Every dog, YES, EVERY DOG, has the potential to bite. I am so angered by people who think that since their dog has never bit anyone, that it never would. You are delusional if you feel this way! Any dog, given the right circumstances, will bite. Remember this case in 2001 when the dogs attacked Diane Whipple. The owner of those dogs said they were gentle too.
I have two lovely dogs, as pictured above. They would "never" bite either, but I ALWAYS walk them on a leash and NEVER allow them to run up to any person or any other dog.
The frustration you hear is because today, while walking my dogs (on leashes), a Rottwiler (not the one pictured here, but similar), came running out of his human's garage at us, with no leash or collar on. My dogs got very defensive, growled, had their tails up. As I pulled back on their leashes, trying to walk on, the human came out of the garage calling the dog. He didn't even apologize, but had to CARRY the dog (he wasn't even wearing a collar) back into the garage. As I walked my dogs away I said, "That's why you should always keep your dog on a leash!"
This human had the nerve to be annoyed with me and said, "We were just getting in the car and you can take your two crazy dogs and go jump in the lake!"
I have seen the female human of this same dog walking him down our street, without it's leash, on countless occasions and this is not the first time this dog has run out of it's garage at me.
So, being TOTALLY FED UP (and especially since I have a baby on the way), I finally called animal services to report it and this is the letter I have left on the human's door:
_____________________________
August 30, 2008
To Whom It May Concern,
As I went on my walk today (on a leash) your Rottweiler ran out of your garage (garage door was open) and charged at my dogs and me. This has happened a number of times.
I would appreciate it, if you could keep your dog on a leash “at all times.”
As the “gentleman” of the house pointed out, you were just taking him to the car, but he still changed at us. I was scared, so I can’t imagine how a child would feel.
This is the rule. See the Albuquerque Animal Control Web site.
http://www.bernco.gov/live/departments.asp?dept=2328&submenuid=2853
“When does my pet need to be on a leash?
All animals in the unincorporated area of the county must remain on the property of their owner secured by a fence or chain at all times, except when they are being walked on a secure leash of not more than six feet. In other words, animals are not allowed to "run at large". This applies to all animals. This means NO loose animals on sidewalks, streets, school grounds, parks, sports fields, open space land, forest land, or hiking trails.”
THANK YOU
__________________________
So, note to all people with dogs....I will call animal services on you and I will PROSECUTE TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW if your dog bites me or mine.
Please be a responsible human and use a leash and collar! Please!
My rant is now over....
3 comments:
Good for you...as a dog owner myself, we've so overprotective they do not even go in the fenced backyard without one of us.
Hopefully the neighbor will begin using their head and keep their dog on the leash.
Nice rant! When we were young my sister was bitten by OUR doberman. I was also bitten by our neighbors husky, but I wasn't smart.
I walk out of our apartment often to see 3 yippy chihuahuas charge towards me and they scare both me and Izzy. I'm going to check our apartment guidelines to see what they say about dogs with no leashes.
Dogs and Aggression
Last year I used Google Alert to get some insight on dog bites and attacks. For those of you that don’t know about this service, you give Google a topic and it e-mails you news releases on that topic.
So, for the last year I have been getting on average of, lets say, four alerts a day, and at least one report every day. Now, if I disregard the reports that are non relevant (articles that happen to have the words dog and bite or dog and attack in the story) then disregard the articles that are multiples of the same stories, I am still left with a staggering amount of violent incidences between humans and K-9’s.
Reading through every word of every article is not my cup of tea. My research skills are not great. However, I have trained myself to at least skim through all the articles to find the age of the human victim and the breed of the dog involved. Many of the attack releases are horrifying. Most involve young or small children, the dogs are (usually) known to the victim and of course “Pit Bull” is the news popular breed.
I am not writing this article to bash Pit Bulls. I would never own one, because I am not a Pit Bull “type”. Nor am I a Poodle or German Shepard “type”. I think for the most part this breed is getting its reputation because of irresponsible humans that have no idea how to manage a dog that has been bred to be a killer. Do Jack Russell Terriers not bite? We breed them to kill. No one wants to take the time to read a story about a ferocious JRT. But we do pay attention to the dangerous breed attacks. As well, we have to take into consideration the severity of a Pit Bull attack.
Part of my dog related business involves dog attack training for utility companies. These are the people that go to your house to read meters or to service equipment and it’s usually in the same place where many people STORE their dogs. I have labeled these dogs “backyard lawn ornaments”. The utility workers tell me their biggest fear is going into a fenced yard and seeing a dog on the end of a chain. They also tell me that some people will actually chain the dog to the meter, or build the dog run around the services to the house. The meter still needs to be read so there is usually some type of confrontation between the worker and the dog or the worker and the dog’s owner when asked to remove the animal from the area. It is easy to see that people that keep dogs this way did not get a dog for companionship. This dog is nothing more than a tool and eventually grows to be a social misfit. If it escapes or a child wanders into the yard the outcome is usually grim.
Dogs, like humans, are social animals. They need interaction with other living beings to be mentally stable. A dog that grows up on the end of a chain will not develop the social skills needed to suppress the attack or bite reflexes when confronted by another dog or human. Understanding pack mentality is crucial to raising a dangerous breed pup.
There are many other reasons why dogs develop aggression problems. Dogs are naturally aggressive. It is a survival instinct they are born with. The aggressive pup in the litter gets the most nutrition, warmth and affection. Once humans are in charge of the nutrition, warmth, and affection, care must be taken to insure that the pup knows its place in the human pack. The pup must be raised as a dog, not a human. Humanizing a dog will cause aggressive behavior. Issues can come from something as trivial as letting your dog on the furniture. Height is status in the pack. A dominant dog will stand over the submissive dog to show dominance. So letting your dog sit or sleep with the human pack members can give the dog a sense of authority that needs to be protected by aggression.
Not controlling the entrance to the house can cause aggression issues. If your dog charges the door at the sound of a knock or a doorbell, it is a dominant response to protect the pack. A stable dog will know to alert the pack by barking once or twice and let the pack leader deal with the intruder. When you take your dog for a walk, the dog should be the last one through the door. In fact the dog should sit at an open door until it is allowed to go out. These may seem like small details to humans, but in a dogs mind Alpha Status is everything.
If your dog is showing signs of aggression look for the triggers. What causes this dog to react violently? It may be something as subtle as a food dish by a door, or just being frustrated from lack of exercise.
Bill Allen
Outwest Canine Consulting
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