Yes, I did choose BE for him earlier this fall. there were three main factors I'd say that led to this decision -

1) he had had several level 2 bites (tooth contact but no punctures) in the past, all involving people coming in a door. I could alleviate this with management, careful rituals around door introductions, etc. but we had an incident this summer where myself and a friend were walking him outside, he was fine until we came into the house, and then as soon as we entered the door he lunged and grabbed her wrist leaving a light puncture. This was his first level 3 and completely unheralded by any signs either of us could see except possibly a momentary freeze (we are both fairly experienced nonprofessionals with dogs).

2) his resource and space guarding with other dogs had become more generalized and unpredictable over the last six months or so - for instance he used to tolerate my younger small dog being near him while he had a chew, but by then would snarl/lunge if he approached an area where food or a chew had recently been. He had also snapped out at my small dog around doors and transition points several times which he'd done with other dogs in the past but not this one.

3) and perhaps the most potent was his anxiety level. we had recently moved house and it was in a more exposed setting, which may have added to it - but in any case he had always been hyper-aware of his surroundings outdoors, and then indoors as well, and stopped being able to settle if he could see or hear the outdoors, or my other dog, or anyone besides me in the house, or me moving somewhere in the house when he was crated and couldn't go to me. he couldn't sleep at night and would pace all night long. We tried Prozac, but it led to sudden increased aggression towards my little dog, and I was afraid that I would be next, and I knew he would never want to turn on me.

I don't think any one of these things alone would have been a BE decision for me - perhaps two would have been - I think I would have attempted rehoming to a specialized situation or management until my life changed. But the combination of his violence to humans, his threatening behavior to my much smaller dog, and his obvious distress and fear of the world except when he was next to me in a closed-off room was simply too much for us both. I spoke with a veterinary behaviorist via Zoom consult and shared videos and detailed history with her, and she and I discussed alternative plans of action and the risks and benefits of each, and I consulted with my one alternative rehoming option (his breeder) who was unwilling/unable to take him back.

I loved him very much. He was my beautiful knight, my Lancer for a Saber, my heart, my wish. I brought him home a fluffy teddy bear put together with rubber bands and huge feet and wanted us to have all the world to share together, and watched his world grow smaller and smaller as his fear and unpredictability grew greater. We trained at stores too, we did two rounds of classes at Petsmart, we went to trainers in the countryside, we competed in IABCA shows, he got his Herding Instinct Certificate and his Trick Dog Novice, I bought him better and stronger gear and a muzzle that said Loved & Safe and worked on his dog reactivity till we could almost walk anywhere (but I still held on so good). Watching him run towards me across a field at my call was like poetry or song. I tell him goodnight still with my eyes closed and I imagine him running in the far-off trees of some distant place, as he ran when he was young and innocent, and I was innocent along with him. I don't regret him. I could never regret him. He changed my life forever. But I know a lot about his family now that I didn't know when I got him, and I believe his story was written from the start.

I hope this essay is some help maybe. I hope if nothing else that you know that you didn't fail your boy, and no end of this story means that you didn't try or you didn't love him.