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.
You can "believe" that two plus two is five, but I know it is four, just like it isn't a matter of "believing" what I want about farmers and old timers, it's what I know. There is a difference between knowing known, and something believed.
Ranch dogs are not pets. My dad's experience is proof that individual dogs have unique natures/personality quirks that are independent of how they are raised. In the case of a ranch dog, it's means dead livestock and financial loss on the ranch. In the case of a pit bull or Rottweiler, it has meant dead and maimed people. You think you know a lot more than you do. You are out of touch with reality and mother nature. More important, pit bull/Rottweiler/power dog owners like yourself who refuse to deal with reality are part of the problem, not the solution. I don't want to see any dog breed banned -- but in order to find a better solution, a good start would be for so-called "responsible" owners like yourself to start offering realistic alternative solutions. So far all you have to offer is the keening refrain of "it's not the dog, it's the owner!" and useless advice to "be prudent." Neither are helpful in the slightest. So if, God forbid, the ban finally IS banned, remember that you failed to do anything concrete to prevent it.
People with idealistic, dogs-are-people-too attitudes like yours are part of the problem, not the solution. I know this is a conservative forum, and it's so interesting how in certain areas, even conservatives fall prey to the "enlightened liberal" phenomenon, as you have with regard to dogs. Dogs are not people. They are dogs. On ranches, they are valuable tools, resources, workmates. THEY ARE NOT PETS. Indeed, to me, people like you are cruel when you own big dogs in the city where they can't run free and have a real job, but have to be stifled in backyards and restrained on leashes all the time and be treated like children instead of with respect and dignity. You think you're the one who's cornered the market on compassion, but you're mistaken. You're the one who lacks it in your selfish quest to have a "pet" no matter the sacrifices the poor damned dog has to make. I caught critters as a child and wanted to keep them as pets, but my mom always made me let them go because it was, in her words, "cruel" to imprison them. She was right.