I'll excerpt just the opening, which left me emotionally raw:
Sometimes there are no words—just a look. Upon my command, my Doberman, Jack, sat obediently in the vet's examining room. Four years old and in his prime, with 115 pounds of strapping muscle, he was at once impressive and intimidating. He sat between the vet and me, wagging his tail.The piece goes on to discuss how Jack ended up here, and you can read that yourself before proceeding further.
When I gave him the instruction "paw," he offered that big foot to the vet, who placed a tourniquet on his leg. The medicine was drawn into the syringe and pushed into Jack's vein. Two seconds elapsed, and it was during this extraordinarily brief space of time that Jack gave me that look, one I'd never seen before. I couldn't turn away. Then all that bulk went lifeless, and he was gone.
I have been wanting to blog about this since I read it a few days ago, but felt that I simply didn't have the veterinary insight to fairly evaluate the situation. Armaiti May, who contributed to An Animal-Friendly Life previously, was kind enough to write this piece for the site:
Along with many other issues that veterinarians face on a regular basis, the issue of how to deal with aggression in dogs safely and ethically is a difficult one. There are many types of aggression, including dominance aggression, fearful aggression, territorial aggression, and food aggression/possessiveness. It is important to recognize the early signs of aggression, such as a dog growling or worse yet, nipping, at his/her guardian, and “nip” these in the bud before the dog gains enough confidence to bite a person and break the skin. Once a dog has bit a human, that dog has in a sense crossed a point of no return and is a liability from that point onwards. Behavioral modification techniques implemented through the guidance of a veterinary behaviorist may help, but one still must exercise caution when dealing with such a dog and especially if around strangers and children, whose actions might cause a frightened or protective dog to react aggressively.Thank you so much for your insight on this issue, Armaiti. I learned a lot.
Once Jack had crossed the line of biting the wife in the family ('My Boy' Had Become a Threat to Our Safety), Jack’s guardians were left with some difficult questions: Do they continue to risk their own safety and the safety of others Jack might come in contact with, thereby making themselves liable? Do they keep a muzzle on Jack at all times, or keep him confined to a small area to prevent him from approaching someone and biting? Do they take him to the local animal shelter and reveal the true reason why they are surrendering him (which will make it highly unlikely for him to be adopted)? Even the most progressive no-kill animal rescue agencies will admit that adopting out a dog that is known to be aggressive towards humans and has actually bit someone is a huge liability and many will not adopt out such dogs. Or do they surrender him without disclosing his aggressive tendencies and the fact that he bit a family member in the hopes of improving his chances for adoption? Clearly, this would be unethical since other people could be injured without the knowledge of Jack’s aggressive nature. One must consider what alternatives there are. Is it fair to the dog to keep him locked in a kennel his whole life? Maybe someone on a ranch with no children or other animals could provide a home for such a dog, but that would limit that person’s ability to take in other animals in need of rescue (depending on what type of aggression the dog exhibited). The course of action that Jack’s guardian chose, to have Jack humanely euthanized, although tragic in its own right, is not an unreasonable one. If Jack’s guardians had sought help from a behaviorist early on when the warning signs of Jack’s aggression were evident, this tragedy might have been prevented. From reading the article, I don’t know the exact details that led up to the bite attack incident, or what the circumstances were during the attack itself. It is entirely possibly that Jack’s untimely death could have been prevented if his aggressive tendencies had been recognized for what they were and treated accordingly.
As a vet student, I went on numerous behavior house calls with veterinarian and board certified behaviorist Dr. Sophia Yin. Several of these cases involved aggressive dogs. One in particular was a little Basenji named “Berkley” (cute 20 pound dog that is one-fifth the size of my lab) that had bit the “owner” on a few occasions. They were considering having him euthanized but thought they would consult with a behaviorist first before making such a drastic decision. At first it seemed that Berkley had dominance aggression, because he had bit the wife but not the husband and whenever he bit or showed aggression, it was when he was denied some special privilege such as access to a bed. Essentially, little Berkley had boosted himself to the position of King in the household, with his female guardian below him on the totem pole. Berkley had to be retrained by initially removing all toys, treats, access to favorite furniture, praise, attention, even food. Berkley had to learn to earn all these things by showing appropriate behavior. Painstakingly, this couple worked with him, rewarding him with praise and food when he was “good,” and gradually, he did improve. When his human guardians obtained a second Basenji named Henry, Berkley was able to direct some of his bossy, alpha personality towards the other dog rather than on his human caretakers. In this case, the addition of the second dog served to stabilize his aggressive nature. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that some of Berkley’s aggression could have been fear-induced (apparently he was abused by women before he was adopted from the rescue agency).
If a client brings an aggressive dog to me requesting euthanasia, I always make sure a client has sought behavior therapy before agreeing to euthanize such a dog. From a liability standpoint, a veterinarian may be sued if he/she refuses to offer euthanasia in the case of an aggressive dog and then the dog goes on to bite someone. Behavior consults can be costly and not everyone may have access to a veterinary behaviorist or be able to afford the time and money involved in behavior modification. Unfortunately, behavior modification does not always work, especially when a dog’s aggression has escalated to a dangerous level. Every year in the U.S. there are an estimated 4.7 million dog bites with 800,000 leading to medical care and an average of 16 human fatalities per year from dog bite attacks. Some of these bite attacks have been inflicted on family members, including infants. Even dogs stereotyped as docile, such as Golden Retrievers and Labradors, have been known to have fatal bites, along with Rottweilers, Pit Bulls, Dachshunds, Westies, Cocker spaniels, and even Pomeranians! For anyone considering adopting a dog, I strongly recommend reading "How To Behave So Your Dog Behaves" by Sophia Yin, D.V.M. for essential tips on training puppies, positive reinforcement, and behavior modification.
Armaiti May D.V.M.
Labels: aggressive dogs, behavior modification, companion animals, euthanasia, guest post, pets
