I think she understands, but I DON'T think she understands how to fix the problem. I think she's got the common failing of people with kickable dogs: Because the dog is kickable, they think they don't have to be able to do anything but kick it.
This is why "pit bulls"[1] are so dangerous. It's not that they're more aggressive or more capable of doing harm - in fact, they're much LESS aggressive than small dogs and much LESS dangerous than large dogs.
What they ARE, is small enough that an adult human can usually restrain them physically, and large enough that a child or surprised adult *can't*. And so, since an adult can usually control them physically, some adults do so, and don't train them to obey. And since they're not trained to obey, they don't. Which means that when they disobey, and nobody is there to wrestle them to the ground and yell at them, they can do some real damage.
A larger dog would do more, but *nobody* thinks a Rottweiler or GSD or a Mastiff can get away without training - and so, untrained large dogs simply don't get into the kind of situations that a medium-dog gets into. And when an untrained small dog misbehaves, that's considered cute and funny because you can pick it up with one hand and hold it.
[1]: A fake breed. There is NO SUCH ANIMAL as a "pit bull". The term means "medium-sized short-haired dog". Medium-sized dogs that are not short-haired are "pit bull crosses".
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-27 02:12 am (UTC)This is why "pit bulls"[1] are so dangerous. It's not that they're more aggressive or more capable of doing harm - in fact, they're much LESS aggressive than small dogs and much LESS dangerous than large dogs.
What they ARE, is small enough that an adult human can usually restrain them physically, and large enough that a child or surprised adult *can't*. And so, since an adult can usually control them physically, some adults do so, and don't train them to obey. And since they're not trained to obey, they don't. Which means that when they disobey, and nobody is there to wrestle them to the ground and yell at them, they can do some real damage.
A larger dog would do more, but *nobody* thinks a Rottweiler or GSD or a Mastiff can get away without training - and so, untrained large dogs simply don't get into the kind of situations that a medium-dog gets into. And when an untrained small dog misbehaves, that's considered cute and funny because you can pick it up with one hand and hold it.
[1]: A fake breed. There is NO SUCH ANIMAL as a "pit bull". The term means "medium-sized short-haired dog". Medium-sized dogs that are not short-haired are "pit bull crosses".