[Nathans_Dad]

Ok, well we made a decision. We decided to take Lucy to a local shelter. It's actually tough for me to write this, that was possibly one of the hardest pet related things I have ever had to do. It was worse, I think, than having to put a dog down from old age or disease or whatever.

Her aggressive behavior today concerned me greatly. The behavior was one of lunging towards someone who was not showing her or me any aggression whatsoever. The lunging forward was a clear sign of aggression to me, to the point that I'm not sure if she would have stopped had she not been on a leash. I talked with a friend of ours today who comes over to our house often. She related that she didn't feel safe around Lucy. Even after coming over innumerable times in the last year, Lucy still growls and barks at her whenever she passes her kennel. Again, no one has ever shown aggression towards Lucy, at least not since we adopted her.

In the end it came down to a realization that I was putting my children or someone else's children at risk of harm in order to give my dog another chance. Even with training neither myself nor my wife would ever have felt comfortable leaving her alone with children or other people. In a house filled with 3 small kids and another one on the way, that's not a good situation to be in. She has already bitten my son once about four months ago. My youngest, who is just over 1, is starting to walk and who knows what she might innocently do to the dog that may provoke an aggressive reaction. I feel horrible that I had to take her to a shelter, but I would feel 100 times worse if she harmed my child or someone else's child.

After I had dropped her off, I had a chance to discuss the issue with our neighbor (the dog trainer). Her exact words were "Is it done?" to which I said yes. Then she said "You did the right thing." She went on to say that Lucy was showing some concerning signs to her that she would have done the same thing in my situation. For whatever that counts, it made me feel a little better about the whole thing.

For those who may feel the need to flame me or chastise me for this decision, please understand that this was certainly not an easy thing for me to do and I did what I felt was in the ultimate best interests of my family and those who live around me.

Thanks for the support and advice, I think our house will be dogless for at least a little while.