Re: Dangerous dogs.
 

Exactly. These animals are not inherently 'dangerous' people raise them to be that way. If you raise them in a loving home showing them positive attention and caring they'll return it 10 fold to you in loyalty and affection. There are some cases where they'll have certain instincts that may seem aggressive, but such things can be taught to them to ignore or forget.

My mother has a German Shepard (easily 160lbs) and when my 2 year old nephew is playing with him that dog will allow him to do whatever he wants. Poke him in the nose, stick his hand in his mouth, yank on the ears and he just takes it in stride or licks him in return.

You raise them right, they'll turn out right. You raise them to be violent killers and that's what they'll be.

Re: Dangerous dogs.
 

Holy crap, man, put that dog on a diet. Although maybe pudgy dogs are friendlier? This is worth investigation!

Re: Dangerous dogs.
 

Of course, why would a pistol in the hands of a criminal scum bag on average kill and injure much more than an assault rifle in the hands of a decent citizen in peacetime if it was the weapon that made the decisions?
A dog however has a mind of its own, even if it almost always follows what it believes is the will of its owner.


I wouldn't by the way have anything against killing off entire especially dangerous breeds, after all they have all been created by humans for more or less dubious purposes, licensing would just be more fair to those who for some reason unrelated to violence really love them (although I doubt you could find many, in my eyes there is nothing that would make an ugly pitbull a better pet than e.g. a Great Dane).


Yes, but some breeds are more dangerous than others. If you want a loyal and affectionate dog that doesn't kill strangers, the smart thing is to choose a breed that wasn't bred by people who wanted them to be violent killers.

She should put it on a diet, 160 lbs is around twice the normal weight for German Shepherds. Too many poor pets die early due to overweight owners treating them like themselves, i.e. with a terrible diet and no exercise. It is such needless cruelty, but I guess it has the small benefit of keeping dogs calm as they don't have the energy to hurt anyone.

Anyway, almost all dogs that were raised well are kind towards their family, even though children every now and then are maimed or killed by dogs they were left unattended with by irresponsible adults it's how they act with strangers that usually is the issue. If a dog snarls at or bites people who try to walk past in the street I don't care if it is a peaceful little sunshine at home.

Usually yes, but raising them right apparently isn't something most people are capable of especially when it comes to breeds with stronger undesired traits.

Re: Dangerous dogs.
 

There are no dog breeds that are bred to kill people. There are dog breeds that people choose when they want a dog they can train to kill people. It's an important distinction.

Domesticated dogs are domesticated. When they attack people it's because somebody tried to breed the domestication out of them.

Re: Dangerous dogs.
 

I agree and hope I didn't give an impression of anything else. I should have been more careful with my choice of words.

My point still stands though, a breed with peaceful characteristics makes much more sense for a pet than e.g. one that was bred for dog fighting.

Not necessarily if they e.g. believe that their owner is in danger.

Re: Dangerous dogs.
 

My dog never attacked anybody when she thought I was in danger. I think you've been watching too much Lassie.

Re: Dangerous dogs.
 

You dont NEED to 'breed' a dog with the specific goal of killing people. Humans arent difficult to kill. we are slow and squishy. ANY dog in the 90lb+ range can f--- your world up. What people bred were things like damage tolerance, bite strength and endurance.

The Bloodhound was bred specifically for hunting human beings down. No thought was put into making them bear fighters because by virtue of them being dogs of reasonable size, they were already a match for humans.

Re: Dangerous dogs.
 

The bloodhound was bred to track human beings, not hunt them. It was bred for olfactory superiority, not as an attack dog; it's a bad example.

Re: Dangerous dogs.
 

Dogs are individuals and it may never have been in a situation where it judged the danger to be great enough, if every dog of a certain breed went around attacking people the opposition against dog ownership would be much stronger than it is.

I never liked Lassie to be honest, but delivering newspapers is an easy way to find out some dogs can be very protective about their owners and perceived territory and that angry German Shepherds are scary, especially when you realize that the owner is completely wasted and you left your knife in the car.

Re: Dangerous dogs.
 

Thank you for proving my point for me.