The Dog Lover Thread

[Donuthole]

I think I have the distinction of being the only person I know who's been bitten by a Golden Retriever. I even knew the dog. I was the third person he had chomped on, so he went away to a farm to live.

When I was a kid, that is exactly how our golden retriever ended up living on a farm. After 5 years of being the most gentle dog ever, he bit a neighbor kid and my niece within a few weeks of each other.

[TripletDaddy]

I think I have the distinction of being the only person I know who's been bitten by a Golden Retriever. I even knew the dog. I was the third person he had chomped on, so he went away to a farm to live.

Golden retriever

[TripletDaddy]

I think anyone who claims that a breed only attacks someone due to owners not treating their animals appropriately is deluded. You are letting an animal share space with your family. While tame and domesticated, they still have instinct. Just like some people kill family members, dogs are going to do the same. And, in the case of certain breeds, this instinct has been bred into them so the chances of an attack are far greater. I've been bitten many times as an adult, and people have always said, "I can't believe he'd do that, he's the sweetest dog."

This is my concern as well. No matter how you train your dog, you cant control other people. Your kids have a friend come over, that kid misbehaves and pulls the dogs tail or does something the dog doesn't like. End of story.

[LA Ute]

A German Shepherd who had "never bitten anyone his entire life and was the nicest dog you'd ever want to see" took a chunk out of my lower calf when I was on a run two years ago. It was apparently my fault, because I "startled" him.

I think I have the distinction of being the only person I know who's been bitten by a Golden Retriever. I even knew the dog. I was the third person he had chomped on, so he went away to a farm to live.

[PaloAltoCougar]

I hate it when people say that, or when they say, "Don't worry, he won't bite." as their dog approaches barking and growling.

A German Shepherd who had "never bitten anyone his entire life and was the nicest dog you'd ever want to see" took a chunk out of my lower calf when I was on a run two years ago. It was apparently my fault, because I "startled" him.

[myboynoah]

Agreed. Same with their children.

[FN Phat]

Agree. People who don't control their dogs shouldn't have dogs.

Agreed. Same with their children.

[LA Ute]

I hate it when people say that, or when they say, "Don't worry, he won't bite." as their dog approaches barking and growling.

Agree. People who don't control their dogs shouldn't have dogs.

[myboynoah]

I think anyone who claims that a breed only attacks someone due to owners not treating their animals appropriately is deluded. You are letting an animal share space with your family. While tame and domesticated, they still have instinct. Just like some people kill family members, dogs are going to do the same. And, in the case of certain breeds, this instinct has been bred into them so the chances of an attack are far greater. I've been bitten many times as an adult, and people have always said, "I can't believe he'd do that, he's the sweetest dog."

I hate it when people say that, or when they say, "Don't worry, he won't bite." as their dog approaches barking and growling.

[Babs]

I think anyone who claims that a breed only attacks someone due to owners not treating their animals appropriately is deluded. You are letting an animal share space with your family. While tame and domesticated, they still have instinct. Just like some people kill family members, dogs are going to do the same. And, in the case of certain breeds, this instinct has been bred into them so the chances of an attack are far greater. I've been bitten many times as an adult, and people have always said, "I can't believe he'd do that, he's the sweetest dog."

Just for the record, wuap, I was joking. The quip was a play on the "guns don't kill people" line. I'm still missing half of my upper lip from when I was attacked as a ten-year-old, so I have little patience for the excuses that apologists make for aggressive breeds.

[wuapinmon]

I think anyone who claims that a breed only attacks someone due to owners not treating their animals appropriately is deluded. You are letting an animal share space with your family. While tame and domesticated, they still have instinct. Just like some people kill family members, dogs are going to do the same. And, in the case of certain breeds, this instinct has been bred into them so the chances of an attack are far greater. I've been bitten many times as an adult, and people have always said, "I can't believe he'd do that, he's the sweetest dog."

[LA Ute]

Pits....in all their varieties (including the Staffies in my avatar), bullmastiffs, rotties, dobes, bullies, are all wonderful breeds. Good choices for good owners.

I tend to agree. Not the breeds for me, but a serious owner can make them work out. The problem is that too many owners just want to have a badass dog, so they get a PB. Those are the owners whose dogs kill other dogs and hurt people. A pair of our neighbors' PBs got out and killed a neighbor dog in the street right in front of my house. It was pretty horrible and I couldn't do anything to stop it. We didn't even know those neighbors had those dogs, so up to that point they had been were pretty responsible with them. Once the killing happened, though, the two PBs were put down. So the breed just worries me.

We live in a neighborhood where the average dog is a Labrador or a Golden, or something along those lines, so it was a little disturbing to know such pets might be in some yards. That's why I take pepper spray with me when I walk or run with our dog. She'd have no idea what to do if attacked.

[marsupial]

Every dog's different I guess. I hate hate hate effing German Shepherds.

The only German Shepherds I've encountered were great dogs and if they didn't have so much damn fur, that is the breed we would have gotten. Mike & Farrah Waters had the sweetest German Shepherd. My daughter would crawl around their house following the dog. She'd also sit in the exer-saucer and hand feed her Cheerios. It was sweet to watch.

I think my brother got a kick out of how badass his dog was and while I am sure he didn't want his dog to attack his baby sister, he didn't seem to be doing any training to prevent him from doing so, either. That dog ended up dying from a brain tumor, so perhaps that had something to do with his mean streak. No matter, I would NEVER get a Rottweiler.

[Commando]

Why? Because they're so awesome?

See? They are already causing discord even in venues far from their physical realm of influence.

[myboynoah]

Every dog's different I guess. I hate hate hate effing German Shepherds.

Why? Because they're so awesome?