[MasTaBlau]

I really need some help. My boyfriend's dog has been a perfect dog until last week. Jasper has always been great with the kids (boys - 6 & 5, girl - 9 months), except at times a little excited and hyper.



Last week his temperament changed. He lunged at me when I tried to get him to go outside before bed. The next night, the same thing happened, but this time with a deep low growl as well. I yelled at him and told him to get outside. I started doing some research to see why all of a sudden he was acting like this toward me when I've been his primary caretaker since 12 weeks. Jasper is now 2.



I started "reclaiming" my turf with the dog and started showing him I was in charge. I made him rely on me for everything and he couldn't get fed, go out, or come back in without first following my commands. After a couple days, he was responding more quickly to my commands. I thought I had figured out the problem and was going to continue this reinforcement. He was doing better. He never acted any differently with the kids or my boyfriend. This was only with me. I was pleased with his quick turn around with no more lunging incidents.



Sunday night, that all changed. The baby was playing near him like she always does. When she crawled in front of him (yes I was watching her and him), he snapped without her even touching him. He growled and bit her right in the face above her eye. She had scratches and welts from the bite, but it didn't break the skin and the marks healed within 24 hours. I yelled at him as he was running

into his kennel, because he knew he did wrong and ran as soon as it happened. After tending to the baby, I locked him up for the rest of the night.



My boyfriend won't talk to me about it and I think it's really bothering him. I told him we have to do something with the Jasper. I made some phone calls and talked to a behavioral therapist he is dominance aggressive. and he said that since there are kids involved, it was leaning towards euthanasia. He said he would work with him if we wanted, but there were no guarantees that he could help him.



I made another call to a rescue shelter to see what their thoughts were. The lady I spoke with has been rescuing dogs for 15 years and has had to but her own dogs down for this issue. She said when they hit 2, they will do this and there is really no fixing it. She told me even with training, we'd never be able to trust our dog again. She said, if it was her dog, she'd euthanize it.



I know what we have to do, and its very difficult because he is a good, caring dog. I was crying over the whole situation last night and he came up and started kissing me and snuggling. He really is a caring dog. My boyfriend looks at him as his baby and won't even discuss the biting incident. So for now, the dog is locked up in the dining room for the time being unless the kids are asleep and then I will let him out with me. Anyone ever deal with this type of behavioral issue? Is there really any hope for the dog ever being able to be a part of our family again? And how do I explain this to an owner in denial about how dangerous this dog is for our three beautiful children. If the dog doesn't go soon, I will have no choice but to remove myself and the two children that are biologically mine from this situation. If I could, I'd take his son with me too. For me its no contest, I'd rather euthanize Jasper than bury my child.