Dog Lovers!!!

[HAWK]

I recently rescued a 10 month old Akita from a sweet old lady whose kids had given it to her  as an 8 week old puppy to keep her company. When I got him he was literally out of control, he had not had any training whatsoever and thought he was the boss. I have spent 10 month working with him and he is now the most fantastic dog I have ever known.

For those who don't know, Akita's are on the same list as Pit's and Rotts as far as the insurance companies are concerned. A couple weeks ago he got out an open gate and was picked up by a woman on her way to work and she called the village animal control. When I got there to pick him up they both told me what a wonderful dog he was. My trainer at TOPS Academy thinks he is just great. When I first started there he was evaluated by the second most senior trainer in the obedience program and when he jumped on her back and growled in her ear for a simple correction she ended the evaluation and told me that I had to see the top trainer, she could not handle him. Fast forward 6 months and one of my brothers neighbors has a 5 year old daughter that is terrified of ALL dogs, but she wants to know when my 90 pound Akita is coming back so she can play with him.

BSLs don't work, they punish a dog for who he was born with NO insight into who he IS. I have seen far more vicious Dalmatians than Pits or Akitas but they don't get the coverage. The next time Disney releases 101 Dalmatians go to the shelters about 6 months later and you will see many of these dogs whose only sin was to be adopted by ignorant people who didn't train them and just let them grow up wild.

I with Spyder, punish the lawmakers and the owners who think they just need to feed, water and ignore the dog. Is that how they raise their kids too?

whew!! I'm done now.

[Jeff]

The funny thing is that this is just a drop in the bucket when it comes to examples or ridiculous bullshit legislation that 99% of the time goes nowhere.  I wouldn't get too spun up about it.

[Gixxerblade]

That is true. I still think it is important to voice our opinion before the lawmakers get out of hand. Heck we the people are the lawmakers, they are the legislators.

[HAWK]

Jeff, this one is further along  than that....

Already there are MANY unfair BSL laws on the books in many jurisdictions and public outcry is helping to get them repealed.

Already 1/2 - 2/3 of the major insurance companies will not write homeowners coverage if you have a Pit Bull, Rottweiler, or Akita. If you have coverage and get any of these dogs they will force you to get rid of the dog or cancel your coverage.

Further more the media is out of control, 7 of 10  "Pit Bull" maulings are not committed by a Pit Bull but the media doesn't have their facts right and is not accountable

[dylanfan53]

I don't own or like pit bulls.  In fact I think they're ugly little things, but if you care at all about the issue you probably shouldn't ignore it and hope it goes away.  The bill appears to be alive and well in committee, as silly as it is.  Stupid things are afoot these days.

[Jeff]

I hear you Paul, I knew about the Insurance Companies doing crap like that.  I don't know what the answer is as it's a tough situation.  While I cannot subscribe to the theory that "a dog is only as mean as its owner", the drama of it gets blown way out of proportion because of media sensationalism (much like sportbikes)...

[HAWK]

Jeff, how "mean" a dog is is completely the result of how it is raised, handled and trained. A yappy obnoxious Chihuahua is just as mean as an obnoxious Pit Bull. The fact that the Chihuahua's bite doesn't do as much damage is irrelevant.  Would you propose letting an armed robber that uses a knife stay out of jail while one that uses a gun is put to death for the same crime? This has always been one of my biggest problems with dog owners, you see a disproportionate number of larger breed dogs in training, the owners of smaller dogs seem to feel "it's no big thing" about aggressive behavior since they think they can physically overwhelm the dog. If you watch shows like It's the dog or me, or The dog whisperer you see a disproportionate number of small breeds, when the owner finally realizes that he/she has a big problem on their hands.

This is a situation of the dogs being punished for the faults of their owners and it is absolutely out of control. Watch some  of the dog training programs on tv and you will see that these trainers are not training the "out of control" dogs, they are training the owners.

[Gixxerblade]

I was mauled by my pug once. She licked me to death. Closest I ever came to my life flashing before my eyes. :)

[Jeff]

Paul, I can't argue the topic with you much as it's one that's as bad as race/religion/politics.  Through hundreds (or sometimes more) years of breeding, certain breeds are more aggressive than others.  Breeding disposition is the same as breeding strength in a racing dog, etc.  There are dogs that are far more energetic than others, need to run, bark endlessly, or are completely docile & happy to sleep 20+ hrs per day.  While you can tone these traits down, I don't believe you can remove it from a breed.

I agree that an owner has an absolute influence over how a dog ultimately turns out, but all things equal, there are breeds that are more aggressive.

Any aggressive dog should be dealt with properly and handled appropriately.  For instance, my small French Bulldog does *NOT* socialize well with other dogs.  She just doesn't.  Consequently, I take extreme care in making sure she's kept separate from other dogs and that people approaching me with a dog know this. 

My opinion is that you can't blame it solely on either the breed or the owner.  They both share their part in it.

[HAWK]

Jeff, I agree that some breeds are more predisposed to traits than others. That said however it is a predisposition.

My Akita was dog aggressive as well when I got him however I can point to exactly why and am working hard on solving the issue. He, as I mentioned earlier, was given to an elderly woman by her children and he was not socialized at all as a puppy. The woman had had Akitas before but her husband had trained them. She is now a widow and was not prepared to handle this breed, once she realized what he was becoming she desperately sought a new home for him. One of the most important things you can do for ANY breed puppy is to properly socialize them with people and other dogs between the ages of 2 and 6 months. This is the time when they are best able to learn to behave appropriately with other dogs. As they become older if they are not socialized they will develop an apprehension about other dogs and it becomes more difficult to address the problem. I am doing this with my Akita right now, he is in a group Intermediate Obedience class with 5 other dogs. He has gone from becoming wild and aggressive at the sight of another dog (he would actually begin to mouth at  your arm to get you to stop holding him back) to behaving well off leash with 5 other dogs for an hour at a time. One of the exercises that we perform for 10 minutes every week is to heel the dogs off leash in a 15X15 foot area in and around each other teaching them to mind their own business while they are inches from each other. Another exercise is over under, one dog lies down and the other heels over his back then sits with his front legs on one side and his rear on the other side. Then one dog is placed in a stand stay while the other dog crawls under him. Ask Alexa how dog aggressive he was when she first met him and contrast that with him now having 5 dogs crawl under him.

Predispositions are just that. None of the above is meant to be critical in any way of anyones dog, my problems with my Akita were outside of my ability and I sought professional help with him. I only want to point out that behavior can be modified, for better or for worse by the dogs environment.

BTW Jeff, I don't want to consider this an argument, rather a discussion.

[Jeff]

BTW Jeff, I don't want to consider this an argument, rather a discussion.

Totally agree with everything you said, and your demonstration of being a responsible pet owner is commendable.  Too bad in so many cases, the effort you put forth seems to be the exception rather than the norm.

And glad to talk on the subject, it's just one of those that get VERY passionate for some people, so I didn't know where it would end up 

[HAWK]

I agree Jeff that not everyone puts in the effort they should. That is why I am so vocal on this subject, I don't think that Joe law maker should be able to take my dog because someone else mistreated theirs. All vicious dog incidents must be handled individually and when a vicious dog must be put down the authorities also need to go the extra mile and see that that person never owns a dog again. By the same token all dogs must be taken individually as well.