Rescue has woman apply to adopt her own dog

[pittsoccer33]

It's not a stigma when you're talking about a lab playing fetch or a saluki sprinting after rabbits. This is a breed of dog that was created by selecting for muscular jaws and an intolerance of other animals. They were used to attack bears, bulls, and each other.

Just like retrievers were selected to fetch things and hounds were seleted to track animals, the large terriers were selected to kill other large animals.

[mac5155]

And my golden retriever hates fetch. So riddle me that.

[dodint]

I don't think anyone disagrees with you.

I think the rest of just put more stake in the nurture side of things than strictly leaving it up to nature, like you seem to.

I have an American Pit Bull Terrier mixed with a Jack Russell Terrier. A fidgity hyperactive jerk of a dog that can support her entire body weight with her jaw and has a muscular chest that I'm jealous of. She has killed zero things that I don't want her to kill. She did bring me half a squirrel once, has caught some mice, and I watched her turn a rat snake into a belt one afternoon. But we don't treat her like garbage so she knows her limits. She even knows which plush toys are hers and not to screw with my wifes Boyd's Bear collection.

[pittsoccer33]

Well, I guess my ultimate point is that (as noted) any dog can bite. When I was a paperboy in high school I was bit by some kind of small terrier that had gotten lose from it's owner's grasp. I thought they were a nice family - didn't seem like the kind who would abuse an animal. Cut my calf up pretty good. Had it been pitbull type dog that situation would have been a lot worse.

So the question is why would you want an animal capable of that kind of harm unless you need it to guard something. I personally don't know anything about training dogs. I wouldn't have the first clue how to turn a puppy into a nice animal vs the nasty ones that end up on Cesar Milan's show. I'd be the clueless idiot owner.

[Hockeynut!]

So then people shouldn't want retrievers, shepherds, dobermans, St. Bernards, huskies, etc too then? After all, those dogs are certainly capable of inflicting severe harm. My dad works at an animal shelter and 2 years ago he was attacked by a Austalian Shepherd. It tore up his hand something terrible. By your reasoning, there's no reason for anyone to have a dog over ~25 pounds, right?

[pittsoccer33]

By your reasoning, there's no reason for anyone to have a dog over ~25 pounds, right?

I don't see a reason for most people, no. I didn't grow up around dogs and I don't understand the mentality. But its a free country.

[dodint]

Normally I wouldn't have gone for a PB type dog. In the military it makes things harder because they're not allowed on base or in base housing so we always had to live out in town. I turned down going to Japan because we couldn't take her. We responded to a kill shelter ad stating she was a JRT puppy. We showed up, realized she was a mix, and took our chances and put down our $10. Should've known by the paws she was going to be bigger than 15lbs, she's around 35lbs now.

I share that to point out how I ended up on this little PB crusade, because ours has been wonderful but the discrimination we've dealt with isn't. My wife is an active advocate for PBs now, and I support her in that. I only come out to talk about it in threads like this because I think people should make up their own minds about stuff without being badgered; however, misinformation bugs me more.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience, and can fully understand your apprehension. My dog had a broken foot when we got her and has a really irrational fear of bicycles, I think they're related. One of the reasons we don't let her off leash or in the open yard alone.

We didn't raise our dog perfect, she has an aversion to dogs of a certain size and I think if we had socialized her better as a pup she wouldn't be that way. You don't have to raise the perfect animal, recognizing its limitations and not getting them out of that comfort zone puts you in the top 90th percentile for any dog owner.

[mac5155]

By your reasoning, there's no reason for anyone to have a dog over ~25 pounds, right?

I don't see a reason for most people, no. I didn't grow up around dogs and I don't understand the mentality. But its a free country.

I feel that if you weren't attacked as a child that you probably wouldn't have this mentality. Dogs are awesome creatures and it's a shame that a few minutes have tarnished your entire thinking of them.

[Hockeynut!]

By your reasoning, there's no reason for anyone to have a dog over ~25 pounds, right?

I don't see a reason for most people, no. I didn't grow up around dogs and I don't understand the mentality. But its a free country.

Well, if you just don't like dogs, that's fine. Like you said, free country and all. But to be frank, your lack of experience with dogs had led to beliefs that don't have any basis in fact.

[pittsoccer33]

I feel that if you weren't attacked as a child that you probably wouldn't have this mentality. Dogs are awesome creatures and it's a shame that a few minutes have tarnished your entire thinking of them.

I was a bit older when that happened, I think maybe 17?

But my entire life my grandfather had dogs. Mutts, they all tended to look like Toto. I was always scared to death of them. I think it was the unpredictability - the barking and jumping and snapping towards me. They were always on an extremely long chain and lived in a dog house, so it was mostly impossible to get to the front door without being "confronted." Come to think of it I never thought of them as being pets, they were always an unpredictable wild animal to me.

I watched the Westminster Dog Show recently and really was amazed how none of those dogs jumped or barked. I could handle that. But I've never been around one.

[mac5155]

The dogs were probably barking and jumping because they wanted attention. I imagine in their situation they never had human interaction which is enough to make a dog go nuts and snap, literally.

[dodint]

It's heavier reading than you'd expect, but not difficult. I'd recommend Inside of a Dog by Alexandra Horowitz if you want to have an idea of how dogs perceive the world. It takes some of the romance out of why dogs "love you" but the information you pull from it is valuable enough to overcome that.

[columbia]

I have that book and definitely recommend it.

[meow]

I've also read that book. I tell all my friends that are dog owners to give it a read.

[tifosi77]

But my entire life my grandfather had dogs. Mutts, they all tended to look like Toto. I was always scared to death of them. I think it was the unpredictability - the barking and jumping and snapping towards me. They were always on an extremely long chain and lived in a dog house, so it was mostly impossible to get to the front door without being "confronted." Come to think of it I never thought of them as being pets, they were always an unpredictable wild animal to me.

You probably aren't going to want to hear this, but when I read that bit and then read this next bit......

I watched the Westminster Dog Show recently and really was amazed how none of those dogs jumped or barked. I could handle that. But I've never been around one.

.....Hate to say it, but there's a correlation to be made there.

Dogs are unique animals. Through thousands of years they have been bred for the specific purpose of companionship with humans. That is true of all breeds; companionship may be a secondary characteristic, but a guard dog that snaps at its owner is a useless guard dog. They are keenly aware of human emotions and psychology. Of course, they have no concept of 'psychology' or 'emotion' in the same way that the Stig has no concept of 'money'..... but can they sense when a human is in distress? Absolutely. Can they sense when a human is timid around them? For certain.

That's why it drives me bonkers when parents let their kids squeal and chirp around dogs; those animals are particularly sensitive to high-pitched sounds, and coupled with the animated body language of an excited kid... well, the dog thinks it's play time, and will be inclined to jump up on the kid, and that can be trouble.

So when you say that you were always ill at ease around your grandfather's dogs...... they could sense that. And that made them ill at ease with you. Those handlers at Westminster? Not ill at ease. That's how you can get a kinetic dog like a border collie to stack for two minutes of confirmation judging while a stranger pulls their lips open to look at their teeth and checks out their junk. Calmness is absolutely key when being around dogs.

[dodint]

...the Stig...

Niiiiiiiiiiiice.

[mac5155]

Yeah, dogs sensing emotion is very evident at my house. Like when I am playing flappy bird, the dog is on top of me cause he knows im frustrated. Or, when the pens are on, he's in the other room, petrified

[redwill]

I never know how to respond to people who claim to know the mind of a dog -- particularly a dog that they have never met.

I am constantly asked questions about dog behavior: "What do I do when my dog does such-and-such?" "Why is he doing this?" "Why is she doing that?"

My response is always the same: "I just save their lives. I don't know what makes them tick."

Every dog (and, I believe, every animal) has a unique personality.

Unique.

I don't claim any knowledge about what is going on in their brains. I suppose I get a little annoyed at people who do make such a claim. But I guess just as clinical psychologists know a bit more about human behavior, perhaps the Cesar Millans of the world know more about dog behavior.

But, if true, that means that us humans ain't much more than them dogs. Haha. That's where the fun begins.

[mac5155]

http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/pol ... ome/nfHLY/

File this in the "WTF dog related" file.

Channel 11’s Jodine Costanzo has confirmed with police that a missing dog belonging to terminally ill man was euthanized in his neighbor’s home.

Investigators said Thor, a Siberian husky that went missing on Thanksgiving Day, was euthanized by a licesenced veterinarian inside Gisele Paris’ home. Costanzo confirmed this information with police Thursday morning, but it was immediately clear when the dog was put to sleep.