OT: dogs, “bully” breeds

[angoralvr]

This weekend when I was with my family, my grandfather made a comment that all pit bulls need to be put to sleep. I absolutely cannot stand when people try to demonize an entire breed of animal! Apparently someone he knows got bitten recently by one so I can kind of understand why he made the comment he made, but just because one dog bites, does not mean the next will. My little sister got attacked by a dalmation when she was younger and I know for a fact that she didn’t do anything to provoke it but you don’t see me or her going around campaigning to put all dalmations to sleep!

Of course I made the argument that it is how the dog is raised that matters, not what breed it is, but that didn’t go over too well because he knows the person whose dog it was and says they raised him perfectly. That might be the case, it is possible that the dog just turned (it later bit it’s owner) but I guess I find that hard to believe.

Why is it so hard for people to take responsibility for our actions? Almost every agressive dog I have ever met, also had an agressive owner. . . . I wonder where they learned it from? It is really sad that in today’s world, we find it easier to just ban entire breeds of dog from cities then deal with the real problem, which in my eyes atleast, is irresponsible owners, not bad dogs. The dogs didn’t do anything wrong. It seems like lately, being born a pittbull is almost a death sentence and I am afraid that it is going to start getting worse for some of the other so-called "bully" breeds.

I grew up with Rottweilers and constantly heard growing up about how I had a dangerous dog. I just laughed at people when they said it too because Bear was the sweetest dog I have ever met, definately not a big bully!

[Sarita]

I know that our shelters are very careful about who they adopt any bully breed too – I know our SPCA does homechecks for them. I have never been around pit bulls really but I know that many people fear them just because they are pit bulls. Alot of it is because they make the news alot for mauling people and other animals. I do think that if you don’t know the true circumstances that these dogs come from that you should certainly be cautious of them but then we should be cautious of all animals that we aren’t familiar with. However I do understand as well that many of these breeds are bred with certain characteristics (ie working dogs, herding dogs, etc).

It’s true I’ve even heard about a Golden Retriever mauling a child too (not sure if it was provoked or not) which also made the news.

I think for pit bulls that the dog fighting criminals have put them in the limelight in a negative way so we can thank them for that.

[Gravehearted]

I have found the same thing you have – that aggressive dogs are generally the product of the people who raise them.  It makes me really angry that people make sweeping generalizations like that, without really studying it further.

I have known a number of very sweet pitbulls and rottweilers. In fact my nephew is part pitbull and he is one of the sweetest doggies I’ve even encountered. 🙂 isn’t he cute?

 

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[Sarita]

Oh, he’s adorable! I love the brindle coloring too.

I’ve found that people make the same sweeping generalizations about rabbits too Gravehearted! People who don’t have rabbits or never have had rabbits have no idea about the fact they should be spayed/neutered, litter trained, etc…

I guess doing rescue work, nothing surprises me anymore about what people think they know or what they actually don’t know.

But I really don’t know much about dogs myself other than what other rescuers on my rescue lists (dogs, cats, etc.) post about.

[Lisa_43]

I wonder how he would know if it was raised perfectly, was he around them 24/7?

 

I love all animals but when my children were smaller we had a German Shepherd and I was very aware of things that can go wrong.

 

You need to constantly supervise, it’s the same with rabbits mine are inside now but no way do I think my cats and dogs aren’t always looking at them. I make sure the cage is like fort knox and I have a surrounding pen so they can not jump up or over it and there is no way they can get to them.

[Ash]

I don’t like the "bully breed genocide" thoughts either. I say "ok so what if all the bully breeds are put down, that’s going to stop attacks?  Dog fighters will just move to another breed to make a profit  and dogs have different attitudes and personalities like humans: someone will be completely fine and next minute be a crazy loon" and usually that ends the subject .

I grew up with big breeds. Saint bernards, Rotti’s, rhodesian ridgebacks,German shephard dobermans and dalmation.  Our Rotti was just a 130lbs lap dog! she was such a big baby that my mom yelled at her and she started crying! I never knew a dog could cry until then! She wouldn’t harm a fly!   I’ve seen a poodle bite someone and plue I’ve been chase by chows and attacked 2x by cocker spaniels so it doens’t matter the breed and I wish people would just understand that!

[Beka27]

well, the lion attacked the show guy (Sigfried or Roy, don’t remember) a few years back… so all lions should be euthanized.

all dogs have the capacity to become violent, and cats scratch… so they should all be euthanized.

in fact, humans kill more living things (human, animal and otherwise) than anyone… so we should all be euthanized.

 

^^^extreme sarcasm… please… no one take offense.^^^

[Beka27]

don’t feel bad Angoragirl… my grandfather is the same way.  once he gets something in his mind, it’s the tried and true gospel and there’s nothing anyone can say to change his mind.  we usually just smile and nod ours heads to "keep the peace" and then vent to our friends afterwards!  it’s not worth the heartache with someone you love.

[BinkyBunny]

I have been lucky enough to be around wonderful sweet pit bulls that wouldn’t hurt a fly. So even though I’ve also been around pit bulls that have behaviorial issues due to their owners, it hasn’t made me generalize that breed. I think that with any dog that has extra power and strength in their bodies and jaws, owners need to make sure to have control so that even "play" doesn’t get too rough – just by acciddnt due to the power and size of some breeds.

Some people are just fearful due to the media, and they miss out on the wonderful joy of experiencing the great nature of the individual animal.

[osprey]

The unfortunate thing for the bully breeds and their mixes is that they are associated with gang bangers and drug dealers.  A few bite incidents happen, and the politicians "have to do something".  This is where breed bans start.  The truth is, there are lots of poorly bred, poorly socialized nasty pit bulls out there, and this is what people see.  If you look at the statistics of what breeds of dogs are involved in fatal attacks, pits and rotties are at the top of the list.  Obviously, they are all large breeds (yorkies may be nippy, but they lack the power to kill someone.)  Labs, German Shepherd Dogs, Dobermans, Huskies have all killed people too, usually children (some stats from the Centers For Disease Control here)

There are frequent discussions of this topic on the Craig’s List pet boards.  I have learned that society goes through phases where different breeds of dogs are demonized.  For a while it was Bloodhounds (they were associated with slave owners and oppressive police forces), Dobermans and German Shepherd Dogs (might be their assiciation with the Nazis, who used both breeds are guard dogs), and now it is the various Pit Bull breeds.  I think there was some hysteria about wolf hybrid dogs for a while too (they are illegal most places)

 

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Oooh this is one of my pet peeves too! My ex’s family had a bulldog and My mom was sooo worried…Of course he was an overweight goofy dog that that was lovable…Actually after meeting him several times, my mom changed her mind. But I remember the looks people gave when we walked the dog!

I personally believe certain breeds are demonized because of the damage they do when they bite…People usually aren’t hospitalized when a small breed attacks them, and it isn’t very scary…But when large breeds, particularly the breeds with strong jaws, attack someone it can make national news and spark all kinds of new laws…Actually on this topic, my aunt put down her border collie years ago as it bit my cousin when she was a toddler…Border collies are one of the notorious family breeds, so this goes to show you! -Don’t worry my cousin is fine though, it was a minor bite but she knew she couldn’t trust the dog anymore. It was quite sad!

Where I live, pitbulls are a ‘dangerous breed’ and you must pay 1000$ extra to liscence them and they may only be walked with a muzzle on them. (I think this pretty much results in pitbulls being unregistered but that could just be my opinion I volunteered at a dog shelter for some time and I have to say the most gentle dog we ever had was a giant beautiful rottweiler, and the meanest dog we had (he was quite the fear-biter) was a retriever cross…I think it’s definitely more the upbringing then the breed!

[Ash]

On Zootoo.com I was reading that a handicapped 20 year old was training his pit bull terrier to be a service dog and that alot of people said it couldn’t be done due to the breed, but he did. It also said that years ago the Labs now used alot for specail service dogs used to be in the same lime light as pits are today! If we give them training like that or a “goal” it was saying instead of just keeping them in the “dog fighting” media then things will change around. But until we stop the dog fights these poor guys have the bad end 🙁 There are so many pits at our shelter and it’s so sad, the worst thing is that one of the staff members HATES pit bull and mixes and agrees with the “pit bull genocide” thought, I was outraged when I found out that someone responsible for these dogs hates them! I don’t think she should be in a position like that if that’s how she thinks but thats just my opion.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

No I totally agree!! Would you want someone who hates people caring for you? I definitely think she needs to change her mind or do something else!!! You’d think someone who works with dogs would be knowledgable!! Is she a volunteer?

[wendyzski]

I know several really sweet pibbles – one is named "Bambi", and I saw a post of LiveJournal this weekend of some people whose pitty was so into everyting while they were wrapping presents that they wrapped her!  She let them wrap paper around her middle and put a bow on her head, and then walked over to the tree for pictures.  Soooo cute!

You have to be careful with any dog, especially larger breeds, but breed bans just piss me off!  Frankly I’m more afraid of my neighbor’s chihuahua (a barky bitey little demon) than I am of "Bambi"!

[angoralvr]

Posted By wendyzski on 12/27/2007 1:04 PM

You have to be careful with any dog, especially larger breeds, but breed bans just piss me off!  Frankly I’m more afraid of my neighbor’s chihuahua (a barky bitey little demon) than I am of "Bambi"!

LOL! I totally agree. I might be a little bit wierd, but I don’t trust a lot of little dogs as much as I trust big dogs. Every large breed dog I have ever known has thought it was a lap dog! I know they aren’t all like that, but I just can’t stand people generalizing big dogs like that. It’s kind of like how for some reason big black dogs are always the last ones adopted, I don’t get it! Big black dogs aren’t bad! They need a home just like all the other dogs!

Personally, I won’t probably ever have a dog that is UNDER 50 lbs or so and I am partial to pitts, rotts and bull mastiffs. I think a lot of that has to do with me growing up around rotts, great danes, and greyhounds.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Oooh you would love where I live…We have a wonderful greyhound rescue group here, that rescues greyhounds once they are retired from racing and fosters them out until adopted. It is very common now to see people with 2-4 greyhounds!

[angoralvr]

Posted By Kokaneeandkahlua on 12/27/2007 1:58 PM
Oooh you would love where I live…We have a wonderful greyhound rescue group here, that rescues greyhounds once they are retired from racing and fosters them out until adopted. It is very common now to see people with 2-4 greyhounds!

My aunt and uncle are actually the ones with the greyhounds. They have two that are both retired racing dogs and they are very sweet! We have a greyhound rescue around here too and one of the women I work with helps run it. I am actually thinking about starting to volunteer there and help out the foster parents with their dogs.

[Ash]

Posted By Kokaneeandkahlua on 12/27/2007 10:08 AM
No I totally agree!! Would you want someone who hates people caring for you? I definitely think she needs to change her mind or do something else!!! You’d think someone who works with dogs would be knowledgable!! Is she a volunteer?

No, she’s an employee.  It’s all about the paycheck and government benefits. which makes me mad to know my hubby is working for her to sit on her butt, treat the animals like this, give people wrong info about pets and yell at all the volunteers!  She’s even meaner for the smal group of us trying to get the shelter to go no-kill.

[wendyzski]

Rescued greyhounds are AWESOME!  They are almost always good natured and love to lie around in the sun.  Some of the local groups bring the dogs to the renfaire and they can get them to wear little hats, jester collars, capes, etc.

[babybunsmum]

awww… i see a lot of rescued greyhounds in my area.  they seem so sweet & timid.  as long as i’m single & have bogart i’ll unfortunately not be looking for another dog.  but if either of those circumstances change i’ll be looking for a grey hound for sure!  i think that assimilating any animal into any living arrangement takes careful consideration for their natural tendancies as a species & breed.  i am also saddened by breed bans.  if only irresponsible people were banned from having pets… that would certainly make the pet world a better place & let all the breeds & species be free to be cared for. 

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