Dogs killing people

[Sensei]

The ass of whom?

I’d go with whose ass but you never know. Not all asses are equal.

[WobblyPossum]

I’ve adopted both full grown GSDs and Mals. They got a little bit of obedience and work, but nothing I wouldn’t give a Lab also. Neither of which turned on their adopted families, in fact, quite the opposite, and I’d be glad to expound on that, much unlike the daily headlines on pitbulls savaging children and owners in households they grew up in. My GSD and Mal only became more protective of their human adopted families, unliked the myriad of families attacked by pitbulls.

You're using your experiences with your dogs as a baseline. I understand that your dogs are protective of your family but that doesn't mean it's unheard of for GSDs, Mals, Dutch Shepherds, etc to suddenly turn on their humans. Two minutes of googling turned up these stories: GSD kills owner's baby, GSD kills owner's teenage child, Dutch Shepherd kills owner, Mal kills owner's baby, etc. I'm not saying that some pitbulls don't just go off and kill humans. They do. All sorts of large dogs end up killing people. Pitbulls are quite adept at violence because they were bred for it. All I'm saying is that maybe the sheer amount of pitbulls in the US, and how few owners of large dogs have any business owning anything larger than a chihuahua, has more to do with how commonly they're attacking people than their genetics. I think anyone who has children and large dogs should be careful when the two are together.

[LittleLebowski]

You're using your experiences with your dogs as a baseline. I understand that your dogs are protective of your family but that doesn't mean it's unheard of for GSDs, Mals, Dutch Shepherds, etc to suddenly turn on their humans. Two minutes of googling turned up these stories: GSD kills owner's baby, GSD kills owner's teenage child, Dutch Shepherd kills owner, Mal kills owner's baby, etc. I'm not saying that some pitbulls don't just go off and kill humans. They do. All sorts of large dogs end up killing people. Pitbulls are quite adept at violence because they were bred for it. All I'm saying is that maybe the sheer amount of pitbulls in the US, and how few owners of large dogs have any business owning anything larger than a chihuahua, has more to do with how commonly they're attacking people than their genetics. I think anyone who has children and large dogs should be careful when the two are together.

Logic and statistics won’t help here, I see that.

[LittleLebowski]

I've got two GSD's, both as puppies a year apart. four and five now. This thread has caused me to rethink things.

I've already quit taking the female to the dog park, because she was too protective of me. They will be kenneled from this point forward whenever my little grandchildren are visiting.

Wow. You’re doing it wrong. My GSD got worried yesterday because my neighbor (known to my GSD, nervous around my GSD because she’s not used to dogs because she’s Muslim), got out of sight. My Mal and multiple GSDs are absolutely trustworthy around kids. Kids can poke their eyes, no issues. My Northern European shepherd breeds instinctively guard children and know their place in the pack. I would not own a dog that I could not trust around any children.

[UNK]

I've got two GSD's, both as puppies a year apart. four and five now. This thread has caused me to rethink things.

I've already quit taking the female to the dog park, because she was too protective of me. They will be kenneled from this point forward whenever my little grandchildren are visiting.

Dog parks are the worst place to go. Dogs are not kids. They dont need to be sniffing butts and establishing dominance.
A properly trained dog can can be told to lay on top of other properly trained dogs and none of the properly trained dogs will react.
But theres the problem, the dogs at the dog park are not properly trained.
If your dog is too protective and you cant take it places, Im not trying to be rude, maybe your dog needs refresher training. Dogs dont get to decide when and where the protection mode kicks in. The owner does
And Ill add this, I posted a Link to Leerburg earlier he believes dogs, should never be alone with kids.
Im with LL I did leave my Mal with my kids and I would do it again.

Im going to add the next part for some clarification.
Have you ever seen a young dog just getting into bite work take its first bite? Most dogs are reluctant to bite people. That first bite is usually that a bite and release. They have to be trained to bite and hold or bite and thrash or take multiple bites.
Thats the difference between every other dog and a bull breed. Bull breeds are bred to bite and hold.

[Sensei]

The breed of peace strikes again:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/23/us/fl...ack/index.html

Although the article does not mention the breed, the picture of the dogs looks like pits and other articles describe pit bull mixes. This time it was five of them that escaped their enclosure to kill a postal worker.

[UNK]

The breed of peace strikes again:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/23/us/fl...ack/index.html

Although the article does not mention the breed, the picture of the dogs looks like pits and other articles describe pit bull mixes. This time it was five of them that escaped their enclosure to kill a postal worker.

The article said fenced yard. Im imagining a 4’ chain link or welded wire. Totally inadequate. They are very strong dogs and could easily scale a 6 foot fence. Florida Man has struck again.

he doesnt appear to be the stereotype owner that some here have portrayed.

[UNK]

I've got two GSD's, both as puppies a year apart. four and five now. This thread has caused me to rethink things.

I've already quit taking the female to the dog park, because she was too protective of me. They will be kenneled from this point forward whenever my little grandchildren are visiting.

Dog parks are the worst place to go. Dogs are not kids. They dont need to be sniffing butts and establishing dominance.
A properly trained dog can can be told to lay on top of other properly trained dogs and none of the properly trained dogs will react.
But theres the problem, the dogs at the dog park are not properly trained.
If your dog is too protective and you cant take it places, Im not trying to be rude, maybe your dog needs refresher training. Dogs dont get to decide when and where the protection mode kicks in. The owner does
And Ill add this, I posted a Link to Leerburg earlier he believes dogs, should never be alone with kids.
Im with LL I did leave my Mal with my kids and I would do it again.

Im going to add the next part for some clarification.
Have you ever seen a young dog just getting into bite work take its first bite? Most dogs are reluctant to bite people. That first bite is usually that a bite and release. They have to be trained to bite and hold or bite and thrash or take multiple bites.
Thats the difference between every other dog and a bull breed. Bull breeds are bred to bite and hold.

Let me add this, its not fair to take a properly trained dog around untrained dogs. The trained dog knows its boundaries, it knows what acceptable behavior is. The untrained dog doesnt have those boundaries and violates the trained dog.
That may be part of why your dog has become overprotective.

[JHC]

Dog parks are the worst place to go. Dogs are not kids. They dont need to be sniffing butts and establishing dominance.


.

We were dog park fans for a spell and then I came across a seemingly well researched and referenced article that specifically dealt with taking "seniors" to dog parks. It argued that their study indicated that busy dog parks stress the hell out of seniors. Since seniors are our thing and our current one has some instability in rear knees to boot, we've stopped that. She was more interested in the other dog owners than the dogs anyway.

[blues]

We were dog park fans for a spell and then I came across a seemingly well researched and referenced article that specifically dealt with taking "seniors" to dog parks. It argued that their study indicated that busy dog parks stress the hell out of seniors. Since seniors are our thing and our current one has some instability in rear knees to boot, we've stopped that. She was more interested in the other dog owners than the dogs anyway.

Never have taken any of my dogs to a public dog park...I don't have confidence in other owners or other dogs...and it would just be more stressful than necessary imho.

The only time I allow my dog to socialize with other dogs off lead is in my neighbor's fenced yard behind his home...with one, (and rarely a second), dog that I know have proven to socialize well together.

They chase each other, wrestle and exhaust themselves, (all senior dogs, but generally very fit), under my watchful gaze.


This thread has some good info in between some of the more shrieking hyperbolic statements...but it's pretty much run its course imho.

That said, I've always taken responsibility for my dogs and they are only off lead in my home or in a fenced yard from which they cannot escape (and still attended while in the enclosure).

Owners who do not take proper responsibility for their animals are no better than two-bit criminals.

And that's all I've got to say about that.