Pit bull coming at me, owner screaming "Vicious NO"

[H2Andy]

Ok, Oren. tell me why my dog herds, all day long.

you are a bad owner and have not provided him with sufficient stimulus

is your dog enrolled in a "Life after Herding" workshop? i didn't think so...

eyebrow

 

[Cacia]

well, Mr Popcorn munching smartypants, why do YOU think he herds?

 

[H2Andy]

cause he comes from a long line of dogs bred to herd things

 

[Cacia]

okay, so why is it so hard to believe a fighting breed will have a propensity to do that??

and in real life, do you buy the "Never leave your kids alone with the dog"?

 

[H2Andy]

b/c the dynamics are different

fighting dogs are not so much bred "to fight" as to be fearles, aggressive,
to tolerate pain, and to concentrate on task completion

then you have to TEACH them to fight

i do agree that such dogs will be much harder to handle, as they
will challenge you for alpha dog status, and will not respect you
if handled poorly

which is why i say that it's the owner that matters.

 

[Cacia]

okay, then we basically agree. because little children have not learned how to be alpha. See how easy this could be? Since I am a mommy, not a junk-yard owner of course I am going to have disdain for Pit Bulls. It is entirely appropriate and adaptive behavior on my part.

creatures with the fearless, insensate to pain, dominant characteristics you describe will be much more likely to fight and when they do have more of a devastating result. You are basically saying aggression has no positive correlation with fighting.

And, the owners DO matter! the problem is they probably suck.

 

[Dive-aholic]

b/c the dynamics are different

fighting dogs are not so much bred "to fight" as to be fearles, aggressive,
to tolerate pain, and to concentrate on task completion

then you have to TEACH them to fight

i do agree that such dogs will be much harder to handle, as they
will challenge you for alpha dog status, and will not respect you
if handled poorly

which is why i say that it's the owner that matters.

:thumbs_up

 

[HarryWhisman]

i say that it's the owner that matters.

Yea, the dog wouldn't make a very good client at the hearing huh?

 

[HarryWhisman]

Uh, I don't know Vicious. I know the Canadian guy says you're a-ok but you did after all tear the girls arm off. How did you get that bite on your nose by the way?

 

[KidK9]

Aqua, as I respect you as a fellow veterinarian, and obviously one with more experience than me, I have to ask just a few questions. Your wife is a resident in theriogenology at Guelph? Well then, I have to submit a statement that the typical resident would ask....I cant make a decision until I read the literature. So do you have anything off of PubMed that you would like to share concerning Pits vs. Shepherds or behavior of breeds, or anything really? I'll read it.

I am very opinionated about this subject and many others...and I'm not necessarily diasagreeing with you. My father is a general small animal practitioner and I sure like his advice a heck of a lot better than the resident response of "show me the literature". But when I think about it....show me some. And further...what are respected Board Certified clinicians saying about this subject?

There are always two ways to evaluate things....what we see in the "streets" of clinical responsibilities on a daily basis...and what does the current publicized literature state.

Any thoughts?