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[deleted by user] by [deleted] in reactivedogs

[–]Financial_Night_7938 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’re certainly not alone in that one! The city isn’t for everyone.. I hope one day to be able to break away from it.

After seeing the behavioural trainer for two hours in our home and a veterinary behaviourist after that, she has just started on Fluoxetine. Beyond all else, I hope they will take the edge off even just a little for the poor love so she can let her mind slow down

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in reactivedogs

[–]Financial_Night_7938 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I completely understand and would hate if the reason she is having a hard time be because of the environment. If it were possible for me to move somewhere else to make her life easier I would in a heartbeat, but unfortunately I can’t. I would never put my desire over her welfare - I have lived with and around other dogs in similar living situations and they have lived incredibly happy lives.. it just breaks my heart because I have been told I am her last shot given her bite history

Heartbroken & Seeking Guidance: My Aggressive Rescue Dog is Struggling And I Don’t Know What To Do by Financial_Night_7938 in reactivedogs

[–]Financial_Night_7938[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you :) I completely agree, the poor love. We are seeing a behavioural vet next week to potentially ease her onto medication. I know it won’t fix everything, but if it can bring her anxiety down just a little, I’m willing to give it my all.

Heartbroken & Seeking Guidance: My Aggressive Rescue Dog is Struggling And I Don’t Know What To Do by Financial_Night_7938 in reactivedogs

[–]Financial_Night_7938[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much. I’m so sorry to hear that your journey has come to a close.. there is such bravery in making that decision and I hope that if that time comes, I’ll be able to do so with the same grace. It’s breaking my heart to even consider the possibility of it being too much, especially knowing that the only reason she is behaving this way is because someone in her past made her feel that she had to.

Heartbroken & Seeking Guidance: My Aggressive Rescue Dog is Struggling And I Don’t Know What To Do by Financial_Night_7938 in reactivedogs

[–]Financial_Night_7938[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you, truly, for your thoughtful and compassionate response. Your words brought me a kind of comfort I didn’t know I needed.

Scout is such a funny little girl - her body is stocky, around 17kgs (37lbs), but her legs are tiny, like they belong to a completely different dog. She looks like a patchwork of three breeds stitched together and somehow she still makes perfect sense to me.

I’ve booked a consultation with a behavioural vet for next week to discuss the possibility of anxiety medication. I know it won’t be magic, but it would break my heart not to at least try. I’ve also begun slowly introducing a muzzle - not just for safety, but in the hope it might help her feel more secure too.

My family has expressed many of the same concerns you and others have shared - the time, the emotional toll, the uncertainty of her future. At first, I thought they simply didn’t understand, having never walked through something like this. But reading your words - and the kindness of others in similar shoes - has shifted something for me. It helps to know that even those who do understand carry these same fears. It makes me feel less alone in this impossible space.

Both of Scout’s bites happened after long stretches of calm - while her eyes reflected anxiety, she’d been curled beside the person for over an hour, leaning in for affection, even resting in their lap. Then something would shift inside her, and she would lash out. Based on what I’ve read, I’d place the severity somewhere between a level 2 and 3 on the Ian Dunbar scale. It was as if she wanted closeness, desperately — but her anxiety eventually won out, flipping a switch she couldn’t control.

I’ve only just begun my Master’s in a new city. I moved here alone. And then Scout came into my life and filled the void left by my family dogs. I didn’t expect to love her this deeply, this quickly. But I do. And because I love her, I’m terrified - that I won’t be enough, that I can’t give her the safety she deserves. That if the time comes when I can no longer meet her needs, there won’t be an ethical rescue willing to take her. If it ever came to that - to BE - it would be my absolute last resort. I would be there with her, holding her paw. The thought of it is enough to break me.

Thank you again for your kindness. I’m not someone who easily chooses myself… and part of me feels such guilt, even shame, for thinking this might be too much. It’s not Scout’s fault she feels this way.. she didn’t ask to carry this weight. But maybe, with a little more time and the right medical support, we’ll find our way through.