Of course you know that when dog talk shows up, my ears perk up like a Doberman Pinscher. Okay, I read your post a second time and I get it now. I thought you were saying that you had the urge to take Hayley to the pound. But you were actually saying that others were urging you to take her to the pound. Got it.
A thought: Those who are urging you to take Hayley to the pound are actually not being very PC. I am more used to having someone who dumps their dog at the pound considered a very bad and irresponsible dog owner. Popular wisdom is that people ought to stick it out for the sake of the dog just like married couples stick it out for the sake of the kids. Anyway, that's just sort of a rather inconsequential thought in my mind. People are going to do what they are going to do, and at least the dog has enjoyed a temporary break from the confinement of the pound (if that's where they came from). I do think that folks ideally will be prepared to make the lifelong commitment, but nobody's perfect. I know I'm certainly not. A thought closer to my heart on the topic: If the sentiment of the folks who urge you to take Hayley to the pound is similar in motivation to the sentiment that a dog that bites ought to be put down, then I have something to say about this. As someone who has had people spew that assertion my way, I have given the whole thing some thought. I have considered the hypocrisy that is the inordinate protection and admiration that we afford wildlife as opposed to what we offer domestic pets. I think I mentioned this in the past here - the example of the owl that was attacking people here in town. Instead of shooting the stupid thing, people were warned to stay out of the public park in which the owl was living and attacking. Yet I have been warned by more than one dog expert, and have read in more than one book that if your dog bites someone - even if this someone has broken into your house - you are liable, and the dog is subject to punishment which could include death. I have yet to hear a viable defense for this death penalty, at least one juxtaposed with our reverence toward wild animals. I think that if a bear or a big cat was to maul someone we would attempt to capture it an relocate it to a new home, right? Deer overrun this town, as do raccoons. We also have coyote. But the first two are seriously over-dense around here. I don't know what, if any, plan the city has, but I do know that hunting is illegal and hunters are considered backwards barbarians. But it seems to me that more and more car accidents are going to occur in addition to more and more cases of rabies. And trash cans are toppled and their contents strewn. And gardens are destroyed. But these creatures are mystical. They are nature and thus they are beautiful and to be reverenced as gifts from Mother Earth. How dare we take any action to gain control over these species. Afterall who are we? We're just a member of the animal kingdom - but one that has transgressed in our conquest and occupation of the habitat of these holy creatures. We ought to hang our heads in shame as the natural enemies of these wise and noble beings. Oh, by the way, get that mutt off my lawn, I'm trying to meditate, and I think that deer was about to communicate with me. Pardon me. Living here in Western Washington is starting to annoy me. As for the dogs and people's intolerance for anything resembling aggression: If you really own a forceful, hard dog of a guarding breed (or herding in this case), you travel a hard road, and I might pass and wave to you. One time a couple of women banded together and took issue with my correcting my late Dobie at the dog park. I called on them to stop whispering behind my back, and to state their issue to me. In the end, I invited the woman to call the cops. This was, I guess, all it took to make her do it. Cops showed up, and after an officer lied to me about why she needed my name and number, she gave it to the complainant so I could be turned in to Animal Control. When A.C. called me the next day, I explained my side, and they sided with me. One poignant thing the animal control officer told me is that if the public could see how the police trained their dogs, they could not handle it. This is why they do not do it in public. I assure you that my Dobies have been just as hard dogs as police "K9"s. You cannot cajole or bribe them. This will only lead to more out-of-control behavior. They need unpleasant consequences for their problematic behavior - something to make it worth their while to forego it in favor of what I, and the public, need from them. Yes, they need a balance of both positive and negative reinforcement. And one should only be "one ounce tougher than the dog" - no more, no less. I quote Joel McMains. When someone takes issue, for instance, with my firmness in getting my dog to heel in public (in order to keep him from lunging at and jumping on everything that he finds interesting), I simply hand them the leash and say "show me". I am talking about a hard, dog that truly could be classified as a "problem" dog - one that most people would surely take to the pound. I choose to do the humane thing. Brian On Fri, Mar 14, 2008 at 9:45 PM, Gary Hurst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > as you have heard, i can take my brown mutt foxxy anywhere. it's now that > she's well trained or anything, just that she has become civilized. the > white german, on the other hand, is a whole different deal. > > i got 2 pounds of nice bloody cheap meat from the feed store in loganville > tonight. i split it in half for the dog, and put each part in a different > part of the back deck. the german runs to one side and starts to devour > the > meat. foxxy just look at it, sniffs it and then look at me like i'm > insane. i try to convince her to eat it, but no luck. so i send the > german > to eat it and bust out some kibble for the fox. both dogs now eat > happily. > > the german has some serious prey drive, killing everything that comes > through the back yard. if we are inside, she wants to kill something too. > tonight she brings me an old boot, so i grab the other end of the boot and > start making it "struggling" prey. next thing i know i'm pulled off the > chair and she is trying to drag me off. i can't hang on to the boot > anymore. she moves it a few feet from me and tears it to shreds in a > frenzy. then she lies down calmly next to it and proceeds to nibble. > > meanwhile, foxxy watches us from about 5 feet, seemingly confused by this > madness. > > everyone loves foxxy and everyone hates hayley the german. i'm urged to > give hayley to the pound, even though she has not only never bitten anyone > or any pet, but hasn't even growled at anyone. > > if our kids act like kids, we drug them into oblivion with ritalyn. if > our > dogs act like dogs, we are expected to send them to the pound. anyone who > thinks differently runs the risk of being considered a dangerous > anarchist. > we are a society that preaches "toleration" as the ultimate good, yet it > is > a society that may be more intolerant right now than at any point in our > history. > > so i ask for the thousandth time: what the hell is going on over here and > how did we let this come about? > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ > For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
