[passionfruit]

I wish folks wouldn't assume that an aggressive dog was made that way by people. We once had English Mastiffs. I loved those dogs, and they were gentle giants until they had puppies. Then they were aggressive and frightening.

We had never hit or abused them in any way. We spent a great deal of time and money having them (and us) trained for obedience. Once they became aggressive, we had them put down, because they became a mauling waiting to happen.

Dogs are capable of jealousy. If my husband hugs me in front of our current dog, a Belgian Malinois, she tries to wriggle in between us. My guess is that the dog in the story saw the child getting affection and got rid of the competition.

[Judith Anne]

I wish folks wouldn't assume that an aggressive dog was made that way by people. We once had English Mastiffs. I loved those dogs, and they were gentle giants until they had puppies. Then they were aggressive and frightening.

I agree with you. Our breeder put it in the contract that our dog would be neutered before 7 months old, and he was. She said that the parent dogs' protective instincts were unbelievable, and that it is bred in the bone, no need for any training whatsoever.

And Mastiffs are SMART! Very good at sizing up people and their intentions. We love our mastiff puppy--he is the best, kindest, gentlest dog we have ever had, but we have no intention of being breeders. That would be like taking our lives in our hands, no matter how much they love us. Click on my name to see his pic on my profile page.