I rang every rescue in a 3 hour range and a couple others, none of them will take her. Most are either too full or dont take big dogs. The rest wont take her because of the reactivity and issues with other animals. I cant afford a trainer coz thats hundreds if not thousands of dollars, and given my living situation I cant even keep them separated coz its just the one room. I cant rehome her myself coz noone I know can take her and I dont know that a stranger would treat her right, would keep her as the only dog. Several of the rescues told me the kindest option would be to put her to sleep, especially if it turns out that she attacks again in future and is put down anyway. Then she's gone through the stress of rehoming for nothing. I've had her since she was 4 weeks old and it kills me to make this call but I have to do whats right. I cant take the chance that she'll attack again, and this time was so bad what if next time is worse, or she kills one of the others, or dads dog who is tiny. What if she attacks the baby when its born.
That's so sad, I'm so sorry Loyal. I wish there was another way around this for you and her. Is she also reactive to other people? I really understand the fear. If it wasn't for my in-laws agreeing to take in our senior beagle last fall, we would've had to put her down too. There was no way after what happened we could have both her and Willow living together. Because of her age and her cognitive dysfunction causing more snappy behavior, I don't trust her around any animals anymore, nor children unattended. Thankfully when the grandkids do visit over there once in a while, they don't bother her and she just simply says hi to everyone with a sniff and a tail wag and goes off to sleep on her bed. But visiting is one thing. I am very nervous what will happen next month because my sister-in-law and her whole family (w/ 4 kids under the age of 6) are moving back in while their house gets worked on and there's no definitive time when they'll move back out. They also have 2 dogs, but I don't even know where they're taking them because there's no way in hell both the dogs are moving in too with her around as she most definitely would cause a fight. I just hope this whole situation isn't going to stress her out so much that she's going to start turning on the kids. She's been good thus far as far as her snappy behavior goes and hasn't had any outbursts, but if anything happens I'm also prepared to say goodbye.
Trainers are not cheap either, so I feel you there too. Paying for training this year with Willow, she did really well, and I absolutely loved the guy that worked with us and with her, but I chose not to do another round of training with her because of the cost. We just work on the exercises we learned in our lessons out in public when we have the time to take her out and about. I've learned to accept that she'll always have a sense of timidness about her with most people, she'll always be reactive to an extent, and I don't think she'll ever get along with most dogs again since her trauma (they have to be really submissive and laid back types for her to accept them and want to be interested now). I would love to own another dog, but I know I'll never be able to with her.
Again, this whole situation sucks and I'm really sorry.
I know you have to do what's right, I just wish there was another answer for the both of you.
