Question for dog experts....

[dboyd351]

Originally Posted by reelapeelin

Dogs, like children, are largely a product of their upbringing...your cousin needs to train his dog to only attack a human on command...I would put the blame and responsibility squarely on him for not having his dog under control...sounds like he might get some perverse pleasure out of having such a dog...

Remember...there are no bad dogs...only bad OWNERS...jmho...

Absolutely!!!
Some breeds may be more or less prone to attack, but ultimately the dog's behavoir is a product of his upbringing. Just like there are good, well-behaved kids and others that aren't, the same is true for dogs. The fact that this dog has attacked more than one person and is still not being brought to task speaks volumes.

In many places if a dog is reported for this kind of behavoir several times the authorities will step in and take the dog away from the owner. I'm not suggesting you put yourself in such a situation with your relatives, but maybe someone should make them aware that this is a possibility if the behavoir isn't corrected.

[willy]

You are quite correct JJ in your analysis, I personally would have kicked that dog thru the front door, I would not care if it was the Pope's personal lap dog.
dogs like that are a menace to humans and should not be allowed to have contact with them, especially small children.
What everyone has said here is pretty much correct, I spent a three or four year period training dogs with people involved in something called Shutzhund where dogs are highly obedience and protection trained. Even these people who have many thousands of dollars and thousands of man hours invested in their dog(s) would not allow a dog that is too sharp as they put it near people at all. You see while I agree with the sentiment there are no bad dogs only irresponsible owners and that for many dogs bad socialization and/or cruel treatment is the problem with many dogs i will state quite emphatically that there most definetly are bad dogs. Period.
Some breeds of course are more aggressive by nature and have been bred to be so, a lot of dogs, due to the piss poor breeding practices in this country have bad temperments by genetic disposition.
If you ever go and spend time in Germany you will see the most amazing things, in Germany breeding of any dog is strictly controlled. A board of Vet's and breeders must determine the health of the dogs, whether the lines are too closely connected, the temperament of the dogs.
Any dog that is like your cousins is quickly removed from society as a menace.
The other thing you will see is the most beautiful healthy dogs walking with their owners on the streets on heel with no leash in sight, you will go to a very nice restuarant and be eating dinner and a man and women will come in and sit down with their German Shepard sitting right at their feet. Nothing is even thought of it.Quite amazing.
Anyhow I am reminiscing, sorry, you should advise your family of the danger of the dog, you should advise your family of the danger to the children, you should advise any other family or friends of the same and you should tell them nicely but honestly you and your family will not go there again while the dogs is on the scene. There are bad dogs. And bad owners, you may have a case of either or both, the only thing that matters is that someone acts as an adult and tells them so and acts accordingly.
In my family I have a similar issue with my brother who inspite of what everyone told him has a Pit Bull, he has three kids and the dog has been very good so far, stubborn and not obedient at all but no other issues. But I told him four years ago when he got it I and my kids will not come to his house unless the dog is put away, period. He has complied and there has been no issues to date and it will stay that way because when he at first let the dog out when we were there I literally went to grab my coat, he did the right thing and everything was OK after that.

[Destroyer]

I completely agree with all that Willy, Ferm and others have said. Let me add a few more things to my original post.

First, in NJ at least, if that dog had bitten anyone it would have been taken from the owner and watched. The owner has one (1) appeal to have the dog returned to him. If the dog bites a second person it is taken from the owner and put to death. Period. Seems cruel, but how much worse would it be to have the dog kill a child or an elder person unable to defend themselves?

As I said in my first post I've raised several Guardian type dogs. For those that are not familiar with this type of dog, look up Caucasian Ovcharka. My last one (Sasha) was the runt of the litter and only weighed 124lbs. She was simply a fantastic dog and I miss her greatly. Never once did I ever feel afraid when going to sleep, knowing that she and her brothers and sisters before her were on guard. These dogs were/are bred to kill wolves in the Ural Mountains in Russia. She was a guardian, and they are, by breeding, trained to guard the family and the area they live in from ALL outsiders. Big, super powerful and would take a Pit Bull to an early grave. My point of all this is that although she was a great family dog, I had to put her in the bedroom anytime we had visitors, simply because I knew that if I didn't they would be hurt badly. It's called being responsible for ones actions. It sounds to me like your cousin needs to learn the same lesson. The sooner the better. If he cannot take control of his dog, make it a practice to never meet him again at his house. That way you cannot get bitten.

[phatdaddy]

Do you have any postmen in your ancestery?

[jjjtronics]

Thank you all for the good advise and concern. I feel better now. I have had no call from them yet, I just hope that this dog does not hurt somebody else, because then they ( the owners ) will be at fault.
Thank again guys !! And HAPPY 2011 !!!!!

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by phatdaddy

Do you have any postmen in your ancestery?