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Dear /an/, Anonymous
Is it the breed or the owner? THAT is the question.

I've heard a lot recently that pit bulls, rotweillers, bulldogs, mastiffs, and even Doberman Pinschers are getting the rap for being "too aggressive".

I owned a German Shepard for a long time, another breed that's considered as such, and I was wondering if anyone has any opinions on the matter.

Tanks.
>> Anonymous
Owner, and individual dog.

I know a guy with a Dobermann, and when I first saw it I was a little worried because it was energetic, but really it was an incredibly nice dog. If anything I would say she was a bit too nice, because she was big and strong enough to knock down little kids just by bumping into them.

But anyway, I don't think there are any violent breeds, just what their environment makes them. And you might get a dog once in a while that's just has an aggresive personality.
>> Anonymous
I have a pit bul and it's the best dog I've ever had.

The problem is a lot of the people who end up with these breeds, even if they don't mak them fighters,they are the type of people who leave it chained up in the yard all day and that causes the dog to build aggression and frustration so that when it does get out it can attack somebody. For example, there was a case where these people kept their great dane locked in the laundry room all the time and one day it got out and killed some old lady, chewed her arm off.
>> Anonymous
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>>71770
True. Part of the bad reputation is also that these breeds are much more powerful than others so when they ARE agressive and violent they're more dangerous. That and the fact that idiots are drawn to the big cool scary dogs, then are totally irresponsible and negligent

Some breeds may be more of a challenge, but really it's about the owner. If an individual dog IS agressive then it's the owner's responsibility to keep others safe.

My aunt had a rottie and ran a daycare in her home and the dog was the absolute sweetest most gentle dog in the world. She would pick kids up on her back and everything. On the other hand, she now has 2 dobermans who are littermates and she hasn't done anything to seperate them, so they've bonded to one another instead of her and my uncle and they can be pretty scary. They haven't bitten anyone but they're pretty high strung, and we would never let them in the yard when my little cousins are around.

A rottweiler kind of attacked me when I was 12 but it was partly my fault and partly the owner's. I was leaning over him and scratching his chest and I should have known better. He didn't like having me over him and he did growl but it sounded more like he was just enjoying the scratch. The owners should have been paying more attention. The dog jumped at my face and his front claws scratched my chin and 4 of his teeth just barely caught my cheek. Then he grabbed the edge of my shorts and tore a piece off before the owners got him away.
>> Anonymous
A friend of my mom's had the SWEETEST pitbull I've ever met. Her name was Daisy, and she'd bring her big stuffed snake to the door for guests to play with, and sit on your feet and sleep and snoooooore for hours on end.

She was such a teddybear. I miss her :(
>> Anonymous
Definately a combination of individual dog and owner.
I live in the boonies of Ohio and sadly we have all the backwoods retards that think it's "cool" to have a big aggressive dog.
It makes me terribly sad to see it because a lot of these "aggressive" breeds can be total sweethearts with the proper care.

Rotties are the best example I can think of. Every rottie that I've ever met that's been raised by a nice family have been terrific dogs. Raised by the backwoods rednecks? Chained up piles of frustration. :-( It makes me sad to see good dogs taken in by retarded owners.

I wish that there was some kind of requirement like a "care class" that a person had to take before getting one of these supposed "aggressive" breeds. A certificate of passing could be issued...or perhaps the owners should have to get a license of some sort.

and boy did I use a lot of quotation marks in this post. O_o
>> Anonymous
We,ve had two rottweilers and I've known a few more. Ours first one was not liked among everyone, because she was HUGE even for a rottie and she loved kids soooo much. Every time she was free and saw kids she would jus storm towards the kids and accidentally knocked them down. The kids would start crying and our dog got really worried and licked the kids all over to make them stop.

Rotties are tough dogs and when not home they are alert and ready to defend you if necessary, so in wrong hands they can be a disaster. Our second dog used to get into fights with other dogs, but not because she started it. Actually, she never bit a dog she fought with. She always ended up kind of sitting on them, and the other couldn't do a thing.

I'd say that rottweilers are very very strong, but they are also very aware of their strenght and don't use it if not necessary. So it's definaly like everyone has said: the owner and the individua dog. Mostly the owner.
>> Anonymous
My friend had a rottie years ago. His name was Tiny, but this motherfucker was HUGE! Oh, and he was the biggest baby ever! My friend used to say that not only would he NOT attack an intruder, but probably lead him straight to where all the valuable shit was kept! One time, we were walking him and he got impatient about stopping to poop so he "started dropping bombs" while walking. it was funny shit.
>> Anonymous
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my min
>> Anonymous
>>71895
It's either about to get raped or get nom'd by your cat...
>> Anonymous
>>71849She always ended up kind of sitting on them

Holy crap! Your rotter was a dog killer?
>> Anonymous
>>71900
No, you silly. She just sat on them until they stopped resisting.

Though I bet this was just some strange "lurk moar"-kinda thing...

Or rotties were cuddly and all that stuff, but hell if someone strange was making noise outside or a strange person came too close to our car! They would make a noise so bad that the intruder definately got the message. If somebody had tried to broke into our house I bet our little doggie would have bite his head off. They are cute and kind but they aldo guard and defend you and your property. They are goddamn fearless.
>> Anonymous
My gf was absolutely terrified of rotties and dobermans, at least up to a year back or so. She'd had only bad experiences, but then again, she'd even managed to get bitten by a golden retriever... ("INCONCIEVABLE!") It took me some time to convince her that there's no such thing as an aggressive (or as she said, EVIL) breed.
One step forward was meeting our friends' rottie at their place. She, the dog that is, was all love and cuddles but with two sort-of-bad habits. She would always try to get on your lap if you happened to be sitting down. Imagine a 40kg+ avalanche of rottie slide down on top of you. (And licks. Always with the licks...) ...And she also had this weird happy-growl, it was like some dogs' hind leg starts twitching when scratched. She just would start to rumble like a truck. Fortunately I managed to refrain from laughing the first time she did it with my gf. She just froze mid-scratch. :D
I haven't yet managed to find a friendly doberman or a pitt bull for my gf to get acquainted with.
And as for the dobermans and pitt bulls, the only ones I've ever gotten familiar with were curious and friendly towards welcomed visitors. It usually depended on the owners' behaviour. They usually are quite good guard dogs with a solid sense of situational awareness. So it's sort of a "If you're ok by them, you're ok by me; if you aren't, you're DEFINATELY not ok by me" thing. :D
>> Anonymous
>>71933
And regarding the aggression part: I've heard from owners that rotties different from most dogs in one regard. They are steady; slow to heat up and slow to cool off, so to speak. This can be a good thing and a bad thing. Usually they get pissed only for a good reason, but when they do, it's not so easy to calm them down. As opposed to, say, dobermans and german shepherds, which are said to be more quick tempered in both regards and thus easier to get bullied to submission. ...You don't want to try to bully an angry rottie. It either listens to you as a rule and ALWAYS or you have a major problem.
>> Anonymous
My uncle owns 2 rotweillers and at first I was terrified, because, honestly, I'm terrified of dogs, especially of aforementioned breeds.

Ended up that those dogs were the nicest of the 8 dogs he owned (he owns a farm. a lot of the dogs help him with the pigs, cattle, etc) The roteillers would actually walk along side you when there was ice so you wouldn't fall. Sweet creatures, really.

My opinion on 'agressive breed' dogs was forever changed. But I'm still kinda afraid of dogs. Don't tell anyone.
>> Anonymous
I think they all get such a bad rap because they're all very very smart breeds of dogs. When being raised they are just as impressionable as children, so whatever they learn when they are young stays with them. They learn so fast, more so I'd say the german shepards and the rottweillers because they've been used as herding dogs. I've owned rottweillers, a german shepard, a mastiff, and currently own a pitbull/lab/bulldog mix, and all of them (with the exception of the pitbull mix would've protected my family and I with their lives. They were also all very sweet, very loving animals that would never attack any member of the family. So I'd definatly say that its just a case of bad people owning the dogs and improperly socializing them and not training them.
>> Anonymous
>>72009
They get a bad rap, because unlike chihuahuas and poodles, they're able to kill a man easily, no matter what their usual behaviour is. Dogs can snap at anyone for a number of reason, including intestinal cramps. Nobody wants to be near a potential killer in a bad mood.
>> Anonymous
>>72012
No, you're thinking of women.
*ba-bum tssch*
>> Anonymous
>>72014
Ohohoho. You are so clever.
>> Anonymous
>>72015
Yeah, sorry. I just had to. But aaanyway, that post was complete crap. don't just snap at the drop of a hat, they have a Good Reason/ Cause. My father got charged by his dog, but that was due to the dog having a tumor and insane pains. It would have been put away anyway when it had been found out.
>> Anonymous
>>72022Yeah, sorry. I just had to.

No, you didn't. Everyone has a choice... you just chose the wrong one.
>> Anonymous
>>72076
In before we get into arguments about condition, enviroment and free will.