What is your Philosophy on dog breeds???????

Question

Here is what I want to know? Why do people hate Pit Bulls so much??? I know the media has a lot to do with this, but the truth is not all Pit Bulls are mean. I know two Pit Bulls who are the sweetest dogs in the world. One I own, and my best friend owns the other. I also own three English bulldogs which are also sweet dogs. However my Bulldogs get on these rambunctious playing kicks. I know my Pit Bull wants to play too, but she will just come sit in my lap and watch them play. Also when it comes to food the English bulldogs act like gremlins, while my pit bull waits patiently in her bed for her food. All dogs have the potential to bite and hurt people. Golden Retrievers, Pomerania's, Chiawawas, Collies, Mutts, Poodles, Black Labs, and Yorkies bite people all the time, but it never gets media coverage. My point is that not all Pit Bulls, Chow Chows, German Shepard's, Mastiffs, Doberman Pincher's, and Rottweillers are mean dogs. I am wondering what your guys take on this is???

Actor Ving Rhames's care taker was supposedly mauled by two of Rhames's dogs, because there are teeth marks on the dead care takers body. Police are saying though that they don't know if the dog bite killed this man, or if he had a heart attack, or some other medical issue. Rhames has 3 Mastiffs and 1 English Bulldog. I just get so angry about this sort of thing because we don't know what really happened, yet the dogs are already guilty. Maybe the care taker was abusing them, maybe the dogs were trying to wake this guy up!!!! We don't know!! What do you think???? Why are people so quick to judge??? We weren't there!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 1

Society's unjust discrimination on animals of their kind is a horrible problem in our culture. Whether it's the people who abuse and fight these dogs or the counties and states that actually ban their breed, these dogs haven't been appreciated as they deserve. It's time to celebrate their loyalty and beauty. Show people that they can be family dogs and best friends........ maybe eventually they'll be seen differently!!!!

I don't see why pitts are the target. "Fatal attacks since 1975 have been attributed to over 30 different dog breeds yet all the media can talk about are Pit bulls, Rottweilers, Dobermans, or Akitas and other large breeds. Size alone is not an accurate indicator of which dogs are capable of killing and which dogs are not. In October of 2000, a baby was killed by the families Pomeranian dog in California. The average weight of a Pomeranian being only 4 pounds, and in February of 2002, a Jack Russell Terrier mauled a 6 week old baby in Tennessee."

ANOTHER THING.... Is the dog that just bit someone a Labrador/Golden/Setter/Chow mix? Guess what, it will probably be listed as a Chow Chow bite. Own a Terrier/Hound/Bull dog mix? Chances are good it will be listed as a Pit Bull.

"Recently polled a number of animal shelter workers and this is what they said about dog bites. Most of the bites they've seen have been by small unfriendly Terrier type dogs and Cocker Spaniels. Occasionally they have seen a larger dog on a bite case but the vast majority of the bites were from small to medium sized dogs.

The dog groomers said most of the bites they see are from Schnauzers, Cocker Spaniels, Westies, Scotties, and Dachshunds.

Next a number of veterinarians. One veterinarian said, "Give me a so-called vicious Pit Bull over a Cocker Spaniel, Dachshund, or even a Lab any day!! These are the breeds I have the most problem with." Another vet concurred saying that in years of working at a veterinarian clinic she never once encountered a single vicious Pit bull yet had problems all the time with Cocker Spaniels and Yorkshire Terriers.

Speaking of provoking, an entire category of bites that are reported and shouldn't be are the truly provoked bites. The bites in which the person involved was clearly at fault and not the dog. The bites that occurred for instance when the person who was bitten was somewhere they should not have been in the first place. For example, recently in Maryland a 13-year-old boy was bitten after he was caught leaning over the fence into a person's yard, teasing the Pit bull contained there. Prior to the bite incident, this boy was warned 3 times to leave this dog alone. The dog owner was having so many problems with people teasing and provoking her dogs that she contacted Animal Control for assistance. Under advisement from the authorities, she ringed her backyard fence with evenly spaced "Beware of Dog" and "No Trespassing" signs. Yet these signs and 3 verbal warnings from an adult witness were still not enough to keep this boy out of this dog owner's yard. The dog owner has now lost her dog to the authorities and another bite statistic has been entered. Yet, was it this dog's fault? No! This dog, Pit bull or otherwise, was simply defending itself and its territory from an intruder. The boy needs to be prosecuted for trespassing.

Hand in hand with this is the general failure of parents today to teach their children even the most basic rules of canine safety and good manners. Day in and day out parents encourage their children to approach and touch strange dogs without a single thought of the consequences, or even bothering to ask permission of the dog owner involved. They tolerate and encourage their children to put their hands through fences to grab at animals contained inside. This is the epitome of irresponsibility. Fences are there for a reason and that reason is to keep people, animals or things, in; and others out. No animal should have to put up with strangers of any size, grabbing, groping, pulling their tails and ears, and hitting or poking them, yet this goes on daily and people expect that the animal will be some sort of saint in fur in return. This is completely unrealistic viewpoint. A parent would be outraged and probably screaming for the police if a stranger approached and started groping their child, yet they think nothing of doing the same thing to a strange animal.

To go by statistics alone assumes that the majority of dog bites are reported and that the majority of breeds identified are correct. As a long time dog fancier, I have a serious problem with either assumption. Too bad many insurance companies are now refusing to provide home owners insurance to owners of certain breeds and many communities are banning ownership of dogs, based on statistics that are dubious at best."


ONCE AGAIN!! Appreciate the beauty of pitt bull's and pitt bull mixes!!! Society's unjust discrimination on animals of their kind is a horrible problem in our culture. Whether it's the people who abuse and fight these dogs or the counties and states that actually ban their breed, these dogs haven't been appreciated as they deserve. It's time to celebrate their loyalty and beauty. Show people that they can be family dogs and best friends. Maybe, eventually they'll be seen differently!!!!

Each Year

440,000 are killed by cigarettes
40,000 are killed in car accidents
38,000 children are killed in gun-related incidents
2,000 children are killed by their PARENTS
and 3 are killed by a pit

so where does the real epidemic lie?

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By the way, to anyone who complains about "it's in the wrong category" "it's in the wrong category" "it's in the wrong category"..........

GET OVER IT! Just skip the question, but do NOT be an idiot and whine and complain and question if it is in the wrong category. Of all categories THIS one would have the most discrepancies because the definition of "Philosophy" DOES NOT EXCIST! Look it up on Wikipedia.

Answer 2

Most of my dogs have been rescued off the streets...one of them happens to be a Wolf Hybrid, another feared dog breed. I have since met many Wolf dogs, and they have varied in temperament. I happened to luck out. The thing is, that yes, all dogs bite, but the bigger, the worse. Case in point: I have a rescued American Eskimo, if he were a pit bull, Rottweiler, doberman etc. I would be in serious trouble, because he is aggressive.

In general, pit bulls have a certain instinct, just as labs do.......there are always going to be pre-disposed traits to the different breeds. Labs have hip/back-end problems and like to retrieve things....Australian Shepard's like to heard people and animals....it really just depends on the the breed. However, there are always exceptions to this. The general traits are a starting point, a map...but like people, each has it's own personality. some are sweet, some laid back, some hyper, some angry, some aggressive.

If you have small children, you are taking a chance with the more known "problem" breeds. You never hear on the news about a poodle killing some one. See my point?

I love all dogs. Bad dogs are usually a product of a bad owner.

Answer 3

As you well know, some people specifically breed and train Pit Bulls to be aggressive, and to fight and injure both other dogs and humans. Although most Pit Bull owners are not like that, the actions of those few owners bring disrepute upon the breed. Perhaps it's unfair that the breed instead of the owners get the bad reputation, but that's hardly the only example in our society of skewed perceptions.

Answer 4

You really don't understand genetics at all, do you. What is this "add new genetic information" nonsense? Are you an exact clone of your mother or father? Have you ever heard of genetic drift? DNA becomes longer all the time through observed mutations of duplication, shift, and substitution. You would do well to learn about something before you try to apply your nonsensical creationist propaganda to debunk it. By the way, it is a well known fact that mutts are vastly more robust than their purebred counterparts. Intelligently guided? How? Are people manipulating the genome of these dogs to reach exactly the traits they're looking for and reach the desired outcome 100% of the time? I think you're an idiot. Even a troll would have done a better job than this.

Answer 5

I THINK ALL DOGS HAVE GENETIC INSTINTS. I ALSO BELIEVE A DOG SHOWED LOVE WILL RETURN IT. I OWN A PIT BULL BEFORE AND HE WAS SO SPOILED AND PLAYFULL. I PUT SWEATERS ON HIM AND EVERYTHING NEVER HAD A PROBLEM BEFORE. I ALSO HAVE ADOPTED JUS MIXED BREEDS FOR THE POUND BEFORE AND HAD TO GIVE HIM BACK JUS HAD BEEN ABUSED TO MUCH AND MOODS WERE JUST TO UNPREDICTABLE.

Answer 6

I tend to be a neo-Platonist when it comes to dog breeds, but I think Kant and Hegel had interesting contributions in this area as well.

Seriously, you think this is a philosophy question because you put the word "philosophy" in it?

UPDATE: I would love to know who gave me a thumbs down for suggesting that a question about dogs' temperament doesn't belong in a philosophy category.

Answer 7

Beagles are the sweetest and most adorable..