The Most Painful Choice: A Dog Owner's Story of Behavioral Euthanasia

by Beth Miller

Overview

When Champ, a German Shepherd, was adopted from a local breed rescue, his family hoped and expected to spend many fun-filled years with him. However, Champ suffered physically and mentally from neglect and trauma from his first years of life. Despite numerous treatments, Champ was never able to overcome that trauma to become a "normal" dog, and his family made the painful decision to give him peace through behavior euthanasia.

This work serves not only as an account of Champ's life and his family's attempts to help him, but also as a resource on behavior euthanasia, which is a compassionate choice for unmanageable aggression, reactivity, bites or severe anxiety. Investigating the potential causes of these issues, chapters examine scientific research on dog behavior and emotions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476690193
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	03/31/2023
Series:	Dogs in Our World
Pages:	190
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.38(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Beth Miller is a writer and editor in St. Louis, Missouri. She has worked for weekly and daily newspapers and has been a writer and editor at Washington University in St. Louis since 2006. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers; is a longtime runner, cyclist, triathlete, and duathlete; and enjoys training her golden retriever, Mack.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments viii
Preface
Introduction
 1. Bringing Champ Home
 2. Treating Champ
 3. Anxiety and ­Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Dogs
 4. Nature vs. Nurture
 5. Communicating with Champ
 6. Making the Decision
 7. Grief
 8. Moving Forward
 9. Behavioral Euthanasia: What It Is and What It Is Not
10. Dogs and Emotions
11. Behavior Problems and the Owners’ Well-Being
Conclusion
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index