7 Dog Breeds that Don't Deserve Their Stereotypes

Yahoo! Shine ^ | 1/10/14 | Carol Bryant

[Slings and Arrows]

Have you ever been out in public, minding your own business, simply walking your dog, and people start moving to the other side of the street in fear? There are many dog breeds that don't deserve the bad rap society places upon them. Perhaps your dog is one of the breeds or mixed mutts that get a bad rap.

Dogs of certain breeds are not born dangerous by default. This, coupled with breed legislation, media focus on particular breeds, and the sensationalizing of certain incidents of attack have lead to an overall generalizing that ultimately hurts a dog, and may cost him his life.

-snip-

1. Pit Bull: Sadly, this breed has taken on more criticism and warnings than most other breeds in recent years. Often labeled as vicious, untrustworthy, and in possession of locking jaws, the Pit Bull tops our list as receiving a bad rap. According to the American Temperament Test Society, Pit Bulls ranked second in reliability overall. In other words: This original "nanny breed" is not the problem, but the way he is trained may be the issue.

[CatherineofAragon]

"My own females...well, the current doesn’t count. She loves EVERYone. My most wonderful dog prior, was very much attached to me, female. But I don’t think she showed preference for either amongst strangers. Had a pup who wasn’t around long enough to know. My first ever did not seem to care, either. Maybe females treat everyone with equanimity."

That could be very true.

[Uncle Chip]

Then try these from the CDC:

http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/images/dogbreeds-a.pdf

They follow the same line —

[CatherineofAragon]

"My wife and I just knew that if anyone ever even attempted to do anything to her that he didn’t approve of, he would take matters in his own hands. It was comforting to know that you had a dog that was capable of making correct judgments on certain situations, and could be relied on to react correctly. A well bred and well trained GSD can do things that most people aren’t aware of; and they can be better judges of character and intent than a lot of people."

I absolutely agree. Shepherds are so intelligent. My SIL and her husband had to start spelling words around their dog...she once told me, "I swear I think he's beginning to figure THAT out, too."

[Sequoyah101]

My experience with Spaniels is that they have some or all of these negative qualities:

1. Dumb
2. Snappy
3. Neurotic
4. Downright goofy

[Jack Hydrazine]

Dogs in Slow Motion - 1000fps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZIjkvdz4Ko

[goat granny]

A friend had 2 great danes. When I sat at the table, one could come up behind me and rest his chin on my shoulder. The other just layed down and kept growling from the time we went into the house until we left...it just stayed where he was a never quit growling....later I mentioned this to the owner and she said, did your husband have a hat on. The answer was yes. She said that dog hated hats and if he would have taken it off, she would have shut up..I think that's funny 22 years later. You never know what gets a dog to react the way they do. They were great dogs for her farm, she had a lot of livestock, several breed of sheep, each one had a different type of wool and she was the largest sheep raiser in the county. Also had angora goats which I love and she was experimenting with cross breeding angoras with different breeds of goats..

[Fire_on_High]

It happens more than you think, particularly in some of the less picky ones. GOOD shelters won’t do this, because they try to be as honest as possible, but crappier ones are just following the rules to keep em moving rather than caring about the animals and if it’s stocky or has a squarish head, pit bull it is.

[ShasheMac]

I miss having a dog so much, they make life extra special.

[huldah1776]

I have a 4 yr old female rat terrier, Amy @ 15 lbs, and had been keeping my son’s 1.5 yr old 90 lb shepherd (McClane). When McClane got her mad, she would just bite him in the face. McClane is a big puppy and so in love with my son that when I dog-sit he moans in grief at being separated. He sometimes accidentally hurt Amy with his huge feet, but never, ever hurt her intentionally. She did.

Small dogs have it rough. Imagine living among people who are 20 feet tall and weigh 800 pounds when you are 5 feet tall and weigh 140. I’d be shaking and wanting to run while screaming, too.

[Darnright]

>Pit Bulls ranked second in reliability overall. In other words: This original “nanny breed” is not the problem, but the way he is trained may be the issue.<

The “pit bull” is NOT the nanny breed, especially since in this country the term “pit bull” may be used to denote a given type of canine. The Staffordshire Bull Terrier holds that distinction and the 2 names are in no way interchangeable. The American Pit Bull Terrier, a UKC recognized breed, is a newer dog, while the Staffordshire Bull Terrier is an older dog breed which has its origins in Great Britain. The SBT is comparatively rare in this country and is far smaller than are most of the bull-and-terrier type dogs in the US.

[ZULU]

If I had to bet my life on a dog, it would be a German Shepherd. A well bred well trained German Shepherd is the closest you will ever come to a human type brain in a totally loyal dog.

[BCR #226]

It’s both. Training and lack of proper training are a major part of it.

Breed specific laws are quite racist if you think about it. If someone is willing to segregate a single breed of dog for restrictive laws, they’re willing to do it for certain classes of people too.

[JLLH]

And they have clarified the problems with the stats on p. 3 of their document: lack of proven objectivity in identifying a dog’s breed - to the point, the public has been “trained” to believe that certain breeds are more aggressive, therefore the dog that bit Uncle Charley was surely a pit bull type; lack of media objectivity (so hard to imagine that conservatives would swallow the bilge pumped out by the media day and night, but I suspect more than one “conservative” on this board has liberal tendencies on this issue); lack of discernible way to accurately assess the breed of dog — you might want to pay particular attention to that one.

[JLLH]

HA! Merritt-Clifton?? Surprised anyone can post that as accurate....oh, wait, forgot where I am. Never mind. No, sadly, I’m not. Too many hate because the media says pit bulls kill...therefore, it must be true, right?? Right????

[JLLH]

ROFLOL — great picture, and makes the point beautifully! Is he really yours?

[Crusher138]

Had genetic testing done on my mutt to see what he was made of.

The tests were inconclusive! Seems he is soooo mixed up they couldn’t get a clear. dominant anything. He does seem to have a lot of “primitive dog” in him, which they say is close to a Dingo, which he does look like.

Don’t ask me how we got a rescue dog with Dingo in him in New Mexico.

[Scoutmaster]

On the first page of the CDC you posted, it specifically says "We collected data from The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and media accounts related to dog bite attacks and fatalities."

[Slings and Arrows]

Too many hate because the media says pit bulls kill...therefore, it must be true, right?? Right????

Of course. After all, they're so fair and accurate in reporting on conservatives.

[Slings and Arrows]

I used to live in rural NM - I have no difficulty believing that you could find a Heinz 5700 there.

[Slings and Arrows]

HSUS is an extremist animal rights group, and has nothing to do with local animal welfare organizations.