Aggressive Dogs? Or Just Bad Dog Owners?
90Something To Think About
Many people categorize aggressive dog breeds as Pit Bull, Rottweiler, Chow and Doberman. You need to ask yourself "Is this what I believe?" I am
ashamed to say that before I became an Animal Control Officer I categorized these breeds as aggressive. In my 11 years of experience with different breeds
of dogs I have found that a toy Yorkshire Terrier all the way up to a Great Dane can be just as aggressive. Granted, the bigger the dog the more damage is
done when attacked, but the fear factor of any size of an aggressive dog coming at you is the same, especially if you are a child or an elderly person.
What I have surmised is that it is not the dogs breed, but the lack of knowledge of the dog owner on how to control and train their dog.
Pit Bull, Rottweiler, Chow and Doberman owners have a big responsibility and liability when they decide this is the breed they want. They need to ask
themselves if they are committed to training this dog to be the perfect pet. I know a lot of owners of these breeds who have done exactly that. They like the
breed and respect it. They know how powerful these breeds can be and how badly the public receives them.
Someone I totally respect is Cesar Milan, "The Dog Whisperer". He is awesome! Always in control and respects the breeds and immediately reacts when
he sees something negative starting to develop. You need to have this sixth sense within you in order to take on the responsibility and be successful in the
training of any dog.
Then there are the owners who get a high powered breed to look cool or be protective of the yard. No thought is given to the dangerous position they are
putting their dog in, themselves and eventually their community. They can not control their own kids, why should they be able to control their own dog!
These are the people that should not own "any" dog. They do not want a family pet to be part of the family. They are looking for a status symbol, something
to intimidate their friends and neighbors. This is not fair to the dog because it is the dog who will pay the price in the end. It will be beaten or fought, tied up
with a heavy chain in the yard, no socialized or kind words and this is the kind of dog the public will always hear about or see.
If "any breed of dog" is allowed free reign with "no discipline or training" it will eventually become out of control and become aggressive toward other
people and then one day, toward the owner.
Scenario #1
Animal Control Officer receives a call over the police radio on a vicious Pit Bull attacking a person. The Animal Control Officer arrives and discovers a
Black Lab acting aggressive and he captures the animal and impounds it. The next day in the newspaper the article states, "Black Pit Bull attacks!".
Hmmmmm.....another bad rap!
Scenario #2
Animal Control Officer receives a call that a brown and white Pit Bull is chasing two ladies and they have gone into their houses and fear for their lives! I
arrive and find the dog laying under a tree acting very nonchalant about the whole ordeal. I recognized the dog as "Robbie" and he can be scary at times but
never known to actually bite anyone. I reached in on the passenger side of my truck to get my baton as a precaution and then opened the back of my truck. I
yelled at Robbie to get into the truck and he came running toward me, changed his mind and turned the opposite direction. I looked around the corner of my
truck to see where he was going and only caught a flash of something near my opened door. I asked one of the complainants, " Did Robbie just jump into the
front seat of my truck?" "Yep" She answered. To my dismay, there sat Robbie in the drivers seat looking at me through the open window with a smile on
his face. I looked at the whole ordeal logically....at least he was calm and contained and wasn't acting aggressive. I on the other hand, thinking "safety first"
was not going to open the truck door and tell Robbie to scoot over so I could take him to the shelter. I was able to contact the owner and he came to the scene
and took Robbie home. Was Robbie aggressive? The two ladies stated he was. I did not see any signs of aggression when I was there but the mere suggestion
puts you on the defense and I know that dogs sense this and can react differently toward you.
Scenario #3
Animal Control Officer receives a call that two dogs just attacked and injured an 8 week old Pomeranian and that the owner was at the vets office. I ar-
rived at the vets office and was told that two Boston Terriers had come into the owners yard and grabbed her puppy and started playing tug of war with it.
She stated that she went running toward the two dogs, screaming, and they dropped the puppy and ran off. The puppy's back was broken and it had to be eu-
thanized. We found the two Boston Terriers and impounded them and were court ordered to be euthanized. The same Boston Terrier owner had two more of
her dogs get into some 4H show sheep and ran them into the fence. She was cited for that. Those same two dogs went into another yard a month later and
killed 3 kittens. The dogs were impounded and both were adopted out to new owners and doing well with no more mishaps. A few months later the Boston
Terrier owner took 3 of her large dogs, one was a Shepherd mix and the other two were Dalmatian mixes to the vets and requested that they be euthanized.
Apparently the dogs ganged up on her other dogs and tore one apart and injured several others. This dog owner had absolutely no control over any of her
dogs. People in the community wanted Boston Terriers banned from the County. You can see where that was going......
Banning breeds from your community does not take care of the problem. That is unless you want to ban all breeds. This dog owner had three different breeds
in her home and they were all aggressive and totally out of control. Yet, the two that were adopted out have not shown any aggressive tendencies or out of
control issues. The new owners have been very pleased with them. What is different other than a new owner? That's just it........the new owners are in control
and the dogs respect them.
Do you remember the saying, "Don't judge a book by it's cover"? Look at the whole picture and ask yourself "Bad Dog or Just Bad Dog Owner"?
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I definitely think that dog owners are to blame for bad behaviors in dogs. I've had dogs growing up and many of my friends own dogs and none of them had or have intentionally tried to bite someone's arm off for no apparent reason or provocation. I actually had an experience where I was walking down a sidewalk and the owner of 2 mix-ed breed dogs could not control them - behaviorally or even physically (they were so much stronger than her) - that one of the dogs bit me. If it wasn't winter and I didn't have a thick coat on, I would have been bleeding. My keys fell out of my pocket and I couldn't retrieve them because the dogs were inches from them. The dog owner just looked at me and said, "go ahead, take them!" even after I asked her move her dogs further away from my keys. And the kicker is, the owner didn't even apologize for her dogs' bad behavior.She was more concerned with picking up dog doo than actually restraining her dogs from physically harming others. It makes me wonder if she would have done anything even if I was bleeding.
Thank you for reinforcing the idea that it is the owner (NOT the breed) that is to blame for "bad dog behavior". I am a pit bull lover and have responsibly raised 4 sweet, beautiful dogs over the last 9 years. I have found they are loyal, smart, friendly and always eager to please (not to mention easy to groom!). It is a shame when any dog is put in a situation where it can't possibly win (like the backyard alienated from the family). I believe education is imperative to create a world where people & animals live in harmony. Thanks again for bringing us one step closer!
Honestly-as soon as I read you are a fan of Cesar Milan, I knew that you have the best intentions, but unfortunately are misguided. Anyone who believes that by bullying and invoking fear into a dog to behave is better than by positive methods obviously just doesn't know what is best for dogs. Does it work to throw them onto their backs and scare them into submission? Yes. Does it work to grab a dog by the scruff of the neck and dangle him around? Yes-but how can anyone (who is an altruistic dog lover) say this is best for the dog? It's like how a child will keep his room clean because he knows he will be hit if it's messy-they don't dare misbehave because they are fearful of the consequences!
Here's a great link that shows how Cesar's methods are cruel and entirely inappropriate, PLEASE read this article!
http://www.4pawsu.com/cesarfans.htm
And in regards to aggression being caused by the owners: YES-people do horrible, awful things to dogs that cause SOME of them to be aggressive, but 2 things:
1-What about dogs that are aggressive but come from wonderful, loving homes where they were socialized and well trained and are otherwise well-behaved and obedient?
2-What about all the dogs that have been abused/mistreated that never turn aggressive?! If aggression is caused ONLY by people, and the dog's temperament doesn't play a role, then 100% of abused/mistreated dogs would be aggressive. But that simply isn't the case-many dogs who suffered terrible abuse never show a trace of aggression, even if they are placed in a home with owners who have no knowledge on how to be in control and be the leader-because honestly, how many well-intended people own dogs and just 'wing it', and know nothing about dog behavior and how to assert themselves as the leader? A lot! And lot of them get well-behaved dogs-because they lucked out and the dog has a good temperament!
The truth is, some dogs temperament just makes them aggressive, either towards some or all other dogs (like some female dogs aren't good with other females, but are great with male dogs and vice versa). If you ask any dog behavior specialist who is competent, they will acknowledge that every dog has an innate temperament that might cause some dogs to be aggressive, or shy, or have high prey drive, etc. Yes-by being a good 'leader' and show your dog you are in control, that does help a LOT, and is the best for any dog to have a confident human leader, but some dogs will still be aggressive (and even if they were well socialized and well-treated as puppies during critical development phases!).
Sorry so lengthy, but just felt compelled to offer a more well-balanced view on dog aggression: the kind that is caused by terrible owners, and the kind that is just innate in a dog's temperament.
And please note that at no time did I say "breed", because I wholeheartedly agree-you can never generalize any breed as being aggressive. I personally have never met an aggressive pit bull in my life and think many are wonderful, non-aggressive dogs, but like EVERY breed of dog, there are exceptions to the rule!
And again....PLEASE read the article on Cesar....it really explains how he is does much more harm to these poor dogs than good. There IS a MUCH better way to train a dog than through terror, defeat and pain.
Can my dog be committed to the animal control for jumping on a 6 year old child. Notice: my dog is a mix breed of chow, pit bull, and rottweiler. She is almost 6 months old and she is partially blind.
I like your site can you coment on mine
I am so sick of this bad owners make bad dogs, not always true! I used to be a dog groomer, and the dogs i had to muzzle were pitbulls, rottweilers and german shepherds. most were lovely dogs, but these breeds, have these natural traits as part of their make up. shepherds make good police dogs, rottweilers make good guard dogs and pitbulls, bred for fighting are good at attacking. a golden retriever, would not be suitable for any of the previous, no matter 'how bad' they were treated. its not in them to be that way, a retreiver would cower and shake if you were to mistreat it, a dog with aggressive instincts would rip your arm off! Got it! Good!
Any dog can become agressive. Bad owners don't necessarily mean being abusive to a dog. Bad owners can also fall under the category of not teaching discipline to their pet at an early age. We love them, we hug them,we take care of them but we need to show them in a proper way who is boss right from the start. We have owned dogs for over 40 years from a Great Dane to a Chihuahua and never had a problem with aggression. Thanks TheLove4Pets for your great Hub.
Absolutely true. We might have some disagreements on Cesar Milan here, but I do think that having that "sixth sense" when it comes to dealing with dogs is imperative if you decide on owning a large breed dog. A proud owner of a sweetheart of a rottie. :) Some breeds, unfortunately, attract the kinds of owners that should not own dogs, and it's unfortunate that clever and powerful dogs end up in the wrong hands. Multiply that with media hype, and you have an entire culture of hating a breed. I dedicated an entire hub to this topic, how when I go for a walk with my pup, the entire neighborhood is full of dogs that lounge and bark their heads off, with my rottie ignoring them. Yet, heaven forbid she ever lets out a bark, everyone reminds me how dangerous the breed is. What about the 4 labs that would be chasing us down the street if it wasn't for the electric fence? What about that yorkie that is ready to jump through the window? Hurumph. You get the gist - I'm with you on this one.
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Eternal Evolution Level 2 Commenter 2 years ago
I agree 100% that bad owners are to blame. I have owned dogs all my life, currently i have a Boxer and a Pit Bull, both are big friendly babies and stay out of trouble. Bad owners lead to these ridiculous breed bands, which don't cure the problem but only punish the dogs and responsible owners. Thanks for posting this hub.