Plus earlier in your post you say the answer isn't more laws, and then you propose . . . more laws.
Surely you don't expect any more consistency out of me than say, our elected politicians. Besides, they were only suggestions.
Pawz4me wrote: how would the powers that be designate someone qualified to conduct these classes? I've met enough supposed "trainers" who know almost as much about canine behavior as the average preschooler to find the idea very scary.
Yeah, but if we let fear paralyze us we won't get anywhere. More productive would be a suggestion that would address your fears. That might be closer to a valuable solution.
skylos wrote: More productive would be a suggestion that would address your fears.
What? My "fear" of self-titled trainers who don't know what they're doing? I don't fear that for myself at all, as I've got years of my own dog training experience to rely on and am lucky enough to have as friends a few excellent trainers. I do "fear" it for John Q. Public, who generally has no idea that anyone can stick the word trainer after their name. But I don't feel the need to make suggestions. As I said, I don't know what the solution to the problem is. And certainly this is one of those situations where it's a lot easier to say what's NOT a viable solution than it is to come up with something that is.
As Dr. Doug said, aggressive dog laws are probably the best we can do. But even that is fraught with problems IMO (the main one being that a dog is usually only labeled as aggressive after a problem has occurred).
* This post was
edited 05/19/12 08:27am by Pawz4me *
Me and the DH
Two boys and two dogs (and two cats who prefer to stay home)
2008 Forest River Georgetown 350DS (bunkhouse model)
2001 Honda CR-V
BCSnob wrote: Owners of pit bull-type dogs deal with a strong breed stigma ...
Eighteen months ago I rescued a traditional Shar-Pei who was about two years old. Traditional Shar-Pei are muscular, high-energy, short-coated (Shar-Pei horsecoat) canines; their body type is similar to a pit bull. Their skull is very different though, and they have little ears that lay flat similar to the present-day Shar Pei that many people are more familiar with. Kodi is about 45 lbs.
Kodi was in terrible condition when I adopted him. The shelter speculated he had done time as a bait dog (dog fighting term). His physical scars are extensive. His emotional scars, more so. His distrust of humans was huge. His dislike of other dogs apparent.
I ask people if Kodi can approach them when we meet. It is not uncommon to get a negative answer. One woman answered, "I don't like those types of dogs". I replied, "You don't like Shar Pei?". She stopped and asked for more info. Five minutes later she was petting Kodi and enjoying his affection. Sometimes Kodi lets me know he doesn't want to meet a human though, not sure what he detects in those people but he doesn't want to be near them.
When we meet a stable dog, I let the owner know my dog was not socialized and ask if Kodi can be with me nearby. This eventually progressed to Kodi meeting dogs, playing with dogs, and liking other dogs. But it took a lot of very stable, calm, confident dogs to adjust Kodi's attitude.
It is a LOT of work to rehabilitate a dog. It is a 24/7 job.
Breed bans are a knee jerk reaction by politicians and a feel good approach. Most experts in the field favor an aggressive dog/animal policy in favor of a breed ban. This approach allows more flexibility to animal control officers and shifts the responsibility to the owners of any dog regardless of breed.....
Doug, your opinion in this matter just makes way to much sense to ever become reality.
Walter & Garland - Camp Canine caretakers
Gen. Gretchen - 9 y.o. GSD - Special Forces/Seal/DOTL Cloudbusters
Gen. Missy - GSD/Aussie - Joined Special Forces/DOTL Rainbow Division, June 11,2006
Miss Inga - 3 month old GSD. Still a civilian at this point.
San Francisco's mandatory spay/neuter law & breeding license for pit bull type dogs has been very effective.
It allows ownership.
It reduced the over population of pit bull type dogs.
It dramatically reduced the dogs most likely to be involved in a bite (unaltered male).
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