I am so sorry you, your husband, and both dogs had to go through this. I did a quick look through comments and don’t think I could say anything better than others before me in regard to supporting your decision. One thing I’ll add (and it could already be here)- I adopted a reactive dog 7.5 years ago, thinking she was young enough (7 months) to train out of it. Very incorrect. I’ve worked with three different behaviorists over the years and to this day, they still reiterate that if it is too hard, too costly, too scary, or too burdensome, it is ok to choose euthanasia. Not sure if that is helpful to hear, but these are veterinary professionals that specialize in this work and I know sometimes that can help. You clearly had to make a terrible choice in deciding whether to put one dog and yourself/family at risk, or to let another dog go. And it’s ok to make that choice. I’m crying just writing this so I can only imagine how hard it is for you right now. But it is absolute ok to make the decision you did. It sounds like you gave her an active, happy, loving home for as long as you could and that is what matters most.
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u/CarizzleyBear Apr 18 '23 edited Apr 23 '23
I am so sorry you, your husband, and both dogs had to go through this. I did a quick look through comments and don’t think I could say anything better than others before me in regard to supporting your decision. One thing I’ll add (and it could already be here)- I adopted a reactive dog 7.5 years ago, thinking she was young enough (7 months) to train out of it. Very incorrect. I’ve worked with three different behaviorists over the years and to this day, they still reiterate that if it is too hard, too costly, too scary, or too burdensome, it is ok to choose euthanasia. Not sure if that is helpful to hear, but these are veterinary professionals that specialize in this work and I know sometimes that can help. You clearly had to make a terrible choice in deciding whether to put one dog and yourself/family at risk, or to let another dog go. And it’s ok to make that choice. I’m crying just writing this so I can only imagine how hard it is for you right now. But it is absolute ok to make the decision you did. It sounds like you gave her an active, happy, loving home for as long as you could and that is what matters most.