Let’s get real for a minute. Behavioral Euthanasia is a thing. It happens every day.

Not because we don’t love our pets. But because some pets just can’t face this world and overcome their emotional scars.

This is a very controversial topic. This elephant, sitting quietly in the room, deserves a conversation. So let’s get to it!

Nelson: I’m sorry this world was too big for you. (Photo Courtesy of Author)

(I will note some things I say may sound like I’m making light of this situation. I am not. They are simply coping mechanisms I have developed. This is a very personal topic for me.)

What is Behavioral Euthanasia?

This is when a pet parent or caretaker is forced to make the choice to euthanize a seemly healthy dog due to behavior issues that can’t be resolved.

Why Would You KILL Your Dog?

Working as a professional dog trainer and rescue director, I have seen every behavior imaginable. But when I started on my venture to where I am today I had a very closed mind on this topic.

Having, at that time, the mindset that “all dogs can be saved!” I would read posts on social media about someone putting down their dog for killing another animal or lunging and biting people. And my first thought was “but you could have done more!” Or “you could have re-homed the dog to someone with no kids, dogs, etc!”. Never taking into account the future neighbors might have kids or dogs. Or they see kids/dogs out on a walk.

I was blatantly chastising these poor people for making one of the most devastating decisions they had ever imagined. Literally, kicking them while they were down.

In hindsight, I don’t know of one animal-loving pet owner who WANTS to put their dog to rest. But, still, I inflicted instant judgment on how abrupt they were with their choice. Usually basing my opinion on a short paragraph in a post on social media. Not knowing anything at all about the severity of the dog's behavior or what the devastated pet parents had already done in an attempt to remedy the situation.

If I had tried to have even a little bit of compassion. I may have found out they HAD tried everything imaginable. Their sweet canine companion was just too broken for this world, and they had simply run out of options!

Reasons for Behavioral Euthanasia

There are many reasons that lead people to make the choice of behavioral euthanasia. Here are a few:

Neurological disorders, human Aggression, resource guarding, separation anxiety, lack of socialization during important developmental periods, genetics, little to no bit inhibition with aggressive tendencies, animal-related aggression, etc.

Though many of these things can be worked through, depending on severity, some dogs just can’t overcome that fear. They are just too damaged. The world is just too big and too scary!

My Story:

When I was a director in rescue, I did the majority of the intake. Our main focus was to rescue from county shelters with a large dog population. Many of these dogs were surrendered by their owners. While others were strays that had never been claimed.

Due to my training background, and the shelters knowledge of the type of dogs I worked with, I was usually steered toward the ones that no one else would take. The ones that didn’t “show well” in their kennels (extreme kennel neurosis), “shut down, fearful, pooping, corner tremblers” (major fear), the big scary dudes whose mere presence was intimidating (what I called “resting bitch face” dogs) and pretty much anything that only had three legs or one eye.

Basically, the misfits.

Dobby ❤ (Photo Courtesy of Author)

When you’ve worked in rescue for a bit, as I did, you begin to see a pattern of behaviors in the dogs we “pulled” from these shelters.

Owner surrenders had a pattern of having no impulse control, 1000% billy goat behavior, obviously, never being given guidance on the path of learning to be a companion animal.

Most weren’t potty trained or obedience trained, had little to no bite inhibition, jumped up on people as if it was an Olympic sport, poor social skills with dogs and some with people, and most thought leashes were a foreign slave device. All seemingly workable behaviors.

Unclaimed strays, for the most part, were either very cool, calm, and collected or absolutely TERRIFIED OF EVERYTHING! Though the shelter surrender dogs did come with aggression sometimes, I had more strays give me a run for my money in the safety department. Which I could always understand…they had to survive on their own. And being a loner and survivor I “got” these dogs! So it was a perfect match!

The Rehabilitation process:

I worked with these dogs for months and months before I would ever consider placement. I wanted to know exactly who they were inside and out. I needed to KNOW I was placing a safe, well-mannered dog into a fantastic, forever home.

Keep in mind these were the shelters “bad kids in class”. The ones who had to have “experienced” walkers to even exit their kennel, kept in the back so the general population didn’t have access for safety, some had known bite histories, etc. So, I took my evaluation and rehabilitation of these canines very seriously. I was their only hope for a “happily ever after”!

Doing this for so long, I could almost always tell right away what ones would make it through my program. Once in awhile, I was wrong, but I learned that certain initial behaviors, during decompression (article coming on this so hold tight), usually led to unwanted, potentially dangerous behaviors later. I still gave them the time they needed.

Always giving a minimum of 6 months to show me they could be a dog. Always grasping at the hope that my initial feeling was wrong. I would just put my “safety hat” on, build trust with the dog slowly, and work on a very structured life for them. Some flourished… while others didn’t.

Out of the hundreds in my program probably about 5% were not adoptable! We had to make a choice. These dogs couldn’t stay in a kennel forever! So we had to have the talk amongst us working with them. These conversations always came with a lot of tears:

Could this dog be placed safely into a home? If this dog has behavior problems can we find a home that can handle the problems and safely manage the dog for life? Does this dog have the potential to cause bodily harm or possible death to a human or animal?

The old me…the one who chastised the people who performed behavioral Euthanasia is now having to make the choice to do just that!

Keeping in mind our protocol leading up to making the choice to euthanize for behavior was extensive.

-Rule out medical reasons for the behaviors — treat any medical needed.

-Reach out to a veterinary behaviorist and look at medication intervention.

-Consult fellow trainers to make sure I hadn’t missed something in my process. Always looking for another thing that maybe I hadn’t tried.

The choice was never made lightly. Every time I had to make that choice it shook me.

It shook me HARD!

These were my dogs! I was their person! I loved them!

Me and Nelson (Photo Courtesy of Author)

I had worked thousands of hours on each and every one. Put my blood, sweat, and tears into giving them every opportunity to show me they could overcome the monsters in their brain. Trying to instill in their terrified little head that people were good, no matter what happened in the past.

But sometimes giving my everything just wasn’t enough. No amount of time, training, money, or education was going to let this dog feel safe! They were, in fact, damaged beyond repair.

The final day:

The appointments never get easier. The drive there is the worst. You doubt yourself the entire time, making sure to avoid that rear-view mirror. Because then you will see their happiness and the relaxed trust in their face. As your man-eating friend, who happens to love you, thinks you are going on a fun adventure for snacks and such.

You contemplate keeping this sweet soul, but remind yourself that this is how hoarding starts and no one needs a dozen aggressive dogs under one roof. One of them is bound to turn on you, at some point, and that would get very ugly, very fast.

Then you think about how small their world is. How their quality of life (and yours) isn’t ideal. Because when you take on a dog that can’t do dog things they are, in fact, suffering. They are prisoners of strict management and safety. They are prisoners of their own broken, little brains!

So, on the day of, I fill out a contract and adopt my 4 legged land-shark, we do sniff walks, fetch, snuggles, and all the swimming they desire! They have their cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets, we go to the vet, we hug long and hard. I tell them I love them and I’m sorry they were damaged in their life before me. I tell them I’ll save another one in their honor… and I let them

go….peacefully and selflessly.

I get to my car and break. Doubt and shame come into my head. “I could have done more!” “I should have just kept him!” “I should have tried harder!”

But the fact is I DID everything I could. And if I, a well-educated dog professional, struggle to manage this dog…how can I ask the general public to keep him safe? How can I put this dog into a place where he is bound to make a bad choice? Which will ultimately lead to the same fate…just not nearly as peacefully.



I want to sum it up like this. Every dog can not be saved!

I mean, they can… but at what cost to the dog? A lifetime of confinement? Such strict management that they only have a little time out of their crate a day? We are their guardians and it is our job to make these decisions when we see our dog is suffering.

And, if we see someone making these difficult decisions, I hope we can show compassion. Because no one, bringing a pet home, brings it home with the intention of Behavioral Euthanasia.