[Clarebelle]

6 months ago we rescued a Springer spaniel who had spent the first four years of his life in a horsebox, some of you might remember a thread about him around when we first got him.

Since he has been here he has bitten our cat in the face, pinned a chicken, will not let anyone take a bone from him without snarling and growling (he was always fine with dinner and toys) and this week he stopped obeying me, when I gave him a command he would instantly adopt an aggressive posture and refused to move. If I moved towards him he would bark and snarl at me. If I touched him (I did this with a long stick) he would attack the stick. I know in my heart he would have seriously hurt me at some point. I have kept a lot of dogs and seen a lot of behaviour but I have never been scared of one before.

So yesterday we made the decision to have him pts. His name was dingo and I'll be damned if he wasn't a bloody lovely little dog at any other time. I miss him loads and just can't seem to stop crying. He had adapted to family life so well in so many other ways. I wish I could pick him up and shake him and ask him why can't he be a good boy? Because I just miss him and he was mostly a good boy. But we have three young kids and we had to think of them first but knowing it was the right decision doesn't stop it hurting like hell.

[Kitchen Cottage]

 

How horrible...  >:

I had freddie pts at 19 years old 15 months ago.  Even now I wonder if he had a little more time quality time  and I took that away. Given the choice you made I suspect you are always going to have doubts.  It is so sad for Bingo and for you.  You didn't create the problem, you just tried to deal with it and found it unmanageable.  Passing Bingo on wouldn't have been a safe choice so I don't know what other choices you had

Let time do its work and be kind about the choice you made.

 

[Louise Gaunt]

You gave him a home and care and affection, which he hadn't had before. Something obviously changed within him this week, and I think you made the right decision , especially with small children. Of course you will grieve, and let yourself, remember the good days with Dingo and don't dwell on his last days. 

[devonlad]

Sounds like the only option. Terribly sad 

[Me]

Not your fault you gave him his only chance, well done on making a tough decision and taking the responsibility for him. I know it feels horrible, but it was for the best I'm sure 

[Rosemary]

 

[trish.farm]

you did totally the right thing for the dog, don't beat yourself up about it.  Would have been so cruel to re-home him or take him to a shelter.  There could have been other reasons why his behaviour had got worse, neurological, pain, etc etc.  You gave him a good life whilst he was with you, try and remember the good memories and remember you did the right thing at the right time. 

[kelly58]

When you rescue any animal you never know what traumatic experiences they have had before you got them.
Dont be so hard on yourself ,you did a kind thing giving him a chance.
At least he experienced some love and understanding with you. 

[Bex]

 

[Caroline1]

So sorry, but you did the right thing. It can be so hard to undo those crucial early years in a dogs life and it wasn't as if he only made 1 mistake. This is why I feel so angry when people mistreat dogs because it has a knock effect for the rest of that dogs life which is so unfair.

[Penninehillbilly]

       
Such a sad story and ending, but Family has to come first, if one of your youngsters had got in the way you would never have forgiven yourself,
   Most of our dogs have been rescue dogs of one sort or another, some we had to give up on but they weren't nasty so we found good homes to suit their problems, but you always wonder what gave them those problems in the first place, though the beautiful BC who fell over backwards in terror when I picked a brush up said it all :-(.
  Another would suddenly turn, once he was REALLY snarling within an inch of my inner thigh, his eyes were just crazy, thought I was a gonner there, but I cried when he had to be PTS, he'd started have nose bleeds when he got excited/barking, vet said he was too old to operate on.
You gave Dingo a chance, sadly somethig was wrong in there and it didn't work out, well done for trying and giving him chance after chance.
 

[Bramblecot]

Been there Clarebelle . 

You gave him a chance and did your best for him.  He was lucky to find you.   Sometimes we cannot undo what has happened before they came into our lives, and it just can't work out how we would like it to.
From terrible experience, I know you made the right decision, and in time.    RIP Dingo.

[sabrina]

The right thing to do but very sad for you and your family 

[SallyintNorth]

      
Such a sad story and ending, but Family has to come first, if one of your youngsters had got in the way you would never have forgiven yourself,

this

 

And you did the brave thing too, having him pts, rather than taking him to a rescue to become someone else's problem.  A very hard decision (I know, been there too), you made the right choice.

[Oopsiboughtasheep]

How very sad for you Clarebelle but how wonderful that Dingo was, after a such cruel start with others, able to experience some love and kindness in his short life, because of you.