What are some of the silliest dog myths you've ever heard?

Question

It can be about anything related to dogs- training, nutrition, health, breeds, etc.

Please try to answer this question without using common myths, such as pitbulls being vicious.

Mine: Raw meat (and/or a raw diet) will make a dog vicious and bloodthirsty.

Cave Canem- good one about crate training and yearly vaccinations!

Answer 1

1) If you stick your finger in a dog's eye and wipe the scum on your own eye you'll be able to see ghosts. (EEEWWW!)
2) All dog's LOVE children, therefore children are always safe with them.
3) Dogs fed a raw diet are malnourished and mean.
4) Only members of the herding group can work cattle.
5) If the bag says "vet recommended" or "complete nutrition" it's healthy.

add: Oh wow, my fan club is here!

Answer 2

That's a popular myth with cats....though anyone with real sense will tell you that the worst the mother will do is attempt to move the kittens to a more private/secure place (this is with cats, I've never had a litter of pups, so cannot say for them). I still think the "locking jaw" takes the cake--what an interesting trait that would be! LG: Not really; not that I know of. Their undercoat is a little lighter than the topcoat, but that's fairly normal I think, and you only notice it this time of year when they're shedding their undercoats. Other than that, both my female Sheltie and my Aussie mix have a black undercoat, and a somewhat reddish topcoat where their black areas have been exposed to the sun.

Answer 3

Oh god Abbyful... thank you! If ONE MORE person tells me my Pap is or looks like a friggin' Chihuahua, I will throttle them. Someone did once try to convince me they were related to Chihuahuas... interesting, since the Chi developed in Mexico and the Papillon developed in Europe.

I've also heard the raw meat makes them viscious rumor.

There's the ever-popular "pit bulls just *snap* one day and turn on their owners" myth.

Oh, and don't forget that it's *healthy* to let a female have one litter of puppies before spaying.

I could go on and on... people are so dumb some times.

EDIT: Oh and Lucy, I can do you one better than the Poodle/Shih Tzu/Maltese doesn't shed one... I'm now having people tell me (a professional groomer, mind you) that TERRIERS don't shed. Yes, terriers. It always stuns me that people will believe absolutely any little thing they hear.

Answer 4

OOH OOOH!!!

I LOVE the warlock doberman myth, cracks me up! It's such a stupid and horrible gimmick I cant believe people still buy into that crap. And they DO! We had a guy come to rescue not to long ago "lookin' for them Waarlock dobermens..." trying to get the country bumpkin accent across haha... I loved listening to our director Julie explain as patiently as she could that there is NO SUCH THING!(she's kinda like me, no patience for the ignorant) Supposed giant dobermans. Too bad they're a MEDIUM sized dog! I have had some jerkoff at the park argue with me about my female being a "warlock" because she's quite large for a female dobie. Thats her in my new Avatar btw : )... this guy argued with me for about 20 mins following me around the park, it was actually quite creepy. Another guy inisted that RUBY, my almost miniature doberman (at a whopping 45lbs and maybe 20in tall), was a warlock because she has a cowlick down the back of her neck, APPARENTLY this is a trait of the warlock line..... uhuh. Another volunteer that's been in the breed for almost 20yrs told me she had some guy at Petsmart tell her the same thing b/c her girl had a cowlick on her nose... about 30% of the dobies we get in rescue have some sort of cowlick around their heads. That's definitley my favorite. Next to the swelling brains/stunted skull/skull pressure/attack myth..

I also love it when people continue to tell me that dobermans only come in black/tan and my fawn female is a weimaraner mix; and that blues/fawns are "special" and more valuable, and my FAVORITE about colors, that Albino Dobermans are white, not a mutation and that there are no health risks or temperamental/conformation issues, because "they're just a different color" hmmm the definition of Albinism is ABSENCE of melanin or COLOR! and furthermore, that since greyhounds were used somewhere in creating the doberman the white would have come out eventually, except it was a black greyhound which at the time was a TYPE in germany, and white in greyhounds is due to piebalding, just like in boxers, beagles and any other colored w white dogs. Albinism is a MUTATION and Albinos and carriers were all inbred from the same ***** that was born in 1976....

Answer 5

You're right on about the pit bulls and the raw diet thing. Here's mine:

1) that vet school is somehow vastly different than med school (it's actually very VERY similar!)
2) crate training is cruel
3) positive ONLY training exists (don't get me wrong, I train motivationally myself, but there are always corrections in dog training, meaning or not)
4) the average vet knows the latest about training, behavior, and nutrition (some do, but many don't!)
5) all shelter or rescue dogs have "issues" so if I get a shelter dog, it won't bond to me as much
6) there are some breeds that don't shed
7) a female needs to have a heat or have a litter to "settle down"
8) prong collars are always cruel (Gentle Leaders can be very cruel!)
9) dog parks are great ideas for all breeds
10) vaccinations are necessary every year

Answer 6

Dogs in shelters all have problems (dumb, dumb, dumb, more problems if you buy a puppy mill or byb dog

Dawn dishwashing liquid is good to wash your dog in to kill fleas (shouldn't have any fleas, use Frontline or Advantage every month - the damn Dawn is horrible and can hurt your dog)

Adopting a dog and paying an adoption fee so the shelter or rescue can continue to save dogs is the same as buying a dog (think this one out folks, doesn't get any dumber, talk about irrational thinking)

All pedigree dogs should be bred at least once

Designer dogs are a breed

Beneful is great dog food - it's supermarket crap, mostly colored corn meal in fake shapes to appeal to gullible dog owners

Science Diet is great,must be my vet sells it (you need a more honest vet who isn't paid to stock the stuff)

Flea shampoo kills fleas (maybe some, but not the larvae or eggs)

One human year is 7 dog years (not nearly that simple)

All pitbulls turn on people

Wolves and wolf-hybrids can be great pets (wolf is not a dog - never will be - shouldn't be expected to act like one)

My pedigree pooch is show quality, where do I enter her for her championship?

Sweets give dogs worms

Ringworm is a worm

You can catch a cold from your dog - or vice versa

Answer 7

Oh, this will be fun! A few of my favorites have already been said, but here's a few more:

- papillons are members of the chihuahua family

- all purebred dogs are created equally (meaning the puppymill petstore dog is equal in quality to the champion conformation dog)

- dogs can only eat dog food, anything else is horrible for them (i wonder what these people think dog food is made of?)
.

Answer 8

This isin't really a myth, but one time a guy brought his pit puppy into the hospital I work at with suspected parvo. The man said he made him drink diluted bleach water because he heard it would kill the parvo....will people believe anything these days?

Answer 9

- Pit Bulls will always turn on their owners.

- Pit Bulls aren't good with children.

- Crate training is a cruel thing to do.

- Keeping a dog is horrible, a dog should be kept in the wild and living in their own nature and habitat. (I heard that one the other day .. Whatever. Lol.)

- Shelter dogs - they will always have problems!

- The Maltese, Poodle, Shih Tzu - THEY DON'T SHED! (Uh, yeah they do! I have a Shih Tzu - she sheds! It may not be much, but ALL of them shed!)

Answer 10

Theres an old crazy myth that some people actually still believe, that dipping a dog in motor oil will treat mange.