I’m sorry, but the vast majority of the posts I’ve seen from those who want the bully breeds wiped off the face of the earth are from those who have “read” that the bully breeds were dangerous. Of course that’s a slippery slope and as someone who owns a GS, you know that that breed was targeted as the “breed to hate” some years ago — along with Chows, Dobes, Rotties. Where does it end?? Apparently it doesn’t.
Where are all of the “GS gone bad” stories that made a regular appearance in the media way back when they were the “evil dog to hate”? Are we now to believe that the dogs went bad, and now have better “genes” somehow?? Sorry, I don’t buy that for a second. ID is a SERIOUS problem in the media “Beloved Family Pet Gone Cujo” stories. When tracked (by an organization whose name I forget at the moment) it was discovered that the majority were erroneous and/or that that “family dog” was actually a “resident dog” chained up in the backyard, unvetted, unneutered, unsocialized and half-starved. Yet claiming the family dog suddenly went berserk makes for a more exciting story even if it’s not accurate. When the media DOES retract their errors, they are buried in the back pages (although the original story was much closer to the front page). Coincidence? I don’t think so. Bully breeds and what are now viewed as “pit bulls” have long been a beloved family dog — to the point where they were often called “nanny dogs”. Are there some animals who don’t trust humans and never will? Yes, just as there are some humans who hate animals and always will.
My point is and remains that the vast majority of those with a completely irrational hatred of pit bulls have that view because they have little to NO experience with the bully breeds and believe what the media has been telling them. (When confronted about their “experience” their whole view is based on one bad experience or none at all and they almost always cite the many “stories” reported by the media.)
Neglected to add that dog on dog aggression does not necessarily translate to dog on human aggression, as I’m sure you know. Bully breeds were bred traditionally to fight other animals (bears, etc...) The aggression that some show against other dogs is too often seen as equivalent to aggression against human when it is not.
And I will stick by my word: where there is smoke, there is fire. There is always a grain of truth to the hype.
There was/is with GS, with Rotts and Dobes. Not as much as PBTs and their like, but there is.
I just described there IS aggression problem in GS - and it often depends on the bloodlines. There are many strains of GS; some tend to be worse than others. There; you heard it from a GS lover - no, I don’t want them to be cowards or nonchalant, but I don’t want GS aggressive (as opposed to BOLD and ASSERTIVE), either. As long as there is a big emphasis on “protection sports”, there will be at least some aggression problem in our breed (and conversely, fear-aggression with those who care not a whit about breeding strong nerves).
At least I can acknowledge that there is a problem within GS and you have to watch out for it. There was a reason for the overhype - because problems were greater than they should’ve been.
Do you honestly believe there is going to be a media sensation over Golden Retriever attacks? Or let’s say a less popular dog like Collies? No, because it won’t happen. Maybe in 100 years when possibly some have bred them bad for a long time. They’re innocuous dogs by and large and any attempt to turn them into evildoers would be laughed at.