Tater Munkin said...
Actually, temperament is mostly genetic. If you buy a puppy with a fear biting mother, regardless of breed and how it's raised, it will possibly be a fear biter. It's how the temperament of a breed can be ruined. The more popular the breed, the more chances for people to breed dogs that shouldn't be bred. Then we end up with evil little cocker spaniels (guess when they became known as biters? Right after "Lady and the Tramp came out!!) It caused fearful skittish Dobermans and GSD's, and why as a Vet tech, I get snapped at regularly by goldens and Labradors. Watched a 3 year old lab rip off half of a Drs face last week. She sat on a chair next to his owner, about 4 feet away from him. Wasn't looking at him, had finished his exam 25 minutes before. He just launched at her. Does it mean all goldens and labs will fear bite? No, but you'll see a lot more of them. They will account for more bites, but unlikely fatal because fear bites bite and run. And it's what's happened to the APBT. When the breed originated, those dog fighters culled biters, most had another breed as a guard dog. The fighting gene hasn't really changed much, they attacks started as dog fighting became a thug thing, a status thing. Kids fighting dogs on the street. Aggression towards anything was encouraged. And we end up with fatal pit bull attacks. But not all pit bulls attack or we'd all be dead. Some wouldn't put a tooth on a human. Some will bite if provoked, but they don't maul, and some will attack. To many questionable dogs breeding. It's why the owners of these dogs will say the dog attacked for no reason, etc. Because it's knowledge that makes the difference. I am a pit bull advocate, adore them and have owned 3, fostered 13. Not one bite from any of them. But I'm not so stupid as to say its all the owners fault, or the victims. There are vicious pit bulls who should be killed before they get a chance to hurt someone. I've put 2 down because of possible temperament issues. One was a 9 month old foster dog who growled at me if I came near him while he was eating. He only got 2 days with me. I'm sure I could have trained him not to, but I'm not giving any questionable dog a chance. The 2nd was a personal dog. Adopted him from a rescue and did everything I always do with my puppies. Socialized the crap out of him, took him everywhere. But I noticed that despite intense exposure to kids, at 11 months he started acting nervous around kids. No sign of aggression, no growing or anything, but he just didn't act like a pit bull should around kids, never totally relaxed and happy. I adored that dog, he was a great dog who may have never touched a child, but I would never give him he chance to, euthanized him 2 weeks after I noticed it. I cried for days, still sometimes wonder if he would have been ok, but I know I did the right thing. It's why BSL won't get rid of the problem. The people doing this to the breed don't care. You think the drug dealers and dog fighters pay attention to the law?? They'll still create just as many dogs, still do whatever is needed to make them maul innocent people, they'll just be dumped on the street. BSL won't stop the idiots who think if you love anything enough, andt kinda train them, the 200 pound guard dog type breed would never hurt your kids, no matter what they did. BSL will only affect the good dogs.
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