...Make Boots!...;0)
Posted on 09/02/2008 1:39:14 PM PDT by Shermy
There’s no such thing as an “aggressive” breed. There are dogs that are bigger or stronger and thus can do more damage in a fight, which is why thugs pick them to abuse rather than poodles. But that’s no different than saying an NFL player on a rampage is more dangerous than a ballerina.
The closest thing to a more “aggressive” breed is one that’s more territorial about “his” humans. That is to say, when he sees some thug or wild animal coming he’s going to from licking the ice cream off your toddler’s face to putting himself between the kid and the threat and going into protect mode.
Thugs MAKE their dogs “aggressive” with how they abuse them...chaining them up in the yard so instead of having a family to socialize with and protect (they are pack animals) they spend their days alone, aren’t used to human contact, and consider everyone a stranger...not feeding them on time or well so they’re malnourished and constantly hunting instead of knowing when dinner comes...not walking or playing with them so instead of getting their energy out via exercise they get restless and destructive...never training them to answer commands, not to jump on people, and not to be “mouthy” (they don’t know that the playful biting they do with other dogs isn’t ok for people unless you teach them that)...and of course yelling at them, yanking them around on a chain, and hitting/kicking them.
Sorry for the rant, but don’t blame the dogs for how their gangbanger owners abuse them...dogs don’t just attack for no reason.
Why are black labs so often used as rescue and seeing-eye dogs, then? Have you ever been "herded" by a border collie when out for a jog?
The pit bull was bred to fight. And a very efficient way to breed them, too, for that purpose, is to allow two animals to fight to the death. Then, you know you have the most aggressive ones to further the breed.
Dogs are not blank slates at birth.
I first saw it on You Tube a while back, but they recently made a National Geographic special about it. Don’t miss the ending. It’s amazing stuff taken by a tourist:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM
It's a freaking snake. This bunch gives Biden and Lindsay Lohan a run for the money.
So true! My own lap-python has a mind of its own...........And NO, it was not involved in the above story!
Does anyone know a reason to believe that a reptile can become a “pet?” How does a pet snake demonstrate intimate “connections” to its “owner,” if it can in any meaningful sense be “owned.” I suppose that so long as it hasn’t attacked its owner?/caretaker it may be considered a pet, by some people. But an animal that can swallow me, or the little folks in my household, would never be permitted to live unconfined in my home.
You can breed a dog’s nose or his eyes or his legs or his heart, which is what makes some dogs better at tracking or running all day. But dogs don’t reason...a dog’s “personality” consists much more of reacting to its environment. That’s why there are plenty of pitbulls that spend their days going belly-up for affection, and plenty of vicious little rat terriers attacking every ankle in sight.
Dogs that are trained and exercised and socialized with don’t just snap and attack (though as I said, a breed like a pitbull WILL respond to a threat to “his” humans while the chihuahua runs behind the couch)...when you abuse the crap out of two dogs and sic them on one another, all you did was turn those individual dogs vicious and then pick the bigger/stronger/faster frame to breed. But as someone with plenty of dog experience, I can tell you the two traits aren’t the same.
Thugs picking more efficient models to turn into killing machines doesn’t make them killing machines to begin with...if aggressiveness were hard-coded then the number of friendly examples says the variance is very high, so do gangbangers just luck out and happen to end up with the meanest ones? No, they make them vicious.
I've never seen a pit bull as a rescuer. Nor as a seeing-eye dog. Have you?
The black lab's temperament comes from being a "gun dog"--a companion for hunters. Retrievers and spaniels are also gun dogs. I don't want to own any other kind, they're my favorites. It is a rare golden retriever that you can abuse into viciousness. But you can break their hearts.
I personally detest any kind of terrier. They're dogs bred to find rats and kill them. And pit bulls are terriers.
A dog's nature is not from nurture. You can improve a breed of dog with good handling, or you can make him worse with poor handling. But you can't train a pit bull to be a seeing-eye dog. He is far too unreliable.
“I’ve never seen a pit bull as a rescuer.”
Weela, Ken-L Ration’s Dog Hero of the Year (1993)
http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/articles/weela.html
Check this out, too:
1999 Hero Animal of the Year:
http://www.gvma.net/96ea8117-46b6-4fd1-a165-ec510c0a78c0.aspx
Dixie Butler, a brave and loving pit bull, proved that not all dogs in a breed are the same. One day Dixie’s owner Valerie Butler of Fayetteville was outside when a water moccasin started moving toward her. While Valerie was getting something to keep the snake away, the snake decided to attack Valerie’s two young children. Dixie had a different idea, placing herself between the snake and the children. Suffering multiple bites to her face and eyes, Dixie protected “her” children until Valerie could kill the snake. Fully recovered from the numerous bites, Dixie appeared happy to receive the Hero Animal of the Year award.
Nominated by Dr. Francoise Tyler of the Huntington Creek Animal Hospital, Fayetteville, GA.
There’s a bunch, but here’s one more:
http://www.dogwatch.net/myths/dog_heros.html
Autumn Ingram, a young girl, was dragged from her house by the family’s 3 year old APBT, Marley. The girl had gone into the house when she saw the fire, and the mother (who esacped with Autum’s siblings through a seldom-used back door) saw the dog grab Autumn’s coat and forcibly drag the girl out of the house. The house was completely destroyed in the blaze, but the family survived.
30 years ago I found one that had been killed w/a shotgun in a Miami swamp. At least back then people had the decency to shoot the things instead of letting them go.
...Make Boots!...;0)
That way, it could well be, depending upon the family member or snake involved, a win-win situation.
I make it a point not to get pets that can kill me.
WOW, now thats some stories!
she was all wrapped up in her pet.
Just out of curiosity... why are you replying to a story about “Las Vegas girl recovering from python attack” with an immediate defense about dogs?
Did I miss something here or do you always chime in to talk about dogs?
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