The killer dog, Daisy
Daisy is not an easy dog to own. That is for sure. She is a dominant dog and I'm always being called to task for her behaviour - but she is by no means a dangerous dog. One of the problems with the city I live in and am continually fighting against is the fact that other dog owners have no capacity for normal dog-dog interaction and sometimes it makes me literally sick to my stomach. Tonight I was called the reason why dog owners are given a bad reputation. I just looked at the guy. I wanted to say to him - "you have no idea". 2 minutes earlier he had just attempted to punch Daisy while he was dangling his basselope by the neck 2 feet in the air because Daisy had done her nightly Seaview duty of running up to them at full speed talking to them at full blast like only Daisy can. Quite typical dog park behaviour actually. It just happened to be coming out of a 70 pound black and tan dog. It was also coming out of a 15 pound terri-poo right behind her but no one seemed to mind that. (Buttercup).
If the current trends continue it won't matter - the pinheads of the world will win and dogs like Daisy - dogs that look like Daisy anyway - won't exist anymore. The Sue Sternberg world will win out and only dogs under 35 pounds will be born. Anything else will be banned - so the behaviours will still all exist, but the nastiness and scariness of the size of the dogs will be gone. Won't that be a lovely world? No rotties, no pit bulls, then no german shepherds, saint bernards, collies, bouviers, labrador retrievers, or anything else over 35 pounds. Nothing scary to run up to your little dogs that make you want to punch them and tell their owners that they are what is ruining the world and making it bad for everyone.
It makes me fucking sick. I'd like to refer once again to some wonderful dog park guidelines that I've referred to before - one is from Waterloo Ontario - a leash free park called "Dogerloo" that talks about just what happened tonight specifically if Mr Pinhead happens to come upon this - which I'm sure he won't - unless my best friend Carla once again clues in and finds who he is and tells him who I am - but that page is at http://www.dogerloo.com/guidelines.htm and then there's also the pamphlet I made up specifically for Seaview based on the Goodpooch.com's wonderful website which is at http://dogkisser.blogspot.com/2004/06/pamphlet-i-made-for-seaview-park.html
Idiot's of the world, unite.
On a semi-related topic, not sure if you've seen this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/04/25/turin.dogs.reut/index.html
best,
-KFL
Hmm...looks like that link is getting truncated. Here:
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/72w3k
:)
Don't forget, Joan, a measurable percentage of dogs who've killed people in fatal attacks are well-under 35 lbs!
ReplyDeleteThese include Yorkshire Terrier, Pomeranian, and Lhasa Apso. Dachshunds, alone, have been attributed with 4 human fatalities.
Interestingly, I was at a leash-free area in Aurora over the weekend, and met a very nice man with both a Yorkshire Terrier and a miniature Dachshund. I so desperately wanted to make a political statement like, "Gee...Did you know you own two of the breeds on the list of 'killer dogs'?"
I didn't, because the conversation wasn't leaning in that direction. But I was ready, though. (grin)
Karen Delise, author of the book, Fatal Dog Attacks, wrote, “Severe and fatal attacks will continue until we come to the realization that allowing a toddler to wander off to a chained dog is more of a critical factor in a fatal dog attack than which breed of dog is at the end of the chain.”
I'd have to add to that by pointing out, until we come to the realization that any breed of dog can and will attack and kill, we will continue to see parents leaving their children unsupervised with dogs because they believe "such a friendly breed" or "such a tiny breed" could never harm their children.
The facts prove otherwise. Over and over again, innocent individuals pay the price for the ignorance of others. The owner of the dog involved in an attack is quite often also the parent, relative, or acquaintance of the victim. I'll bet many of them kidded themselves into believing their dogs were harmless.
In reality, no dog is truly harmless, anymore than a human could be considered harmless. [A report from the (U.S.) Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that 8% of the gun-related fatalities in its study were caused by children under age 6.]
No matter what a dog's size or breed, it can attack and even kill. What prevents this from happening more often is owner supervision at ALL times outside the home or with children, and proper socialization and training.
Dogs are fantastically safe, both statistically and practically. But a few, simple, preventative steps could make them even safer.
I wish everyone would learn the facts about dog bites. If they did, they'd not only know how to prevent them, but they'd also free themselves to view the vast majority of dogs they meet as less of a threat than the people they meet.
Marjorie
GoodPooch.com
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