[lit-ideas] Re: Dogo Argentino, etc

Yeah, right.  I believe in personal gun ownership and personal dog
ownership.  The problems with the problem dogs is that some people have
trained them to fight each other, other dogs and anyone who comes after
their marijuana plants.  The knee-jerk reaction, as can be seen in the bit I
quoted from the British politician, is to outlaw the dogs.  But, if these
dogs were not trained to fight each other, other dogs, or to guard marijuana
farms, they would be as safe as any other breed.  Notice that "Few Filas
will attack for no reason, but none will be friendly with strangers."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fila_Brasileiro  

If you happen to be bitten by one of the "few" you may wish to outlaw all of
them and that has been the knee-jerk reaction with other breeds before the
breeder-gentling-breeding programs took effect.  That was once true, for
example of the Doberman Pinscher, but that breed has been so gentled in
recent years that hardly any of them kill their masters any more.

Eric, what breed of dog did you have that was attacked by the pit bull?  I
was once walking my previous Rhodesian Ridgeback, Trooper, down on a dry
river bed and suddenly we saw a pit bull.  I grabbed for Trooper's collar
but it was too late.  Fortunately, that pit bull was just someone's pet.
The owner came apologetically running after it.  Trooper towered over the
dog and the pit bull did the dog-cower thing so all was well.  Trooper was
probably attacked 6 or 8 times during his lifetime.  Most of the dogs he
caught and put on their backs without hurting them.  One female hopped a
fence and nipped him on the rump as Susan hung on to his leash and
accidentally prevented him from defending himself.  All of these dogs were
off leash and none of them was a known "dangerous dog."  They were just
neighborhood dogs who extended their territory out into the places we were
walking.  

Rhodesian Ridgebacks are not known for being dog-aggressive.  Neither are
Dogo Argentinos, that is, not the pure-bred Dogo Argentinos.  Both breeds
were intended to hunt in packs; so it is extremely undesirable to have dogs
that don't get along with other dogs.  But you can select for
dog-aggressiveness.  I know some have done that with the Dogo Argentino, but
that is no reason to outlaw the breed.

My friend from Iraq once owned a Dogo Argentino and I've asked him for some
more details about his dog, but I haven't heard back from him yet.

I'm going to side with Irene on this subject: outlaw people not dogs!  She
is probably going to deny saying that, but surely that was implied by her
environmental concerns.  The fewer people, the better the environment.  Dogs
may poop on your lawn but that's not going to hurt the environment.  

Lawrence Helm
Biodegradable in San Jacinto

-----Original Message-----
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of palma@xxxxxxxx
Sent: Sunday, March 23, 2008 10:22 AM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: Eric Yost; lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx;
lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Dogo Argentino, etc

but Eric, precisely what is the difference iwth gun ownership?
On Sun, 23
Mar 2008, Eric Yost wrote:

>  >>Fila Brasileiro
>
> Friend of a friend owned one of these dogs. They
> were originally bred by the Portuguese for
> protection and to hunt jaguars. Slavers used them
> to track runaway slaves; police to hunt escaped
> criminals. They are superb, albeit slobbering,
> bodyguards and home guard dogs. Worst
> characteristic seems to be that they give no signs
> of pending aggression. No barking. No growling. No
> tail movements or raised hair. Mostly silent when
> confronted by strangers, they suddenly attack.
>
> Years ago, in a city dog run, I had to defend my
> dog against a bit pull who suddenly attacked her.
> Acted without thinking, and managed to take down
> and subdue the pit bull without being bitten,
> knocked it out, and eye gouged it until it
> released my dog's neck from its teeth. It was one
> of the most traumatic experiences I've ever had
> ... made me realize in frantic horror how weak I
> was, how relentless that block of muscles and
> teeth was, how overmatched I was by a simple pit
> bull. I was lucky to escape the fight without a
> scratch. My dog lived several years after the
> attack. (Dog run association wanted me to sue the
> pit bull owner, but I was too traumatized to
> follow up with anything.)
>
> Imagining a similar situation with the larger Fila
> Brasileiro, I supposed I would have acted in a
> similar way, and would probably be dead.
>
> In an urban environment, it makes sense to control
> people's ownership of such animals, and to
> regulate the animals themselves. If you had such a
> dog on a ranch, I would be a different situation.
>
>
> Eric
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