[Terry G]

A guard dog should be an early warning system, not a land mine. His (or her) job is to let me know something is amiss. I would not own (that's not quite right), partner up with a dog that bit. I bite, I do not wan't the dog to. If you check your home owner's insurance policy you may find that the dog get's ONE bite that they will cover, then you must get rid of the dog. I like Labradors, because a 90 lb. Lab barking and snarling will distract your opponent while you plant 9MM, .45, or .30 caliber holes in his chest. I don't wan't my dog to bite anyone, that's not their job. I have never had a Labrador that bit anyone, let alone my children when they were toddlers. Your an idiot if you hate dogs, I wouldn't be without one.

 

[gripper]

No arguments from me;I'd follow up with "You're not only an idiot if you hate dogs,but possiblyNot Long for the World-if you are needlessly cruel to one".
Dogs,like beautiful women are proof that God ecists,has a sense of humor and wants us all in on the joke!

 

[Stillwater]

No arguments from me;I'd follow up with "You're not only an idiot if you hate dogs,but possiblyNot Long for the World-if you are needlessly cruel to one".
Dogs,like beautiful women are proof that God ecists,has a sense of humor and wants us all in on the joke!

Gripper:
I like your last sentence. It makes more sense than a lot of the things I have read today.

Bill

 

[RIKA]

Terry, I will agree with you to a degree. There is no place for a dog that bites if you have small children or if little ones visit frequently. My Dad has had Dobermans since 1975. I grew up, lived and played with Dobies until my parents were divorced in 1985. Made extra money during high school working for a man who trained 'personal protection' (read semi attack trained) dogs. Have been bitten and have bitten them back. (Not the family dogs but the ones I helped train.) Dobermans are the ones that I am most familiar with and one of the breeds most feared. The animals are highly intelligent, loyal to a fault and extremely good natured if you get one thats not nervous or too much inbred.

The females are pretty easy going but the males are highly aggressive - testosterone on four feet. A person has to be able to understand the animals thought processes in order to have their respect and command them. Most people aren't able to do that with a large dog, much less a small one.

Our dobes are attack trained - not to make them more aggressive - but so they can be called off if an incident occurs. They are also extensively obedience trained. They obey commands in German and hand signals.

Each dog and family is different. Circumstances and the owner's preference dictate the breed of dog. One of the bad things is that there are so many people who have pit bulls, rottweilers etc who can't control their own dog or just let it run free. These are the people who shouldn't have dogs.

Oh, I should add that besides the Dobes I have a Lab female that I just love. She wouldn't bite anybody but is a great watchdog. Those floppy ears hear stuff that even gets by the Dobes. She is my baby.

My .02

RIKA

 

[Magnum88C]

Dobermans are the ones that I am most familiar with and one of the breeds most feared. The animals are highly intelligent, loyal to a fault and extremely good natured if you get one thats not nervous or too much inbred.

The females are pretty easy going but the males are highly aggressive - testosterone on four feet. A person has to be able to understand the animals thought processes in order to have their respect and command them. Most people aren't able to do that with a large dog, much less a small one.

Another thing to consider is that large, aggressive dogs are, well, large and aggressive. They think of your family as their pack, and they WILL challenge who they see as the Alpha for control. Like you said, you have to get into their head. You have to handle it like an Alpha dog would, not like a human would, which usually means you have to be pretty hard on them at first until they learn to back down. 1st step in training a dog is to be smarter than the dog.

I think most people with large/aggressive breeds are just too lazy to train them properly. You have to be consistant, something that gets them punished once, has to get them punished every time. Otherwise the dog will not only keep doing it, but will learn to not trust you, which leads to them disobeying you out of hand. I've seen people literally owned by their dogs because they were too lazy to train the dog, so they just gave in to the dog's demands, hence the dog trained them. Which leads us to:

Each dog and family is different. Circumstances and the owner's preference dictate the breed of dog. One of the bad things is that there are so many people who have pit bulls, rottweilers etc who can't control their own dog or just let it run free. These are the people who shouldn't have dogs.

To which I agree.


In my case, my dog is a biter. German shepherd/Mastiff/wolf mix. He's very intelligent (a little too intelligent for his own good) and very aggressive. I however, have no kids, the yard is fenced, gated and posted. I trained him to NOT bite me, but never curbed his aggressiveness towards unwanted guests. If I go to the gate and lead them in, he's fine with it. If they just come in, he makes all kinds of noise, but will generally stand on the porch barking at them. He only goes into attack mode if they start throwing stuff at him (like the stupid neighbor's kid did when he came over on his 16th birthday wanting to borrow my Camaro ), or if they try to come in the house. I'm just fine with that arrangement.