u/Educational_Use_6246

Hi all. My husband and I are really struggling with deciding what is right. We rescued a dog in 2020 and shortly after getting him we discovered he has severe people anxieties and resource guarding issues. After he snapped at my mom, we knew we had a bigger problem. We hired a trainer immediately and were told that as much as we work with this dog, he will always pose a risk of biting. So for the last 6 years we took on that challenge. We don’t let new people near him, and we’re very diligent about only allowing him around certain people who we know will respect his space (and by “around” I mean he is on his ‘place’ on the other side of the room and we don’t let anyone approach him). However, even with these measures he has bitten 5 people. Here’s the thing, last night my father in law was bitten by the dog, it was arguable his worst bite yet as it broke skin in multiple places. My husband and I have a new baby (3months) so last night really put into perspective that we need to make some hard decisions about what we do with our dog. Rehoming him doesn’t seem ethical because we would have to disclose his bite history and finding that “perfect” family seems like an impossible task, let alone having to put the dog through the anxiety and fear of having to adjust to a completely different life. At this point, behavioral euthanasia seems like the best option. The way we’re trying to look at it is this: our dog won’t know that he’s missing out on the last years of his life, all he will know is the love that we’ve given him all this time. He won’t have to be stressed or anything ever again, and we’d know that our baby won’t ever be at risk of being bitten (let alone anyone else). I guess I’m just looking for some reassurance here.

TLDR: our rescue dog has bitten 5 people. We have a new baby and need to decide what the right thing to do is in order to keep our baby safe. Behavioral euthanasia seems like the best option in order to help our dog not have to readjust to a new life by rehoming him.