Big Dog, Little Dog, Sad, Dog, Vicious Dog, Dead Dog

I am not even going to pretend I know what it’s like to be mauled by a dog – I am sorry for those that are affected.

Please don’t blame the breed of dog, blame the dog, blame the owner, BUT not the breed as a whole.

I had a Rottweiler when my first child was born. People said I would have to get rid of the dog because she (the dog) would get jealous and hurt my first born.

No – I refused to get rid of Rottweiler, instead I made an effort to incorporate that dog along with my baby into the family unit. I had my Rottweiler for a total of 14 years of which 8 years she lived side-by-side with my daughter, protected her, guarded her, pulled her pram and helped me around the house. (The dog, not the child)

The dog was known to bark when my daughter was getting up to no good, the dog would not permit people near the pram when the child was in the pram. The dog would sit between myself and the person I was having a conversation with and play verbal tennis. Her head would go from speaker to speaker, listening/watching the people and the conversation.

This dog was truly a member of the family, she was socialized, she was well-adjusted, she was loved and most of all she loved.

Dogs, just like children need discipline. Dogs need to know that you are the master. Once the pecking order has been established, they understand where they stand in their ‘society’ as they see it.

Dogs, just like people, have the good, the bad and ugly. The causes could be upbringing, genetics, all sorts of events that can cause trauma. Sometimes a dog will instinctively try and protect itself, not mean any harm but do harm inadvertently.

Other times a dog will just lose the plot, just like humans; again, genetics, upbringing, illness, old age.

Children SHOULD NEVER be left alone with a dog of ANY size, I’ve been attacked by terriers and poodles, yet have not been attacked by Rottweilers, Ridgebacks or German Shepherds. Often this is because the owners of large dogs acknowledge their responsibility in that owning a big dog requires that dog to be disciplined and controlled at all times.

Often you will find that dogs which do attack, are dogs that belong to young males, who ‘rough’ them up for a bit of fun, teach them to attack cats and similar small animals, simply for the thrill of controlling another animal.

These dogs are often un-socialised and allowed to rot in the backyard until it is time for some entertainment by the owner.

Dogs do get jealous, dogs do get lonely, dogs do feel pain, dogs do feel panic, dogs do feel aggression. They may not be able to express these feelings and many people can’t read these feelings in animals, but they do feel them and often display these with ear movements, tail location and even lip movements.

It is not the dogs fault as a general rule – more often than not, it is a human’s fault, for allowing unsuitable dogs to breed OR not socializing animals, or not integrating them into the new family properly.

All non-breeding animals should be de-sexed, it should be compulsory for all dog owners to get a license, something like a drivers license, to permit the ownership of animals, and if an animal kills another animal or human, then the dog should be euthanized immediately. No court rooms, no argument, If your dog kills, due to your lack of care and responsibility then you and the dog are punished. Then IF the owner of the dog can be located, they are banned from owning a dog for 10 years and the ‘license’ revoked, pending a new application in 10 years time.

These thoughts and ideas are mine alone, but sometimes, once again, common sense needs to be re-introduced into society. Without common sense, many things go wrong which could cause devestation to a family.

Take care.