Posted on 11/12/2009 8:43:54 AM PST by mnehring
Oh course animals have inbred behaviors, to assume I’m not aware of that is idiotic. I have over 25 years of experience with dogs including those “assault dogs” Rottweilers, German Shepherds and yes, the “Pit Bulls” everyone fears.
Dog behavior can be molded by consistent discipline and training. Something a great number of dog owners are incapable of giving which leads to these attacks. Bad owners allow these unfortunate situations to occur by either not training their animals at all or by refusing to keep them inside a good strong fence and letting them roam at will. In other words being criminally negligence.
If you are incapable of understanding owner responsibility, then any further discussion with you would be an exercise in futility.
Simplistic explanations do not a principle make.
Vets are at the forefront of defending pits.
Mine has adopted several.
I think a dog’s care and training, and what they are exposed to all come into play-my daughter has an AKC American Staffordshire that she bought as a puppy from a reputable breeder-he sounds like your worst nightmare when someone comes to the door, but is nice to friends, kids and visiting dogs. He also loves for my daughter’s three cats to lie on him in winter on the couch.
I’ve always been told that Huskys and Malemutes are cat killers, but I have had my Siberian Husky since she was 8 weeks old-she hates to walk on snow and ice, wants to stay inside when it rains, thinks she is a watch dog-she makes a pretty good one, too-and also allows my 3 cats to lie on her-including my 20 pound Maine Coon.
I love big protective dogs, and have had 2 AKC female German Shepherds that lived to a ripe old age and appointed themselves guards for my daughter when she was a child and teen. My late husband and I had an uncommonly fierce looking black Chow Chow that everyone was terrified of for all of his 17 years-with good reason-he really, really wasn’t going to let anyone in the house uninvited, but once you were, he was just looking for you to give him treats. All three of those “vicious” dogs as well as my daughter’s “Pit Bull” had extensive training by a firm but kind hand and obedience training-the importance of training and conditioning can’t be stressed enough, in my opinion-I don’t like little wimpy dogs, so it is a must for me.
Your dog and your pig are too cute-is that a Vietnamese Pot Bellied Pig-it looks sort of like the one my neighbor up the road has.
Wait - does this mean liberals are unreachable? Perhaps Savage is correct - liberalism IS a mental disorder.
Are you suggesting that pit bulls have been bred to ‘go off on their own’? That someone, far back in the mists of time, said “Gee, I would love a dog that will randomly and indiscriminatly attack people who may or may not be my friends and/or children!”, and that somehow this breed survived and thrived, with people breeding more and more mentally unstable animals into the line because they enjoyed watching their friends and family members get mauled?
No one wants a dog that attacks it’s own family. Not a dog fighter, not a drug dealer, not anyone. It’s not an ingrained trait, it’s a behavioral issue that has a cause, and can be fixed.
Is that his ‘forbidden love’ piggie?
Yep. She's a gem and a continual source of amusement and wonder.
I cannot speak for others, but I can certainly speak for myself. I am in complete agreement with the following:
If you don’t realize that canine behavior is inbred then we have nothing further to discuss. This principle applies not only to dog breeds but to horses, cattle, and swine.
One can supply all of the anecdotal evidence one would like. I have had my fill of the "but my pit is a wonderful dog!" I'm sure it is. My neighbor has a Staffordshire terrier that is about the sweetest dog I have ever met, regardless of breed. NONE of that changes the fact that particular breeds are bred for particular tasks. Why do they call Dobermans, Sheppards, Rottweilers, etc. members of the guard breed? They were bred for particular characteristics, that's why. Can a member of a guard breed turn out to be unsuitable for that task? Of course. But none of the pit apologists would suggest we all need to reconsider Yorkies when a scrap yard needs a defender.
Pits have been bred to fight. And if you don't realize that this particular behavior is inbred and has a strong likelihood of showing up in this type of dog then we have nothing further to discuss.
did anyone ping chet yet?!?
You seem to errantly presuppose that everyone views the function of a dog to be that of a family pet. This is not the case at all. Not in terms of what dogs have been bred to accomplish, and not in terms of what people want them to do. Dogs are able to act autonomously. If a particular breed has been designed to fight and it's target turns out to be a human why would anyone be surprised when a child is mauled or killed?
I like guard breeds, and in particular, Sheppards. I will not consider bringing one into my house until my kids are full grown. For now we are sticking w/ Westies. The two we have had have personalities as different as night and day, but they both act like terriers, including the traits predicted for Westies. Could either one bite? Surely. But I would rather treat a hand or ankle wound than call 911 to obtain an ambulance ride for hundreds of head/face stitches.
Nope; and my original point is correct. Not even man-hunting Mastiffs display the kind of random neurosis that people insist has been bred into the pit bull.
The point you are missing is: NO breeder (reputable or not), and most especially FIGHT breeders want their fighting dogs to be human aggressive! A human aggressive dog is a danger to its handler, its owner and everyone around. Fighting dogs are bred and trained to be DOG aggressive.
Back when dog fighting was considered acceptable by a larger segment of society, the handlers used to go into the pit to separate the dogs BEFORE they killed each other, because the animals were more valuable. Do you think a human-aggressive dog would have been pulled out of the fighting ring?
BTW, the whole “dog fight” thing is an afterthought: these dogs were originally bred and used for BULL and BEAR baiting, where a dog or two or three would be “pitted” against these unfortunate critters.
It’s the druggies and the gang bangers that have created the human aggressive behaviour in these and many other breeds.
I have a problem when I'm told to agree to
a term like strong likelihood or the discussion is over.
What the heck does strong likelihood mean?
It needs to be quantified.
Compared to what? Under what circumstances?
How many instances compared to the total population?
How do other breeds react in similar situations?
It is too nebulous a term with which to agree or disagree.
Irrelevant. Hunting humans and fighting are two different behaviors. You may as well say that my westies haven't displayed the desire to grab babies by the neck and shake them like rats - golly gee! Case closed!
I refuted your original point. Breeds of dogs follow what they were bred to do. I have a friend w/ a boarder collie. He has told me of it herding his children at the park. Whoa, he is SUCH a bad dog owner for letting that happen. The dog must have been abused. Proper training, love and discipline would stop that, I’m sure! /sarc.
Random neurosis? Please give me the post numbers here that cite things pit bulls haven't done. You seem to be reading a lot more into what you and others wrote than what is here. I have no interest in rolling in every thread where you have debated this topic.
You may imagine people are accusing pit bulls of grabbing an AK47 and gunning down the whole family in order to gnaw on (longelegant)legs and lap up blood, but I'm responding to what was written on this thread.
I have no idea what you're trying to communicate here. Moving on...
I refuted your original point. Breeds of dogs follow what they were bred to do. I have a friend w/ a boarder collie
Yes, BORDER collies do what they were bred to do, which is herd. Pit Bulls do what they were bred to do, which is fight dogs. My point, which you seem to be misunderstanding, is that no breed 'just snaps' because they've been bred for it. If a dog is vicious there is a reason behind it, and it's not some magical 'nutso' gene.
Random neurosis? Please give me the post numbers here that cite things pit bulls haven't done. You seem to be reading a lot more into what you and others wrote than what is here. I have no interest in rolling in every thread where you have debated this topic. You may imagine people are accusing pit bulls of grabbing an AK47 and gunning down the whole family in order to gnaw on (longelegant)legs and lap up blood, but I'm responding to what was written on this thread.
Interesting; The way you're flipping out suggests that you're very emotionally invested in this argument, but not enough to actually read the post (#8) that I was originally replying to.
LOL - It means you want to know how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. I'm not delving into the minutia of absurd rhetoric. It means whatever you want.
I have reviewed and posted the numbers in the past and I'm not going to go dig them up yet again to convince anyone who prefers not to be convinced. Go look them up for yourself. Once you have concluded that golden retrievers are oh so much greater a threat I will not bother to review statistics, either.
We acquired my first cat as a child when the vet had to get rid of him...he was perpetually tearing up her poor pit’s nose! Dog was a creampuff...that old tom had CATTITUDE!
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