Rescue org won’t take my reactive dog and says a shelter will euthanize him

[sengteeyong]

I reached out to a rescue to see if they’ll take my reactive dog. I told them his behavioral issues (leash reactivity, separation anxiety, biting, and some resource guarding of me). They said they can’t take him because he has too many problems and if I take him back to the shelter where I got him he’ll be euthanized even though it’s a no kill shelter! I don’t know what to do. I don’t have the time or resources to properly train him. He’s not aggressive just traumatized.

ADD: I adopted a 7 year old small dog from the shelter about 4 months ago. Shelter did not say he has behavioral issues.

Add (7/7/2023): I feel everyone has a lot of love and concern for dogs like mine. It’s much appreciated. After talking to a few friends who adore my dog, they have told me to use different words in describing his behavior because using words like “bite” makes people think like he’s chewed off a finger, aggressive, and unpredictable. If you don’t push him past threshold, it can hurt and may bruise. But most of his bites aren’t even close to as bad as puppy bites. His nips are highly predictable. I’ll keep training him until I find a suited home or rescue for him. I will work on his nipping, leash reactivity, and separation anxiety like I’ve been doing for the past 4 months. He’s made alot of progress. He is trainable. He just needs someone willing to work with him further. He’s good 90% of the time but that 10% can be a doozy. I’m not giving up yet… but I am tired.

 

[germatria1128]

@sengteeyong How long have you had him, and did you try to return him to the rescue he came from? Shelters are overloaded with surrendered dogs and some dogs move very quickly to the euthanasia list. So depending on your state, this could be exactly what happens.

 

[sengteeyong]

@germatria1128 I got him from the local shelter almost 4 months ago. My city is a no kill but I suppose they’ll euthanize for aggression. But I wouldn’t even label him aggressive. His biting is predictable to me and bites as a warning. No skin breaking.

 

[tony_tony5054]

@sengteeyong No kill does not mean no dogs are euthanized. It’s under a certain percentage euthanized. A bite is a bite. Doesn’t matter the circumstances.

Edited to add: sorry you’re going through this. You obviously want what is best for the dog and did what you could so far. You’ll have to decide if these are things you can work with. It’s hard to decide either way

 

[sengteeyong]

@tony_tony5054 Thanks for your sympathy. I’m very stressed out about this

 

[tony_tony5054]

@sengteeyong Of course you are. You obviously love him and want him to be successful, but he obviously has a lot of challenges. I could say, right now, you are the best he has. While you might feel inadequate, meds, crating, limiting interactions, and good training can go a long way.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@sengteeyong You’ve had him less than four months and you’ve already labeled him reactive/aggressive and are trying to surrender him? Have you attempted to train your dog? Does he have a day to day routine that he can predict and rely upon? Too many people label their dogs without even giving the dog a chance to adjust and learn about his new environment. If you surrender him, please do not get another dog.