Dogs are not accessories

The BBQ Pit
21

My friends have a Yorkie that doesn’t take too kindly to the deer that wander onto their property, should she face the chopping block?

Seriously, this is wholly a matter of personal responsibility. I live in area that is pretty much the polar opposite of the “boondocks.” I have a dog who is very dog-aggressive (not a pitbull, btw). He doesn’t care for cats, racoons, squirrels, deer, or chipmunks either. He’s almost 12 years old and has never bitten or otherwise injured another animal.

If there’s the slightest chance that we’ll meet up with another dog, he stays on-leash. We also always go for walks or runs in areas where it is illegal to have your dog off-leash. I also try and time our outings during off-peak dog hours.

The only problem I’ve ever had is with other dogs running illegally off-leash up to my dog. Those dog owners seem to think that because Fido is friendly, they can do whatever they want including breaking leash laws.

I’ve always found it easy to send the other dog packing but it shouldn’t even come to that. My dog and I don’t bother anyone when we are out. We should receive the same courtesy (and people should obey leash laws).

It’s very simple:

If you don’t have vocal control over your dog, keep it on leash.
Don’t let your dog bother other people or dogs.
If your dog doesn’t like X, keep it away from X.

If you are too lazy, or self-entitled, or all-around clueless to do the above, there should be serious repercussions (not to mention that you shouldn’t have gotten a dog in the first place).

Your view is another matter entirely. Sporting dogs, terriers, working dogs, herding dogs etc. were all bred for the “tendencies” that upset you. It’s hardwired into their brain and they require socialization, training and management to be good citizens. The belief that all dogs should automatically behave like something out of a Walt Disney film has no basis in reality, not to mention allows for a total abdication of responsibility on the part of the dog-owner.

–Valley

To the moderaters. I accidentally hit “submit” before I finished typing. Would you please delete my first post? Thank you.

22

Is it too easy to buy a dog in the U.S.? I understand they can be bought in pet stores (bad idea) on a whim. I also believe prizes are much lower - around here, you can’t get a pure bred dog for under $1k, and I’d actually wouldn’t get one for that prize, since it’s likely to com from a puppy factory. Good breeders will charge 1500-2000. Many times they will want to interview you to find out if you can handle the breed they’re selling. An example are breeders of wachtelhund, who are all in agreement not to sell a puppy to a person that doesn’t hunt.

23

And the sad thing is the dog will end up being put down.

Pit bulls need direction. With it they can be fantastic dogs. This woman is not only a menace but she does dog ownership and pit bulls a disservice.

24

Many of us go even cheaper and rescue dogs from shelters and pounds. Including vet bills and a 10 week training class, my dog cost me only about $300. She is a well behaved dog and we still plan on taking an additional 10 week intermediate course.

I think this is the bigger key. People need to spend the little extra on obedience training. It costs little compared to a pure-breed and is well worth the small cost and the the small amount of time required.

Jim

25

There’s an exotic animal sanctuary in Walworth County, but that’s nowhere near Portage. (What one are you talking about, Harmonious Discord? Walworth is a couple counties away from Columbia.) They rescue cats from zoos that are going out business, from people who have misadvisedly kept them as pets, etc.

Well, and panthers are native to Wisconsin, but there aren’t all that many around in the wild anymore – as in they’re believed to be extinct.

26

People have illegal pets, and this guy takes them when these people decide they need to get rid of the lion. I doubt coverage of the issue has gone beyond local, so there will be no online article to read on the topic. The guy lives in Sauk county and the issue was taken care of 2006 if you decide to try a search.

Every thing I read was covered by the Daily Register.

27

He was treatening Sauk county officials that he would move them to his property in Columbia county, if things didn’t go the way he wanted, and so Columbia drafted the ordinace.

28

Was this guy named Gino? There was a story in The Capital Times from - er - October of last year. He got the lion from a farm in Columbia County - the farmers were afraid it would eat the horses.

(I know nothing about this first hand - I found it in a google search.)

29

100% of the time it is the owners, not the dog.

This is why I think Ceaser should taser every new family he meets upon meeting.

30

I want to add to this… if you come across someone who is clearly NOT interested in letting their dog play with you or your fwuffy wittle snookums, BACK THE FUCK OFF.

I was at the vet the other day with two of our dogs- a nine year old English Pointer, and a not-quite-two year old Australian cattle dog mix. The Pointer is a wuss and doesn’t like to socialize with anyone at the vet (he’s quite friendly otherwise); the cattle dog is a complete and utter knucklehead who doesn’t realize how big he is- he’s responding well to training, but I still don’t quite trust him around other dogs. As a result, we were tucked off in a corner of the waiting room where I could maintain control over the cattle dog and comfort the Pointer. Normally I don’t have a problem handling both of them together, but I carry one of the little ultrasonic trainers just in case.

Well, in walks this older woman; she and I make eye contact, I nod, she smiles, and she begins to check in her dog. Her husband walks in behind her a moment later with a lovely Golden, and my cattle dog goes NUTS. It’s all I can do to keep him in a sit, he almost pulled me over before I could rearrange which hand was holding which dog, and the whole time the woman is cooing “Ooh, he just wants to play, don’t you want to play, aren’t you a good boy, come play with (whatever the hell the golden’s name was)” and I’m being very firm, telling her he’s still in training and I don’t feel comfortable with him socializing in this environment (it’s the vet, for crying out loud- full of anxiety-provoking sounds and smells, who knows how he’s going to react?), but she’s so insistant. Finally the tech takes the golden away, I get my dog calmed down, and here comes the little old woman wanting to PET HIM. Augh. I told her no, but she still kept coming, so I let the leash slip just a little and he bounded over to her, jumped up and almost knocked her down. It was all I could do to keep from saying “And what did we learn from this??”

Seriously… I’ve trained dozens of dogs, including assistance dogs, and this attitude of “I’m going to walk up and pet your dog/let my dog play with yours regardless of what you think” drives me crazy. It’s not that I’m trying to deny my dog socialization, or being mean to him, I just know my dog and what his limitation are, much better than you do, and you need to trust that I have everyone’s best interest in mind.

31

I don’t know the guy’s name. I don’t have the papers any longer, so I can’t dig up what I read months ago. The ordinance was finalised late last year, so he was in the news by at least summer last year. The guy has many lions all collected from people that had them as pets. Most were from Wisconsin if not all of them.

32

Just as a point: the breed is bull terrier; “pit bull” accurately describes a bull terrier from one of the lines bred for aggressiveness, originally for pit fighting (thank God long since outlawed in the civilized world!).

Kambuckta: A quick anecdote regarding “aggressive behavior” dogs: Back in my old home town, we had one neighbor with a son who was in many ways a classic loser type – couldn’t hold a job, would get drunk and disorderly downtown, etc. But in two ways he was an amazingly good person: For reasons I was never clear on, he had custody of his toddler-age daughter (his mother provided much of the care needed), and he was an extremely good father, within his limitations, to her – firm, fair discipline, lots of love, etc. And he had a pit bull, which he did an outstanding job training. That dog knew exactly when to restrain himself, when to be aggressive, etc. And in that neighborhood a good watchdog was worth its weight in gold. I could go out our back door and pet the pitbull in passing, and he’d wag his tail, lick my hand, and generally be friendly-doggy at me. So that summer the kid turns 3, and they put her out in the yard, which is generally fenced in but has a driveway at one edge that’s an access road to a park area. Kid’s inside a little wooden fence that’s more to define boundaries than actual restraint – between yard fence and how the house is situated, the kid is safe alone in the yard (grandma’s in the kitchen overlooking the yard; I’m on my porch at the other edge of the shared yard. And Mr. Pitbull is out there with the kid. A couple of True Creeps who had evidently been hanging out in the park came down the drive, and decided to cut through the yard, being loud, obnoxious, and generally menacing. Instantly the pitbull is on full guard alert, positioning himself between the kid and them and snarling at them. For some reason, they suddenly remembered an appointment elsewhere that they needed to attend to immediately, and departed whence they came. Dog watched them leave, with a growl/bark that translated to “And the horse you rode in on!” then turned to the kid, licked her face and calmed her down, as Grandma and I converged on the scene.

I’m not sure what conclusion I draw from all this – maybe that there’s a proper time and place for everything. But that dog’s sense of responsibility to that kid touched me deeply.

33

Not really off-topic: Dog owners, please please PLEASE if you find yourself and your pooch around horses, do NOT let Snookums run barking over to the funny-looking big dog. Even a horse that’s well-socialized to canines can be unnerved by the sight and sound of a predator charging at it. This goes quadruple for dogs that approach from behind. I very nearly got bucked off once when an unrestrained bulldog ran yammering up behind my horse – and he’s a placid-tempered former field hunter, accustomed to being around running, baying hounds.

For a while at my barn we had a knucklehead boarder who let her pitbull-type dog run wild and free, leaping up on whomever he pleased. What’s worse, the shithead actually encouraged the dog to race around the arena, barking wildly, while she rode her horse. So of course the dog had no idea it shouldn’t do the same around anyone else’s horse.

One day I was leading my horse toward the gate at the end of the ring as she was coming in the side door. Suddenly my calm, obedient Thoroughbred was bugeyed, snorting, plunging, and trying to climb over me to get out the gate. Shithead’s dog, you see, had come in with her and charged at Ben’s hindquarters.

That was bad enough, but when I screamed at her to control her dog she gave me a blank “What’s YOUR problem” look, grudgingly called the dog back to her (he ran around a bit and finally obeyed), and did not a damned thing to restrain him. Bitch never even apologized for terrifying my horse and nearly getting me trampled.

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Phew. I needed to rant about that, even now that asshole’s gone from the barn (she couldn’t stay in a place where people were so mean about her dog).

34

Heh.

Reminds me of an ‘incident’ a few years ago, when I bundled the kids and the dog (Jack, a blue-heeler/kelpie cross) into the car to visit a friend who lived in the bush. After the ritual barbie for lunch, Dan asked if the kids would like a ride on his new horse, Fred, an ex-racehorse thoroughbred.

All was well, Fred was a true gentleman and the kids had a fine time. Jack (the dog) just sat by and watched keenly to make sure they were OK. Dan then asked me if I’d like a ride too…“Of course I bloodywell would”. :stuck_out_tongue:

So I mounted Fred, and that is where the trouble started.

Jack was very much my dog, and wouldn’t leave my side day or night. Not timid at all, just loyal to the point of pathological obsessiveness really. He had never shown the slightest aggressiveness, was always happy for attention from others, but reserved his pure undiluted adoration for ME. :smiley:

Anyway, Jack didn’t like the notion of me sitting atop this Big Thing. So he set up a barking to voice his displeasure (this was, FTR, the very first time he had actually barked since he adopted us at 12 months old…) It shocked me, and it sure as hell shocked Fred, because he bolted with Jack now in hot pursuit.

To cut a long story short, I ended up hanging by one leg stuck in one stirrup, being dragged along at break-neck speed through the bush. The other (loose) leg got caught under Fred’s hind one and got smashed up badly. I didn’t have a helmet on (stupid, stupid) and was just saying my final prayers heading for a big gum tree (that from the angle I just KNEW my head was going to connect with, hard) when the bloody bugger just stopped dead in his tracks. Phew.

I’ve not been on a horse since, and while he was alive, Jack never barked again either.

:slight_smile:

35

Neither are children.

36

Yes, it’s probably too easy to buy a dog in the US. While many reputable breeders are very picky about the homes their pups go to, many other people will sell pups to anyone who has the money, no questions asked.

When I adopted my cat from the Humane Society, I paid very little money for her (I believe that I paid US$60, which included examination, shots, and spaying), but they required me to fill out a form before I could adopt her. I had to indicate where she’d live (inside or outside or both), who my vet was, any current cats and other pets in my household…you get the idea. I also had to sign a statement saying that I’d keep her inside, get her proper medical care, and so forth. The form was a pain to fill out, but I understand why they insisted on it. I would imagine that they require a similar form for dog adoptions.

37

Then you get the country dwellers that have to deal with all the bitches and their litters, that show up and eventualy get shot chasing the animals. Get the damn dog neutered, and take your ex-pet to the pound, because the farmers and DNR don’t want them chasing the animals. They can either turn wild and get shot, or die starving. This goes for your cats too.