*Rant on dangerous pets and their owners*

[Pip Boy]

You'd be much safer just keeping Charlie Sheen as a pet.

[Premmy]

A Little boy on my block was mauled by a pair of Loose pitbulls this month. He's currently in critical condition. People who don't take care of their pets and look after them responsibly piss me the fuck off beyond belief

That said. I own a rottweiler a so called "Vicious" breed and I'm beginning to worry very much about both the safety of my little puppy while left alone in our yard whilst me and the roomate are at work and the general level of persecution I'm probably going to face in the coming months raising her.

Animals respond to the stimulus you give them, bad pet-owners make bad pets.

[Bard The 5th LW]

A few weeks ago, a friend and I found a parakeet fluttering around my backyard. We tried to get it to calm down so we could grab it, but it just flew a few blocks away. We lost track of it. Poor bird is probably dead. Admittedly, it wasn't dangerous towards us, but I've heard some stories of parrots and their ilk being dangerous birds in certain circumstances.

edit: we have little terriers running around, and they aren't physically dangerous, but the older one is just damn manipulative.

[Krylo]

Originally Posted by Marc v1.0

Pittbulls are absolute sweethearts unless you in-breed and then beat them for fighting, or they go crazy, but that is true of any big dog really. Blame the people, but don't hate the pup

No. They aren't.

They have a reputation for being vicious because they were bred to be guard dogs. That means that when the breed was first created there were personality traits that were selected for in breeding as well as strength. Amongst those were a strong desire to protect its territory and a 'vicious' attitude in a fight.

Loyalty was ALSO amongst them, but when a dog starts going senile, or losing hearing and sight with age, welp.

I mean, yes, the people who have said that if they raise a pet properly it will probably be fine are completely correct, but on the other hand there is a reason you don't hear of many people raising wolves even from puppies that don't end with 'and then it mauled a child'.

Personality traits can be given a higher incidence through breeding, and while proper nurturing can repress them it's not a 100% thing and if you have a dog like a pitbull or a rottweiler you should be cognizant of that fact and treat it appropriately. Which is to say keep it leashed or fenced in places, don't let it play with small children (who are likely to yank on its tail/ears/do other things to provoke it--even the most mild mannered dogs and cats can react with violence to this, regardless of breed), and definitely don't let it run around your neighborhood where children play.

Just because they act nice and kind to you that doesn't mean they're going to be 'sweethearts' to anyone else who comes near. Especially if they decide to be protective of their 'pack'.

Edit: P.S. Trained attack dogs are also 'sweethearts' with their handlers, but you better believe they will rip a bitch's throat out if they're provoked in the wrong way.

Edit2: Really even ignoring that they are more likely to be mean to people who they don't recognize through selective breeding, they have ridiculously powerful jaws and are basically murder machines. They are weapons in living form, and you shouldn't ignore that fact just because you think they are cute or they have never acted out before. They are capable of killing someone very quickly.

[phil_]

I counter your well-reasoned arguments, Krylo, with my anecdote about the pitbull and her owner that I met in my alley. I have never been sober around this dog. Never ever. Why would I be sober in a freaking alley? Anyway, she's adorable, her owner reported the hole where the sewer collapsed in the alley, and I felt genuine concern when I saw posters of a similar missing pitbull until I saw her again. That dog is awesome.

Anecdotes! Off to the writing thread!

[Amake]

At least none of us are trapped indoors at night by packs of de-domesticated dogs roaming the streets. That happens in some places you know.

I've always said I like cats and dogs in equal measure, but when you think about it cats kill and maim a whole lot less people. Even though they spend a lot more time unsupervised and unleashed. It might be time to give up that "man's best friend" title, dogs.

[Premmy]

Originally Posted by Krylo

No. They aren't.

They have a reputation for being vicious because they were bred to be guard dogs.

Actually Pit Bulls were bred not as guard dogs, but as animal-fighting dogs.

Whereas Rottweilers were bred as herd and work dogs(pulling carts and the like)
In a sense they can be considered "Guard Dog" breeds since I'm sure they were often used to protect owners from strange animals, but they aren't necessarily naturally human-aggressive.

That means that when the breed was first created there were personality traits that were selected for in breeding as well as strength. Amongst those were a strong desire to protect its territory and a 'vicious' attitude in a fight.

well yes, a strong Guard attitude, but pitbulls were actually (originally anyway) supposed to be easily separable from fights by human intervention.

Loyalty was ALSO amongst them, but when a dog starts going senile, or losing hearing and sight with age, welp.

This is definitely one of those "well that goes for almost everything" things and I know you know that

I mean, yes, the people who have said that if they raise a pet properly it will probably be fine are completely correct, but on the other hand there is a reason you don't hear of many people raising wolves even from puppies that don't end with 'and then it mauled a child'.

Apples and Oranges, man.

Personality traits can be given a higher incidence through breeding, and while proper nurturing can repress them it's not a 100% thing and if you have a dog like a pitbull or a rottweiler you should be cognizant of that fact and treat it appropriately.

Most definitely, yes but you have to be sure of the traits you're dealing with and not confusing them for other, similar traits, such as in the case with animal-aggression and Human-aggression

Which is to say keep it leashed or fenced in places, don't let it play with small children (who are likely to yank on its tail/ears/do other things to provoke it--even the most mild mannered dogs and cats can react with violence to this, regardless of breed), and definitely don't let it run around your neighborhood where children play.

yup

Just because they act nice and kind to you that doesn't mean they're going to be 'sweethearts' to anyone else who comes near. Especially if they decide to be protective of their 'pack'.

That's a matter of training will they be aggressive to other humans? that's up to you, do they have a greater chance to be aggressive to other animals? now THAT'S up to breeding.

Edit: P.S. Trained attack dogs are also 'sweethearts' with their handlers, but you better believe they will rip a bitch's throat out if they're provoked in the wrong way.

Emphasis on the "Trained" part of this statement

Edit2: Really even ignoring that they are more likely to be mean to people who they don't recognize through selective breeding, they have ridiculously powerful jaws and are basically murder machines. They are weapons in living form, and you shouldn't ignore that fact just because you think they are cute or they have never acted out before. They are capable of killing someone very quickly.

I really hope you're not citing that "Jaw lock" bullshit, because it is, indeed, bullshit

Both animals were bred for physical strength for their respective duties, and an enhanced prey instinct towards animals in particular and loyalty to humans.

Basically these dogs were trained to be aggressive(Kinda) to other animals first and foremost.

More often than not aggression can be curtailed to an extreme degree when only around humans, though improper socialization can lead to the presence of other animals flipping that switch, so don't keep them isolated from other dogs.

[Krylo]

Originally Posted by Premmy

Apples and Oranges, man.

The only real difference between wolves and domesticated dogs are a few thousand years of living around humans and breeding/domestication.

So it's not really. It's the same thing. Aggression and territorial instincts weren't slowly bred out of wild wolves. This makes them much more dangerous even when raised from pups.

In the same way aggression was bred into various fighting dogs, which makes them much more dangerous than non-fighting dogs. Not to the same level, but the comparison is there.

Most definitely, yes but you have to be sure of the traits you're dealing with and not confusing them for other, similar traits, such as in the case with animal-aggression and Human-aggression

They aren't really that different. Humans are just animals. Aggression is aggression. The only reason there's a difference to the dogs is that domesticated dogs see humans as part of their pack.

Depending on how much exposure the dog has to people other than its immediate family (and how those people treat it/its family) 'animal-aggression' can very quickly turn into 'aggression toward any humans I don't recognize' because, again, humans are animals.

I really hope you're not citing that "Jaw lock" bullshit, because it is, indeed, bullshit

More like the 'they are a very powerful animal that can maul and kill you quicker than most people give them credit for just because they've been domesticated'.

Edit: I mean really, how often do you hear of a golden retriever mauling people? Compared to a pitbull or rott? There's a reason for this, guys.

[Premmy]

Labrador breeds bite Pretty often, actually

[Professor Smarmiarty]

Fuck dogs and their owners.