Daisy is a little terrier mutt kind of thing. I saw a Tibetan Terrier on a dog show on TV and she kind of looks like that. She tips the scales at around 35 lbs and she comes up to about my knee. Salt and pepper shaggy fur and a very intelligent gleam in her eye.
Her one bad fault is when she gets upset with me she takes it out on the rug.
First off, Ellenfair:
Couldn’t agree more. (I’m the guy with the Pit Bull).
Zette:
Yeah, the same fear prevented me from filing assault and cruelty to animals charges on a Shithead for attacking me and my 4-month old puppy in a public park.
Finally, Jack Batty:
A solid 9.
Zette, you said that the dog “went after” the other neighbor and son. Sounds to me like the dog is dangerous. It’s sad really, because it’s not HIS fault that he hasn’t had behavior training, and it looks like HE will be the one to pay the price. So if the dog is like that I would go to court like you had said you would. Next time the dog got out he might kill someone. It happened not too far from here. Three dogs(sorry to say they were Rottweilers) got out from their yard(they had done it before) and attacked a young boy who was waiting for his school bus. The kid managed to push his brother up a tree, a real hero, and the dogs got him then. And all this happened IN FRONT of the other kids on the bus. I’d police the yard often, to check for unwanted material(since you were afraid of poisoning). I’d encourage the neighbors to do the same. And EVERYONE keep a watch on the movements of the nasty owner. Let us know what happens if you will please.
The other day I was walking my puppy, a 20 pound Shiba Inu, over by the creek by my house. I had him off leash, as we were working on his off-leash training. I chose this area to let him off leash because it’s not a public park, it’s more like a dirt road next to the creek in a semi-industrial area.
After about ten minutes of walking, he’s joined by another dog. I’d estimate this dog to be about 50 or 60 pounds, non-specific breed. When the owners saw my dog, they started calling their dog, who completely ignored them. I kept walking and called Gromit, who broke off playing with the other dog and came to me. At that point, the other dog’s owner looked at me and said “Wow! That’s the only other dog that our dog has gotten along with. She usually tries to attack other dogs!”
I wanted to fuckin’ kill this lady. If you KNOW your dog attacks other dogs, why the FUCK is it off leash? I don’t care that this is not a well-travelled place - I know I’m not the only one who brings their dogs here to run. I really want to train my dog to be really good on voice command; thus I take him out and practice. However, if I had any notion that my dog would attack other dogs, I would never ever EVER let it off leash. Grrrr…
Well I have never heard of anyone killed by a golden retriever have you?
Well, here in the incredibly white-trash town of Vienna, Virginia (which is all of 30 minutes from this nation’s capitol), “assault dogs” such as rottweilers, german shepherd and dobermans are legal. My family, in fact, currently owns one of each. Purebred, even.
Score one for having a clue, Father Pacelli.
Oh, wait. You don’t. Sorry, I’ll have to take that clue back and give it to someone who has a working brain. Or should I maybe use smaller words?
They aren’t mutts. Many of them are purebred dogs, and bred specifically for various characteristics. Yeah, some of them are going to get bred for viciousness, big teeth, penis size and jumping ability*. Many will also be bred for the appearance of their coat, their temperament, their solid frame (by which I mean their bone structure and build), etc.
Oh, crap. Some of my words have more than five letters in them. Go here if you need definitions for the following words:
purebred
specifically
various
characteristics
viciousness
appearance
ability
temperament
structure
The notion that these are mutts is complete horseshit.
How many children have been attacked and killed by dogs in the past year, Father? And of those, how many owners have had to pay millions in damages?
And well you should be careful with any dog. Rotties can be incredibly vicious. They can also be incredibly wonderful family dogs. I should know; I have one. My father knows several families with large rottweilers and children.
[sub]*They don’t really breed for penis size. Everyone knows it’s not the size of the boat but the motion of the ocean.[/sub]
One of the most astute observations I’ve ever heard about the Bay Area is that there are so many Individuals here (deliberate cap) and such reduced personal space that we all step on each other’s toes. Individual liberty or community peace? I’d say we’re ground zero for this dilemma.
I’m an absolute animal nut. But I shuddered in recognition while reading this thread. This year has viciously and violently proven the need for owners to control their animals – one San Francisco woman’s dead and one Richmond boy is seriously, seriously injured. All because people who chose to take own potentially deadly creatures didn’t choose to take responsibility for them.
I’ll be the first to admit my cat is spoiled as hell. But really, the only thing he’s capable of doing is sitting a little too heavily on someone’s lap.
Presa Canarios were the breed of dog that attacked and killed the woman in San Francisco.
Now that I have gotten that oof of my chect, I live in a place that Pit Bulls have been banned, if someone wants to own one, they have to (I believe) buy a very expensive dangerous dog license. This banning followed a rash of Pit Bull attacks on small children.
That said, I don’t believe in banning any breeds. I have seen some lovely, well behaved Pit Bulls.
When I worked at a pet store, I used to tell people to consider what the breen was originally created for, if it was bred for agression, be prepared to deal with agression (obediance classes). And size is an issue, a Chihuahua that goes all loco and starts attacking people may damage an ankle or two, a rottweiler who does the same thing could kill someone.
I dunno, once they get those rice-grain-sized teeth in motion, it’d be almost like getting hit with a very, very small chainsaw. 