Dog Issue:

[kmwines01]

Just to preface my comments I am a small animal vet… I have only turned away 1 behavioral euthanasia. I put down one of my absolute favorite patients after he bit his owner on the head\face (140# doberman). Yes the vet has to be able to go home and look themselves in the mirror BUT you seem to have taken some extreme measures to mitigate circumstances and I would have very little qualms in recommending euthanasia in this situation.

Behavioral meds will maybe help but honestly once that bond is broken there is little to fix it. You will always expect these reactions and never fully engaged or relaxed with him.

You say it’s different than them being in pain and putting them down but imagine living a life of constant anxiety and worry. He is living in a world he cannot grasp. In many of these dogs you are providing a way out of a life of misery and anxiety.

Hugs to you, this is an impossible situation to find yourself in.

If you truly want to exhaust all options please seek out a boarded veterinary behaviorist. https://www.dacvb.org/search/custom.asp?id=5985

[Ericthegreat]

You shouldn’t have to prove to your vet what is happening in your home. Vets know that the whole world exists outside of their office and animals are different there than they are at home.

This is a horrible situation for you and IMO it’s best to act on it sooner rather than later. Do you really want to have a video of this dog you love going berzerk? Maybe video him being a good dog and treasure that.

[DownYonder]

OP, this is a terrible situation but you have to do what is best for the dog and your other animals and your peace of mind.

Think about what will happen if he gets out and attacks someone and seriously injures them. You will be responsible for their medical bills, you may get sued, and the dog could get picked up by AC. It is far better for him to pass quietly in a gentle manner than to spend days and nights of terror in a noisy, crowded shelter, with little social contact, and then to end up dying in fear on a cold table in a place he does not know, and at the hands of people he does not know.

Give him peace. Give yourself peace. Yes, you will feel guilt and regret and sorrow for a while, but you will also experience a great sense of relief - and you will be able to breathe again.

[colorfan]

I am so sorry for your situation. You are obviously a very caring compassionate person. Grieving the loss of your sweet boy only makes this more difficult.
You state you have had him for over three years and he will still turn on you. Three years! You are not failing him, you have given him three years of good life and he continually flips and endangers you. It is perfectly reasonable at this point to enlist the help of your supportive vet and give both of you peace. Please don’t wait until he does hurt someone.

[Live_Wire]

Care comes in all types of forms. The kindest thing you could do in humanely let him go gracefully and protect his future.

You haven’t failed him. You’re saving him from himself. It’s okay.

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

OP, the way you have described yourself as living doesn’t sound like any way to exist. The fact the dog is young, has been with you for three years, makes it sound like it’s a prison sentence of many more years living in fear of your safety with this dog.

How will you even leave this dog if you need to go away for a weekend?

The arbitrary resource guarding (tissue boxes, not just food) and the way the dog forms imaginary bonds with other humans besides you like the repair guy seems especially worrying to me. In a way, the fact he’s “better” at the vet’s than at home almost makes it sound like the behavior is even more difficult to predict. It’s not like he’s one of those dogs who just doesn’t like to be disturbed while eating, or doesn’t like the mail person, or is weird about getting his nails trimmed.

You have done all you can.

[akstaj]

This was my exact situation with a pointer/hound mix we rescued, we did the Prozac for 4 years and it helped, but one day she snapped attacked the other dog for no reason, I couldn’t separate them, I got “bit” doing so. $1200.00 in vet bills to clean the one up and treat the other. I had to fight with the state to put her down. For these reasons I will only have a dog from a reputable breeder. To this day I still grieve over the situation, not the decision, I don’t think we could have done any better for her.

[HorseLover65]

@Simkie, I was thinking the exact same thing. Whenever I have a tough decision, I think about what advice I would give a friend. The approach provides clarity.

[MHM]

@akstaj

I had to fight with the state to put her down.

I don’t understand. The state didn’t want you to put her down? Or they wanted to do it instead of letting you take care of it yourself?

[DawgLady]

I, too, am an adopter of old dogs. People like you and I are rare. There are thousands of wonderful, safe, adoptable seniors languishing in shelters and rescues. Sometimes you have to think about the greater good (as well as your own safety, of course).

[candyappy]

@GottaLuvIt

He was a stray when they found him alone fending for himself.

What happens if you just leave him alone/ ignore him with whatever he is guarding ? With him obviously having a past with starvation( no regular food) I can see how that can manifest to other things he feels belong to him.

It seems that he goes into cujo mode when you physically remove him from his object. Must you do that?

I would leave him be to guard his prize over using CBD oil and drugs.

My In- Laws adopted a 1-2 year old stray that showed up here. A large mixed breed dog. Very skinny but a sweet boy. He will to this day( 4 + years later) still revert back to " starvation mode" and they can’t leave anything( food wise) on the counters within reach or he will eat it… He is very sneaky about it too.

[GottaLuvIt]

@candyappy. Good question. When my dog steals a tissue or paper that would not do damage to his intestines I “choose my battles” and let him have whatever it is he stole. I still need to remove any other animals from the vicinity as he does go into aggressive stature. What I will NOT allow him to have is something like a scrub daddy that could possibly cause damage and require surgery to fix. This is why there are times I why yes I must do that for his safety.

If you read any of my posts carefully you will see that he is also doing this when he sees a person as a friend that he is being removed from and this is new scary behavior. I am not cruel to this dog by exploring medical and holistic ways to help keep him safe in this world.

[Simkie]

@candyappy

It seems that he goes into cujo mode when you physically remove him from his object. Must you do that?

I don’t think you’ve really absorbed what’s been said about this dog. He goes into cujo mode guarding random stuff, random people. It’s not when an attempt to remove the object is made that he loses his marbles, it’s when a person is even in the vicinity of the object.

Dogs have one core, basic requirement. They need to not attack their people. Period. This one can’t do that one thing. Our OP here has turned her life upside down to try to find a path to that one thing with this dog. He’s still not able to do that one thing.

No one should keep a dangerous dog alive. A kind death is absolutely not a failure with a dog like this, or the worst thing that can happen. Some animals just aren’t wired right, and this sounds like one of them.

@GottaLuvIt have you called your equine vet to schedule the appt? Please do if you haven’t

[libgrrl]

Resource guarding in and of itself generally is not that hard to fix – but this is above and beyond and unpredictable. I agree w/everyone’s sentiments here. That doesn’t mean it is easy. Hugs to you.

[Mosey_2003]

That level of escalation and sheer aggression is not a simple case of resource-guarding. I echo getting the horse vet out ASAP, the OP is in a hostage situation basically.

[candyappy]

@GottaLuvIt

We had an incident in 2021 where I unwisely tried to reach for the object and he did take my arm.

@GottaLuvIt

Last month he resource guarded a person - a person he knows and likes came to do some work and the dog was outside when he came. The worker needed to have front door open so I went out and got the dog and was going to put him in his crate in my bedroom.

@GottaLuvIt

He hunched and looked at me out of the side of his eye. He went into full attack mode. Luckily he also is very food motivated and I started throwing biscuits. He actually got into the crate and I shut the door with my foot. I was able to lock latches by wrapping a towel around my hands to protect them from his teeth.

@Simkie

Looking at these examples from the OP is why I suggested she try just leaving him alone/ give him space to see what happens. It seems he is either afraid of her taking his object or removing him from it.

It might keep things less stressful until OP decides what to do.

I agree the dog is unbalanced mentally and the best option is most likely to euthanize.

[Simkie]

@candyappy

Looking at these examples from the OP is why I suggested she try just leaving him alone/ give him space to see what happens. It seems he is either afraid of her taking his object or removing him from it.

She can’t even be in the same ROOM or within eye sight. I mean, how much more of her house should she give this dog?

This isn’t “just don’t try to take his bone away.” This is a whole lot worse than that. This is scary, and I think we’re all pretty worried about @GottaLuvIt

[kmwines01]

Just an additional thought while you are waiting for an appointment… Basket muzzle ASAP to keep yourself safe

https://muzzleupproject.com/

[ShenanAnna]

Has the equine vet actually agreed to do it, or just was sympathetic?

[Rackonteur]

FWIW:

https://www.city-data.com/forum/pets/3400385-training-home-facility-resource-guarding.html