he must get many e-mails from people who are in your situation, but maybe he can help.  He takes many dogs into his pack for rehabilitation.