Lab board friends,
It’s been a while. And I wish I was returning to the board under better circumstances, but I wanted to update you on a tragic situation and solicit advice from all of you about what to do next.
On Saturday, I woke up to find our 15-year-old shih tzu Bailey lying next to the couch with bite marks on his next and blood on the floor. The culprit, unfortunately, was my 9-year-old lab Winston. It wasn’t the first attack either. The same thing happened Tuesday night.
Now, we had been keeping Winston separate from Bailey and Walter, our six-month old shih tzu puppy. However, Bailey had canine cognitive disorder, and was prone to wondering at night. Even though I gave him trazadone to help him sleep, he jumped down out of the bed during the night and was wondering around the house.
I do not know what precipitated the attack. There are lots of theories. Being old, with poor sight and hearing, it’s possible Bailey didn’t understand communication from Winston that he was uncomfortable with Bailey’s encroachment. Bailey could have had a neurological event that startled Winston. Winston could have been acting on territorial instincts. Some people believe young dogs will attack old dogs as part of some primal instinct to keep weak links out of the herd, although this theory is in dispute. We don’t know exactly what happened, and unfortunately we never will.
Sadly, as a result of Bailey’s injuries, we had to put him to sleep. Bailey has been my husband’s dog since he was 17. And he is absolutely heartbroken, as am I. Bailey was such a sweet dog. To make matters worse, we have to make a very difficult situation about what to do with Winston.
This isn’t the first instance of Winston showing aggression. He’s been a protective and territorial dog his entire life. He doesn’t like strangers. He would always growl and bark and posture aggressively in the past, but he never bit anyone. Until about 15 months ago, when he bit my husband’s friend (whom he’d never met) coming to visit from out of town. He bit another one of my friend’s girlfriends earlier this year as well when my friend was housesitting for us. Unfortunately, I was not present in either instance.
I have to take full responsibility for Winston’s actions. I should have acted more deliberately to curb his aggressive tendencies at an earlier age. I thought I could handle it myself, but I was wrong. He’s also been through a lot of changes. After living in the same house the first seven years of his life, I moved twice, got married, bought a house, and Winston has been less of a priority than he should have been, in terms of attention, exercise, etc. My guilt about what happened to Bailey, and about my failures to Winston is overwhelming right now.
The real issue going forward is what to do. From a safety standpoint, legal liability standpoint, I no longer feel comfortable having Winston as part of my household. I don’t feel it’s fair to force my husband to keep this dog, reminding him daily of the trauma that occurred to Bailey, or to hazard Walter’s safety in the wake of an aggressive and unpredictable dog. But I don’t have a lot of good options.
I know it sounds like Winston is a terrible dog, but he really isn’t. He’s actually very sweet and well-behaved 99% of the time. His recall and ability to follow commands is impressive. He’s crazy smart. He’s goofy and silly. He has little quirks that are adorable. We’ve been through so much together, from puppyhood to two CCL surgeries, and lots of wonderful and beautiful experiences, including me buying this house, which for the first time in his life gave Winston a fenced backyard in which to roam. Most importantly, I love him dearly. And my heart is absolutely broken.
At any rate, I’m desperately trying to find somewhere for Winston to go. However, there aren’t a lot of good options for 9-year-old dogs with aggression issues. I’m only burdening you all with sorrows because I know there are a lot of smart and knowledgeable people on this board, and I’m hoping that you all may be able to provide me with some insight, connect me with some resources, or give me some perspective on this situation.
Any feedback at all would be helpful. Even if it’s the hard-to-swallow “I think you should consider putting him to sleep” variety. I’m trying to gather as much information as humanly possible before I make a decision. Right now, Winston is confined to the basement of our house except to use the bathroom. But that’s no way for him to live his life. It’s not a viable long-term solution for him to be sequestered alone. But I am terrified he will attack Walter or bite another visitor, and I simply cannot take that risk.
Thanks to all of you who’ve read this post. Hold your furbabies tight, and pray you never have your life turned upside down by an unspeakable tragedy like this.