Do I have my dog euthanized?

[poorlittlefish]

When I was married we had a rescue dog who was really aggressive towards me, even though I was never anything but kind to him. He also tried biting kids a couple of times. Did we have him put to sleep? It never crossed our minds once. We took him to training classes, then to an animal psychologist and finally we had a behaviourist come to our house to work with him. After following her advice he wasn't perfect, but he was a heck of a lot better. You need to put the time in to getting professional help for your poor dog, who clearly is acting out of fear, for whatever reason. Dogs get crazy over all sorts of things and it doesn't necessarily mean it's associated with past abuse, but maybe something traumatic which has stuck with them.

Don't put your dog in situations where men are around the house if she's that fearful and unpredictable. If she barks the place down even if you just put her in another room then, as other posters have said, you need to start getting her used to associating the other room with things she likes. In the short term, if guys come over then can't you arrange for her to go to a friend/relative/petsitter for the duration or, if it's a shorter period, for someone to take her out for a walk?

[Tinydance]

Maybe it's wrong of me to point the finger at you, but usually with bad dog (and cat) behaviours, I actually feel like it's the owner that's to blame. My family always had dogs and as puppies dogs start out being "bitey" because that's how they play and interact with other dogs. They don't seem to realise yet that humans are not the same species and "play rough". Getting the puppy out of that biting behaviour actually takes time and training. Sometimes the training can't just be done by a lay person and needs to be done at puppy school or by a professional dog trainer. Some pet behaviours can't just be eliminated by raising your voice and saying: Bad boy, etc". There need to be certain techniques as to how you respond. I don't blame people for not knowing at first but effort needs to be made to read a lot of literature and take planned action, like dog training.

My fiance already had a cat when we met and he had spoiled the cat and encouraged bad behaviours (still does). The cat bites but that's because he's actually trying to play. My partner instead of trying techniques to stop the biting actually indulges the cat and plays along. The cat also tried to bite sometimes when it really wanted something and it wasn't getting it. E.g. when he was begging to go outside but didn't get to, he'd bite our feet. My fiance just let him get away with it but I didn't. One time he bit me on the feet and I raised my voice and pushed him away (not hard). After that I noticed that when begging he began to just tap me with his paw gently and meow. I rewarded him by letting him go outside when he was gentle. So he learnt that that approach worked and only used that from then on. Had I let him out when he bit me then I would have rewarded the bad behaviour and the behaviour would have continued.

Your dog is eight and there have been only four bite incidents. Mostly she is fine even with guests. Also she may bite to get attention. That's what our cat was doing. You said she wanted to be petted by a guy but when he ignored her, she bit him. It seems quite unfair that you're thinking to just out the dog down when I don't see a lot of evidence in your post that you've even done that much to fix the situation?

[itsallgrand]

Honestly it's very upsetting to read that you'd consider putting this dog down in these circumstances. It's good though that you are posting instead of just doing it one day.

This brings back painful memories for me because my mom thought like you. If a dog bites, put them down.
My dog as a child and teen was a big beautiful Bearded Collie. He didn't like strange men on our property either.
We had kept him separated when a strange man to him came on our property.
One time while I was away, a neighbour came by and Jeffy had not been separated. He bit the man. My mom had my dog shot by a family friend, because that was the mentality with a lot of people in that place and time. You have no idea what ' putting down' the family pet does to a kid when the kid full well knows the dog is not even sick. It just shows a disregard for life when it is not perfectly convenient for you anymore.
I get not everyone is going to spend money for dog trainers and the like. But you can make the effort at least to not force your dog into situations that you know are stressful for him. Why the insistence he be roaming free when men come over?

[Tinydance]

Honestly it's very upsetting to read that you'd consider putting this dog down in these circumstances. It's good though that you are posting instead of just doing it one day.

This brings back painful memories for me because my mom thought like you. If a dog bites, put them down.
My dog as a child and teen was a big beautiful Bearded Collie. He didn't like strange men on our property either.
We had kept him separated when a strange man to him came on our property.
One time while I was away, a neighbour came by and Jeffy had not been separated. He bit the man. My mom had my dog shot by a family friend, because that was the mentality with a lot of people in that place and time. You have no idea what ' putting down' the family pet does to a kid when the kid full well knows the dog is not even sick. It just shows a disregard for life when it is not perfectly convenient for you anymore.
I get not everyone is going to spend money for dog trainers and the like. But you can make the effort at least to not force your dog into situations that you know are stressful for him. Why the insistence he be roaming free when men come over?

Well I also just think that when you get a dog, you are getting the dog because you want to. You need to have knowledge of what it entails, and if you don't have the knowledge, you can read up on it, watch YouTube videos, and learn as best as you can. Getting a dog is different to having a baby in that a baby can be "an accident". But getting a dog is not an accident, it's a choice. If you made the choice then you need to make a commitment. If you don't have money for dog trainers and so on, then you need to learn from books and the Internet how to best help your dog and you need to do everything you can. A pet is a part of the family. You wouldn't just get rid of your child because they were naughty. This dog is not that severe even. I've seen much worse.

[itsallgrand]

Tiny dance, we are agreeing with each other. :)
Except I think having a baby is as much a choice as having a pet, and the same applies. You decide to take it on, yes you need to do what it takes to meet your responsibilities to that life that is dependent on you.
I agree too it's not severe in this case, and people here have given many options for solutions.

[Jibralta]

When we were socializing her, she would always run behind me or my wife whenever adult men would walk up to her.

When she has bitten someone, it’s strange because there’s no warning; no growling, snarling, showing teeth, anything. She just does it.

Since she has a bite history, I’m sure re-homing her is off the table.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

I hope you don't go so far as to euthanize her. There are plenty of other options, like no-kill shelters and organizations that make it their mission to match a dog with the right owner. Having a bite history does not prevent her from having a happy home. I would consider adopting dog like that myself if I had the space.

It's typical of dogs to growl and bare their teeth when they feel threatened. But believe it or not, not all dogs behave this way. Some dogs are so timid that all they do is try to hide and get smaller in the face of perceived danger.

One thing that stands out to me is that she runs behind you when she sees adult men. She doesn't bark at them, bare her teeth, or growl. That says a lot to me about the way she communicates.

It's a quirk I've seen from time to time, across dog breeds big and small, and in dogs that have happy homes and friendly owners. It's uncommon, but it does happen.

You have to keep in mind that even the most cowardly animal will defend itself if it feels cornered. Dogs defend themselves by biting.

[~Seraphim ~]

There are also breed rescues.

[Batya33]

I hope you don't go so far as to euthanize her. There are plenty of other options, like no-kill shelters and organizations that make it their mission to match a dog with the right owner. Having a bite history does not prevent her from having a happy home. I would consider adopting dog like that myself if I had the space.

It's typical of dogs to growl and bare their teeth when they feel threatened. But believe it or not, not all dogs behave this way. Some dogs are so timid that all they do is try to hide and get smaller in the face of perceived danger.

One thing that stands out to me is that she runs behind you when she sees adult men. She doesn't bark at them, bare her teeth, or growl. That says a lot to me about the way she communicates.

It's a quirk I've seen from time to time, across dog breeds big and small, and in dogs that have happy homes and friendly owners. It's uncommon, but it does happen.

You have to keep in mind that even the most cowardly animal will defend itself if it feels cornered. Dogs defend themselves by biting.

I hesitated to write because this really is not within my realm of knowledge except for these truths. I am not a dog person. I am a cat person. I was bitten by a dog unprovoked in 1992 -a dog I knew, a dog I'd been around. It was awful. Many years of fears after. Never once did I want that dog euthanized nor did I ever think the owner -my then boyfriend's mom -would ever think in those terms. I believe when I came over after that he was put in another room, maybe a cage? I don't know. Just plain old common sense tells me that euthanizing in this particular situation is not necessary and would just be tragic. Rehoming? I can see that -or the shelter option -sure - I can certainly understand if a dog with that propensity might not be right in a certain family or environment. It just struck me that euthanizing seemed so drastic and uncalled for. Thought I would throw in my two cents.

[smackie9]

Through a lot of my experiences with dogs and dog owners and with my mom who has boarding dogs for years...it's not the dog, it's the owners. It has nothing to do with the breed as any dog can develop bad habits and misbehave, but most of the onus in on the owner. Every dog is different, just like people. It's how the dog is handled will make the difference, but it's knowing what to do that will work. It also needs the participation of the whole family. The trainer actually trains the people, not the dog. The dog needs consistency, time spend going through it's training twice a day. You can't just water/ feed and walk a dog. That is not enough. If you don't want to put the time into a dog, then get a cat.

[~Seraphim ~]

Through a lot of my experiences with dogs and dog owners and with my mom who has boarding dogs for years...it's not the dog, it's the owners. It has nothing to do with the breed as any dog can develop bad habits and misbehave, but most of the onus in on the owner. Every dog is different, just like people. It's how the dog is handled will make the difference, but it's knowing what to do that will work. It also needs the participation of the whole family. The trainer actually trains the people, not the dog. The dog needs consistency, time spend going through it's training twice a day. You can't just water/ feed and walk a dog. That is not enough. If you don't want to put the time into a dog, then get a cat.

That is a great point. Dog owners should have training. Almost all attacks by dogs are provoked by people not understanding dog body language or psychology .