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Depending upon how aggressive a dog is, yes they should be muzzled when out in public. My dog does not need a muzzle because she is always on a leash when out and does listen very well.
Our dogs are our companions also. I do not get dogs to use as guard dogs; if I was going to do that I'd have German Rotties that can be trained very well for protection. Alaska is a big dog state; every other car or truck has a dog/s in them and all of the people I know have them as pets.
You must have misunderstood, I certainly do not live in a fear-filled world where I need a dog for personal protection; most people up here have other things in the home just for that purpose, myself included. My point was a good watchdog will alert you when something is wrong or someone is at your door.
I also don't live in a fear filled world.
I've only recently moved out of a city of about 1 million people. Even then, I wasn't fearful.
I would never want any dog that I owned to protect me. Protecting me might very well cost them their life.
As a responsible dog owner, I'm much more concerned about protecting them!
Last edited by World Citizen; 01-04-2010 at 05:43 PM..
My dog has protected me against a would be mugger. She didn't bite him, just gave a good ammount of discouragement with raised hackles and a snarl. If she had been all wags, I would have been robbed or worse. For me personally, I like a dog who will not let just anyone approach. She is still socialized & well trained enough to play with others, and even has a very submisive personality towards other dogs.
I bet if you pulled a pistol out they would hurry the hell up and grab their dog(s).
We've had a couple of similar incidents, one on which the dog came through the invisible fence, charged and attacked one of our females. Chivalry not being dead our male quickly jumped on the offender and sent it backwards after a well placed strike made it yelp. Meanwhile the owner took her sweet time sashahing (sp?) down the driveway.
Yes, that is just what we need... more irresponsible gun owners on an ego trip.
You should have to pass a test to be able to use a dog park. The idea of it is entirely stupid in my opinion. You throw a bunch of dogs, all with various sets of problems together and they are all supposed to get along? What idiocy....I don't need someone's feeble attempt at socializing their dog at my dog's expense. So, we stay home and take long walks in the woods....
You should have to pass a test to be able to use a dog park. The idea of it is entirely stupid in my opinion. You throw a bunch of dogs, all with various sets of problems together and they are all supposed to get along? What idiocy....I don't need someone's feeble attempt at socializing their dog at my dog's expense. So, we stay home and take long walks in the woods....
The problem that I see with a non-friendly dog is the potential for a lawsuit should said dog bite another dog or human. Not worth the risk in my opinion. Aggressive dogs do not belong in public, unmuzzled, period.
I got my dog as a companion. Someone I can take to outings with my friends and their dogs. Had I wanted a guard dog, I would have went that route, but I was looking for a companion and that is exactly what I got and couldn't be happier. I don't live in a fear-filled world where I need a dog for personal protection. Does my dog bark if someone is outside the door? Absolutely. But that is as far as I want him to go. I'd be mortified if he mauled someone, no matter what the circumstances.
Well, you can have both, you know. Companion and guard dog. Our first rottweiler was exactly that. She could safely be taken anywhere and was truly a goodwill ambassador for her breed. She was also a great guardian here at home, that would welcome our friends with doggy delight.
I certainly don't live in fear, but I do live in the real world. She was perfect for our situation. I'm not frightened everytime I enter a car, but I do use a seat belt.
In the unlikely event of a break-in or home invasion the safety of the family trumps the safety of an individual(s) commiting a criminal act.
Well, you can have both, you know. Companion and guard dog. Our first rottweiler was exactly that. She could safely be taken anywhere and was truly a goodwill ambassador for her breed. She was also a great guardian here at home, that would welcome our friends with doggy delight.
I certainly don't live in fear, but I do live in the real world. She was perfect for our situation. I'm not frightened everytime I enter a car, but I do use a seat belt.
In the unlikely event of a break-in or home invasion the safety of the family trumps the safety of an individual(s) commiting a criminal act.
Hmm, my dog is very friendly towards people and does the crooked as I call it when someone comes near him and wants them to pet him. He also comes with me on 90% of errands, since it's very dog friendly here. That's the companion part of him. Does the fact that he barks when someone is at the door, or when (very rarely) someone he just doesn't like comes near me make him a guard dog? A lot of people are actually scared of him and think he'll attack and cross the stree when we're coming. He's been called a Pitbull more times that I can count! I guess I have the best of both worlds!
Hmm, my dog is very friendly towards people and does the crooked as I call it when someone comes near him and wants them to pet him. He also comes with me on 90% of errands, since it's very dog friendly here. That's the companion part of him. Does the fact that he barks when someone is at the door, or when (very rarely) someone he just doesn't like comes near me make him a guard dog? A lot of people are actually scared of him and think he'll attack and cross the stree when we're coming. He's been called a Pitbull more times that I can count! I guess I have the best of both worlds!
Yes I would say "all" of us pet lovers have the best of both worlds.
I don't go to a dog park to socialize my dog, I go to give him off-leash exercise, since he can jump the fence in our yard, but not the one at the dog park. We walk him lots, but I like for him to get to run freely. Our dog park isn't very crowded, and we tend to go at offpeak times to further take advantage of relative-to-complete emptiness.
We socialize him with other dogs we know, and know the owners...the neighbors' Bassets, my brother's lab mix, my colleague's shepherd mix, etc.
Yes, I'm aware of the differences; which is why I prefer to not live in over-crowded cities but we're all different in what we want. The problems I see with a dog that is friendly to strangers are: It makes it even easier for someone to just take the dog if given the chance and second, I like knowing that my dogs are excellent watch dogs (nothing escapes them). We live in a good, quiet area but things can and do happen all over unfortunately.
bailey is fine with strangers, and other dogs, as long as i am ........ but believe you me ...... nothing or no one outside escapes her attention when we are at home.......
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