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I bet I have your attention now, eh?

I have just finished reading an article by a jerk columnist who says ALL DOGS SHOULD BE KILLED ! BANNED ! This article is in reference to a baby being mauled to death in the UK by two pet dogs, a Jack Russell and a Staffordshire Bull Terrier.  While I have great sympathy for the family and the infant, a truly accidental death, this whole thing has me seeing a bigger picture, why do dogs attack ? Please go read the article here that has me totally hot under the collar :  http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/giles_coren/article5728143.ece

I am going to give you my opinion about this jerk and talk more about "why do dogs attack" so come back after you read the article.

The guy who wrote the article above isn't unlike a lot of people in his views about dogs, are you surprised ? Don't be, you see everyday in the US and aboard laws are introduced to lawmakers with the hopes of banning our beloved DOG, I'm not just talking about banning breeding dogs (breeders or puppymills), but your right and my right to even own a pet dog !  The animal rights activists like PETA and HSUS eat these stories up and have millions of people fooled into thinking that they are all for animals rights which is a farce from the true agenda of these people. Their true agenda is to eradicate all dogs. Irresponsible dog owners are the cause of this and millions of innocent dogs are put to death annually. Not to mention tragedies like this infants death, or the many other innocent victims of dog attacks we hear about all the time. The irresponsible dog owners are making it real hard for the true responsible dog owners and dog lovers to educate the public about dogs and be accepted in our own beliefs and love of dogs. By the way I hope the Queen of England puts this jerk  on pooper scooper duty definately !

If your gonna own a dog it is your responsibility to educate yourself on dog behavior, dog care and dog training and become a responsible dog owner. There is really no excuse for this type of behavior any longer. I will agree that there are alot of dog owners out there who have no business owning a canine or any pet for that matter, you know who you are !

Now let's get back to " Why do Dogs Attack ? "

Dogs attack for a number of reasons but they are always provoked in some minute way although it may seem like an unprovoked attack to the untrained eye. Dogs behavior falls within two groups, they either learn the behavior or they do it instinctively.The number one reason dogs are so misunderstood is that people try to humanize dogs.  Dogs have a communication between themselves, a body language, they do not speak English, people ! Although they can be trained to understand spoken commands from their owners, they communicate through body language, eye contact and a few vocalizations. Dogs are social creatures and live in packs, hunt in packs, eat in packs and sleep in packs instinctively. The best dog in the world is going to join in on a pack fight when the pack is attacking another, this is natural instincts. Why ? Well the one true reason is survival of the fittest. Only the fittest survive and are able to live long enough to reproduce. Every living creature on this earth is trying to survive wouldn't you think, sure. Canines are also territorial and like their space just as much as we humans do. Unwanted entry into that space can cause an attack. Fear can cause an attack, dogs are either gonna flight (run away) or fight (attacked) if cornered even by a small child which is the main reason children get bit. Other dogs invading their space can cause an attack or dogs who have been too humanized and forget their natural language can have miscommunication with other dogs which can lead to an attack . Direct eye contact is a challenge to dogs, so you should never make direct eye contact with strange dogs.  An attack can be over resources like food, shelter, the right to mate or toys. These are all things the dog finds necessary for survival.

Listen, dogs are NOT little humans in furry suits, they are animals and have animal instincts. They do NOT think like humans, period ! Most dog attacks can be prevented with the right timing and know how. It is not rocket science and if your not aware of this you need to start studying canine behavior, you owe it to your dog and yourself and every other dog lover in the world to do this so we all become responsible dog owners and have the ablity to share our lives with these wonderful animals. Let's not let the animal rights activist win this game they are playing !

I would like to share this, the #1 Rule of Dogs : NEVER LEAVE CHILDREN UNSUPERVISED WITH DOGS PERIOD ! I can hear some of you now, my little dog would never attack a child, well I bet the grandmother of those two pet dogs thought the same thing ! These were small dogs not large dogs by the way, a Jack Russell Terrier and a Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

I'd like to show you this picture in a different view. So do you know what the Jack Russell or Staffordshire Bull terrier was bred for ? The Jack Russell was bred to be primarily a working terrier, the red fox is the traditional quarry of the Jack Russell. Originally bred to bolt fox from their dens during hunts, they are used on numerous ground-dwelling quarry such as groundhog, badger, and red/ grey fox. The Staffordshire Bull Terrier origins date back before the nineteenth century when bloodsports such as bull baiting and bear baiting were common. Bulls brought to market were set upon by dogs as a way of tenderizing the meat and providing entertainment for the spectators; and dog fights with bears, bulls and other animals were often organized as entertainment for both royalty and commoners. Early Bull and Terriers were not bred for the visual specimen of today, rather they were bred for the characteristic known as gameness or prey drive ability. The pitting of dogs against bears or bulls tested the prey drive, strength and skill of the dog. These early "proto-staffords" provided the ancestral foundation stock for the Staffordshire Bull Terrier,  Bull Terrier,  American Pit Bull Terrier and American Staffordshire Terrier. This common ancestor was known as the "Bull and Terrier". I am not downing  these breeds by the way just pointing out the origins. And lets not get into the pure bred dog against mixed breed dog issue because I'd much rather know what was in the lineage of my dog than play a guessing game. Thats for another topic.

Now knowing this would you really ever leave a child unsupervised with these breeds of dogs (or any dogs), I would hope not. In the incident involving this child the grandmother accidentally fell asleep and left the baby on a pillow on a table. Who knows for sure but I'd like to bet that these two dogs heard this childs cries and mistook its cries for that of helpless prey, thats what animals do, they prey upon other animals in the necessity to survive, natural instincts. Who knows maybe  the smell of food or milk on the child provoked the attack. The cries of a child this small is very similar to the cries of small prey animals, did you realize that ? Just because we now call dogs domesticated just exactly how much of mother nature has really been bred out of the modern domestic dog ? I'll let you come to your own conclusion. I often wonder just who has the biggest prey drive humans or dogs ?And for the record, I AM A GUARDIAN OF DOGS  FOR MORE THAN 40 YEARS AND PROUD OF IT ! I WILL FIGHT TO MY LAST BREATH FOR MY RIGHT TO HAVE A DOG AND THE RIGHTS OF DOGS TO LIVE !

Angela Donald

Canine Behavior Consultant

petadvice@aol.com

Stop Your Dog Problems Easily

www.hitowerboxers.com/caninebehaviorconsultant.htm