Very naive. A platitude, and like most platitudes, it sounds nice, but is false.
Some dogs, like some people, are just bad in spite of their "upbringing," aka, owners. My dad had many working ranch dogs, usually Australian Sheperds, that he trained. They were wonderful dogs, extaordinarily smart. I know one who literally saved a child's life by leaping in front of a striking rattle snake and taking the bite itself instead of letting the child get it. That was a good dog. All cattle ranchers had working dogs (still do, no doubt). They were not pets, they were workmates. In my dad's case, when he was manager of a few cattle ranches, their job was to help him flush "wild" cows out of the brush -- cows that were too smart and wily to get caught in a round-up. Many a year, the dogs made the difference between profit and loss, because a dozen head of cattle is a lot of money. Without the dogs to help flush and herd the wild cows, the ranch would have lost money.
It goes against city people's ideas of "pets," but the truth is my dad, and every other rancher he knew, occasionally had a dog that was "bad." The dog would get the same training from puppyhood, the same care, the same everything as any other cow dog, but the "bad" dog was one that was sneaky, chased chickens or calves or lambs and killed them, or who simply didn't follow the commands of the cowboy who "operated" the dog. In those cases, my dad, and pretty much every other cowboy he knew, had the sad but neccessary chore of taking the dog out in the country somewhere, shooting him, and burying him. It was a real loss not only in the dog, but in the time the guy had put into training him. So the idea that "there are no bad dogs, just bad owners," is a sentiment for little girls.
I 2nd that. Bravo. I'm sick of all the nice-nice treat-trainers spreading the nonsense - and the libel/slander - that all bad dogs are the result of "abuse", "neglect", or what they think is "bad" training. It is 1 of the biggest lies in the world. They try to tell us genetics has nothing to do with dogs' behavior - then they tell us only to buy from high-class breeders with high-class bloodlines.
That said, I don't believe the vast majority of any dogs are truly incorrigible (untrustworthy especially as far as evil temperament) - but there are some. Just as there are naturally bad humans (I definitely believe), there are just-plain bad dogs no matter how much patty-cake you play with them.
You say that some dogs are just born bad and it doesn't have anything to do with the owners. Ok, please show me an article of a family dog from a dog trainer's house or someone who knows a lot about dogs attacking them. And I am not talking about breeders. Anyone can put two dogs together and get puppies. It just doesn't happen, unless they're training the dog to be some sort of guarding/attack dog.
It's always lower middle class neighborhoods or worse, with maybe the very occasional bite coming from somewhere else. That tells me that people get dogs and don't bother training them the right way or socializing them. And with large dogs, they don't bother stopping behaviors that are warning signs. For instance, if the dog has taken over the bed or sofa, or if you can't get near it while it's eating, those are HUGE problems that people will normally just ignore, and then when their precious dog attacks someone they will say something like, "we trained him ourselves and he's always been such a sweetheart. I don't know what made him snap". BULL! You know it, you're just too embarrassed to come out and say "yeah we knew he wasn't right in the head, but we just figured it would go away on it's own", or "we trained him to sit and speak for treats, but never bothered introducing him to other animals, kids, etc. and we probably should have taken him off the chain once in a while, at least long enough to get neutered"
As for farm dogs and old timers, you can believe whatever you want, but a dog chasing chickens, especially one bred to herd, is not a bad dog. It's a dog that is being a dog, just not where you want him to be a dog. If a dog isn't retarded, was brought up right, and trained to believe the master is boss, and doesn't have some underlying illness, it will be a great pet, regardless of the breed. Not to mention you don't just let dogs go roaming around with nothing to do. That is exactly how you get a dog into destructive behaviors in the first place.
I cannot stand when people try to take the dog out of them. That is what they are. If they attack other animals, you can bet it's in their nature and there isn't anything wrong with that. If you get a breed of dog that is predisposed to have a high prey drive and yet you insist on having cats live with it, expect disappointment.
Anyway, it's a fact that people for the most part just don't know sh** about dogs. For someone who has worked with them for years and learns everything possible, I can see how a strong dog in the wrong hands can be a liability, and quite dangerous. Having said that, there is a great cure for that, and it doesn't involve banning everything that requires education to handle. It means people need to learn about all these things BEFORE getting that dog. I am appalled on a daily basis by the sheer ignorance shown by people who have pets. It's astounding that these animals are still in as good a shape as I see them in, because it certainly isn't because the owners are doing the right things.
Another thing. Back in the day, lots of things happened with people's pets that the modern world thinks cruel. Most of the things people did to their pets back in the day was downright wrong. Not that they intended to harm their pets, it's just that they didn't know any better. Now, we all should know that if the dog keeps having puppies and we don't know how, it's probably got something to do with the fact that she isn't SPAYED for christ's sake!! And oh yeah, the dog that chases his tail wouldn't have had a chance back then.
Whoops, dey's sumthin wrong wit'em. Shoot it!
This approach just doesn't cut it anymore. It's time to stop shooting things and start learning. Obviously if it was that simple we would have shot and ridden the world of all the bad stuff by now.