This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In a message dated 3/7/2003 10:52:52 AM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> >Bad dogs MAIMING AND KILLING people are the result of bad > owners. > > No, this is not true, Actually, it is, and your post proves it :-) It is the owner's responsibility to select, raise, train, and make responsible decisions with their dogs and other animals. If an owner lives in a small apartment, works 12 hours a day, and adopts a herding dog, is it the dog's fault when someone is bitten? If an owner knows his dog is unpredictable, and he chooses to be careless, is it the dog's fault when someone is mauled? some dogs are bred to have low > > trigger points, and to attack to the death, it is programmed > into their head by years of selection by people who think it > is sporting to fight dogs. That's right. Fight DOGS. Not people. In my years at the shelter I handled hundreds, if not thousands, of fighting pit bulls. Very, very few were aggressive towards people. Those who did had clearly been starved and beaten to make them mean -- they weren't born that way. The rest were gentle and friendly as any other dog. > > Apparently my comment earlier, that the Rottweiler is bred > and used for fighting was completely ignored. Probably because it's false. Rottweilers are draft dogs, that's why they are built like draft horses. Because of that size, they make very poor fighters. There are two kinds of people (if you can call them that) who fight dogs for sport: the professional and the street thug. The professional breeds and trains his dogs to fight. They are always pit bulls, and they are worth many thousand$ to the owner. The average thug exchanges words with some other guy in the street, and they agree to settle their dispute through a dog fight. These dogs are of random breeds. That may be where you have heard of Rotties fighting. > > Sure, any dog can bite, but cocker spanials (or retrievers, > or a vast array of sporting/companion dogs) are -not- the > ones making the news for shredding toddlers. Sadly, we just lost a good dog walking client this week. Their young Springer Spaniel, who was getting more and more unpredictable, attacked my employee in the presence of the owner. Fortunately no one was injured, and we all agreed the best course was to discontinue the walks! It happens. As you said, it just doesn't make the news. > > Many people fall in love with various types of working > breeds, but fail to learn and understand what the dog was > bred to do. > I couldn't agree more. People love the Aussie's "pretty colors," the presence of the Dobie, the cute looks of the Jack Russell Terrier... Give me a mutt any day ;-) An interesting note. When I was in Norway, I noticed that Rottweilers were extremely popular as pets. They were everywhere, and they were friendly! Dogs tied up outside the store could be approached and stroked by strangers! I also noticed that they had tails -- docking is illegal in Norway. Made me think about so many breeds with a reputation for "turning" or becoming psychotic: the Rottweiler, Spaniels, Dobie, Boxer... all have docked tails. It would not surprise me to learn that this traumatic mutilation early in life causes problems later. Brigid Wasson SF Bay Area, CA <A HREF="http://www.ourfjords.freeservers.com/fjord1/Our_Fjordsx.html";>Our Fjords</A> <A HREF="http://www.ourfjords.freeservers.com/fw/Fjordings_Wesx.html";>Fjordings West</A>
