Sad day in our house...giving up a dog  

That is sad but your doing whats best for the children. I dont know how long you have had your dog but they become a part of the family. SO when you have to let go of them its going to be difficult.

Remember that dogs do live in packs and in a hiearchy. He is fine with your 15 year old because your dog has learnt that your eldest son is superior to him, while your dog might think that the rest of your children 5,3 and six month old baby are inferior to him in hieararchy. Was there a change in behaviour towards your dog after the arrival of your last baby? For example he was accustomed to live inside and then suddenly he is sent living outside in a yard. This might be a cause of triggering aggressive behaviour in the dog.

I'm so sorry to hear this I know exactly how you feel... I also had to give up my dog because he was no good around my kids ... it was such a sad day for me but I know I made the right decision ... my kids safety is much more important but that still didn't take away the pain of losing my best friend.. I wish I could say something that would make you feel better but Ive got nothing except you are doing the right thing and one day you will look back on this day and be so grateful that you did it.. Good luck with the days ahead and be strong you will feel better with time ... :)

awww i am so sorry i know exactly what you are going through i had to give up a chow chow 6 months ago after rescueing him from being put down we took him in groomed him got attached had him for 2 months then he pushed out a screen in a window to chase a cat a bit a little boy then he bit my son and that was it had no choice i cried for days i loved that dog
but he is in a very nice home with a senior citisin making her feel very safe so i feel better knowing he is in a good home we ended adopting another pup who needed a new home and she is working out great

everytime you get sad thoughts about your dog, pick up your 6 month old and hold it tight..call the other two young ones to your lap and the three of you just rejoice in each other...play, sing, whatever it takes to take your mind off the dog..if the dog snapped, you are doing the right thing..
a friend of mine had an irish setter that bit the ear off his three year old..

i am so sorry for you and your family. when i was little we had to give our dog, a saint bernard away because he just kept growing and growing and he would jump on us or other small kids and knock them down. he also didn't have much room in our backyard to play. i know my mother took him to the pound, but when we were little, she had told us, he went to a farm where he could run and be happy.

my advice is just to say to them the "what if" questions. like what if we kept him and he hurt the baby, or what if you had a friend over and he bit the friend and the pound had to take him away.
just keep reminding them he is not safe, and maybe they can pick out a new dog someday. we have 2 labradors and they are supposed to be the best with kids.

good luck to you, that is sad, but think of what would be sadder if something terrible happened because you decided to keep him.

I think in some cases, the breed just isn't right for being around young children. I do animal rescue and while a lot of the times I think people have horrible excuses for giving up their pets, this is not so bad, and really, what I commend you on is finding the dog a home on your own, rather than just dumping them at a shelter.

I think more people need to take responsibility like you did, and at least help in the process of finding their dog a home, rather than dumping off the entire responsibility to someone else or an organization to do it for them.

Don't you mean a German Shepherd we do not have any Australian Shepherd they can be very aggressive dogs and even turn on their own owners, oh they are great when they are small and they are so cute but remember that they do grow up and then can turn I love dogs and have had many in my life but I would never have a German Shepherd but my father used to own one when I was a young girl so to make you feel better just think that you did not get hurt any more than you and your children did.

For the sake of the little children, I do think you really are doing the right decision of giving up your Australian Shepherd. The safety of the kids should be the priority first and formost. We can not endanger their lives just because we want to keep a pet which we are not sure of its health and behavior.

We are still upset ourselves over having to get rid of a part wolf and Siberian Husky.He was good with the older two children but was snappy at the younger ones. Although you already made the right decision, you have to look at the well being of the dog too. He must have been miserable being around the younger ones and just couldn't handle it. Now he can live in peace without being upset or nervous. It's stressful on a dog being put in the situation.