Heavy post - I need advice… moving and trying to make a hard decision. Please read full post if you begin.

*Crossposted
As I write this, I am in deep distress and genuinely looking for advice. We are moving soon and are trying to figure out the best and safest plan for our two dogs. I feel completely stuck because I love these dogs, but I also know their history and the situation we are moving into.

We are about to start showing our house, and unfortunately we don’t have anywhere to take the dogs during showings. We are already preparing ourselves to potentially spend hundreds, possibly thousands, on boarding and doggy daycare while the house is on the market. But the bigger issue is after we move.

We have two female dogs, ages 8 and 10. Both have bite histories, although the older one is the one with the more serious behavioral issues.

We have lived a very isolated and quiet life, no family around and very few friends. The older dog has become increasingly aggressive and overprotective during that time. We don’t walk her in our neighborhood or take her places because her behavior can become very scary. She has bitten two adults and one child. We’ve tried anxiety medication, but the behavior has remained.

The younger dog on one occasion attempted to attack a child who was playing with her too roughly (the child’s mother was close and monitoring, child was not listening).

Because of these issues we don’t feel comfortable taking them anywhere and we can’t simply leave them loose when we aren’t home. They will destroy the house, so they stay in a large kennel when we leave and when we have company.

It has essentially just been my husband, me, and our 3 year old son. Surprisingly, our dogs have done very well with him. However, I think part of the reason we’ve been able to manage everything is because our life is so quiet and isolated. We rarely have people over. The only people the dogs are comfortable around are my parents, who knew them for a short while before they moved away. Anyone else who comes over means the dogs have to be put away because of how unpredictable and intimidating they can be. I have to be very cautious when letting them out to go to the bathroom that they don’t bolt after someone.

The last bite happened about 2.5 years ago, our neighbor came over to meet our newborn and she insisted we let our dogs out while she was there. Sure enough she got a warning bite. Thank goodness she wasn’t mad, I mean SHE insisted I let them out even after warning her of their temperament.

Now we’re moving to my husband’s hometown due to wanting our son to be raised with a community, and our circumstances are going to change dramatically.

We’ll be around people much more frequently, including quite a few children. We’ll initially be staying with my husband’s aunt while we’re between selling our house and buying another one. Just thinking about bringing the dogs into that environment gives me an incredible amount of anxiety because I am terrified that another bite could happen. One of the bites mentioned earlier (a child) actually happened at this home about 4 years ago.

We’ll be moving in the winter, so keeping them outside isn’t an option, it snows where we are moving to. There is a barn with a/c and heat on the property where they could potentially stay in their large kennel, and because it’s outside the town, walks may be possible. But I don’t know how long they could realistically live that way. They would essentially spend their lives in a kennel except for walks and bathroom breaks.

I love these dogs. I have loved them through all of their behavioral problems and everything else. One of them still has submissive urination issues and will pee when she’s disciplined, just being told to stop unnecessarily barking and she pees.

At the same time, I don’t want to be irresponsible and put another person in danger. I don’t want to put my husband’s family, or a stranger in a position where they could get bitten.

We’ve tried looking into rehoming them with a loving family without children, but nobody wanted them. We were also completely torn apart and judged for even trying to rehome dogs and it left us feeling even more hopeless. We aren’t trying to take the easy way out… we are trying to be responsible. We even talked to our vet about possible resources they have for rehoming to maybe try to find a good fit and they said they don’t offer anything like that. So rehoming seems to not be an option.

My husband thinks we may need to surrender them to a shelter, and the thought makes me sick. I don’t know what would happen to them there, especially given their histories and temperaments. I think they would be goners as soon as they enter that place.

So I’m asking from a place of genuinely wanting to do what is best and safest for the dogs and everyone around them.

What would you do in our situation?

I just want them to have the best rest of their lives possible, and right now I feel completely lost about what that actually looks like.

Is keeping them and essentially managing them in a kennel/very controlled environment for the foreseeable future okay? Is surrendering them to a shelter ever the responsible thing to do in a situation like this? I don’t think I could live with myself. Do we try to move them up there with us and heavily medicate them to avoid aggression? HELP!!!

Is a there another option I’m not thinking of?

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for taking the time. Im heart broken and would love advice. This is probably the most difficult decision I’ve ever had to make.

\*Edited for typo correction