What sane person would own a dog...?

Question

Todays Headlines:


A two-year-old boy has been taken to hospital with serious facial injuries after being attacked by a dog.

Answer 1

you only get out of a dog what you put into it, if a dog is brought up correctly then it is the most loyal and trustworthy companion you could wish for. If not taught it will not learn! It's the owners who are to blame in nearly all cases not the dog.

Answer 2

What sane person would own a bicyle, a car, or have neighbors. For ever kid bitten by a dog dozens are hurt on playground equiptment, in car wrecks and intentionally by people.

While not many consider me sane, I do own dogs.

Dogs are one of our few touches left to the wild. Often we forget sometimes they are not human, not a toy and not an object. That is where the problems develop. They are a dog. They have good days and bad days. There are good dogs and bad dogs. Dogs however often very much reflect the way they are raised. A dog raised in an angry home will often be an angry dog. A dog raised in a loving home is usually a loving dog.

Still people will encounter dogs all their lives. They should know the basics about dogs the same as they know how to cross a street. Stick you face in a dog's face and your asking to get bit. Dogs are pack animals and they often see children as junior members of the pack if they are raised in a home without children.

As for me, I own dogs, 2 of them. One is over six foot in height and he's literally chewed through a steel can to get at it's contents before. I am %100 comfortable with this dog around my daughter and her friends. Only one child have I ever seperated this dog from and that was because of the kid not my dog. The kid had a sneaky kind of slimy residue to him. My dog instantly distrusted him and so did I. This dog is a large alpha male. I trust him completely. In fact as a puppy he may have saved my daughter from a dog attack. I was out on my land and my daughter got tired and went back to the car. My dog only 3 months old accompanied her. I heard a commotion and ran back to the car to find my puppy growling up a storm and having put himself directly between the dogs and my daughter. He knew he had no chance. Soon as I got there he jumped in the car to hide there with my daughter. He would have given his life to save my daughter's life.

Once of the most beautiful animals I've ever had. Can't say I owned him though. He was a wolf and he chose me one day. No idea what a wolf was doing in the middle of the city but he just came up to me and we were inseperable from then on. I mean a wolf, not a dog that looks like a wolf. This was no dog. I sometimes thought it could understand what I was saying he was so intelligent. He was fearless, kind and fiercely loyal.

You see a dog is a gateway into the wild that lives right in your own home. It is a touch of nature. A companion. A friend. Somebody to watch your house while your gone. Somebody to protect your family when you can't be there. An alert system if somebody comes too near your home. Yes they need to be taught and often reminded. So do children. Should we discard children from the world? Dogs and people have been together almost as long as there have been people. A society so sterile and hateful as to bar dogs from it is a society that has lost it's humanity as well.

Answer 3

I grew up with a Bull Mastiff and a Great Dane. I have no horror stories to tell of regarding my childhood. Its down to the owners. These so called dangerous dogs are turned into un predictable animals by the owners. Put in the wrong hands even a toy poodle could be turned into a vicious nipping little dog! Look at the idiots that own these dogs that attack kids and then ask yourself how sane are the owners?

Answer 4

Is this all there is to the story?

We have four dogs, two very big dogs that weigh more then I do and they have yet to put anyone in the hospital. In the United States many people own dogs.

Fact is pets, dogs included are used as handicapped helpers and people in senior centers and other institutions benefit from having a pet, usually a dog, come in to the place just to visit the patients, even if it is just to be petted.

The good far outnumber the bad when owning pets....Sorry to hear about the young child.

Answer 5

This is bull****.... Dogs, especially big ones, love children. I grew up in a house with 3 dogs; 2 Great Danes and the other was a tiny Yorkshire. These dogs never even tried to harm me. Quite the opposite. They loved me... If a child was attacked by a dog its definitely the fault of the owner. Dogs dont attack unprovoked and do NOT attack children if trained properly. Something which the owner obviously did not do.

Answer 6

I own two dogs and i am perfectly sane. I can tell you that i feel a lot of parents with kids allow their kids to touch my dogs without my permission and it really annoys me. You don't touch dogs without asking permission first. For all they know my dogs could be dangerous. I am always asked will your dogs bite. I always answer the same thing over and over , they have never bitten anybody but their is always a first time. I have seen kids teasing my dogs, moaned at them and chased them away . My dogs lie and wait outside the shops for me they are well-trained and the majority of people love my dogs and always compliment me on how good they are. But then you get stupid parents who have no control over their kids and those are the kids that eventually get a bite. Parents should take responsibility for their kids like i am responsible for what my dog does. Nopes i am sane. The dogs always get the blame but nobody ever mentions how kids tease dogs, pull their ears and stand in front of the dogs making grrrr noises. I blame the parents.

Answer 7

That's really sad, but you surely cannot blame all dogs for the behavior of one dog.
After all, how many headlines have there been about mothers or fathers abusing or even killing their children... There is a lot of bad stuff in this world. That doesn't make the world bad--- nor all mothers, all fathers, or all dogs.
My dogs have always been very protective and gentle with kids.

Answer 8

I agree with Char, why would a child be left alone with a dog.

I have a dog to help with my disability. I am in a wheelchair and my dog helps me put my washing in the machine, picks up anything I ask her to. She can even pick up a 5 pence piece off the floor and give it to me. I would not be able to do most of my daily chores without my dog. When my nieces and nephews come around, I never leave them unattended with my dog. As soft as butter as she is and has always been, you can never trust any animal 100%. Not all dogs are bad, bad dogs are brought up by bad owners.

Answer 9

I would and have more than once but I do not treat or allow the animal to be out of control. Dogs are pack animals and should know who is the head of the pack. ie. the owner. Unfortunately a lot of people use their dogs as wepons or security and that is where the fault lies.

Answer 10

Excuse me, I am perfectly sane and along with millions of other dog owners have a dog who would not attack anybody. Obviously, ALL dog owners will feel for that poor little boy, but please don't tar everybody with the same brush. You are just showing your own ignorance.