I did ask this earlier but no-one said what further medical exams the dog had had apart from the quick trip to the vets before the programme started. Do you know if they did recommend or actually do any further indepth medical tests?

Would you all agree that the dog was quite possibly under stress due to the making of the programme and all the new people/places/scenarios?

I am just going by my own dog and I know if she were to appear on dog borstal she would be terrified of all the new things, people, cameras, everything really as it would all be new to her.

I still doubt very much she would bite a person but she would certainly make it known if she was not happy.

Not making any judgements either way here as I didn't see it, but I would feel dissappointed for them if weren't advised to try having him castrated and blood tested first. PTS would always be a very last resort for me and I would make sure i'd exhausted all avenues I could, there must be a reason he was like this after all.....

Perhaps didn't help RANDOM but bear in mind this dog had bitten before way before the programme got involved. How many excuses do you make for a dog I guess. Very hard and a decision I hope I will never have to make.

Thats exactly what I thought.??!!

Does anyone know how old the dog was?

Also just out of interest.....if anybody had been asked to take on this dog so that it wasn't pts would you? What would you have done with it?

Just putting the cat among the pigeons so to speak
I for one wouldn't have and i know many people that deal with large breed rescue dogs and i don't think they would have as well .... but that is just my opinion.

The dog was about a year old I think, its unlikely at that age thyroid problems would be responsible, although i do agree its a possibility. Bottom line with this dog, he was nasty and unpredictable, he had bitten his owner, other people when out, the Vet and then tried to bite the trainer.

The dog was quite possibly under more stress due to the program, but he was on that program because of his behaviour previous to it. Every dog on the program has an opportunity to bite, but none of them have, except this one.

Shiba you raise a good point.

Its all well and good saying "ifs and buts" and "I would of...." but I doubt that anyone else would of wanted to chance themselves or their family with a dog with such unpredictable behaviour. it would of been "I would of had him except...." you know the type, and any rescue would not be responsible in rehoming a dog that has bitten on several occasions without provokation, so I also understand none of them wanting it. IMO the right decision was made and it was the safest one for all concerned.

Totally agree. We're all dog lovers here and yes dogs can be turned round. Would i have had that dog. No way. It's not about whether I could turn it round or not. It's whether I could trust that dog out in public and what quality of life that dog would have and myself.
Let's be honest we all love our dogs. Why do we get them? Are we not putting our needs. We have them, because we want to look something, we want to be loved by something, for something to need us. It's companionship and affection. Would i want to live with a dog that I had to remove from the room everytime someone came round. A dog that I had to keep on the lead and muzzle all the time. Where is the pleasure in keeping a dog like that, keeping you on edge all the time.

The owner stated on several occasions that he was her 'baby', it looked like he had never had any of the training necessary for a breed like this, but had been spoilt and allowed to run amok...all very well when they are pups of course. There is no doubt she loved him, but there is every chance that he could have been a well behaved dog if handled correctly from his early days. Its yet another case of a dog paying the price for an unsuitable owner and its very sad.
I also felt that they were abandoned by the 'program'....it seemed that they were happy to get their footage, show the drama of not being able to help....but not wanting any further responsibility. I understand the dog was the owners responsibility and it was their decision to make but I would have liked to have seen the program/trainers use their contacts and resources a bit more to help them with what was a very difficult decision

Spot on, great post Megan. :smt023