It is difficult to advise someone to euthanize a dog that could be potentially rehabilitated, but the owner would have to find a training facility that would be willing to take the dog and retrain them and take on the liability of rehoming the dog themselves. However, the trainers also know there are hundreds of German Shepherd Dogs that have NO behavior problems looking for homes. Also, the rehabilitation process to eliminate biting is pretty extreme. There is no really humane way to retrain dogs of this bad habit. Even from a loving and well experienced trainer, the process is harsh at best and still not 100% successful. Often times, the cure is worse than the affliction. With biting, preventing the unwanted behavior is by far the best protection for your animal. Some people conclude that this harsh rehabilitation is better than death and that is a personal decision to be heavily considered before progressing.
Also, we encourage people to understand that once a dog has bitten and elicited a reaction, the dog may have learned that it is a productive behavior. This is virtually impossible to rehabilitate and is never 100%. Giving the dog to a pound or dumping the dog does not make the behavior go away. This means that the dog may suffer much more abuse and a bad, scary death, should he bite again. We encourage people to consider that euthanasia, while being held in the arms of a loving family member, is better than the alternatives.
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