Behavioural Euthanasia (BE) is an extremely serious decision, not to be undertaken without careful consideration and oversight from a veterinarian. As professional dog trainers, it can be difficult to raise BE for guardians in a practical and compassionate way, but leaving the option unvoiced is one of the biggest mistakes you can make with a dangerous dog. When you take a “wait and see” approach you may be waiting for a catastrophic incident to decide the matter for you. BE undertaken following a serious incident can leave pet guardians feeling shocked, traumatised, anxious and guilty. It does not have to be this way.
Assessing Dogs for Behavioural Euthanasia
The first step in any behaviour consultation is an assessment of the dog’s behaviour, Quality of Life (QoL) and the level of risk the dog poses to itself, the handler, and the general public. For the vast majority of dogs at intake BE is not necessary and therefore does not need to be discussed. For a rare few dogs, it is clear from the first appointment that BE should be considered due to an unacceptable level of risk, and/or a poor QoL. Most dogs fall in-between extremes and we may only consider BE upon re-assessment of the dog. The top signs that BE is relevant to a particular case are:
- Chronic stress which persists despite treatment by a veterinarian
- Necessary safety measures (management) are severely limiting dog QoL.
- Handler’s QoL is significantly impacted by the dog.
- Dangerous incidents are occurring, despite management best-practices.
Upon intake a risk assessment should be performed to uncover the types of risk posed by the dog. Consider how likely an incident is, how severe it would be and who it would impact. Higher probability of a low-severity incident is often better tolerated by pet parents than a lower probability of a high-severity incident. It is ultimately up to each pet guardian to determine their own risk tolerance. When assessing risk take into account the entire household. Are there vulnerable children, seniors or other pets? Risk towards the general public should be taken seriously.
A Framework for Behavioural Euthanasia Discussions
The first step in raising the question of BE is placing it within a larger framework of treatment options. By creating a roadmap with frequent re-assessment, handlers can clearly see where they currently stand, which options can be tried next and when BE fits in as a compassionate choice.
Roadmaps are split into stages where first stage interventions should typically yield the desired results. Second stage interventions are escalations put in place when the first stage interventions aren’t sufficient or the dog is experiencing regression despite best efforts. Second stage interventions are typically more life-limiting for both human and dog making them impractical as long-term solutions without significant behavioural improvement. BE is considered at the third stage of intervention. The roadmap for BE generally looks like this:
First Stage Interventions
- Assessment of risk, QoL and behaviour. On reassessment, use this information to determine if the dog is improving or regressing.
- Management in place to immediately and significantly reduce risk.
- Consultation with Veterinarian or Veterinary Behaviourist.
- Implement daily practices to improve QoL (e.g. rest, enrichment, exercise)
- Implement training strategies to improve specific behaviour(s)
Second Stage Interventions
- Re-assess all first stage interventions.
- Implement increased management, even if stronger measures reduce QoL.
- Consider increasing expenditure of resources, especially with regards to hiring professional support (this step may be the first stage if budget allows).
- Consider drastic environmental change/rehoming, if possible.
Third Stage Interventions
- Re-assess all first and second-stage interventions.
- Consider BE after consultation with a veterinarian.
Monitor - Re-Assess - Adjust Accordingly
Re-assessment is crucial as behaviour, risk, and QoL will change over time and must be continually monitored. The time interval between reassessment generally becomes shorter for high risk dogs, and may be longer for dogs who represent a lower risk. For many aggression cases these roadmaps grant us more quality time with our companions. Ultimately old age, health conditions or other changing life circumstances may eventually lead to a BE outcome even after a stretch of good time.
When considering severe management, such as extensive crating/isolation, restriction of all physical freedom or removal from public spaces, it is important to monitor the dog’s QoL. When the necessary management protocols for safety cause an unacceptable level of stress in the dog or handler, you cannot consider it a viable or humane long-term strategy.
Many pet guardians optimistically view rehoming as the ideal strategy. Unfortunately, rehoming marginal dogs is a fraught and often unsuccessful process. While the “perfect home” is theoretically possible for any dog, it’s important to consider how realistic this possibility actually is – most adopters are not equipped or eager to adopt a behavioural-needs dog. Instead, consider other drastic environmental changes such as moving home. Other changes can include hiring professional assistance like a skilled dog walker, pet sitter or training facility to take your dog into trigger free environments routinely to improve QoL. For dogs with a history of moderate or severe aggression rehoming is not an ethical option as it presents a public safety risk. The tough reality: these dogs will fail a shelter’s intake assessment and be euthanized anyway.
Finally, determine what resources the handler has at their disposal. Guardians with a strong financial budget for training, veterinary care and professional assistance will generally have more options. Particularly, hiring professional help can relieve the burden of management from the handler, delaying handler burnout while significantly reducing risk and improving QoL. Beyond financial resources, you must also consider how much time the handler has to devote to training, as well as how much support they can count on from friends and family. If the busy guardian has little support, they will feel overwhelmed much faster and may struggle to manage the safety risk effectively. By ensuring the roadmap is time-bound, we can best manage our resources and make the call in a timely manner without any serious incident occurring as the catalyst.
Empower Dog Training Clients with a Roadmap
It is never easy to talk about BE. Having this conversation with your client can feel deeply uncomfortable and emotionally fraught. Furthermore, when to use BE is not a decision to be made by the trainer – this decision is made by the pet guardian with the support of their veterinarian. It is all too easy to simply focus on the stage one interventions without ever discussing the roadmap as a whole. Dog trainers are, however, in the best position to implement the roadmap, having access to the dog on a regular basis in their normal environment. You can perform routine reassessments and encourage guardians to seek additional help from other professionals when required. Ultimately your comprehensive support will help your clients navigate this extremely difficult time. So, stop dreading the conversation and start helping people!
Sarah Shapiro-Ward, Ph.D, KPA-CTP, CPDT-KA, CTDI
Sarah has lived and worked as a professional dog trainer in two of Canada’s most densely populated downtown communities: Toronto and Vancouver. Sarah is best known for her viral trick training videos with her Cockapoo Percy, including tricks such as playing Jenga, Connect Four and Painting on Canvas. She also has a standard poodle, Eleanor, and a part-time horse, Echo.
Before becoming a dog trainer, Sarah completed her Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 2015. Though she has long since left the laboratory behind, she still enjoys keeping up with the literature and applying her skills of critical analysis to dog training scenarios.
Sarah is a frequent guest on the live call-in radio show CBC BC Today, answering Vancouver’s dog behaviour questions. She has also been featured on Jimmy Fallon, The Daily Mail UK, NHK Japan, Good Morning America, The New York Post & others.
Besides training tricks, Sarah teaches group classes and private lessons for city dog owners across Vancouver through When Hounds Fly. She can be found on Instagram and TikTok @prancingpoodles.
