Guide on how to read the rules

Grieving your reactive dog is such a paradox.

Spent six years managing my reactive girl and building my whole life around her. I couldn't go on vacation at all; I could run errands but not without checking every box to make sure our other dog and kid at home were safe. I could never just live in the moment because I was always checking those safety boxes.

All my habits centered on removing triggers and/or monitoring her every single second. The vet recommended behavioral euthanasia three years ago, but Prozac and a behaviorist helped us manage things for three more years.

Yesterday was the day. It's still too raw to get into details about why, and fortunately I got her through her life without hurting a human and without seriously injuring our other dog. But I knew it was the day, and I was able to get her to the vet for euthanasia without her being anxious or aggressive. It was a peaceful passing, and I am thankful for that. I always feared my last memory of her might be her doing something awful.

But... fuck. She was also the best companion I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. She was so snuggly. She gave amazing hugs to me and my husband, her only two safe people who she wasn't reactive toward.

I've had the TV on nonstop because not hearing her bark or her paws click breaks my fucking heart. We walked every day, and it used to annoy me that I had to bring her along on every single walk I took, but now all I want is to hear her excited barks when I pull out her harness.

The vet, vet tech, and our second dog's vet all affirmed that I made the right choice. But it still hurts. This has broken me. I adopted her during my transition to adulthood, and I feel like my identity has been wrapped up in her. Our bond was so strong. Today I woke up in a world where I didn't have to strategize when and where other people in the house and I would eat. I petted my other dog out in the open without worrying about making her jealous.

Life is so much easier, but I'm in so much pain and miss my baby despite how hard she was. I know things will get better eventually, but explaining my grief to people is so complicated because euthanasia in her case sounds like a no-brainer to most people.

I'll love you forever; my complicated, awful, wonderful, beautiful, terrifying, loving paradox of a girl. Loving you was so hard but so wonderful.

TW BE AND ABUSE

I’ve never posted on here before but I’m in need of some insight. I said goodbye to my 3 year old American Staffordshire yesterday and have been absolutely beside myself. I feel like I made the wrong choice for him. I’m so scared he could’ve gotten better and I just didn’t try enough.

I got Pork Chop as a puppy, and immediately he was food aggressive towards my senior dog. I began working on that but nothing seemed to help. He got slightly better but never safe. I grew up with a reactive dog so I did so much research before getting Pork and spent the majority of my time working on making sure the world wouldn’t be a scary place for him. It didn’t matter. By the time he turned 1 he had already sent another dog to the ER and attacked my other dog multiple times. As he got a bit older he seemed to chill out a bit and was able to be around my other dog as long as there were no food/high value triggers. He could walk past another dog with no issues. Months later and we moved in with my ex and two other men. This ruined my dog. All the progress was gone. They were doing things behind my back and he became aggressive towards one of the guys in the house. He lunged up at his throat once and I never let them near each other again. This relationship became incredibly abusive and my dogs felt that too. When I finally got us out, Pork just wasn’t the same. He’d always had a bit of aggression in him but it had progressed to trying to murder my other dog with no trigger. He would just randomly attack and not stop. I got bit once in the process of breaking it up. He was reactive to dogs on the street and killed any squirrel/bunny he could get. He also became strange around all new people. He wouldn’t let anyone get close and would bark and lunge. He would go at them with the intent to bite. I’ve been keeping the two dogs separate for about a year now but the times I’ve slipped up he’s immediately attacked her. I’ve consulted with trainers and my vet on so many occasions and nothing worked. He did not respond to training. It turned into trying to avoid the triggers I knew existed. I tried medication but half the time I couldn’t even get him to take it and I didn’t want to push him by shoving it down his throat and make him hate me. He just did not get better with anything we did.

He was the sweetest boy with me and never once made me feel unsafe. He was my cuddle bug. But he was a threat to my other dog (plus any other animal) and was aggressive towards anyone but me. I just did not want to wait until he bit someone or killed something. I didn’t want him to be villainized. I feel so wrong though because technically I avoided him biting anyone so it feels like I just gave up on him. I really did try everything I could. He was the reason I felt safe enough to sleep some nights. I just am so afraid I failed him.

I apologize if this is all over the place. I have a lot of emotions right now. And I know I didn’t go into detail about everything but there’s far too much to cover.

I never thought I would be making a post like this, but I’m facing one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make.
I have a 3-year-old Australian Shepherd who has struggled with extreme reactivity and aggression. Over time, his behavior has gotten progressively worse, to the point where he has started turning on me and close family members who he used to love and trust.
It’s heartbreaking because I know the sweet, loving dog he can be. He’s still so young, and the thought of putting him down at only 3 years old absolutely destroys me.
I’ve been struggling with the guilt of even considering behavioral euthanasia. Part of me feels like I’m giving up on him, but another part of me realizes that his behavior has become dangerous and unpredictable. I also question what his quality of life is like if he’s constantly living in a state of fear, anxiety, or aggression.
I love this dog more than anything, and I never imagined our time together would end like this. I wanted him to grow old with me.
Has anyone else had to make the decision to euthanize a young dog because of severe aggression or reactivity? How did you come to terms with it?

Hard to believe he is reactive af, after taking this pic he ran away and i injured my hands while following him.. still love him more than anything.

I walk Dre, my DIY Rhodie, at around 4 or 4:30 am because there are (most of the time) no other dogs around.

He can be very lunging and reactive towards trash pandas though.

But I live in a very dog friendly area in Seattle, so even when I was walking Dre at around 2:30 am on Saturday early morning, I still ran into 3 separate people also walking their dog!

From a CDBC, FDM, CPDT-KA certified dog trainer

The holidays are just around the corner. Family coming into town, lots of great food, time to catch up with people we haven't seen in a while, and lots of opportunities for our dogs to make a grand escape, get into something that is toxic or would cause an obstruction, and have unwanted interactions that may lead to a bite. None of us want those things to happen, but holidays are when they happen the most!

Management ideas

1. Get a free-standing gate to go around your front door on the inside. That way, if Uncle Greg forgets to latch the front door behind him, you have more time to catch it and close it before your dog dashes out into the street.

2. Create a zen den. A place where your dog can go and get comfy when things get loud, overwhelming or during meal times. Use a back room, hallway with a baby gate or mudroom to keep your dog more relaxed. Start getting them acclimated to spending small amounts of time in there now! Feed meals in there, let them enjoy a frozen Kong or Toppl in there, spend some time sitting in there with them when they're tired to help them learn to relax in there.

3. If you're working on teaching your dog not to jump, keep them on leash (yes inside the home), for the first 10-15 minutes that guests are arriving. Hands-free leashes allow you to carry things, greet people and keep your dog from rehearsing any unwanted behaviors. Make sure to have a treat pouch on you to reward any A+ Behaviors!

4. Have guests ask before touching your dog. Many of the dogs I work with have been over handled. Kids grabbing tails, unfamiliar people picking up the dog, people reaching hands over the head to pet a dog who came up to sniff (gathering information, not an invitation for petting), and that's how bites happen. We can check for consent before petting by getting low, putting our hands down in our own personal space (by our legs) and inviting them into our space instead of invading theirs. When I ask the dog if they want to be touched, a majority turn and walk away. And that's okay! Some eagerly trot over and present their booty for scritches. Give the dog a choice.

5. Situational medication. Some dogs have a really difficult time when their routine is disrupted and there is chaos in the home. For those dogs, talking with your vet about medication to help during high stress times may be super beneficial. A seriously stressed out or fearful dog is more likely to resort to an air snap or even bite those who approach them. Help your guests and your dog by using medication paired with a zen den to keep everyone stress-free.

I'll post soon about day-of things you can do to help your dog out!

One of my three dogs has been resource guarding the bed and couch, especially when he's sitting or lying next to me. This typically happens at night, while mornings and afternoons are usually fine. He growls, and sometimes attacks my other dogs when they try to get close to me while we're on the couch or bed together. He's also attacked two other dogs that approached a couch we were sitting on. He's bitten me twice when I've put my hand between him and another dog to stop an attack, although I'm pretty sure the bites were unintentional.

I've started removing him from the bed at bedtime while allowing my other two dogs to stay. However, I let him back on after he started whining because he could see us through the open bedroom door. I'm planning to give him his own bed and start teaching him the "off" command.

I never thought I would be writing something like this, especially about a dog who’s only 3 years old.
I have a 3-year-old Australian Shepherd who I love more than anything. Unfortunately, his reactivity has gotten progressively worse over time. What started as being reactive toward strangers and certain situations eventually turned into aggression toward me and close family members who he previously loved and trusted.
It’s heartbreaking watching a dog you love slowly become a dog you can no longer safely trust. He’s still my boy, and there are moments when he’s the same loving, goofy dog I’ve always known. But those moments have become overshadowed by the unpredictability of his behavior and the fear that someone could seriously get hurt.
We’re now facing the possibility of behavioral euthanasia, and it’s absolutely destroying me. He’s only 3. He should have so much life ahead of him, and I feel an overwhelming amount of guilt knowing that his life might end this way.
I know some people will judge this decision, but it’s not something we’re taking lightly. I wish more than anything that love alone could fix what’s happening.
I’m posting because I genuinely don’t know how to process this. Has anyone else had to make this decision with such a young dog, especially a breed like an Aussie? How did you cope with the guilt and grief afterward?

I'm not sure what the next steps are (if any) for my 5yo, 60lb pit mix.

My husband and I adopted him when he was 3 months old, and when he was around 9 months old he started showing signs of fear-based reactivity. I remember the first time was when I was walking him and a stranger asked if she could pet him. After petting him for a little bit, he jumped up and started barking at her. It wasn't crazy scary or anything at the time, but looking back I recognize that as the first time of concern (I also know now that his body language was showing discomfort before he barked, but at the time I was naive to all there is to know about dog behavior). When he was 2 years old, he nipped at a stranger who put his hand out to him. He used to be very friendly with other dogs, but when he was 3 years old, an off leash dog cornered and bit him, and ever since his reactivity to dogs has increases.

Flash forward to now, we've spent thousands and thousands of dollars on (fear free) training, vet behaviorists, medicine, etc. He's currently on Reconcile (and Clonidine for events like the vet). While we manage him on the day to day, it's not without stress. He loves the familiar people he's known from when he was a puppy, but he also has shown body language and behaviors that would suggest sometimes he's slightly uncomfortable. This rarely happens, and people who aren't familiar with dog body language always think I'm overreacting, but I also know that my dog has a quick/short escalation build to aggressive behaviors, and I am always scared that he will snap with what seems like is coming from nowhere. When it comes to strangers, he is very reactive/aggressive (barking and lunging). If people are in an open area where he doesn't need to "defend himself," he is unbothered by strangers, but if someone is walking towards us and looking at him, that's enough to get him going. When it comes to other dogs, he loves my family's dog (whom he's known since he was a puppy), but it takes a while for him to deescalate enough to play with other dogs. I also would never trust him to play for a long time and/or live with another dog, because he sometimes gets overstimulated when playing and I fear that would turn to aggression. He will lunge and bark aggressively towards people and dogs he does not know.

While this is generally manageable, I am always stressed about the what ifs? What if he one day snaps and attacks someone he knows? What if a maintenance man comes to our house without notifying us beforehand (this has happened to me before, and luckily my dog and I were out of our apartment when the maintenance people came)? Last year, our neighbors whose yard touches ours was redoing the fence; I let my dog out in our yard, only to then see one side of the fence completely down with someone working behind the trees. My dog immediately was aggressively barking at him in a defensive stance. I quickly ran over and got him back inside. We have to walk him every day for exercise, and I always worry if there's someone hanging right around the corner that will catch my dog by surprise and set him off. Whenever we want to travel, we have to travel back to our hometown (10 hours away) and spend thousands of dollars for his trainer to watch him because we don't feel comfortable letting anyone else watch him.

I feel stressed and embarrassed that I have a dog with these behaviors, and it hurts because when he is at home with just my husband and me, he's the sweetest, funniest, most loving, loyal, cuddly dog in the world. He is truly my best friend and I couldn't imagine a world without him. There are most days when we go for a walk and he does so well (like when he immediately looks at me when he sees a trigger) and I feel so proud of him. And then there's other days where we step outside and he is already tense and on edge. I might have to move to a city next year for work, and I can't even imagine how stressful that will be for both of us.

I have a 4 year old chihuahua mix who is very reactive in our apartment. He’s triggered by the apartment building door, footsteps, dogs barking outside, the sound of us buzzing in delivery people, and he’s aggressive towards guests he doesn’t know well. We have tried positive crate reinforcement and he responds well, but when he’s over his threshold there’s no getting him to go in there to regulate.

Soon we’ll be moving to a new apartment and we’re wondering if this is the perfect time to fully crate train him the right way. Does anyone have experience doing this late in the game?

I’m in the market for a new trainer for my 2 yr old reactive girl. Our previous trainer we got showed us a lot of great activities to do during training walks, like engaged-disengage, the 123 look at me game, and some others to help her pay more attention to me rather than triggers /distractions. She unfortunately has been hospitalized and can’t finish up our training sessions so I am in the market for our new trainer.

While I’ve been assessing trainers, I found a woman who is a behavioral trainer. She claims she’s similar to Cesar Milan, but rather than pack leader her approach is stern puppy mom. She only does one intense 2 to 3 hour session and follow up if needed. She and her reviews claim that she can take a dog from barking at every little thing to one Who can sit down at a coffee shop calmly and politely in one month. She doesn’t specify what her credentials are but claims she’s a dog whisperer who’s been working with dogs for 15 years.

I’m just curious if anyone has gone down this route of a behavioral trainer (different than a vet behavioral trainer)/dog whisperer. And if so how was your experience? Anything similar to what this trainer might claim?

Like the title says, my 7yo neutered pitbull (Captain) is aggressive. I have a German shepherd that’s 11(neutered), and they’ve been in many fights due to this. 99% of the fights were before we figured out his triggers, but most ACTUAL fights resulted in level 3 bites.

My husband and I paid $3,000 for him to get training (it was an in-home training with the trainer who’s also a behavioral specialist) and do as much correction as we could. He came back a completely different dog in a good way. They weren’t fighting, he wasn’t constantly triggered, etc. We always try to minimize any triggers, if not completely remove them. They eat separately because food is a trigger, and they don’t get toys other than stuffed toys in the house because anything else was a trigger too.
This training was about 3.5 years ago, and we’ve only had 1 or 2 issues in that time.
But the last few weeks since my MIL visited have been stressful - they’ve fought twice (one resulting in me taking a pretty bad bite to my hand), and twice my pitbull has tried to bark aggressively/get in the face of my GSD but he was ignored (this isn’t usually the case - my GSD usually gets back in his face and it starts a fight, but he’s getting old). There are no triggers (unless there’s new ones), but it seems to be happening when they do that weird sniff/check each other out thing. They’ve always done this though, so I’m not sure why it’s causing fights now.

My MIL is one of his triggers - he resource guards her because he’s obsessed with her. Small back story - she left him at our house to watch and never picked him up again. Unsure if that’s why, but adding in case it’s important.
She visits 1-2x a year and we typically will keep them separate or at least very minimal interaction (he’ll be boarded going forward with his trainer when she comes to visit again).
This time he was GLUED to her. This caused him to start resource guarding, and caused a fight between my dogs. This was fully my own stupidity by not correcting the issue that caused the dogs to fight, because I’m the adult and dog mom. I absolutely should have paid better attention and gone with my gut.

But I’m wondering if anyone has experienced this. What are my options? Can I help him? What is typically the best option for us/the household/dogs like this?
One trainer told us that he should be an only dog, but it feels like I’m doing wrong by him by rehoming him. His chances of survival are so slim, whereas with me, I KNOW I won’t take him to the shelter or to be euthanized.
He’s also my baby, and I don’t WANT to rehome him. If that’s genuinely the best option, I would consider it though. I’m hoping people have had success in managing this, because I want to be fair to both of my dogs.
They’re currently separated (the pitbull has his bed in our spare room), but that feels wrong to do 24/7 too.
Any and all advice is welcome.

I rescued a lurcher earlier in the year. He was presented by the rescue as a green light all round, suitable for any owner. He was a bit reactive around other dogs from the get go which we were working on with a trainer. He was great with people, and loved attention. Never showed signs of aggression.

After a few months of ownership, he was attacked in a park by a bigger dog which we now understand is a known aggressive dog.

My dog spent days in hospital with vet bills of nearly £10k. Upon discharge, his behaviour had changed dramatically. He would lose his shit on seeing any dog at all, with fearful nipping the air/his lead, growling and barking (which I'd never witnessed before). I immediately got a muzzle for him which he now wears most of the time when out.

We have been working through this with a behaviourist, who gave us numerous training routines and desensitisation drills which we do every time we go out. His reactivity has definitely improved - I'm able distract him quite easily with high value treats, and whilst he sometimes will still bark, he longer nips/growls etc at seeing every dog. Certain dogs that resemble his attacker set him off far more than others.

Since the attack, he is more anxious in general - very jumpy on walks, always looking around scanning the environment etc. He is more cautious of people now, and an incident that took place last week is what has led me to making this post.

I own a dog friendly bar, which he spent lots of time in before the attack. I stopped bringing him in after, but have started to bring him in during quiet times to help him desensitise to other dogs. I arranged a 'play date' with another dog which was a huge success - he was fearful initially, but after 20 mins of slowly introducing the two, they ended up playing happily together off lead.

I took him into the bar once again during quiet hours, to sit with me tucked out of the way. People often approach him to say hello, but I always tell them politely to not get close or stroke him. On this occasion, the owner of the dog he had a play date with approached to say hello, which I cautiously allowed given that the person knows my dogs situation, and they had met before. I could see that my dog was uncomfortable though, and I could feel him growling (he was lying against me). I immediately warned the person that the dog was growling and unhappy and he should stop, which he did. It's worth mentioning at this point that I had removed my dogs muzzle because he was sleeping next to me, tucked out of the way.

I offered the person to give my dog some of his high value treats, which I use to calm him down when he's stressed. The person did this and the dog accepted with no issues. Then, the person went back in to stroke my dogs head, and my dog snapped at him, catching his little finger and breaking the skin. The dog remained lying down the whole time.

The person was well natured about the incident, and admitted he shouldn't have pushed his luck. I was apologetic at the time, but I'm rather frustrated that

a) I had allowed this to happen by allowing the person to stroke my dog at all

b) The person had made the decision to stroke my dog again, AFTER being warned that he was stressed WHILST being fully aware of my dogs situation and history.

I'm asking for some advice on this situation, as well as my situation as a whole. I appreciate that regardless of the context, a dog breaking the skin of a person is a problem. I'm not sure whether the dogs intention was to bite, or whether he was attempting to warn the person but their finger was caught.

Thanks

A couple weeks ago, I made a post about my dog's trainer (with whom we are taking private classes) because I just wasn't sure how I felt about about a dog trainer who didn't want a dog.

Some of the other things that bothered me was that this trainer was surprised that my dog barked at her, to which she also said she "could never get used to that" happening, which I found to be unusual if you are working with dogs and one of your specialties is behavior modification.

One thing the folks in this sub brought to my attention was that it was unusual that the trainer would let my dog be unleashed on the first meeting. She quickly changed that policy after the bark.

Well, I was committed to the second class because the allotted time to cancel had come and gone by the time I started to second guess myself truly, so I went in with an open mind. Class consisted of my dog doing ACE free work for 30 minutes and the other half working on tricks I had mentioned I was working on during the 2 weeks before classes. The only behavior modification esque thing we worked on was a variation on touch where you get the dog to come to you from across the room back and forth. She is an expert at touch so that didn't feel particularly helpful, but I had also expressed that I wanted to take the "touch" command in the direction of retrieving because my dog has a very natural tendency to grab (and drop) and I thought we could shape that.

I wasn't exactly being listened to. And when I was, I was being brushed off. After she drank some water and dripped all over the floor, I mentioned that I would love to be able to teach her to wipe her face on a towel after drinking. She said "wouldn't that be something?" in a dismissive tone, almost like she didn't think it could be possible? It's not like I could ask her if she's tried it with her dogs, she doesn't have one.

At the end of the class, we talked about the things I could work on this week and she said she would upload stuff to the online portal. She did no such thing, except for the same video about touch she uploaded last session.

The last straw for me came when I decided I wanted to work on a new command, "place", and figure I should use the same teaching technique that she would since there are lots of videos online. I sent her a message to ask for a link so I could get started on this and she said she would prefer to work on it in person. What harm is it for me to start the process here using the training method you prefer, and then we hone it together, like we did successfully with the other skills? That might be benign and a reasonable request, but the lack of an explanation really irked me.

So I reached out to another facility over the weekend, and I am so glad I did. They have me matched with an IAABC certified dog behavior consultant. She has a dog :⁠-⁠)

She actually also had a dog that also came from a hoarding situation like my dog so I feel especially lucky to work with someone who can relate to me so much.

And most importantly! She was able to give me some background information about my dog because she used to work at the rescue I adopted her from and the information I provided about my dog sounded familiar. She was able to confirm my dog came from the same hoarding situation that just made the news here where they removed all 76 dogs from the home. My dog's rescue took in 33 dogs. This was after they took in some dogs in August.

It can only go up from here.

My dog is reactive, separation anxiety, and general anxiety. Honestly I would say the general anxiety is mostly gone with lifestyle changes and changes to training. The separation anxiety also improved with training and giving him more space (the living room/kitchen) when I’m not home. The reactivity has also gotten a lot better with changing training techniques. About 6-8 months ago all of these issues were quite bad, one of the vets he was seeing (internal med specialist) kept pushing for me to see a vet behaviorist, so we started that process like 6 months ago.

It started with a mandatory virtual consult with a vet tech/trainer (~$350 for 1 hr) where they then direct you to what service they offer that you should see next. They told me I should see the dr/vet behaviorist next for an in person consult (~$600 for the 1 hr in person consult with them). During the consult it was mostly discussion about meds and they gave me a few scripts for a daily and as needed med. I didn’t get any kind of plan as far as training goes, it just seemed super expensive (basically $1,000) just for meds. If you want to work with them for training, it’s not really included in actually working with the dr but they offer virtual or in person sessions with a CPDT-KA at like $250 per 1 hour session. Or they tell you what to look for in finding a trainer yourself. Then follow ups started at monthly at either about $300 for 30 mins or the same about $600 for an hour. Follow ups were virtual. Again follow ups were just for med discussions and if I asked questioned about training/management, they’d refer me to ask my trainer or schedule an appointment with one of theirs.

I had a previous experience with my dog on SSRIs that was not good, so we started out trialing the situational med first. It doesn’t really do anything, so our follow ups have just been talking about dose adjustments for that med. The last almost 3 months, I started working with a different trainer and my dog is honestly doing really good. I cancelled my dogs most recent virtual follow up with the behaviorist because I really don’t have anything else to say about the meds and I don’t see the point in spending $300-$600 to basically go “yeah he’s doing well with this trainer, the increased dose of the situational med didn’t do anything”. I had a discussion with my primary care vet (who I trust a lot) as well and she said she’s in full support of not using the SSRI. I guess I’m just sort of conflicted here. I would’ve used their training services, but it would need to be virtual since their office is too far a drive for me to go consistently. Virtual training didn’t seem worth it at $250/session, so I found a trainer who I am super happy with. My dog is doing honestly better than I could’ve imagined, so I see no reason to start him on an SSRI. The only real remaining issue is his reactivity, but it’s about 50% better with the new trainer. I was under the impression that seeing a vet behaviorist meant they manage meds + behavioral modification, not the dr manages meds and the actual training/behavior work is an additional charge. Would you go back? Or should I just continue work with his trainer?

Hello everyone!

A couple of months ago, I posted here looking to rehome my ACD/pittie mix Charlie following a violent encounter between him and my 16-year-old cat. While we're not out of the woods, we have modified our routine (and our house) and now they are separated at all times.

After giving it a lot of thought, and having done a LOT of research, I feel completely lost as to how best help him. Charlie is the sweetest boy, but is incredibly dog reactive, and more and more I'm realizing how anxious he is in new situations, especially outside.

We have tried lots of training methods and trainers, but nothing seems to stick. We did a board and train while I was in the hospital giving birth to my now 6-month old, but I don't think it ended up helping. They used an e-collar, which may be a helpful tool for basic obedience, but after all my research, I have realized it's not the solution for behavioral issues, at a minimum for those which have an underlying anxiety component.

After realizing this, we talked to a purely positive reinforcement trainer, who immediately recognized the anxiety in Charlie and told us it's probably better to not walk him and just have him exercise in our backyard because he's never going to enjoy walks/being outdoors. While I agree that walks are not productive right now and may make his anxiety worse, I don't want to give up on him. He is only 2.5 years old, and while he might never be friends with dogs, I want him to be able to experience the world beyond our house and yard.

Today, I did more research and came accross Bark Busters, which seems to be a completely different method. However, the reviews seem to suggest it is based on fear/alpha techniques, which my understanding is have been debunked.

I truly don't know what the right answer is, and I just want to help my boy. Please let me know if you have any suggestions. THANK YOU!

(Also, I just got a film camera and took this photo of Charlie ❤️)

I am completely heartbroken, stressed, and I just need some objective advice from people who understand severe reactivity.

My family has a 6-year-old dog, Today he bit a 10 year old child, and I am struggling to accept that Behavioral Euthanasia (BE) might be our only option. I feel like my family failed him, and I don't know what to do.

Here is his full bite history in order:

• Incident 1 (Dog attack): He attacked and bit another dog in our neighborhood. We paid the vet bills for the other dog. He has also bitten another dog on the nose when that dog sniffed him too closely. I want to add that he was attacked by dog when he was a puppy.
• Incident 2 (Level 3 bite to a human): During a stand off with another dog (both on leads, barking aggresively at each other), a neighbor picked up their dog and tried to walk around us. Our dog tried to bite the dog while the neighbor was holding it, missed, and bit the neighbor instead. The neighbor needed stitches, and this was reported to Animal Control.
• Incident 3 (Bit my mom): He bit my mom on the face inside our home. A small triangular flap of skin that needed stitches and still is visible as a scar. She had been hugging him while he was begging for food. We didn't report this one to Animal Control.
• Incident 4 (Bit a child): A few days ago, my parents were walking him. A kid walked past them within leash range. Our dog didn't bark, growl, or raise his hackles at all. But as soon as the kid walked past our dog made a U-turn and bit the child from behind, breaking the skin. It happened so fast that we didn't even have time to prevent it.

Is BE the only responsible choice here? I am heart broken to think that we would need to cut our dogs life so short, as he is only 6.

After he bit my mom, I was finally able to to convince my dad to invest in training, but the sessions only lasted about 3 - 4 times before my dad decided it was enough.

I think more training could help him, but I'm also deeply concerned because the bite that happened today makes me worry that training may not be enough for his underlying disposition.

I truly truly believe that his bites are all fear motivated, and he is also deeply sensitive to our moods as well, but he is a 65 lb dog.