The Dog Lover Thread

[Jeff Lebowski]

The dog "will maul, slash and kill things to death!" That was the reaction that I got when I tried to get a pit bull pup. I have always wanted one. I love the breed. Very loyal and loving animals, when raised correctly.

Did you fall in love with the breed when you were in Motown?

Famous last words.

[LA Ute]

We spent a fair amount of time looking at the mother (very nice temperament), and the litter as a whole. He was the mellow one.

While I don't think anyone should get a dog like this (PB, Rottie, Doberman, German Shepherd, Akita, etc.) cavalierly, if raised properly you can obviously modulate for good behavior. And he's not a full PB, which is supposed to help avoid undue aggressiveness. At least these are the things I tell myself.

I'm no expert but I hear the breed has been compromised by unscrupulous breeders who try to create fighting dogs. Supposedly half the pit bulls in the USA are from the "wrecked" group. Sounds like you've tried to be careful. Good luck.

[Babs]

Famous last words.

Dogs don't hurt people. Mishandled dogs hurt people.

[Commando]

Pit Bulls need lots of love and obviously zero abuse to turn out nice, but I won't sit idly by while Rottweilers get a bad rap. Rotties are probably the scariest looking breed, and can be trained as guard dogs, but they are an awesome, naturally friendly, and playful breed.

[TripletDaddy]

Pit Bulls need lots of love and obviously zero abuse to turn out nice, but I won't sit idly by while Rottweilers get a bad rap. Rotties are probably the scariest looking breed, and can be trained as guard dogs, but they are an awesome, naturally friendly, and playful breed.

Bad rap? naturally friendly? Playful? Lol.

Knock it off.

[wuapinmon]

Dogs don't hurt people. Mishandled dogs hurt people.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/17...in-dog-attack/

http://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/woman-cri...undre-1.920318

http://magicvalley.com/news/local/he...5da3f1133.html

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/ne...166624456.html

http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/...es-dono/nRDfq/

http://www.wate.com/story/19309276/k...rom-dog-attack

http://naugatuck.patch.com/articles/...ighboring-town

http://www.kingmandailyminer.com/mai...rticleID=52219

This is just a quick search for attacks from the last seven days.

[ERCougar]

We spent a fair amount of time looking at the mother (very nice temperament), and the litter as a whole. He was the mellow one.

While I don't think anyone should get a dog like this (PB, Rottie, Doberman, German Shepherd, Akita, etc.) cavalierly, if raised properly you can obviously modulate for good behavior. And he's not a full PB, which is supposed to help avoid undue aggressiveness. At least these are the things I tell myself.

That's pretty much what the last dad was telling me as I was sewing his daughter's ear back on.

[TripletDaddy]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/17...in-dog-attack/

http://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/woman-cri...undre-1.920318

http://magicvalley.com/news/local/he...5da3f1133.html

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/ne...166624456.html

http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/...es-dono/nRDfq/

http://www.wate.com/story/19309276/k...rom-dog-attack

http://naugatuck.patch.com/articles/...ighboring-town

http://www.kingmandailyminer.com/mai...rticleID=52219

This is just a quick search for attacks from the last seven days.

babes whatshappeningman

[Commando]

Bad rap? naturally friendly? Playful? Lol.

Knock it off.

The Rottie is powerful, calm, trainable, courageous, and devoted to their owner and family. Loyal and protective, they will defend their family fiercely if needed, seemingly immune to pain. Serious, even-tempered, brave, confident and courageous, this breed needs an owner who is strong minded, calm, but firm and able to handle their massive size. A docile, natural guard dog with a laid-back, reliable temperament. They are highly intelligent and have proven their worth beyond question in police, military, and customs work over many centuries and can be trained for competitive obedience. Because of their size, training should begin when the dog is a small puppy. This breed needs a lot of leadership and socialization. They will not be happy confined to a kennel or backyard. The objective in training this dog is to achieve a pack leader status. It is a natural instinct for a dog to have an order in their pack. When we humans live with dogs, we become their pack. The entire pack cooperates under a single leader. Lines are clearly defined and rules are set. You and all other humans MUST be higher up in the order than the dog. That is the only way your relationship can be a success. When the Rottweiler receives consistent leadership and is trained, it will be a good playmate for the children. It will accept cats, other dogs, and other household pets, as long as the dog has been socialized well and have owners who assert their authority over the dog. Friends and relatives of the family are normally enthusiastically welcomed. Strangers to whom the dog senses bad intentions from can get no further than the sidewalk.

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/rottweiler.htm

http://www.akc.org/breeds/rottweiler/

In high school one of my good friends had a huge rottie named Buddha. I used to wreck the house chasing that thing, getting chased, and wrestling it up and down the halls. It was a scary looking dog, but extremely smart and playful, and it knew when it was time to chill out and when it was ok to mess around. It never clamped onto me or bit anybody, and its 'attacks' when we were playing amounted to "gumming" me- the dog was definitely smart.

[Babs]

babes whatshappeningman

lol. right.

[TripletDaddy]

One of the first stories that popped up on google about the danger of Rottweilers. A postman almost had his arm ripped off....while delivering Xmas cards.

So much for letting the dog decide the intentions of strangers and visitors.

I don't think I want my children playing with such a lovable, docile breed.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...uard-dogs.html

[Commando]

One of the first stories that popped up on google about the danger of Rottweilers. A postman almost had his arm ripped off....while delivering Xmas cards.

So much for letting the dog decide the intentions of strangers and visitors.

I don't think I want my children playing with such a lovable, docile breed.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...uard-dogs.html

[Commando]

Back on topic, that's a good lookin pup! Take care of that little guy.

[LA Ute]

How to temperament test a dog

Mainly useful for shelter/rescue dogs, not puppies.

Rottweilers and Dobermans are guard dogs and they do what such dogs do. I'd never get one for a family dog, especially to be around kids. Some insurance companies won't write homeowner's insurance for you if you have one. Still, they are purebreds and you can tell a great deal about the behavioral tendencies of a puppy just by knowing its mother and getting one from a responsible breeder with a good reputation. Pit bulls are much less predictable and many come from breeding lines that have tried to raise fighters.

Dogs do what their breeding tells them to do and you really can't train it out of them. Our Australian Shepherd, for example, is a herding/working breed and she is the sweetest dog I've been around. All she wants to do is be with us and please us. She's very smart too (herding dogs always are). But we don't let her out in our gated front yard early in the morning or when we are not home, because she barks like crazy (and sounds very vicious) when anyone walks by, especially someone with a dog. That's because she's bred to sound the alarm when possible intruders approach the property - a trait you want in a sheep dog and you are worried about predators. She also will not leave our property because she's bred to stay home and protect the inhabitants. She won't hurt anyone but her barking makes passers-by uncomfortable (and it's loud).

When she was 8 months old my wife took her, just for kicks, to a sheep ranching area in Palmdale that allows herding dog owners to work out their dogs. My wife let our dog into the fenced-off sheepfold, which had about 10 sheep milling about in it. Our puppy had never seen a sheep in her life. She immediately set about herding the sheep into a corner of the fold, running back and forth in front of them until she had them where she wanted them. They she lay down and watched them. If they started to stray out of the corner, she'd herd them back into it. It was amazing. (The dog also tries - very gently - to herd groups of toddlers when they are in our yard. That's actually funny to watch because the kids don't cooperate and the dog just gives up after we tell her to.)

Message: Choose a breed carefully. If it has "fighting genes" you are not going to be able to train those out of it. If you rescue a mixed-breed dog or can't meet a dog's mother, do a careful temperament test before you get too attached to it.

[myboynoah]

The dog is a total wimp. She's a rescue long-haired dachshund. Dachshunds were bred as badger dogs to go into holes, grab the badger, and then be pulled out by the tale while holding on to the badger. Now that's a kick-ass dog, but this one seems to have none of that kick-assedness.

I've started buying this dog food. That wolf on the cover makes me feel better.