CallaFirestormBW -> RE: To the haters of pitbull haters -- (6/17/2010 1:18:13 PM)
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~Fast Reply~ As someone who raised German Shepherds, I would like to say that it isn't always the owner. There are some breeds of dogs who are very territorial, or whose core personality will revert very easily to the hunter/carnivores from which our domestic dogs were shaped. There are some breeds (German Shepherds are one of them) who are not really completely able to be socialized, and I really -do- think that these breeds shouldn't be kept as family pets in busy urban/suburban neighborhoods. In the first place, most of these breeds need to be exercised HEAVILY and regularly -- not just a quick trot around the block when the owner gets around to it, but heavy activity every single day for a couple of hours, including obstacle courses, etc, where they get an opportunity to really stretch out and resolve their innate restlessness. Secondly, many of these breeds of dogs are -really- territorial, and once they've established their place in their "pack", and settled out that territory as "theirs", they will protect it to within an inch of their life. Third, dogs like this -cannot- be allowed to be the "alpha" of their "pack" -- they have to be trained early on, and have to have ONE person in the household who is absolutely and utterly dominant to them -- otherwise, when they sense a threat to the "pack" or their territory, they will act on that situation as the alpha, and no amount of intervention from the human owner will prevent them from doing what they think they must. Unless they are in a "beta" position in the household, they will do what they feel, as alpha, is in the best interests of themselves, their packs, and their territories. I don't -hate- any breed of dog, but I do think that dog owners are less aware than they need to be about the specifics of dealing with the breeds of dogs that they choose. I feel the same kind of discomfort with people who have their "pocket poms", "pocket poodles" and "pocket chihuahuas" -- these dogs are REALLY high-strung, and forcing them to sit in a bag in the mall crowded with 5000 people is like forcing a person suffering from agoraphobia out into the middle of the desert at mid-day and leaving them there. [sm=2cents.gif] Calla
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