I just put down my 2 1/2 year old cattle dog after it bit a neighbor? What could I have done differently?

Hi,



I just wanted to let you know I read almost all of your site. I was trying like mad to find out what to do after our dog nipped our neighbor. Our dog was a 2 1/2 year old cattle dog. She was a humane society dog and took to us right away. We extensively researched the breed before adopting and were prepared for all possible problems. I'm a decent runner and jogged the dog about 12-15 miles a week. We have a fenced yard and did a stint of organized training. She has never been good with other dogs so we have always limited her contact with dogs. We did our absolute best to be consistent with behavior conditioning and agreeing that my wife and I were acting the same way with the dog. We were aware she had some submissive-aggressive tendencies and never did head pats or tummy rubs but putting her in a sit and rubbing her chest to instill confidence. Our dog was a separate room kennel dog. She was excellently trained I felt. (i.e. I could successfully call her to stop and sit off leash in mid-throw of a tennis ball.) Well yesterday my neighbor came over and came in the gate. We had her by the collar and out of the blue she lunged and bit him on the thigh breaking skin. We looked all over the internet for hours and searched for information on how to deal with what to do after this kind of thing happens and it's not addressed at all. Even our vet wouldn't advise us in any direction. We ended up euthanizing her about 2 hours ago. I want everyone to know that I can't think how we could have been better owners but this kind of thing still happened. I feel like I'm the worst person in the world for doing this to a loyal, trusting, young, fine, healthy and intelligent dog that had the wrong thing at the wrong time happen.



Andrew