Read and Let's Discuss

OK - I'm not going to give advice about whether to euthanize the dog based on what's posted.  But since he seems to be going down that path....
He doesn't want to bring the dog to the vet because the dog loathes the vet's office.  He's on a tractor website talking about his dog and livestock.  I'd imagine there would be a vet willing to go out to his house/farm to humanely euthanize there.  Why has nobody suggested that?  (Unless I missed it, I got peeved early on and started skimming)
 
But I am particularly disturbed by SO MANY recommendations on how to shoot the dog!!  What gun/caliber to use and placement of bullet and preparation for a follow up shot, how close to a gravesite so you don't have to carry the 50lb dead body.... HELLO?!?!  WTF?!!!!  Maybe someone can shed some light on why/when shooting a dog in the heart is better than having the vet humanely euthanize.  Cuz I'm missing it completely...
 

i did agree with what one poster wrote ....
"Even if the dog did kill the sheep, and you can prove it, that's not justification for putting the dog down. That's justification for keeping the dog and the sheep separated."

unless you see the dog in the act there is no way to prove that he did it. seems almost like he is looking for an out with this dog to me. it seems odd to me that the dog would just out of the blue attack one of the sheep.

I think the same poster you quote had a pretty good idea about it - the dog may have always "wanted" to go for the cat/sheep/any animal but minded his Ps/Qs while the owner was around to inforce the rules.  He went on vacation, and... "while the cat's away the mice will play..."
 
I imagine dogs on a farm/ranch are not really the equivalent to our indoor pampered pets.  Pehaps operating with more instinct in his every day actions than pet dogs?  I wouldn't know.  I'm just disturbed by those posters who think, "Heck, he's my buddy.  I don't want him to suffer through the trip to the vet.  I'll just shoot him instead."  UGH! 

I don't know how this guy can be so sure than another neighborhood dog didn't do it.
 
It kind of reminds me of an artical in Horse and Rider years ago in which they described in detail (with illusrations even) have to shoot a horse in order to put it down.  The idea was that if you are out on a trail many miles from care, it is better for the horse to shot it if it breaks its leg rather than let it suffer until the vets gets there.
 
I think that this shows the differecne in "ranch" dogs, and the dogs kept like i-dogers pups are.  I do know people who have shot thier dogs due to "agression" or old age rather than take it to the vet.

So, Billy, what did you think about it?

ORIGINAL: miranadobe

I think the same poster you quote had a pretty good idea about it - the dog may have always "wanted" to go for the cat/sheep/any animal but minded his Ps/Qs while the owner was around to inforce the rules.  He went on vacation, and... "while the cat's away the mice will play..."

I imagine dogs on a farm/ranch are not really the equivalent to our indoor pampered pets.  Pehaps operating with more instinct in his every day actions than pet dogs?  I wouldn't know.  I'm just disturbed by those posters who think, "Heck, he's my buddy.  I don't want him to suffer through the trip to the vet.  I'll just shoot him instead."  UGH! 

maybe, but there is still no way to prove it was the dog and not a coyote that had been scared away by the dog. could have even been one of their other dogs. didnt the op say he owned more than one dog?

as to the bullet in the head business, unforunately the area i live in this is still very common. i think it stems back to the days when there were very few (if any) vets in the area. now there are many vets here, but this still happens quite often.

I personally need a lot of proof/evidence/research before making decisions of that gravity, so I shouldn't really post my opinion on whether he should/should not euthanize. 

I understand that sometimes the vets are far away.  Makes sense.  But it's not like he's in a dire/urgent situation.  He's been posting this for 4 days, while he's on vacation - he has enough time to make a call to a vet and arrange for a visit to the home/farm/ranch if that's the decision he ends up with. 

If the situation were urgent, like a gal I knew many years ago who shot her husky after he tangled with a porcupine and ended up with a face and neck full of quills, I could see it. 
 
If I witnessed the dog actually trying to kill the sheep and couldn't call him off, maybe.  Another acquaintance did that when her young Rottie attacked a mare & baby - she shot the dog dead right then because he wouldn't back off.
 
Could I do it, even in those circumstances?  Probably not, because I'd be crying so much I would not be able to aim right and do it in one shot.
 
 

EXACTLY - urgent/dire situations.  Nothing in his posts imply to me that it's THAT urgent.  Keep the dog contained/separated from the other animals until you decide and call the vet.
And maybe the vet should have been called to make sure there wasn't a medical anomaly?  Although, it sounds like the op is not surprised if the dog did kill the sheep/cat.

ORIGINAL: miranadobe

I personally need a lot of proof/evidence/research before making decisions of that gravity, so I shouldn't really post my opinion on whether he should/should not euthanize. 

I understand that sometimes the vets are far away.  Makes sense.  But it's not like he's in a dire/urgent situation.  He's been posting this for 4 days, while he's on vacation - he has enough time to make a call to a vet and arrange for a visit to the home/farm/ranch if that's the decision he ends up with. 

i would need unquestionable proof, and then i dont think i could have either one of our dogs euthanized for attacking a sheep. i would rather keep the dog and sheep separated. i would never shoot any of our pets, there are plenty of vets around here now and even a few 24 hrs emergency vets if it were an emergency situation. i hope you didnt think i was condoning shoot your dog as a viable means of euthanasia?

i hope you didnt think i was condoning shoot your dog as a viable means of euthanasia?

No, not at all.  I understood what you meant.  You helped point out that sometimes the vets are too far away to effect a humane euthanasia in dire situations.  Which makes sense.  I just don't think this situation qualifies. 
 
And I may sound a little too passionate because the idea of shooting the dog in this circumstance is really upsetting to me!

ORIGINAL: miranadobe

So, Billy, what did you think about it?

 
My thoughts can best be summed up by the words you used, in your previous posting, in this thread.
 
WTF???
 
I mean, the guy has sheep.  When one of his sheep gets sick, does he load it in the car and take it to the vet?  Hell no.  The vet comes to him.
 
I will not argue with the guy's decision to put the dog down.  That is too personal a decision for me to debate.  But the moron seems to think that shooting the dog is somehow more humane or less trumatic for the dog than having the vet give him a shot?  I don't get that line of thinking.
 
I am a hobby farmer, of sorts, and have always lived in the country.  I think it is true that people like me are a bit rougher around the edges than are people from a more urban environment.  If my neighbor's dog was harassing my livestock, I would shoot it without hesitation and would certainly understand if he shot my dog, if he was chasing his cattle.  A dog can't mess with a man's livelihood.  I understand and support that mentality.  More urban people might not agree.
 
A couple of years ago, my neighbor down the road, called and asked me to come and shoot his dog, who had been involved in a farming accident.  Funny thing about that was, although this guy always said he hated the dog, and the dog was dumb as a post, when the dog needed to be shot, he couldn't do it.  I understood that too.
 
There are very few things I am good at.  Almost nothing, really, but what I can do well is shoot firearms.  I have competitively shot silhouette, benchrest and trap.  I am quite accomplished, but there is no way I would trust my nerves to humanely shoot my own dog, who I had owned for years.  I am not saying it couldn't be done, only that I wouldn't trust myself to do it, and I am good.
 
But again, in summary, "WTF"???
 
 

HERE HERE! 
 

On the method of euthanizing the dog---I wouldn't do it with a gun, I'm a city girl and that's all there is to it.  But, there are many different cultures here in our United States. 

I am married to a gentle, loving, man from Western PA boonies.  He comes from a loving, family that were all very hard working farm people.  They always had dogs, coon hounds, retrievers, etc., all treated very humanely and taken very good care of.  When a dog needed to be euthanized, it was taken behind the barn and shot in the head.  I could simply vomit at the thought of it, but this is the way it was done and I imagine in many areas of the country it still is. 

Do I approve of it, heck, no.  My husband is still traumatized from the time his dad had to euthanize his dear boxer who had gotten hit by a truck on the farm. 

But, that was/is the culture.