Sorry, I just can't seem stop thinking about this. Having worked lots-o-dogs lately, it becomes apparent how in a perfectly normal, average dog, small issues can be made into very large ones by poor, aggressive, or egotistical handling. These are normal dogs. No, maybe they're not super bombproof, but they're not volatile either. Their owners need not tiptoe around them to avoid an aggressive response, but merely exercise a few simple management strategies and exhibit a little bit of patient and compassionate handling. That's all. It's not rocket science.
I see no practical OR ethical reason for such dogs to die.
When I took this dog and his companion:
in off the street, in that condition... well, you can think I'm a bleeding heart furmommy whatever, but I exercised some management strategies to not put them in a position to guard their food. Call me crazy, but I kind of felt like that at that point in their lives, they didn't need me telling them that all their food belonged to me.
For the next MONTH, they were fed crated and undisturbed. When I went to removed their food bowls, I religiously tossed an extra handful of kibble in as I reached for the bowl. After they had gained some weight and expected food on the reg, I would toss hot dogs into their bowls. Swirl my hands around in the food and leave treats in my wake.
Call me crazy, but I don't think that's too much to ask. It's pretty simple and barely took any extra time out of my day. It DID take me using my big human brain. And call me crazy again, but I think that those dogs were in a very vulnerable place when I took them in, and that the potential to create RG behavior was very real. And yet, with a few simple actions, I negated it totally.
Both dogs live with kids now, neither guards food in any capacity from anyone. I'm not trying to pat myself on the back. My point is that what I did was simple, and dogs who very well could have been balancing on that razor's edge of "serious issue" and "perfectly normal" were saved with just a small amount of thought and careful handling. This is not rare in dogs, and I have seen it time and time again in my occupation.
Sometimes it just takes a tiny bit of time and effort. If you're going to join the "one bite, you die" club, the least you can do is put forth that much effort.