[Closed] putting a healthy dog down......sad.

Probably best you do.

I always say hello to any dogs I see tied up outside shops, always have from a very young age. I also have always worked in one aspect of building industry or another but always residential and always say hello to the resident mut after asking the owner.

I have the good sense to slowely offer them the back of my hand to sniff before then going to stroke the top of the head.

I would not go in for kiss with any dog accept my own or family members who I know.

FYI I was a dog trainer at Battersea

Really? You've never mentioned that before 😉

I tend to ignore your doggy advice ever since you suggested using an occasional dog walker was the same as sending your children to boarding school!

[i]I would not go in for kiss with any dog [/i]

Indeed, but then the woman who committed the act of stupidity didn't think the dog should be put down, so knew she was in the wrong. Poor mutt.

DezB - Member
Poor mutt.

Indeed.

I would not go in for kiss with any dog

I guess it really depends on how attractive it is.

this boils my piss.

the dog growled, it was telling her it was being put in a position it didn't like. A clear communication, she should have backed off. If she knew anything about dogs she would have. I bet the dogs eyes were wide and the ears back and tail was down as well. Dogs communicate their feelings very clearly. The bite was the next stage of the dog telling her to back off.

if that dog was aggressive and intended to hurt her, it would have gone for her neck without warning bit, not let go and shaken it's head until she bled out.

I hope she feels dreadful for her behaviour. That dog should never had been put down. it's young it hadn't fully formed it's social skills yet. chances are it would never had done that again if properly managed and looked after.

sorry, Ton, your son should be ashamed that he's taken this path, and that friend - if she was a dog groomer should really have read the signs and backed off instead of stressing that poor dog out.

Don't stick you face in a dogs, it's stupid, they don't like it. If a dog wants to kiss you then that's on it's own terms. Still why would you want to?! they lick their genitals and sniff other dogs arses.

Poor dog. Sounds like a rushed and possibly convenient decision.

My cats routinely assault me, my wife and the kids for crimes that range from 'not feeding them quick enough', 'sitting on the wrong part of the sofa', 'stroking them', 'being near them', 'moving them', 'walking past them', moving yourself' etc. There is often claret and tears. But they're cats, it's what they do, we accept it. Dogs growl and snap when they're upset or feel threatened. They're dogs, it's what they do.

For point of reference I've been around dogs all my life, been bitten many times, nearly always my own fault; except for the two instances involving Yorkies. Both those little b******s can burn in hell for all I care, but they were not put to sleep.

...dogs also eat poo and their own sick. I mean really, you want to be kissed with that mouth...

I'd have put it down. It's a dog, not a child, and it's not like it was a warning nip.

It could have been a child the dog bit. So well done for taking the difficult but correct choice.

Won't go down well but all the time we have dogs coming up to out toddler - because the owners don't have their dog on a lead. At the end of the day it's a dog, not a person and it doesn't get the benefit of the doubt or circumstance I'm afraid. .

Probably best you do.

Its funny you say that as you appear to have no idea what probability is 😆

I hope the people who are also responsible for this feel like shit for what has happened. They are partly to blame for the destruction of a young dog.

Poor choice of animal, poor timing to get it, left alone whilst your down the pub, new people into the animals home, breathing alcohol into its face. How would a human react to a pissed up stranger trying to kiss them? Is he a toy? Then show the animal the respect it needs.

Why have it destroyed unless it is necessary too ? Easy street for them.

TBH i feel sorry for all concerned, its probably one of those situations that just happens, maybe from a foolish moment, but has sad implications afterwards. we've all done daft things, but its sad when a poor pooch has to be put down because of it. not much point apportioning blame now ^^^, therell be a fair bit of guilt felt for a while id guess.

as an aside, addressed to you 'doggy behaviour readers', wouldnt mind your take on something our dog does.
got a lovely little jack russell, lovely natured, doesnt snap or even chase cats if he sees them, just has a look and moves on, and this is walking off his lead. my question is about what he does if wife moves him from a comfy position, he lets out a little grrrrrrr, hardly audible but there nonetheless. wife always bollocks him for it to 'teach him not to do it again' and i think this is the right thing to do. but a part of me wonders if hes just saying "doh, cant you leave me alone, i was comfy there". after all, he cant talk, so how else is he sposed to 'voice his disagreement'.

so, acceptable or not? interested to hear opinions. FWIW we're not in the slightest bit worried about it, hes the loveliest natured dog you could wish to have, a real character.

Really? You've never mentioned that before
I tend to ignore your doggy advice ever since you suggested using an occasional dog walker was the same as sending your children to boarding school!

Each to their own - I point it out as there's a lot of homespun crap spouted about dogs here & I like folks to knows that my opinion at least has some substantive experience to back it up.

Rather than cuddly stories about Fido my opinion is hard earned & I can back it up. I have the scars!

So what you are saying is they are predictable?

You seem to be the only one who cannot grasp the concept that knowledge & experience can help to understand a situation better - however like with pretty much ANYTHING there's always the possibility of something unpredictable happening.

If you're looking for 100% predictability then I think you're in the wrong universe!

If you're looking for 100% predictability then I think you're in the wrong universe!

Which is my point! Dogs are predictable. Saying its an animal so its unpredictable having just written that the women should have understood she shouldnt have taken the course of action she did is to over simplify everything.
Dogs are predictable if I walk up to a strange dog and kick it its likely to either bite me or run away.

Dogs are not binary.

The woman, possibly, should have known better. I do not know how much experience she has nor what dogs she has worked with.

But dogs are unpredictable - they are living, thinking, feeling creatures capable of varying courses of action capable of acting on can be perceived as a whim. These are facts..

They can be trained & acclimatisation to them over a period of time can help predict their actions.

But they are still animals ergo capable of performing an unpredictable act.

Surely the actions of the woman would of triggered a "fight or flight" reflex?

The dog had a reflex action to a possible threat.

You just have a look on Facebook or Youtube for the videos of getting startled by a mate and lashing out. Not a thought out action just a reflex to something.

What about John Prescott and the egg throwing bloke. Should he of been put down? Maybe he should but not for that....

The whole situation was completely shit especially for the dog.

just spoke to my son. the dogs trust and the rspca both told him that if the dog had been with them, and had bitten someone, they would have put it to sleep.
the vet that the rspca told him to see also advised the dog to be put to sleep.

the dog was 6 week old when they got it, and they were told it was ridgeback cross. they did not see the parents. stupid, as I told them at the time.
it has been with 3 kids for the last 16 month, no problems. kids are 3, 6 and 8. dog loved to play and roll about with the kids, never had any issues until Saturday night.

dog was put to sleep on the advice of experts. still sad in my eyes.

But dogs are unpredictable - they are living, thinking, feeling creatures capable of varying courses of action capable of acting on can be perceived as a whim. These are facts..

You saying its fact doesnt mean it is!!!!

But they are still animals ergo capable of performing an unpredictable act.

The women in question was a dog groomer apparently by the way!

People on here are pretty effing predictable, man expresses his sorrow that an animal is put down ,and all people do is pontificate about their own views as if anybody ever changed someone's mind on the internet .

just spoke to my son. the dogs trust and the rspca both told him that if the dog had been with them, and had bitten someone, they would have put it to sleep.

This must be due to the size and potential damage a dog of such size could inflict.

The dogs trust near me have a small dog my mum wants to adopt but they won't put it out for adoption as it has biten several members s of staff, their trainers are working with it to hopefully change its ways or they will have to put it to sleep.

Dogs are predictable there behaviour is predictable

100% of the time?

Are you sure?

Stake your life on it?

I give up - you're not making any sense.

100% of the time?

Are you sure?

Stake your life on it?

Reading with understanding is not a strong point is it.

Of course not 100% nothing in biology is. That doesnt make it unpredictable though. If dogs were unpredictable they would be shit pets. If dogs werent predictable you wouldnt be able to train them.

The woman, possibly, should have known better.

How could she if dogs are unpredictable?

Anyway I'm off home to walk my dog I predict she might take a shit, most probably in one of about 3 of the usual places. If she see's a squirrel she'll chase it. If she see's one of the usual dog owners with treats she'll run up to them and sit down. Everyone else she'll ignore. If a strange persob tries to stroke her she'll avoid contact.

I'll report back later to see if she's predictable.
If I see a mastive cross or indeed any dog I dont know I'll avoid trying to kiss it as it might bite me.

This would be comedy gold if it wasn't for the sad circumstances.

Must have been difficult for your son Ton.

Me sad for the dog, that's for sure.

Can't be arsed pontificating over the rights and wrongs.

Only other thing I'll say is that I learned my lesson 15 yrs ago. Used to drink in a pub where 2 Rottweillers - owned by the pub family - happened to partake in late night festivities once in a while. As a lifelong 'dog person' I used to have some rough and tumble with them. Then one night I put my head beside one of theirs and he gave a proper warning growl. That's when I knew I had crossed the line. Had he kicked off it would have been me to blame, not him.

Must have been difficult for your son Ton.

I gave him a proper bollocking, but to be honest he has far too much on his plate at present.
wife of less than a year telling him to move out, them she tried to make him take the dog she wanted, then having to get it put down.

like I said at the start of the thread.....life is shit sometimes.

Life is shit at times.

It definitely is. As I said back on page one, I hope your son is coping alright. A shitty situation made worse by having to have his dog put to sleep. Just a shite situation all around

We have had two similar situations recently with my kids and dogs. I admit both my kids for some reason are nervous around dogs. They love them to bits but for some reason give off a very nervous feeling at first.

Anyhow we were bouldering in the lakes a couple of weeks ago and after an hour or so a woman turns up and despite signs saying no dogs she tied her dog to her gear and started climbing. She was nice enough etc. My boy sees this little dog and as my son walked past he, as he has been shown by my put his hand low and let the dog come to his hand. Dog tried to nip him and was completely out of line. Son was quick to react so no harm done. Got the normal response of he's soft as muck and wouldn't have hurt anyone. I just told both kids to keep away from it.

Second was next door neighbours have a little mutt they are looking after. These are serious dog lovers. My kids are banging on about this dog and they want to see it so I take them out when he is walking it and ask if we can say hello. I go in first and put my hand down low let it lick my hand, it softly mouths my fingers and responds lovely to my attention. I ended up getting my face licked and after a few minutes my kids are all over this dog playing with it safely.

There is no rule or reason for either of these dogs responses but anyone who tries to kiss a strange dog without testing the waters wants their effing heads seen to, especially someone who works with dogs.

I have always been around dogs as a kid. I must admit to being bitten a few times and it seems to be as though the old days of a dog telling you to bugger off with a nip suddenly is reason for them to be put down which seems wrong.

As a kid I can remember

stand on a tail, get a nip
blow in a dogs face, get a nip (But I always went back for more)
Tease a dog at its gate, get a nip
Run through neighbours garden or farmers field/farm - get a nip

I must have been bitten loads of times which drew blood and tbh were part of being a lad growing up. The only time I blamed the actual dog was my best mates dog used to get out from time to time and that bastard alsation would chase you down and bite you. After my dad went around and threatened to throttle it with his bare hands they sorted their fence out and I never ever saw it off a lead again.

Its a dog, if it bites, muzzle it. If it nips then stop teasing it.

Not to be glib but if there's a bright side hopefully the dog enjoyed his time and had a painless death as opposed to years of suffering with arthritis, dementia, cancer or something else which, lets face it, most of us will.

Unfortunate circumstances and hopefully people reading might have learned what not to do with a strange dog. I've been mocked and derided numerous times on this forum for saying never trust a dog, especially around children. What I mean by that is unless you predict with 100% certainty what your child will do, and you're 100% certain what your dog will do, excercise some caution.

The lady in question obviously felt confident she knew how the dog would react, probably based on working closely with dogs but she was mistaken. If she's been less friendly she might have only ended up with a nip on the finger. When I encounter a strange dog I generally let them come to me. If they seem friendly I'll let them sniff my (closed) hand.