Kate McMillan who is possibly the best Canadian blogger on the right these days is a woman who I have a great deal of fondness for despite having never met her. She and I share similar political views, both are motorcycle riders (although I sold my bike two years ago). drive trucks and love dogs and rural life.  Kate’s dogged (no pun intended) coverage of the recent Climategate affair which I wrote about on Tuesday deserves the type of award they used to give to reporters but then again Kate is not a reporter  (and is proud of that)

Kate recently had an op-ed piece in the National Post regarding a conflict that is brewing (or already exists) between breeders of purebred dogs and some veterinarians. The crux of it  (as I understand it) is that certain veterinarians are objecting to the practice of tail docking and ear cropping which is an important feature of some purebred dogs (Doberman Pinscher for example).  If I understand it correctly many vets now refuse to perform these minor “surgeries” whilst still advocating spaying and neutering as well as “declawing kittens for profit”.

The crux of Kate’s argument is that veterinarians have no business sticking their nose into the world of dog breeding to the point of advocating for legislation to restrict certain elements of dog breeding they find objectionable.  As someone who is no fan of state expansion into our lives I agree with her wholeheartedly. If veterinarians don’t want to perform certain procedures they should simply refuse and let other veterinarians who want to charge a premium for them have that option – a government edict would have the effect of forcing all veterinarians to conform thus taking choice away from breeders, vets and pet owners.

The world of dog ownership is becoming increasingly regulated these days many countries have banned certain breeds outright because they are considered dangerous. Other nations have banned or are seeking to ban certain dog sports that focus on guard dog activities (Schutzhund, French Ring Sport and KNPV). Dogs are given very little room for error in most modern societies either. If we lose our temper we might face some sort of censure either legally or via peer pressure however dogs get no second chances. Even what any dog behaviorist would count as disciplinary biting on the part of a dog (where the skin is not broken) will usually result in the dogs immediate seizure from its owner and destruction by the state.

Thus it is absolutely right for breeders like Kate to be concerned about yet another advocacy group trying to insert legislation into the life of dogs and their owners. However (you knew there was a however coming, right?) there is an issue that needs to be discussed when it relates to purebred dogs. In fact it is a debate that has been occurring for a number of years in the dog community and appears to be reaching a boiling point.  In Kate’s op-ed piece she mentions the following:

Purebreds (of all species) carry health risks derived from their genetic founding fathers. Breeds weren’t created to compile longevity records, but to perform tasks for mankind — to dispatch vermin, predators, and enemy barbarians, locate game, retrieve over water, to pull sleds, or warm a dowager’s bed on a cold winter night. And so, they remain imperfect.

The Borzoi is living history of czarist Russia, the giant Mastiff a modern echo of ancient Rome — but they suffer high rates of bloat. Poster artists recruited the English bulldog as a symbol of resolve in World War II, but the massive head that encouraged a nation results in caesarian sections. The Dalmatian’s spots are beloved of Disney and children everywhere, but the genetics that create them can result in deafness. The merry spaniel can wag an undocked tail to bloody pulp, but no one hunts woodcock in these parts. Better no cocker, they say, than no tail.

Kate is being truthful here but there is more to the story. Certain dogs breeds do have genetic traits that lead to health issues that is true. But the purebred dogs as they exist today are very different (in some cases extremely different) than the same purebred dogs from 50-100 years ago.

Why? Because of the nature of dog shows and breed standards. You see when a dog is shown to its “championship” it doesn’t mean  (as a lot of lay people assume) that it has won some great obedience competition or has performed a certain number of tasks better than other dogs. The show champion dog is simply the one who has been picked by a judge to conform most closely to the “breed standard”.  The breed standard being a set of rules outlined by national and international organizations that define exactly what a dog of a certain breed should look like. This is on the surface a very good thing because you should have a set of rules that determine what differentiates a Beagle from a Beauceron and when breeders conform to those standards it allows the dog buying public to make well informed decisions and to not pay outrageous amounts of money for a dog that isn’t really the breed it was supposed to be.

Yet the breed standards that some breeds are held accountable to these days have not been helpful to the breeds and you can make a strong argument that they are causing great damage to certain breeds. Why? Because there has been a gradual evolution towards certain exaggerated features in these dogs that have nothing to do with the purpose of the breed as it was originally founded.  A perfect example?  The German Shepherd Dog.

Back in the late 90’s when our first Belgian Tervuren was still young  (and still living – he died of cancer in 2003 at only age 5) we were looking for an activity to do with him. Something that would be a good outlet for his energy but that also suited the breed.

After some research (we had the Internet back in the 90’s for all you young’uns reading this) we discovered Schutzhund.

Schutzhund  is a dog sport that originated in Germany. The name translates to “protection dog” and the sport was developed as a way to test German Shepherd dogs for suitability in police work. Hence the sport requires dogs to achieve proficiency in tracking, obedience and above all protection (i.e. biting criminals).

Our dog being a purebred Belgian Shepherd we figured he would be well suited to this type of activity. And while he clearly enjoyed the sport and seemed to have great fun while partaking it became abundantly clear from the get-go that he was never going to be a proficient Schutz-hund.

Why? He came from “showlines” 

Most people who have a dog (and obviously people who don’t) aren’t familiar with the terms “showlines” or “working lines” when it comes to dogs. The titles are self explanatory but in the interest of being overly long winded let me elaborate.

A show line dog is one that is bred purely for display in the show ring. You know those dog shows you see on TV like the Westminster Kennel Club etc.? Those dogs are showline dogs. They as I mentioned earlier are bred to conform to the breed standard and are awarded championships based on that alone. In other words they are bred to compete and  win beauty contests and nothing else.

A dog from working lines conversely is not built for showing but to do actual work, usually the work the breed was originally conceived for.

When we were told at our Schutzhund club that our dog probably wasn’t going to be a good schutzhund dog because he came from “showlines” I was confused. What difference did it make? A shepherd is a shepherd, a Doberman is a Doberman why would two dogs of the same breed be so dramatically different in behaviour  - especially in breeds that were originated for specific types of behaviour?

The answer: dogs bred for show are only bred for a certain “look” all other traits are irrelevant.

This was the source of some consternation to me for a while but it all became crystal clear when we attended a club competition as spectators some weeks later (our dog was not nearly ready for competition  - and never would be). Their were tons of people and of course tons of dogs. Immediately there were some differences that jumped out at me. For one a lot of the dogs especially the Rottweilers and Dobermans seemed to be a little bit on the small side.  But this wasn’t necessarily a huge difference between show and work dogs in  my mind.  Then I spotted a man taking a dog out of the back of his truck.

The dog was obviously a shepherd of some sort but I couldn’t quite identify what breed. It looked mostly like a German Shepherd but it was not like any German Shepherd I had ever seen before. For one it wasn’t the traditional black and tan color with the black “saddle” that most German Shepherds have. This dog was more of a smoky grey colour. it looked like it had rolled in soot. The dog actually looked scruffy and mangy – like a junkyard dog. And as the handler began walking the dog toward the field another difference jumped out. This dog had a different shape. The back was hardly sloped at all. It was almost square. This was a radical departure from most German Shepherds I had seen at dog shows whose backs always had this odd downward slope that looked unnatural to me. Aside from that this dog’s eyes had a fierce wolf-like intensity about him.  

So I asked one of our club members what kind of dog it was. “A German Shepherd” I was told. “Really? It doesn’t look like any German Shepherd I’ve ever seen”

“Oh it’s from East German stock. They weren’t breeding for show behind the Iron Curtain it was only for work.”

I have tried to find a picture of a dog that looked like the one I saw that day and the one on the left is  the closest I have ever come to finding one on-line.

This day was the beginning of a revelation for me and as we continued to work with our own dog the differences between show lines and dogs bred for work became more stark. The most obvious one was temperament. The working line dogs of all breeds were high energy dogs that never seemed to turn off. Our dog was laid back and relaxed (almost all the time).

This is not a bad thing if you just want a pet. In fact most working line dogs make lousy house pets. There’s a reason why Hollywood dog trainers scour animal shelters for dogs to use. Typically they have been abandoned by owners who selected a dog that turned out to be a true representative of the breed and needed to work. Dogs that need to work and don’t get an outlet will create those outlets. Usually in behavioral problems. 

But if the difference between show and working dogs were only temperament that wouldn’t be a big problem. Those who wanted their dogs for work could buy working line dogs and those who wanted a good pet could buy show lines right?

Generally yes. But there is another more serious problem. Lets go back to the German Shepherd Dog. Remember how I said that he working line shepherd from East German Stock had a back that didn’t seem that sloped?  Well there is a reason for that.  There are a large number of herding breeds out there. None of them except the German Shepherd have this feature because structurally it doesn’t help a herding dog if it needs to perform quick turns. So why do German Shepherd Dogs have that pronounced back angularity? Because somewhere along the line someone decided that a dog with an angular back looked better at a “trot” in the show ring.   Suddenly dogs with angular backs were winning more championships and breeders began responding.  And the results were dramatic.

On the left is an American/Canadian show shepherd on the right is a working line shepherd. Notice the difference?  Now partially the dog on the left looks so extremely sloped because it is in a “show stance” but go to any dog show and watch most of the German Shepherds walking around outside the ring and you will still notice a pronounced slope to much of their backs.  This is not what the original German Shepherd dogs looked like.  They looked a lot more like the dog on the right.

So it is not quite fair for breeders of show dogs to flatly state that they are preserving the dog breeds are they were meant to be and the health problems are just a sad side effect. The British Bulldog as we know it today couldn’t have survived without modern medical science. There were no Cesarean sections for dogs 100 years ago. So to hold this dog up as an example of  a breed that was bred to serve man but not to compile longevity records is ridiculous. There is a reason that someone decided to create an Olde English Bulldogge and it was a reaction to the extremes that British Bulldogs had begun to reach. They had breathing problems. Their heads were so large they couldn’t be born naturally and the males were not interested in mating. Does that sound like a breed that would have arisen at any time before WWII? David Leavitt who created the Olde English Bulldogge breed didn’t think so:

My dogs can now breath. They will never be like hounds, able to run for miles during the hottest weather of summer, but they’re three times better than the restricted modern Bulldog. Cesarean section births are not necessary. Artificial insemination, due to male ineptness and lack of drive, has been replaced by natural ties. Life span in over eleven years. All breeding stock have had hip x-rays. No dog with bad hips is bred. I’m now achieving my goal of producing a Bulldog with the health and temperament to be able to serve people, instead of forcing people to serve him.

There are several breeds of dog that are still used purely for work that are rarely seen in dog shows.  For a long while breeders of Border Collies tried to resist having the dog recognized by the various kennel clubs due to fear that it would lead to diminished working capacity. The dog is now present on the show circuit and differences in  structure are starting to become apparent.  The Dutch Shepherd which is a relative of the German Shepherd Dog and Belgian Shepherd is not recognized by the AKC and both breeders and owners of this dog are almost universally happy about that. In fact Dutch Shepherds are often bred to certain other breeds (such as the Belgian Malinois – a variety of Belgian Shepherd) to increase the health and working ability of the line – a positive side note is that it keeps the breed from being recognized because no cross-breeding is allowed in show dogs.  The dogs that run the Iditarod race in Alaska are referred to as “Alaskan Huskies” and are also not recognized as an official breed because they are not purebred but are bred for one thing: to race in harsh conditions.  Thus the main focus is on health and the ability of the dog to run.  The dogs are mostly Husky but have often some hound or other breed in their lineage. 

Purebred dogs are a wonderful example of our ability to create traits and characteristics in an animal to serve a certain purpose.  The Irish Wolfhound had a different purpose than the Shetland Sheepdog hence the two breeds look different despite both being dogs.

However the current focus on conformation to standard has eroded many characteristics of many dogs so that not only are they unfit for their original task but are structurally unsound as well.

This is not something that is difficult to correct however it does require an admission from purebred breeders who breed for conformation that their breed standards need to be reevaluated. Unfortunately this doesn’t seem to be a dialogue that most kennel clubs are interested in having.

Some links:

 Balance Problems in the American Show Shepherd

Working vs Show Lines

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One morning, Sgt. Stober noticed that Springfield seemed lethargic and wasn’t touching her food or water. He found out that the Iraqi guards had fed her some chicken bones, one of which appeared to have gotten lodged in her stomach, making it painful to eat or drink.

He lifted her into his truck and drove to a nearby landfill. When he got there, Springfield could barely move, but she mustered enough strength to take a few steps toward him, which he says broke his heart. He took out his handgun and shot the puppy in the head.

Probably was a cooked chicken bone - raw ones seem to be fine.

Source:
A Base Goes to the Dogs - Which might be behind the subscription wall. But heck it’s only 80.00 a year for the online edition - what’s stopping you?

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Since this dog has been in the news so much lately due to the rather unseemly comments by a certain Liberal party blogger who has since resigned his post I thought I would post a little info on this fine breed of dog (any comparisons you make between the dog and living people are purely your own).

First off the Chow Chow is an ancient breed. Some say it is the forerunner of many of the spitz type dogs like Samoyeds and the like. The dog was known in China as early as the Han dynasty ( approximately 150BC) and was an all around utility dog in that country: it was used for hunting, guarding, pulling and even for food and fur.

The Chow Chow became known in the West in the late 1700’s and has enjoyed several bursts of popularity. Famous Chow Chow owners have included Sigmund Freud, Calvin Coolidge and Martha Stewart (her dogs often make cameo’s on her TV show).

Descriptions of this breed’s personality are interesting to say the least:

The Chow Chow’s disposition is quite different from other breeds. They are catlike in their attitudes: aloof, reserved with affection, independent, dignified and stubborn. Although their soft fur is ripe for hugging, they don not always enjoy being fussed over by children or strangers. The Chow is very intelligent but like a cat, not as highly motivated to please their masters as most other breeds. They seem to please themselves first.

The Chow Chow’s temperament is often misunderstood by people who do not understand the breed’s unique nature. Naturally suspicious of strangers and territorial, they take their homes and families very seriously as well their responsibility to protect what they love. On his own property and without his owner present, the Chow may appear to be quite fierce. He will seldom let a stranger pass unchallenged. People used to the warm welcomes of other breeds may be startled by the seriousness of the Chow. Once greeted by the owner and accepted into the home, the Chow should accept the stranger but may be reserved in his desire to “make friends”.

Not sure why I would want a dog with the personality of a cat.

Of course any dog of working descent typically needs a confident owner;

The strong willed, stubborn Chow needs an equally strong willed, stubborn owner! This breed has a mind of its own and may easily become your master if you let it. Chow puppies are naturally well-behaved, seldom destructive or disobedient. Because of their good behavior, some owners feel that training is not necessary. When an untrained Chow reaches adolescence, though, he may refuse to accept authority.

They are also known for being generally ill-tempered towards other dogs. Rarely do you see one running free in the local park capering with its canine companions. I wouldn’t recommend approaching one while you are walking your own pooch. Not every breed has the sunny disposition of your Chocolate Lab.

On the plus side they are very clean dogs and will “go” in the same place in the yard every day - making clean up easy. They also adapt well to apartment living and aren’t known to be incessant barkers. But be warned they are a hunting breed and to a hunting breed a small critter equals prey. That means squirrels, bunnies, ferrets, cats…..

More info can be found my exploring my del.icio.us tags on the subject.

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As some of you may know we had some bizarre weather here last week. It snowed. Yes only in today’s day and age would snow and cold be considered freakish in Canada in December, but such is the damage that all that hot air is doing to our fragile little planet.

The good news is that when we get a good hard frost plus some snow I can take the dogs into the woods behind the house. This is the only time I can do this because they both have an unerring ability to find dead smelly things and roll in them. They still find dead smelly things frozen in the snow but rolling in them has considerably less noxious effects.

I usually take them out every lunch time during this time of year and as you can see from the pics you will never find two happier dogs.

(Warning, cutesy dog pics after the jump)
Read the rest of this entry »

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I haven’t done a post about dogs in a while so I thought I would whip one up about the breed that I think stands above all others.

This is a dog that has tremendous drive and ability to work, whose guarding and protection abilities are legendary and whose smarts and intelligence give it unsurpassed trainability.

It is also a dog that is not for the casual owner (for reason’s I will get into later). Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you:
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I am always happy when I discover a breed of dog that I was unaware of before. The Jindo looks like what is generally termed “Spitz” dogs (of which the Karelian Bear Dog is part of as well) and a little like it’s Japanese neighbour the Akita (I have to post on Akita’s soon)

The Jindo unlike our overbred canine companions of today is still relatively primative. The Jindo Dog Association of America offers this history:

Although somewhat similar to the wild Australian dingo, the Korean Jindo dog is an entirely separate and distinct breed. The Korean Jindo dog is an old breed that originates from an island called Jindo, which is located off the southwest coast of South Korea. The island, with its natural barriers, allowed the Jindo dog to develop isolated from other dog types for hundreds of years. Although the Jindo dog lived in companionship with man, the breed was allowed to develop under natural selection rather than human selection due to the difficult living conditions on the island

Natural selection as you can see keeps the wolf like appearance of the dog. Huskies as well still have that primitive connection and still look like wild canids. Compare the pushed in snout of many domestic breeds. Very impractical from a breathing perspective (and I am aware of the reasons for wrinkled skin for bull baiting so don’t go there - it is still man made).

Most impressive in my Jindo research is its reputation for incredible loyalty:

Once a Jindo chooses a master, the Jindo will always have a bond with him/her. If one wishes to train a Jindo, the owner must be the one handling it for two reasons. If the Jindo has not fully committed to the owner, it will place its loyalty to its trainer instead.

Concurrent with the loyalty comes an uncanny homing ability:

An exceptional trait of a Jindo is its ability to find its home no matter where it is. In Seattle, there was a male Jindo that had escaped from his owner in a park. The owner couldn’t find him and returned home without his dog. Little did he know that another person witnessed the missing dog being hit by a car. The dog dragged itself up onto 3 legs and chased after his owner’s car. The dog returned home with a broken leg several days later. I heard another story of a Jindo from LA that was lost during hunting and found its way home despite the fact that it was a 2 hour freeway drive back home. There are remarkable stories of Jindos in Korea returning to their masters, too. Two documented examples stand out among these returns. A recent one happened in 1993 when Baekgu found her way to her original owner on Jindo Island after 260 km and 6 months of travel on the Korean peninsula. An even more amazing return happened 30 yr. ago before the bridge connecting the pennisula and Jindo Island was constructed. A Jindo dog that had been sold to a front-line army troop 450 km away found its way back home despite the existence of strong currents (~10 knots) that separates the island from the pennisula.

Like most serious dogs this breed isn’t for the casual owner. It is harder to train in some ways, not because it isn’t smart but because it is a very independant breed.

Also it doesn’t get along well with other dogs because of its very high dominance. This means that it is likely to fight any dog it comes across to establish that dominance. However it is not a true fighting dog like an American Pit Bull Terrier or a Tosa Dog. It hasn’t been bred to have the jaws or structure for fighting. So don’t try to bring your expensive Jindo to the local pit because you might be disappointed.

It is however a fabulous hunter. This would make it difficult for the dog if you live in a heavily urbanized area (unless you want to control the cat and racoon population). However if you live in a more remote area with lots of woods I think your Jindo would be very happy. They are particularly good if you are a lazy hunter because they will go out and find small game and then bring it back to their master. So you will have to brush up on your ‘coon, squirrel and possum recipes.

Read lots more about this fantastic breed here.

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Some excerpts pro and con from the blogosphere regarding the Ontario government’s newly enacted anti-pitbull legislation.

From My World according to Blog::

Does that mean that if someone came breaking into my apartment and was about to attack me with a knife, and Shasta came to my rescue to try and protect me and she bites my attacker, she’s history and I’m fined and jailed? As for the person trying to endanger me, would michael Bryant then pin a metal on his chest?

Well Conner I hate to break it to you but in a word yes. Also this would probably happen no matter what type of breed you own. Some insurance companies are now refusing coverage to homeowners with any type of guard dog because of potential lawsuits resulting from bites or attacks. Also if you dog does attack an intruder you can be sued if it is determined that the dog attack constituted excessive use of force.

Welcome to the happy world of socialism Conner!!

Jim from Rightwing.ca:

I’m all for locking away irresponsible owners, and if my dog was carelessly taught to kill, then I would deserve it. But the simple fact is that in our society there will always be those ‘bad dogs’ with good owners who would never hurt a flea, and bad owners with ‘good dogs’ who bite down and never let go. Discriminating against one breed will….guess what….just cause these owners to purchase other breeds, teach them the same tricks, and we’ll have another summer with the same headlines.

I like this argument because you can also substitute gun for dog.

Cathie from Canada weighs in:

But pitbulls have a tenacity in fighting that most other breeds do not have, and also seem to be the dog of choice for the worst owners. While I agree it is the owners that are the problem, I feel that society can no longer take the risk with strong, potentially violent breeds like pitbulls — the consequences of bad ownership are too horrific.
If a bad owner owns a dashund or a toy poodle, well, so what if they jump up and bite you on the kneecap?
But if a bad owner owns a pitbull, that dog can kill a child. The other benefit of this legislation is that it will stop the unprincipled breeders who are breeding and selling these dogs.
Anyway, that’s what I believe. But my sister also sees the tragedy of the dogs who could be saved if they only had owners who cared.

See my comment about guns above Cathy.

I think fingers makes the best argument for the ban:

I’ve heard the justifications by their apologists.
Oh right. “They’re misunderstood. They’re actually gentle by nature.”
Of course they are, as are ALL animals that were bred for the express purpose of being vicious, indefatigable fighting dogs. And there’s a certain type of pitbull owner I despise more than the animal itself. In our city, he would often appear in the form of the aging scum-punk or metal-head who loves to bring his poor widdle cutesy pootsy misunderstood puppy wuppy muffin on the packed goddamned SUBWAY on the end of a steel choke chain. Often this total unmitigated shitface asshat would try to draw people into his “what are you gonna do about it” stare while his four-legged iron-jawed weapon would get twitchier and twitchier with complete over-stimulation. Good eats there, eh Brutus? Mmmmm…canned throats.

Yeah, rock’n'roll dude. Go to hell.

Heheh I hate those types of dog owners. People who love the pitbull breed and are it’s staunch defenders should ask themselves why they allowed their beloved breed to become the fashion accessory of idiots. Most breeders of other serious dogs that I know are very careful about who they sell a dog to. Interesting that every tattooed crack head seems to come with the requisite pitbull right out of the box huh?

Ultimate says:

1. Did you ever do the research to find out just what dogs are the most vicious?

A few years ago, when there was a very large concern over the Doberman Pinscher, then the Rottweiller, and then the German Shepards, they decided to do just that and found that none of the above mentioned breeds were even in the top 10. The number 1 most vicious dog ever was the Chihuahua. Go figure.

Sorry ultimate this is a pointless argument. And if this is the type of reasoning that those opposed to the breed were using to attempt to convince the government not to ban pitbulls then it is no wonder you lost.

Look, I consider myself a libertarian. In a libertarian society we wouldn’t need this type of regulation because I would be allowed to own a gun and if your dog was a danger to me I could shoot it. No questions asked.

I have a friend who bought a farm in the country. She owns five large dogs. Her new neighbors are dairy farmers. The first day in her house they came over to introduce themselves. They were very friendly people however they told her quite clearly. “We have a dairy farm, our cattle are our business. We have nothing against dogs but if they get onto our property we will shoot them.”

Guess what. She has NEVER let her dogs even remotely close to that dairy farm.

And as for the Chihuahua being the most vicious dog. That is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. My own dog once saw a Chihuahua in a park. She mistook it for a squirrel and chased it out of the park and down the street. All the other dogs in the park followed. It was comical.

I don’t think this would have happened with a pitbull.

And if you really believe that let’s try an experiment. You are locked in a room you have 5 minutes to get out before it is flooded with poison gas. You have to open one of two doors. One guarded by a Chihuahua and the other by a vicious pitbull (not the nice ones that everyone in Ontario owns but a real bad ass pitbull from somewhere in the big bad USA where every one is evil). Which door are you going to pick?

I am taking my chances with the Taco Bell dog.

Am I against banning dog breeds?

Absolutely.

Do I think this law is stupid?

Absolutely.

Do I think it will eventually be overturned?

Yes if people fight hard enough it will be.

The biggest danger with this type of law is that historically it has led to even further breed banning. Many European countries started with pitbulls and have now progressed to all kinds of breeds even Corgis!!.

So we have crossed the Rubicon if you will and entered a very disturbing area when it comes to dog ownership in Ontario.

But it can be reversed and Pitbulls can certainly be made legal again. However pitbull owners and their defenders have got to change their tack.

You know when you have an addiction people say you have to start by admitting there is a problem? Well Breeders and owners of Pitbulls HAVE to start admitting there is a serious problem.

Then you have to come up with a reasonable solution. Just sticking your head in the sand and saying “my pitbull is so sweet and would never hurt anyone it’s those bad owners who are the problem” is not going to solve anything.

Sure owners are the problem but the breed has some characteristics that make it difficult to defend as just another dog. Remember pitbulls were bred to bite and hold. This makes them inherently more dangerous than any other breed when they are roused to attack. Most other breeds will bite and let go. In fact most Shepherds wash out of guard dog and police training because of they don’t bite “fully” and don’t hold on. My lovable Belgian Terveuren (now deceased) couldn’t make it in Schutzhund for the same reason.

Conversely Pitbulls aren’t used in these activities because they bite TOO HARD. In fact they could hurt your arm even through the bite sleeve.

I believe all of you who have nice pitbulls when you say your dog is nice. But I don’t’ agree with the contention that they are just another dog.

They aren’t, and it’s time for you to start suggesting solutions that allow the breed to survive but at the same time prevent them from falling into the hands of those who would use them improperly.

But just continually saying guns dogs dont’ kill people, their owners do isn’t going to get you anywhere.

For what it’s worth I hope you are successful in overturning the ban. As a dog owner I am watching it quite closely but until I see a better argument from you as to why I should support your cause, I am going to sit on the sidelines.

Read news articles and commentary on the ban here.

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Image via Wikipedia

Karelian Bear Dogs are a fascinating breed to me. Originating in Northern Europe (well Finland) they are a hunting dog with a particular penchant for staring down bears. In fact when they encounter a bear they will attack it with great ferocity or chase it off.

This would make them a great dog for camping and hiking in areas riddled with bears.

They don’t make great pets however. Mainly because they have such high energy levels and are not friendly with other dogs. If you are thinking about getting such a breed you had better be prepared to exercise it at least an hour a day. If not it would use its excess energy in happily destroying your home.

Like a lot of northern breeds they can be kept outside in kennels. However you cannot trust them off leash, as they will tend to wander away to go hunting. This behaviour is exacerbated if you have two of them.

This is not a breed for an inexperienced owner but rather a confident dog handler with excellent training skills. Better leave this one to the hunters and outdoorsmen.

Unless your house is infested with bears.

Find out more about this unique and fascinating breed here and here.

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Just a test post:

YAY! I can upload pictures.

Eat your heart out Rachel.

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