What Happened to America's Dog?

[seeker_two]

I have a Pit Bull that wandered into our yard and "adopted" us. Tried to give it to a good home, but he ran away from them & came back to us. We had to keep him then. In demeanor, he makes the Cowardly Lion look like a WWE wrestler. Once, a teenager walking by our house asked if he bites. I replied, "No, but I do."

He actually doesn't have to be mean. While any intruder is focused on Bulldog, Dingo (yes, an actual dingo) sneaks up behind them....I don't get many uninvited guests....

[gunsmith]

Insanity is the norm for chihuahuas. (Just be glad they don't grow to 100 lbs!)

Agirl I used to know was babysitting a flock of chihuahuas, she always left her door unlocked and I had personal belongings inside I needed - I was immediately surrounded by the chi dogs, & I said "awwww look at the little guard doggies, I am skeeeeeered" that really angered one of them who launched herself on my calf.....it hurt for two weeks!

[Tallpine]

Our Chewawa is half Basenji, we think   

She yodels 

Apparently, some SOB dumped a litter up here in the hills in the winter, and she was the only one that survived   

[Boomhauer]

Amen.

Despite cajoling her to get a mixed breed rescue of some sort, my mother went and spent X thousands on a Westie instead. And "little *expletive deleted*" describes that dog to a T.

It's run away a few times, and barks at everything with a piercing ear-shattering yap.

Of course it's "just loveable" enough that my parents will tolerate the dog for the next 15-odd years it lives. 

I don't understand at all why people will piss away thousands on ugly little yapping shithead dogs as status symbols. I just don't get it. They arent cute and are always annoying as hell.

[BlueStarLizzard]

I don't understand at all why people will piss away thousands on ugly little yapping shithead dogs as status symbols. I just don't get it. They arent cute and are always annoying as hell.

I like westies and the like. Terriors are awesome. The issue is they're really not meant to live in the house as just pets. Like BC's they need more in their lives. Lot's of crazy westies in the world, but whem you come across the good ones, you find out why they're so popular.

I used to loath a lot of toy breeds, particularly Pomarianians. Now, I would own a Pom in a heartbeat. They have really dynamic and clownish personalitys in a very compact form. A good Pom is hard to hate.

But bad ones, man, bad ones can drive you up a wall.

The one breed, though, that I hated before and still hate now are Cocker Spanials. Mind you, I hate the American Cockers, not the English ones, and yes, there is a diffrence. The English Cockers are still functional feild dogs and are still used for hunting, they are the orginals and they still can do what they were orginally breed to do.
The American Cockers where basterized into fashionable pets. They got "pretty" (although I think they are actually the uglier of the two breeds) with longer thicker coats, and they got dumb. Really, really dumb.
I love bird dogs, but they don't generally have a lot of smarts to begin with. Feathery tails and feathery brains. The ditzes of the dog world. The fact that someone took a bird dog and actually, intentionally bred it to be dumber then the orginal is total WTF 
I hate the stupid, hyper, little bastards. The lot of them are dumber then a box of rocks and make Pearl look like a canine Albert Enstien.

[Balog]

IMO Combination of factors:

1. Some breeds of dogs really are, on average, less likely to put up with crap from other creatures (Other dogs, people, whatever.)  obviously individual dogs vary, but breed traits do exist.

2. Bigger dogs do more damage when they bite.  IIRC the CDC lists Jack Russel Terriers and Yorkies as the breeds with the most reported bites, but they do very little damage when they do.

3. Large have become more popular amongs American subcultures that don't seem to understand, or care, about living with large preditors that don't neccesarily think like people.*

Pitts are at the epicenter of all three of these factors.

*No really.  I have it out with stupid dog owners all the time.  see those big pointy teeth your dogs have?  That means they eat little creatures.  It's neither cute, nor acceptable, for your dog to be aggressive or dominant.  Control the damn thing!

No one disputes dog breeds have in born tendencies to certain behaviours. Some breeds cough cough Fila Brasileros cough cough have human aggression as part of their breed standard. But it is absolutely incorrect to say that pit bulls display human aggression as an in born trait, aside from the ones meth heads and gang bangers breed. They take a dog, brutalize it, and selectively breed for aggression. Any breed that was treated this way would be dangerous.

Back in the day when dog fighting was a more formalized sport ala horse racing, any hint of human aggression was immediately culled. The dog's owners would go into the pit and grab the dogs mid fight, usually several times in one match. Obviously they didn't want a dog that would bite humans, even under those conditions, as the breeders are the ones who would get bitten.

Now dog fighting is largely the realm of the aforementioned trailer trash and gang bangers and the old formal rules are not followed.

[dogmush]

No one disputes dog breeds have in born tendencies to certain behaviours. Some breeds cough cough Fila Brasileros cough cough have human aggression as part of their breed standard. But it is absolutely incorrect to say that pit bulls display human aggression as an in born trait, aside from the ones meth heads and gang bangers breed. They take a dog, brutalize it, and selectively breed for aggression. Any breed that was treated this way would be

I don't recall saying that. 

Pit's, like Liz said, are more likely as a breed to respond to stress with aggression. That's the breed trait.

[Ron]

Let me repeat what Balog said as it is the truth.

Historically, Pits that showed any hint of human aggression were not bred and were not fought. There was a decades long process of breeding aggression towards humans out of the breed.

There were three folks in the ring with the dogs generally, can't have a man biter in the ring.

The thugs and idiots have just about ruined the breed though. Indiscriminate or wrong headed breeding has taken its toll.

If you could find a pure fighting line going back to the "heyday" of dogfighting and get a puppy you would get a lovable little dog with little to no human aggression but plenty of innate potential aggression toward other dogs.

For the record I am opposed to all dog fighting, even including dog fights over bones and toys that take place in my home.

[BlueStarLizzard]

Let me repeat what Balog said as it is the truth.

Historically, Pits that showed any hint of human aggression were not bred and were not fought. There was a decades long process of breeding aggression towards humans out of the breed.

There were three folks in the ring with the dogs generally, can't have a man biter in the ring.

The thugs and idiots have just about ruined the breed though. Indiscriminate or wrong headed breeding has taken its toll.

If you could find a pure fighting line going back to the "heyday" of dogfighting and get a puppy you would get a lovable little dog with little to no human aggression but plenty of innate potential aggression toward other dogs.

For the record I am opposed to all dog fighting, even including dog fights over bones and toys that take place in my home.

Any dog can be aggressive to humans with the right stimuli.

Breeds with strong traits of dominace and aggression are like having a hair trigger.
I know of several breeds that are traditionally much more dangorous to people then other dogs. The Black Russian Terrior, for example, usually doesn't give a crap about other dogs in it's vicinity, but will take an unsuspecting face off any person that gets close and acts stupid.

However, just because a BRT isn't going to go after dogs willienillie doesn't mean I'd let one of my dogs run up to one and get pushy. The BRT is just not a pushover type breed, and with their history of being a dominate and aggressive animal, their responce to ANY perseaved challenge is generally going to involve teeth.

Any breed with a fighting/gaurding background (and this includes Anatolians) have traits for confidance and to be dominate. Combine that with aggression and a wrong move is going to end up with someone bloody, and usually it's not the dog.

Yes, dogs from such lines are going to display LESS aggression towards humans, in general. But it's a mistake to think they would never bite someone, and it's foolish to think that the can be completly trustworthy around every person they encounter.

Stress, challenges, perseved threats and fear can make any dog dangourous and breeds with traits of dominace and agression are more likely to become so.

[Tallpine]

A couple of Great Pyrenes nearly killed a friend of ours a couple years ago 

[Jamisjockey]

<----- bit on ass by Rhodesian ridgeback.

[Scout26]

<----- bit on ass by Rhodesian ridgeback.

What was her name?


 

[Ron]

Just because they are wearing high heels doesn't mean they're friendly!

[Balog]

Taking a statement that applies to all dog breeds and trying to use it as evidence of the danger of pit bulls is silly and disingenuous.

[BlueStarLizzard]

Taking a statement that applies to all dog breeds and trying to use it as evidence of the danger of pit bulls is silly and disingenuous.

   Stress, challenges, perseved threats and fear can make any dog dangourous and breeds with traits of dominace and agression are more likely to become so 

[sarcasam] but of course you would know more about this then me, what with your VAST experiance working with companion animals [/sarcasm]
 

[seeker_two]

What was her name?


 

Don't ask.....don't tell.....

[Jamisjockey]

What was her name?


 

Daisy. As in pushing up daisies.

[Tallpine]

Georgia woman who rescued animals killed in dog attack


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/17/georgia-woman-who-rescued-animals-killed-in-dog-attack/?test=latestnews

[MechAg94]

Looking at the thread title, is the Pit Bull "America's Dog" or just terrier breeds? 

I grew up with mostly mutts anyway so the idea of some predominant breed being "American" seems a strange idea.

[MechAg94]

Georgia woman who rescued animals killed in dog attack


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/17/georgia-woman-who-rescued-animals-killed-in-dog-attack/?test=latestnews

Sad to see something like that.  Not too common, but I guess you always have to be real weary of dogs you don't know. 

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

Even dogs you know. A pack ain't pretty. And if you stop being alpha to one you are in trouble. If. One dog hits you the others may well follow.

[BlueStarLizzard]

Georgia woman who rescued animals killed in dog attack


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/17/georgia-woman-who-rescued-animals-killed-in-dog-attack/?test=latestnews

Sad to see something like that.  Not too common, but I guess you always have to be real weary of dogs you don't know. 

There are not many people in this world I would think capable of taking a Presa as a houseguest. Especially not with a pit, a boxer mix and another Presa already in the house.
Ten bucks one dog got pissy with one of the other dogs, war broke out and girl tried to step in to break it up.
People who devote themselves to rescue work are either really smart and dedicated or real idiots. You don't really see much middle ground. Sounds like somebody got in way over her head.
When dogs like that get to fighting, getting them to stop is excedingly dangorous and extreamly difficult. I absolutly loath when the Anatolians get into it. The only thing worse then having dogs die, is having a major dog fight that has to be broken up.
Two Presa's? Yeah, I don't think I would even try to break it up. 

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

co2 fire extinguisher or stinger rounds

[BlueStarLizzard]

co2 fire extinguisher or stinger rounds

you'd have to incapacitate both dogs simutaniously to save both.

The CO2 is a good idea though. Maybe I'll ask katie. A fire extinguisher in the feed room might have broken up the Dinah/Queenie battle without as much damage.

Hmmmm... Now that I think of it...

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

i had a husky lab mix female that was very dog aggresive. she tied up with a rhodesian ridgeback. the stinger rounds made em both haul butt. i was too close broke their skin