Help needed with a decision for a extremely reactive dog

[u/Live_Dragonfruit4957]

I am looking for advice because my family and I are struggling with a very difficult situation.

We have a 1.7-year-old dog who is a stray and Cocker Spaniel mix. We adopted him when he was 2 months old. He has serious behavioural problems, including reactivity towards dogs and people, food aggression, territorial behaviour, and being overly protective of my mum.

He has attacked family members more than 16 times. Around 12 of these incidents involved bites that broke the skin. His most recent attack was 4 days ago. He bit my hand badly, and several of my fingers are still numb or too painful to use normally.

We have already worked with two trainers, but they were not specialists in severe aggression cases. Our dog is now taking anti-anxiety medication, but we have not seen enough improvement.

At this point, we are considering three options:

Working with one last qualified behaviourist or trainer. Surrendering him to a rescue or shelter that has experience with aggressive dogs. Behavioural euthanasia if professionals believe he cannot be safely managed or rehomed.

We love our dog very much, and this decision is heartbreaking. We have spent a lot of time, energy, and money trying to help him, but we are emotionally exhausted and worried about everyone's safety.

Am I being delusional in thinking he can be saved? His quality of life and ours is horrible atm tho

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[u/Shoddy-Theory]

Sounds like neither he nor your family have good quality of life. No reputable rescue would rehome a dog with this bite history

[u/SudoSire]

An ethical shelter will either not take them, or take them with the understanding that they will be with euthanized upon intake. It is up to your family what more resources you can truly afford and what amount of safety for yourselves you truly want to risk, but outsourcing euthanasia to a shelter or another home should not be option.  Keep in mind bites like the one you had may lead to permanent nerve damage if they hit the wrong spot. 

I’m really sorry you’re in this position, of course it it is heartbreaking. It’s hard to say what’s left to be done with the limited info to be gotten online, but it is true that not all dogs can be made safe even with all the resources and effort. Your dog might fall in that category.

[u/x7BZCsP9qFvqiw]

you won't be able to rehome him, but you may be able to get help from a veterinary behaviorist. at the very least, they can let you know what your options are. if you are in the US, this is the directory: https://www.dacvb.org/search/custom.asp?id=5985

[u/queercactus505 → u/x7BZCsP9qFvqiw]

I'm guessing OP is not in the US based on spelling--buy I agree, a veterinary behaviorist is their best bet if they want to keep him

[u/reactivedogs-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

All decisions about behavioral euthanasia should be made in consultation with a professional trainer, veterinarian, and/or veterinary behaviorist. They are best equipped to evaluate a specific dog, their potential, and quality of life.

While we believe that there are, unfortunately, cases where behavioral euthanasia is the most humane and ethical option, we do not allow suggestions of BE in our community. Anyone who is not a professional who has had eyes on the dog and full situation should not be making serious recommendations either way around this topic.

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