u/fluffydonuts33

We had him for 5 months but had to request a foster transfer because of an upcoming trip (flying out of town for back to-back weddings)— he is extremely dog reactive and so boarding wasn’t an option and for liability reasons, the rescue only permits other fosters to watch their dogs. We requested the foster transfer months in advance but a couple days before the transfer date, they took him off the adoption website and said a member of their staff would pick him up and take him to the vet for a “behavioral evaluation”. We packed up his food, favorite toys, bed, etc. and sent him with the staff the morning of our trip. An hour later, we got a call from the rescue that he was euthanized because his biting/reactivity was likely due to “neurological issues”.

We understand rescues have limited resources and he would’ve been difficult to re-home. But he was a sweetie 99% of the time and though he had a significant bite history (including both of us), they were never above a tooth scratch level bite. He was a young aussiedoodle mix.

He did chatter his teeth after some of his random biting episodes, which could have been a sign of a neurological issue but the lack of transparency from the rescue on the results of their “evaluation” is frustrating. They also refused to let us go with him to the appointment, even though we thought we would be in the best position to describe his behavior and advocate for him. We also expressly asked them to let us know the results before they went forward with anything. His appointment was at 9 am. They called us at 10 am that he had already been euthanized.

We feel horrible and like we failed him as foster parents. I don’t think I can ever foster again and I can’t stop crying thinking of what a sweet dog he was. It feels so wrong and unfair. We’re devastated.

Our 1-year old rescue dog (terrier/poodle mix) is extremely dog reactive and he is neutral to people 90% of the time but will aggressively bark sometimes at random strangers—and only when we are outside walking. He tried to snap at a stranger in the building hallway who leaned down to tie their shoes when we were walking by so now he is muzzled on all walks just in case.

It’s a bit strange because we’ve had many friends over before and he is completely fine with strangers inside our home. He loves the attention and warms up to people immediately for pets and snuggles.

Typically, we’ve read that people reactive dogs are worse with their triggers inside the home vs. outside, so just wanted to see if anyone else has a dog like this—and if so, what worked for them?

Is it bad to ask your dog to sit before you put down the food bowl in their crate and then if they don’t sit on the first time, keep saying “sit” in a louder annoyed tone until they do? My fiancé keeps doing that before we feed our foster in his crate and he whines / barks more to be let out after he finishes eating. Is it just a coincidence or is that conditioning him to dislike his crate more (he doesn’t always understand sit so it may sound like he’s being scolded in the crate before the food is set down)? Or am I overthinking and micromanaging the way my fiance handles our foster.

He’s the sweetest but also very nervous and reactive pup, who is half-crate trained, half-house trained and I want to get him fully there as soon as possible!

Am I the anxious one here vs. the dog? Thank you!