An open letter.

[theweaselking]

Dear owner of the snausage-with-legs that attacked Piper:

Your pug has been returned in one piece because my dog, unlike yours, responds to voice control and knows that I am allowed to take food away from her.

By "food", of course, I mean "your dog, after it bit her".

Piper now gives me this look because I took her squeaky wriggling meat toy away:



Obedience and socialisation training: Just because I *can* grab your dog and chuck it like a football does not mean I should have to.

No love,
Me.

(For the record: No harm done, to either participant. Defective fuzzy rat-creature returned to apologetic owner. Piper now distracted by The Mystery Of Is There A Squirrel and once again all is right in her mayonnaise-witted little doggy world.)

Comments

[maelorin]

ignorance is inheritable. but curable.

what you describe here coincides with some views on parenting. self-discipline and social skills and norms have to be taught.

part of the problem is the 'cuteness factor'. some people think they shouldn't, mustn't 'ruin' the cuteness by teaching good behaviours. but the earlier you instil them, the easier - and the better your relationship later.

a small dog may be controllable, but they can do serious damage to hands and feet (and ankles and wrists). i've seen the mess a chihuauhaua can make of it's owners thumb and forefingers: irreparable nerve and ligament damage. 'restrainable' doesn't equal 'safe'.

the sad thing is, it's the pet who suffers for not having been trained. several dogs have been put down in recent years because people failed to train them (a few were also insane choices for family pets).

there may be no such breed as 'pit bull', but the average joe tends to understand what such a dog looks like, and what they're expected to expect them to behave like.