So my ex-husband and I got our dog, Lucy, in 2009, when she was two. She’s 12 now. She is an unknown mix-breed, rescued from a shelter. Definitely some Labrador and terrier in her.
She has always been protective, barking at strangers. She would also nip, but we would discourage that behavior as much as possible.
In 2017, the ex and I separated. He kept the dog. Then his new wife and her kid moved in. Her kid is special needs, and didn’t know how to act around the dog. So I took her back. She has not done well since then.
She is constantly barking/nipping at the kids when they get hyper. They do not mistreat her—we have never tolerated that. But she has very little patience when they even pet her. If anyone comes to our house (including my mom, whom Lucy has known her whole life) she will bit at them, occasionally breaking the skin.
She’s still got a lot of life in her, which is why I’m hesitant to have her put down. Plus, obviously, I do love her. I don’t want to be selfish and put her down just because she has caused trouble.
But she hasn’t handled re-homing well up to this point. It seems she gets more anxious each time. I don’t want to give her to a complete stranger, because I don’t really thing she would be happy with that. But I also don’t want to wait until she causes real harm for one of our friends or family members. (And we do put her away when we expect company, but that’s not always feasible. We can’t put her away for the entire time one of our kids’ friends is over, for example).
Any advice?
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/csbdhl/should_i_put_my_dog_down/
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