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Least Responsible Pet Owners?


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#1 The Average Joe

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Posted 06 April 2017 - 11:45 PM

I was looking at the Sacramento (bradshaw) pet rescue web page and I noticed something odd. Out of 10 pages of listed dogs available for adoption, nearly all of them were pit bulls or chihuahuas. Coincidence? Or does it say something about the owners of those two particular breeds?


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#2 Steve Heard

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Posted 07 April 2017 - 09:19 AM

I was looking at the Sacramento (bradshaw) pet rescue web page and I noticed something odd. Out of 10 pages of listed dogs available for adoption, nearly all of them were pit bulls or chihuahuas. Coincidence? Or does it say something about the owners of those two particular breeds?

 

I think it says that people want those dogs and don't know what they're getting into. 

 

Pit bulls, despite the fact that many are sweet as pie, are inherently aggressive and unpredictable.  My sister had a boxer and a pit. Both were sweet, family dogs. The pit one day took off out of the garage and attacked another dog, and on another occasion, bit a neighbor. She had to get rid of him. A friend had to get rid of hers because it growled at her toddler grandson. Had never growled at anyone before. 

 

Chihuahas are noisy. They yap at everything. The sound of the doorbell, a car passing on the street, and sometimes it seems, a leaf falling in the yard. It can get on your nerves. I have another sister who has 3 of them, and there's hardly a time when I call that they don't find a reason, or several reasons to bark. 

 

My favorite dog in the world is my daughter's PomChi (pomeranian chihuahua) Fifi. I adore that dog, but her chihuahua side is pretty noisy. 

 

Also statistically, chihuahuas bite more people than pit bulls, though they do less damage with their tiny little mouths. 

 

So, I'm guessing that people buy these breeds and then find they can't handle them. 

 

The other explanation might be that it's just they are popular breeds and a certain percentage of all breeds get sent to shelters, so 10% of chihuahas might be a greater number than 10% of beagles. 


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#3 bordercolliefan

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Posted 07 April 2017 - 10:12 AM

My friend works in dog rescue and says that pit bull and Chihuahua owners are frequently among the less-responsible owners (not all, of course).

People who want pit bulls often want a dog for the wrong reasons--they want it to add to their macho, tough image--or, sometimes, to actually provide protection. Either way, they are not looking for a sweet family dog and probably know little about training a dog to make it a good citizen. End result: lots of discarded, poorly socialized pit bulls that can have some latent aggression.

Chihuahua owners, too, often get a dog for the wrong reasons. Many of them are looking for an "accessory" that they can stick in a purse or dress up... not a real companion animal. Also, people often are lax about training the smaller breeds because they just think it's "cute" or harmless when the dogs jump on people or misbehave. They don't realize the more the dog gets away with, the more it concludes it is "top dog" and can get nippy and aggressive.

Of course, there is also the question of whether the demand for these dogs has led to irresponsible breeding, producing some animals with inherent temperament problems. The answer is probably yes.

#4 Who_Do_You_Trust

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Posted 07 April 2017 - 07:51 PM

You're all correct.  Sometimes I've thought people get these two breeds as sort of a low cost security device.  The Chihuahua because of the noise factor, and the pitbull because of its reputation.  One other thing about the pitbull that makes them extra dangerous - the physiological design of their jaws makes for a biting grip force that's substantially higher than any other dog of their size.  When they latch on, they can do some serious damage.  

 

Maybe pitbull owners should be subject to the same laws as gun owners.  A pitbull is truly more dangerous than a gun, because it actually does have a mind of its own and can "go off" by itself.



#5 nomad

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Posted 08 April 2017 - 10:24 AM

You're all correct.  Sometimes I've thought people get these two breeds as sort of a low cost security device.  The Chihuahua because of the noise factor, and the pitbull because of its reputation.  One other thing about the pitbull that makes them extra dangerous - the physiological design of their jaws makes for a biting grip force that's substantially higher than any other dog of their size.  When they latch on, they can do some serious damage.  

 

Maybe pitbull owners should be subject to the same laws as gun owners.  A pitbull is truly more dangerous than a gun, because it actually does have a mind of its own and can "go off" by itself.

 

...A pitbull is truly more dangerous than a gun,

 

Please tell me you are joking here? It falls into the hands of responsible owners, always. There are many Pitbulls that are, you know, family pets because they have responsible owners. They are not all loaded guns as you say. Such a ridiculous statement. 



#6 The Average Joe

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Posted 08 April 2017 - 12:36 PM

There is truth to both. Pit bulls have certain predispositions ON AVERAGE. Individual dogs can certainly be different from the average.

 

From the ASPCA regarding pitbulls:

 

The reality is that dogs of many breeds can be selectively bred or trained to develop aggressive traits.  Therefore the responsible ownership of any dog requires a commitment to proper socialization, humane training and conscientious supervision. Despite our best efforts, there will always be dogs of various breeds that are simply too dangerous to live safely in society. We can effectively address the danger posed by these dogs by supporting the passage and  vigorous  enforcement of laws that focus, not on breed, but on people’s responsibility for their dogs’ behavior,

 

Hence my original post. I have found many pit owners to be, um, lacking in any commitment to their own socialization, let alone their animal's.  Of course, I would guess that by my own experience, only about 20% of pet owners have well behaved dogs. That is definitely more of a reflection on the owner than the animal.


"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive" -- C.S. Lewis

 

If the only way to combat "global warming" was to lower taxes, we would never hear of the issue again. - Anonymous

 

"Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one" — Thomas Paine, 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 (1776)

 


#7 bordercolliefan

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Posted 08 April 2017 - 12:58 PM

I understand that a pit bull who is responsibly bred and well-socialized and trained from birth could be a great family dog.

Nonetheless, I find irresponsible the various "pit bull defense" groups that have sprung up, which tell us that it is wrong to be "prejudiced" against a breed and that pit bulls make as good pets as any other breed.

This just encourages people (sometimes families with small children) to go out an adopt a pit bull, when they don't know the dog's breeding, its past, or whether there are any triggers (such as toddlers being toddlers) that might send it into aggressive mode. And these unwary adopters may not know that a lot of pit bulls are backyard bred by people who don't know a lot about dog training. In my opinion, it's very dangerous to promote pit bulls as family pets.

I think dog rescue groups should be honest and say that certain breeds--especially rescued pit bulls with unknown pasts--are probably not a good bet for households with children.

#8 Who_Do_You_Trust

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Posted 08 April 2017 - 07:18 PM

 

...A pitbull is truly more dangerous than a gun,

 

Please tell me you are joking here? It falls into the hands of responsible owners, always. There are many Pitbulls that are, you know, family pets because they have responsible owners. They are not all loaded guns as you say. Such a ridiculous statement. 

 

I'm not joking here.  Agree with you that personalities of most dogs reflect those of their owners.  However, all dogs have instinctive reactions to situations that can not be trained out of them, and it's impossible to predict what they'll do if the situation is just "wrong".  In the case of a firearm, I promise you that it will do exactly what its owner tells it to do 100% of the time, ironclad guaranteed.  The same can't be said for dogs.  Based on that alone, dogs can be more dangerous than guns.

 

Look,  I'm a dog person. Have owned dogs all my life.  I'm an old coot and there have been many phases of my life when my dog was my best friend.  A dog saved my life once.  I wish dogs had the same constitutional rights that I have.  They deserve no less.  But they have genes that we don't fully understand, so we need to be a little cautious.






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