Should I have to put my 7 your old Boxer to sleep?

Question

My boyfriend Marty and I share a 7 yr old Boxer "Neo". Neo is very playful, mindful, loves attention,affection and is territorial, we have no other pets in the house.
Over the last two years Neo has attacked 2 other dogs in the neighborhood, one male one female, from inside the house thru a door where entering from or exiting. One did have a $250.00 vet bill (puncture wounds) we paid, the other was minor. In winter went camping and he was tied up, bolted out after a kid (age 10-12) broke his collar, grabbed boy by the sleeve lucky thing, Marty was there to hold Neo down. Sad thing is I told him Neo seems to be vicious, and his behaviors scare me, maybe we should put Neo to sleep. Marty said Neo is territorial, and the kid should not have walked by to create the dog to bolt. The boy did nothing but walk by. Last week a cat got in the yard, Neo bolted after the cat and killed it ... Marty told me today about it. Marty has had Neo since a puppy, Should Neo be put down?

Answer 1

This is not completely normal behavior for a Boxer. Here's my take on this -- you are risking a lot by keeping Neo -

financially (how many vet bills can you afford to pay? what if someone sues you? what if he knocks someone down and they are injured and can't work?? Can you afford those sorts of things? Or, the increase in insurance premiums when your dog is reported as vicious?)

mentally -- (how will you feel if he attacks another child walking by and injures them badly enough to disfigure them?? or, God forbid, kill them -- what if your boyfriend isn't there to stop him?)

physically -- (what if you try to stop him and he bites you or your boyfriend? Plus -- the constant worry/stress on you wondering if he is safely confined)

--unless you can put him in a totally escape proof enclosure, I think you would be better off humanely putting him down -- and I say this as someone who had a Boxer like Neo that we had to put down. As a trainer -- I do not feel you can rehabilitate him, sorry. I would surely be very wary about taking a dog like him into my classes.

There are so many dogs/Boxers out there that would never do something like this --why risk it???

Edit - -unless you can guarantee he will never, NEVER be allowed to escape or be unattended you are risking a lot of trouble. In my mind, there is no such guarantee.

Answer 2

Something needs to be done.
You and your boyfriend are not equipped to do it.
Neither is your average dog trainer.
Speak with an animal behaviorist. This is not prey drive (maybe the cat was) this is flat out aggression. You're very lucky that he didn't hurt the child.
You may want to think about changes in the dog's life to make these behaviors appear in the last two years. What were the warning signs? Were there any? Did you move? What changed in Neo's life? It may seem totally insignificant to you. Take that information to a behaviorist and hopefully things will work out. Until then, make sure he is secured when you are opening the door and don't take him camping.

Answer 3

You're probably not going to want to hear this.


Neo is acting this way because you and your boyfriend are bad owners.

Yes, that's right. Bad owners.

Not bad dog, bad owners.

Your dog is obvoiusly not under your control, and is acting as the alpha male of any pack would act in the wild.

Alpha males make choices, establish territory, and protect themlseves and the pack. That is what your dog is doing. Making choices.

If your dog was under your control, and you were the pack leaders, your dog would not be making choices on his own. He would be following your lead. He would not be acting territorial, as the territory would not be his to control. He would not be 'protecting' the pack, as that would not be his job.

Your boyfriend blaming the kid instead of your dog is a perfect example of the bad ownership. That kid did NOT know your dog was aggressive, but both of you did. Therefore, It is YOUR responsibility to ensure that both people and animals are safe around your dog. Under NO circumstances should your dog have the freedom or oppurtunity to attack an animal or child.

You need to either go to obedience school where YOU can be trained to be the pack leader, or hand your dog over to someone who can take that responsibility.

But you cannot just do nothing. Your dog WILL seriously hurt someone, and YOU will be held accountable.

Answer 4

I really do feel bad for you since it is a tough situation. A pet is like a member of the family and when you have them for so long you treat them like they are your children. So I definitely can understand why you can be conflicted however I would definitely take him to the vet and explain to what has been going. Since your vet has been seeing him about every year for the past 7 years he is understanding and may suggest tests or diagnosis that we do not even know of. My was 12 years old and was mellow and loveable as can be. Then one day he just starting different. So we took him to the vet to see if something was wrong and it ended up he had a tumor on his tyroid. We would have never known if we did not get him to the vet and checked out. That would be the first thing I would do. If he runs tests and there is nothing wrong then I would ask your vet what kind of training would be most affective for Neo. I would not give up on him yet. Like I said pets are like members of our families and like family you should do everything you can to correct the situation before terminating his life. Whatever you decide or the outcome is I wish you the best of luck.

Answer 5

I would consider extensive obedience training before I decided on putting this dog down. And constant supervision when you are out places like the park or camping. I'd advise getting private classes from an experienced trainer who uses only positive methods. I say this because with private classes the trainer can teach you what you need, instead of the usual, sit, down and stay commands you would learn in group classes. I also recomend not using pet store trainers as many of these in my experience do not deal with what you need. Look in your town for a trainer who is willing to work with aggression problems. Check with other people who have used that trainer (somtimes they post praises on web sites) and make sure it is what you need. and that he or she seems like reputable trainer. Old dogs CAN learn new tricks. I've seen some of the most out of control dogs come around to be perfect angels (we work with foster dogs, majoraly pitt bulls, some of who have had not human contact whatsoever until coming into the rescue.) Though training may be expensive, It will be worth it to be able to have your dog spend the last few years of his life happy and healthy.Also is he neutered? this is a must. Male dogs can be aggressive if un neutered. I hope this helps! and good luck with you dog.
EDIT: Ask your trainer so work specifically on recalls. like the come command, Having a strong response to this command can save his and other animals/people lives. The hardest part of this command is the repetition. A command like sit only takes about 300 practices to become a conditioned response. The come command takes close to 3000. Also did the child walking by have food? If food agression is a problem that can be worked on too.

Answer 6

What a heartbreaking choice to make. Perhaps you could call a dog trainer and have him check Neo out. I think a professional used to dealing with dogs can better judge his agressiveness.

Sadly if he doesnt learn to stop this behavior I think you should have him put down. I know it is so hard but all it takes is one time for him to escape the yard and kill someone's child or pet. Then you will forever have to deal with the guilt that this was something you could have prevented and are responsible for.

Answer 7

Yes. At 7 years old he's not going to "retrain" or be any less territorial. Neo should have been trained to not attack earlier on - and if he was then it may just be age affecting him. As soon as a dog goes after a child - no matter what the reason - the dog should be put down.

Answer 8

Neo needs to be trained, and sorry to say, you don't seem able to gain control of him on your own. A professional trainer may be able to do this, but you must be ready to learn just as much as Neo does to keep it up -- if you don't change, he won't either.

As an alternative, extreme but not so extreme as killing Neo, might be a local no-kill shelter. I know the one near me has taken in aggressive dogs, and they retrain them before adopting them out to a new home, which is carefully screened to be sure it is a person who can handle a dominant-personality dog like Neo. They recently took in a Belgium Shepherd, huge aggressive dog, who'd been trained to kill other dogs (owner had used him in dogfights for gambling); he's now been re-trained and has a new owner who also happens to be a professional obedience trainer, so there's no chance of him lapsing into his old ways!

Answer 9

You may want to train him before putting him down. Have him fully checked by the vet to make sure he doesn't have any neurological issues going on to cause him to act this way which may be the cause if he started this all of a sudden. When he is outside at all he needs to be on a very strong secure lead that you control. When people approach him let them that he is not comfortable with people and ask them to keep their distance-you do not have to say he will attack-they need to respect your wishes. I would say that the pup needs some real good training and a very watchful eye and you can avoid putting him down.

Answer 10

Please bring the dog inside. Why did you not have him on heart worm preventive? Have you talked to the vet and ask about treatment for the heartworms and about having the tumor removed. Knowing that your dog is sick and in need of treatment and not getting it help is a crime. Besides that don't you love the dog? If so then get him treated or yes have him put to sleep but be kind enough to be there with him and hold him as he passes you owe him at least that.