BAD OWNERS or BAD BREEDERS?

Question

I see alot of comments in here blaming irresponsible ownership when their pit bull etc. bites or shows aggression... yes, bad ownership causes alot of these problems but are you aware that Temperament in dogs is a genetic factor? Yes it is about 80% genetic,,, so, if you buy a puppy with ill tempered parents,, you could love it and treat it right and still run the risk of having a ill tempered animal....... BLAME the bad breeders first ,, then the bad owners.

Answer 1

I completely agree with you here. Good breeders consider a dog's temperament when they breed. A bad temper means the dog is pulled from the breeding pool, period.

I'm not going to say that every puppy from bad tempered parents is going to be bad, but IMO, the risk of it is very high. That's why I feel, with any breed of dog, it's very important to work with a reputable breeder who takes into consideration the temperament of their breeding dogs.

These people who just buy a puppy out of the paper, from you local byb, usually have NO IDEA the actual background of that puppy. That is just not a risk I am willing to take.

Answer 2

You are absolutely correct. Genetics play a huge role in the outcome of an adult dog. And no, you cannot "overcome" genetics like one person said here, any more then you can instill drives that are not there. Hence the reason we have so many crap dogs in this world. People think that the cute puppy they just bought will be a good dog if they give it the right upbringing, but, they don't realize that they are not magicians and cannot remove genetics from the equation. A bad tempered dog will always be a bad tempered dog, no matter what kind of raising it has. Research your breed carefully and look at what the breeder has done in the past, check out some of those dogs and see what they are like. Look at the parents and most important of all, ACCEPT responsibility for your choice of purchase. If you know you are getting a crap dog, then accept that and live with it. If you re getting a top of the line animal, then treat it like such. And finally, it is the breeders that produce the dogs that we all have today, the responsibility lies with them. And because reputable breeders are investing a lot of time and money into this, they are allowed to charge what some are claiming to be outrageous prices for their dogs. If you cannot afford them, don't buy them. If you are happy with taking a chance with a dog from anyone, then do it and do not complain about your choice in the end.

Answer 3

I think that these types of dogs will always have a bad rep. I had a Rottie and he was the sweetest dog ever but everyone acted like he was vicious. He was just a big baby. Society deems that Pitts, Rotties, and other large breed dogs are viscous cause they are media worthy. The catch the viewers eye. I was attacked by a standard poodle that bit into my leg. No story there. Small dogs can be very mean..they aren't media worthy.

Dogs are animals you can train them all you want but they will snap whenever and however. I think that breeders have a responsibility to breed appropriately but even a breeder may not have a true back ground on the other dogs that they are breeding with.

I think if we all do our parts to be the best owners we can and keep people away from our pets than we are doing the best we can. I just made sure that no-one could get to my rottie and he couldn't get to anyone. It is sad but this is the society we are in.

Answer 4

I agree......when you have a breeder who has actually researched their lines, and pay attention to their program, you will have a good dog. Its when you get ignorant people breeding their dog to anything under the sun that you get bad blood. They don't know the background of their dog, and the suckers that buy them haven't a clue as to what they are getting.

Yes, a big part of the temperment is genetic, but you can either cultivate that temperment, or mold it.....its too bad, really, I have seen quite a few of these "dangerous breeds" doing things like Search and Rescue, Narcotics detection, etc.

Answer 5

Temperment is 80% genetic? Where did that figure come from? It has no basis in fact.This is the current stand on agressiveness:
Variability in behaviour has a wider range within a breed than between breeds. Within the discipline of psychobiology and animal behaviour there is no data from empirically supported studies, published in refereed scientific literature, to support the idea that one breed of dog is `vicious.' The adult behaviour of a domestic dog is determined overwhelmingly by its experiential history, environmental management and training." - Dr. Mary Lee Nitschke, Ph.D.
Genetics are not nearly as important as a dogs life expirience, training and environment. If that were the case we would have many more problems with dog attacks since "well bred" dogs are the vast minority. If people would spend more time reading fact than repeating fiction, there would be better answers here with more actual information. Most of the answers here are purely opinion based. If this info about temperment being 80% genetics was given to you by a dog breeder, I would steer clear and find a breeder who was better informed. Breeders generally know surprisingly little about genetics, if the opposite was the case, they would get more dogs that 'turn out' from their litters than they do.


"‘Belief’ means not wanting to know what is true."-Nietzsche

Answer 6

I agree but it is not just the pits who have issues. Alot of the breeding plays a great part but I have received dogs from aggressive lines and with care and proper training they were fine around people and dogs. I do put alot of blame on breeders but in general it is just pure human irresponsibility

Answer 7

K, here's the thing. A "nice" owner, a "loving" owner, an "affectionate" owner is not necessarily a "good" owner, which is why Pit Bull type dogs are not for everyone. This is true of ANY breed but especially dogs that have brains and can use them independent of what a human is telling you. Pit Bulls require firm, consistent discipline that is fair. If you let them get away with stupid crap, counter surfing, jumping on furniture without being invited, ignoring you, you just gave them permission to do ANYTHING they want. There is no half way. They are strong minded and can be very stubborn. So the owners for these dogs need to be one step ahead of the dog at all times. I can "love" my dog all I want and let him walk all over me all the time (he has his CGC and is neutered, by the way) and he will always walk all over me and figure out very quickly he can do what he wants. It's not different than parenting, at least not different than the way I parent my kids. Pit bulls are good dogs, but a "loving" "caring" owner is not what these dogs need. They need an owner that can be firm and kick some butt (metaphorically speaking) when the situation calls for it. These are not click-click here's a treat dogs. They will outsmart you when you aren't paying attention. Sounds like your friend is what my breeder calls a "froo-froo" owner. The dog can do whatever he wants. If she doesn't want to have him euthanized, and I would, she needs to give him to a reputable rescue to get him into a suitable home, FYI, Pit Bulls don't "lock" their jaws. That's completely false. German Shepherds do not belong with people who live in an apartment and never do anything. Herding breeds are not for people who never venture outside their own house. Tiny breeds shouldn't be in a home with very small children. Huskies shouldn't be in a home with cats and other small pets. Pit Bulls need to be with experienced dog owners. Every dog breed is different but each breed somewhere has some behavioral trait that has been bred into the dog for generations that won't go away. Oh, and the "aggression" that was bred into Pit Bulls was NOT human aggression, it was DOG aggression. It was only recently when the media turned pit bulls into ruthless, mindless killing machines did people start breeding poor temperament and encourage human aggression. A "good" Pit Bull is one that is always happy to meet a new friend. Mine tried to go home with the CMP guy, the cable guy, the UPS guy (twice) and assumes everyone's one goal in life is to pat him.

Answer 8

My American Stafforshire Terrier was a rescue effort of mine. He is a good natured dog but had his ears cut off with shears with his legs ducktaped together and his mouth tied shut. He was also only fed table scraps in a small outdoor pen with another female dog.
I'm just saying that the way people treat these "status symbol" dogs is rediculous and I absolutely believe that years of being bred for aggressive tendencies and being treated this way have both degraded and shamed the entire pit bull breed. I wish there were more great dogs like mine, who even after his whole ordeal only harbours anger towards other dogs because of the older female who used to beat the heck out of him everytime they were thrown a bit of food. And, I can't really blame him. Years of genetic degrading and starvation would make any animal not like its own kind. As a responsible owner hower, he is neutered, continues training every week with a professional and goes in yearly to be photographed and registered with the city and pass a temperment test with the humane society.
I like to think of myself as a responsible owner..... I wish more people were interested in pit's genetics and preservation of the true breed as it used to be. Seems now everone just wants to wipe them out.

Answer 9

most puppies are born with normal temperaments. it the female that can cause problem with the puppy if she is not friendly toward people and the puppies see this then they are likely to behave this way. if there were not so many back yard breeders that did not pay attention to the female temperment. there would be less nasty bad dogs.

Answer 10

Both are true. Genetics do have a small role in it but if raised and trained correctly you can overcome it. Some people though do buy these certain breed for the genetics and raise them to be aggressive or raise them for fights. I have seen it too much over the years where I work.