Quote:
Originally Posted by cstreit
..because that's "easier" than properly training them.
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You hit the nail on the head.
Growing up in a rough town (Passaic, NJ), we had two guard dogs -- a German Shepard (Vicki) and a Hungarian Puli (Pamacs) - a medium sized sheepdog. Both were trained to be guard dogs. yet at the same time could be friendly with who WE wanted them to be friendly with. By guard dogs, I mean very alert and obedient. Two Hungarian words: "Fodg meg." (translation: CATCH HIM) spoken under my breath, and they were at the ready. There were plenty of times when our dogs saved the day and stopped intruders from entering our house or stealing our property.
Now my bro-in-law has a pit-bull mix (mostly pit bull, a little bit of rottweiler.) (Scrappy) That dog is the most docile dog I have ever seen. When they take him to the doggie park, when he interacts with the other pups, he's the first one to lay on his back in submission! He's afraid of mice for crying out loud! Heck - my medium sized Puli would probably give him a good run for his money...
Having said that, I must say, the jaws on a pit bull are nothing like any other dog's I have handled. And his upper chest is all muscle. The combination of those two elements leads to a very, very powerful dog. When he clamps down -- even if he's just playing -- can be a problem. I have never seen a dog EAT a large rawhide bone in one sitting before. Scrappy will do that. He will also tear open a tennis ball -- even a golf ball! Very, very powerful. I can see why folks are leary about pitbulls.
But with all animals, one has to be careful. Do the wrong thing, and no matter how well a dog is trained, it is still an animal, and animal instincts will always come to the front in times of crisis. It is always good to keep that in mind...
-Z-man.