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Ryanqzqz t1_j13ll7p wrote

Reply to comment by DebbieDunnbbar in Dogs Attack Students, Teachers On The Playground of Willard, Mo. School by Realistic-Sun3480

It's not always irresponsible owners, either. I had to euthanize a corgi several years ago because despite being kind, loving, and cuddly - because when our neighbors dog had puppies, anytime she came anywhere near our yard and my wife or kids were also present, my Corgi would go into full defensive mode.

Neighbors dog was a loving, cuddling Lab mix. Great with everyone and constantly full of tail wags.

About a week into trying to keep them separated; I got a phone call one afternoon on my drive home. Our corgi had lit into the neighbors Lab and my wife couldn't calm them down.

I arrived to my Corgi, death-latched onto the labs neck and ear, blood everywhere, all over my children, all over both dogs, all over the yards - The lab is standing there whimpering; crouching down to keep her head low, and my Corgi is doing that thing little dogs do with toys, where they shake their heads back and forth.

Kicking, scolding, commanding (and she was well trained) and even spraying with water didn't work...I had to choke hold my Corgi to unconsciousness to get her to release.

After cleaning them off, all the blood was from the Lab, my dog was unscathed.

My kids were traumatized, I was worried what would happen if my 90lb wife was home alone the next time this occurred....

Neighbor said they felt guilty because it must've been their dogs fault for heading into our yard to see my kids. I told them heck no - the fault was all mine for not keeping my dog away and not figuring out how to get her trained to leave the Lab alone, or some-such avoidance of the inevitable....

That said - if you have a dog you know is capable of damage - you have to be responsible with it.... even if they're nice, and cuddly, and warm - and OBVIOUSLY this owner was not, at least in this instance.... I took my consequences and had to lose a best friend, because I was dumb... it won't happen again - but I care about my dogs like their my kids.... Imagine what happens to any dog when they aren't treated that way/marginalized/not socialized and/or they're actively treated worse.

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DebbieDunnbbar t1_j13mk29 wrote

I’m not disagreeing. Dogs can do that shit even when raised in a great environment.

But it’s hard to know what pit bull apologists mean by “irresponsible” (and the goal posts probably move on that anyway). Some people, like the guy below, it apparently means abusing the shit out of your dog. Others it seems to mean shit like not having a tall fence for your giant pit bull. The only consistent thing is they will never admit certain breeds are prone to this shit.

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Ryanqzqz t1_j13n002 wrote

Agreed! On all points!

I mean, my father-in-law used to train Malinois for police work and SAR... are they inherently aggressive? No? Are they inherently able to be made aggressive with a higher propensity than some other breeds? Yes.

A lot of it has to do with activity drive. But most dog owners don't have time for that - and if you leave a dog with high activity drive to its own devices, it's going to find things to do - and those will be dog-centric and dog-oriented things... and funnily enough, that doesn't always line up with the kinds of behavior we humans want from our furry companions!

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