[Doc91678]

There are no bad dogs. Only bad owners.

[Lekker 1]

There are no bad dogs. Only bad owners.

There are no bad alligators either, but I wouldn't want one living in my neighborhood.

[randog]

There are no bad dogs. Only bad owners.

So....we should euthanize the owners instead of the dogs? Or both?

[zipper]

"Pit bulls led all breeds for fatal attacks between 1979 and 1998, with at least one pit bull involved in 66 mauling deaths, the study said. Rottweilers were blamed for 37 -- most of those in the 1990s -- followed by German shepherds with 17 and huskies with 15."

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/09/15/deadly.dogs.ap/index.html

[RushCrush]

There are no bad dogs. Only bad owners.

Bears repeating!

[Finny]

My dad, like many Western cowboys and ranch managers, owned and trained working cowdogs, mostly Australian Shepherds. He chose the dogs carefully as pups, raised them and trained them himself, and most of the time the dogs were great. In his case, they helped him flush "wild" cattle out of the brush and hills, cows that were too smart and wily to get caught in the round-up.

Dad often said that the dogs were what made the difference between profit and loss on the ranch because of the cattle they helped him bring to market that, without the dogs' invaluable assistance, would have gone unfound and unsold. These dogs were incredibly smart, well-trained, good companions, faithful workmates, respected, well-regarded, and treasured. They had dignity and were treated very well and with dignity. The bond between working dog and owner was special and long-lived indeed.

Every once in awhile, though, a dog raised and trained the same way as all the others, would be incorrigible and deliberately disobedient. He'd be sneaky, chase and kill chickens and calfs, and not follow the cowboy's commands. Such dogs were a liability to the ranch and the cowboy. On those occasions, the cowboy would grimly, quietly, sadly take the dog to an out-of-the-way place, shoot it, and bury it. It was the right thing to do. This comes as a shock to people who think of dogs as pets, and especially to those who think of dogs as "like people." They are not, never have been, and never will be, and societies that pretend otherwise end up with "pets" that maim and kill people.

There are no bad dogs. Only bad owners.

Say it all you want, but it's a dangerous platitude, and like most platitudes, sounds nice but is false. It's a sentiment for little girls.

[ru4liberty]

I'm sure you'll find much comfort in that tiresome platitude if your child/loved one/beloved pet is ever mauled by one. I've known a few "good owners" whose pit created real problems for them. One family's 2 pits got out of their yard, went down the block, broke into neighbor's fence and killed their dog. Before that, they were inclined to use the same comeback you used. After that, they put down their dogs with the understanding that it could have been someone's child that was killed, in which case, they wouldn't have been able to live with themselves.

Perhaps all pit bull owners should be required to spend 6 months in training with Cesar the Dog Whisperer before being allowed to own one. He's the ONLY one I'd trust to train a pit or rottweiler.

[doberville]

"There are no bad dogs. Only bad owners."

I thought that too. Then we received a 5 mo. old Dobie pup who was fully aggressive. . .AT 5 MONTHS.

That dog went back to the breeder toute suite for a more docile animal.

At that point I knew that some dogs are born excessively alert and overly protective.

We later learned that the dog had been bought by a retired Federal judge. He had renamed the animal 'Deacon' because "people got religion when they met him'.