Tonymc

Lo Pan, i congratulate you for the sensible and rational posts. I am afaid some others just do not get it. Tony

i feel for any Children suffering a dog attack.

The area of dog attacks is very complex with many dynamics.

Many assumptions and misinformation in this thread as usual and this is from Dog owners themselves!!!!!

Firstly just because somebody has rescued dogs for six years to me means very little.I know some who have had dogs for 25 years and still know very little!!!!

I could take a Child or Adult and take them to see say a dog of Bull breed type cross and drum into them that its a Pitbull.I would be of course deliberately misleading them.So I give them the wrong information and they run with it.Chances are very high indeed that this person sometime will then of course mistakenly label a dog a Pitbull.

I for example have had one of my American Bulldogs with me at times and had people tell me I had a Pitbull!!!I had a so called " Knowledgeable " dog owner swear black and blue my AB was a pitbull!!!!!

Why do"s the Media label anything with four legs a Pitbull? Because it sells more papers and boost"s T.V, ratings and has nothing to do with the truth whatsoever!!!!

Lets use the logic expressed in this thread that the bigger the numbers of a specific breed around will result in a higher number of attacks by the said breed.Sorry but that is a very flawed logic as the real Pitbull is a small percentage of the number of dogs in Australia.

People need to wake up and use some commonsense for a change!!!!!If BSL was really about supposedly keeping people safe and number of attacks down,then one of my own breeds would be on the BSL list and that is the Cattle Dog. Cattle Dogs feature in more bites or incidents than Pitbulls.

Where did this anti Pitbull tirade come from? America of course.Sadly as a Country we in many ways are weak as water and will just blindly follow moves or judgements made in other Countrys.

I do not even own a Pitbull, but I can fully understand just how sick of this Garbage PBT Owners get!!!!!

No wonder PBT owners feel isolated and become defensive as even other dog owners do not see the truth.

Why do Politicans weigh into things?Because they can be seen to be doing the right thing which they hope translates into votes.How many Politican really have any indepth knowledge of dogs? Very few!!!!For a politican of course at times BS like the anti Pitbull carry on can be a useful deflection to other matters.

I see we also have the same tired BS trotted out about bad owners or those wanting to appear tough.Those types are not uniquely attracted to Pitbulls and can be found with many other Breeds.

The sooner commonsense start to rise again the better!!!!The sooner people start to accept any dog of any breed could be involved in an incident the better!!!! Tony

Raven, no disrespect intended or meant in any way by my post.

Another poster mentioned that you have a disabled son. I of course are not aware if your Son is disabled intellectually,physically or both.

What degee of disability your son has,as you know of course affects how your son,moves,behaves,see's the world and responds to the enviroment.

I have seen these situations before and in those cases it came down basically to two aspects.

Dogs are predators and naturally have the instinct to hunt. This of course is Prey drive.Prey drive is much more complex than just chasing or seizing a prey object. Inorder to improve the chance of making a kill,dogs through an aspect of prey drive have the ability to easily spot a prey animal that is an easier target. Easier prey targets may include the young,the old,the sick and the injured. a Dog will notice these soft targets at a distance due to abnormality" s in their movement.For example a sick or injured prey target will move much slower or movement will not flow but be very jerky. Some disabled People will set off this aspect of prey drive in a dog.

Another factor that could well be playing a part here is dog"s ability to pick up on sickness or illness. Dogs in the wild will often abandon,hunt away or even kill a sick or injured pack member,because its a threat to the survival of the remaining pack.

Raven, it is your right to take the course of action that works best for you and your family.

Yes it may be courtesy to contact the breeder, but one has to bear in mind that just because somebody is a breeder,do"s not austomatically means they are a full bottle on dog behaviours.

All the best with whatever choice you make Raven. Tony

Loving a dog do's not automatically satisfy all a dogs needs.

As Kelpie-i said change trainers real quick.No use wasting time with those that have no clue.

In any situation involving Humans and Animals there is nearly always a lack of reflection on the Human side to see how they are contributing to the issue or problem.

Rusty is a big negative that I see many times, that people buy Working bred dogs and yet never educate themselves or try to grasp what makes a working dog tick.

Change or solution has to come from the top.Your supposed to be the top.To change this situation, firstly you will have to change.

Get a good Trainer and educate yourself on matters such as prey drive,surpressed drive,redirected drive and so on.

Tony

For a start this is a working dog out of place.

What outlet to express and release drive is there for this dog? Tony

Nekhbet,I agree totally!!! Tony

Its old news but true.Unfortunately dogs end up wearing human issues and dysfunction. Tony

With a really rank dog,I would have no faith in this approach. Tony

I agree with Cesar,that time out is useless for serious issues.He is clear on that point,it is just individuals who miss the point. Tony

Thanks Jeff.

I am of the same opinion as Jeff.Well worth reading certainly and many on here would benefit from it. Tony

Muffin,jealousy is a human emotion and for a dog to experience jealousy he would have to have an intellect as we do.

Being apart at home is one thing but what happens if you take one dog completely away from home,whilst leaving the other? Tony

Muffin, you have answered your own question.

How much time do these dogs spend apart at Home and away from trials? Tony

Jules,Janba has hit the nail on the head!!!!The answer is in your own post.This behaviour was evident well before the dog even saw an old Ewe.

For change to happen,first we must change.I would be getting a qualified person who will tell it as it is to have a look at the way you interact with this dog away from herding. Tony

A pretty ordinary article. Tony

Dogs will be dogs. Tony

As Huski said. Tony

Maddy,firstly I would check with Steve, if he cannot arrange something he will point you in the right direction. Tony

Exactly TLC. Tony

Exactly as Erny said!!!!Well explained Erny.

Too many make the problen worse by mollycoddling dogs when experiencing fear. Tony

Esta,you have misinterpretated what Kelpie-I meant in her post.Have another read. Tony

Corvus.I find it rather strange that a so called Zoologist continually try's to make points by comparing species totally unrelated.Dogs are predators and hares a prey animal.No comparison at all.

Using your logic,I will explore the dynamics of Equine behaviour by making points about Water Buffalo.Would it shed any light on Equine behaviour and lead me to any truth?Of course not. Tony

Folks, I think your being taken for a ride. Tony

I agree its most likely a territorial matter.

I see some over reactions here.If the dog was intent on doing some serious harm, the outcome would have been far far different.

It makes me cringe at times some of the misinterpretations of dog behaviour I read.To grab by the throat do's not mean intent to kill.Every situation has to be taken as an individual and all variables and factors accounted.

Dogs at times may grab another by the throat and pin to the ground.Even older dogs may at times scruff a pup in the same manner.Are these situations, an intent to kill? No of course not. Tony

I see the old milk bucket is making a racket again!!!

No need for me to give credit to anybody.What I posted is common knowledge to anybody that knows anything at all about dogs.Very basic knowledge indeed.

Tony

Mon, great to see!!! Tony