Yesterday was one of the hardest days of my life. I was forced to make the decision to put my dog down. Gitta was a 6 year old GSD out of Piro.
On friday night while I was at work my wife let our dogs outside, and little did she know that a 17 year old was hiding behind a tree in our yard. He was hiding so that my wife would not yell at him for being in the yard(which we would never do anyway). My dog goes out uses the restroom, sees the guy and blam, she drills him, grabbing his arm and pulls him to the ground. My wife called off the dog and and let her in and then went to see about the boy. He had no real injuries other than some pretty bad bruises.
Long story short, dog catcher comes, kids parents come over, and the police show up.
Everyone decides that no one is to blame, as it was a freak accident, but it was not one that I was willing to let happen again. Over the years Gitta has become sharper and sharper, to the point of being too much for my wife to handle, so we made a very difficult decision and had her put down.
I miss her greatly, but I do feel that she was becoming too dangerous.
My wife and I will now be putting up a chain link fence now, and we will be very careful not to let this happen again.
I am curious to know if anyone else has had a dog get this way as they get older? She has always been a little sharp, but always just needed one word to shut up, but not for the last year.In the last year she wants to kill everyone. She would stand at the end of her elec. fence and challenge anyone who came by, the problem is a elec fence does not keep kids from crossing the yard.

Eric,

I do not own a GSD but I had to put my dog 13yr old golden mix down last Saturday. She was sick for quite a while, suffering from bone cancer, and told me last Friday night that she was ready to go.

As brave and strong as she was about it, it broke my heart. I know she is pain free now, and I am at peace with that. I still talk to her every day and tell her that I did what I know was best for her. Guess it helps ease any guilty feelings I have and I pray that wherever she is, she can hear me. I'm sure your dog will hear you too.

I'm sorry for your loss and respect you for being responsible for your "child's" actions. Wish the same could be said for the 17yr old's parents.

My thoughts are with you.

Kate

I had a dog that was getting very difficult to deal with as she matured, she seemed to be exhibiting an increase in territorial behavior towards people in proximity to her "area". But it was also because she was a very high drive working dog in a home situation, and she is now a certified patrol dog with an outlet for her energies.

I suppose only you really know the situation and what you have been experiencing, but I would NOT have put down a dog that was protecting her property AT NIGHT against a HIDING 17 y/o TEENAGE MALE. In all honesty, it sounds as if she was doing exactly what you would want her to do in that situation. Additionally, the dog didn't even draw blood! Any serious GSD is certainly capable of puncturing the skin of a person, so I'm not sure your dog did much more than really scare someone who shouldn't have been there in the first place.

Surely you could have used a leash to walk the dog until the chain link fence you are NOW buying is installed??

That said, I will reiterate that perhaps there is much more behind this incident than you have shared, and I'm sure your grief is profound and real, and I empathize with that for sure.

Jeanette, thanks for the attack. My dog was becoming increasingly dangerous.
she did do what she was trained to do, all except come back when my wife called her the first time. She continued to go and bite the boy.
I am the only person in a very large area with a working dog.
The county police force did not want her .Neither did the kennel which I purchased her from.
I have 3 kids and one on the way and they will come before any fence.Fencing in a yard my size is going to be very expensive.
My wife is pregnant with our 4 child and I work 80 hours a week as a boarding school supervisor so she is the one who had to let Gitta out at night. She can not handle Gitta on a leash anymore as Gitta was basically ignoring her even when they would go on walks.With me she was very well behaved and obedient but not with my wife in the past few months.
A little girl in my area got her face ripped off by a mastiff puppy, so my county has zero tolerance for dog bites at the moment.
I, as a father, could not let this dog stay alive. She was a very big threat to anybody who came in contact with her. I cant imagine what it would have been like if it would have been a little child.
I had a responsibility as a dog owner to do what was best for the dog and my family. I could not take the risk that this would happen again regardless of the precautions i take, no matter who was in the wrong.
Should he have been crossing my yard,no way. Does he regret what he did, absolutely. Did my wife make a mistake,yes, one that she will remember for the rest of her life.
There comes a point in time where you have to look and see if the good outweighs the bad, for me it did not.
I will remember Gitta for the rest of my life, she was the best dog I have ever owned, but I made the right decision. She was like handing a 2 year old a loaded gun, you couldnt tell where it would go off, you only know that eventually it will go off.
So once again thanks Jeanette, I appreciate all of the kind words.

Ok,
My opinion, I do agree with Jeannette. As she also stated, we don't know the entire story behind Gitta's behavior, yet there are SO many people out there, esp. on this site, that probably could have tried to work with this dog. Also, you are so busy, why do you have dogs. I DON'T mean this to sound mean, please don't take it that way. You also say that... "over the years Gitta has become sharper and sharper"...at this piont, why didn't you try to place her with someone that couldn't have taken the time with her? Oh well, I guess. Sad that she had to be "put down". It's done and over with, we all learn from our mistakes...

on my last post..."someone that couldn't have taken the time with her?" I meant to say COULD have...

I probably did not do any of those things because I am human and I make mistakes.I also regret the mistakes that i have made and to this day I do not know of one individual who has not made a mistake.
Hindsight is 20/20, and there are alot of could haves involved in this.

Poor Gitta. Have you considered donating to a GSD rescue in her memory to help other dogs like her?

This is a tragic case and I'm feeling for you Eric. Coulda, Shoulda, Mighta, If Only, are words that "NO ONE" on this board has a right to say, "IN MY OPINION!"

What has happened is done and over with. I dare anyone on this board to prove to all of us dog lovers that they have a right to sit back and judge this man for what he felt he had to do.

Jeannette and Brandi, I have no idea who Eric is but I do know this much! It takes a "REAL" genuine and honorable person to make a decision like this. Is there something you know that the rest of us do not? He will no doubtedly think about this for the rest of his life. Eric, I'm sure did not share his horrible experience with us to be beaten alive at the stake. You should feel so lucky that you guys are so morally superior than the rest of us dumb ass dog folk.

Eric, I had to put my 7 year old down in February and I know how this kind of stuff can mess with you're mind. I will not judge you and will not belittle you for doing what you thought needed to be done. I honestly hope that you will make peace with you're decision but at the same time never forget Gitta. I'm sure you won't.

Lauren has given you and me both a very good boost of confidence by showing us another way of, not so much making things ok, but of keeping our dogs memory alive. Good Luck to you and you're family and I hope that one day you will find it in you're heart to own another dog.

Sincerely,

Glenn

Eric, my sincere condolences on the loss of your friend...I also had to put one down on Friday...let's just remember the good about them, and feel that they will be waiting for us when it is our time.

We all have difficult decisions to make, and must do the right thing for not only the dog, but ourselves and our families and our community. That is part of being a responsible, honorable adult. As you describe your circumstances, in the end, you made the decision which you had to make - Gitta was not torn away from the family she loved and protected and turned over to someone else which would have caused her anguish and confusion, and you are not left to wonder about the fate of a dog you loved.

Again....my sympathies and my respect for making a decision that I know really had to cause you much grief.

Lee Hough