In a ferocious attack never before seen in Broward County, a powerful, pit-bull-like dog mauled its owner to death Friday afternoon as she tried to give him a bath.
Here is a family dog attacking the owner's girlfriend. There are some clues in the story to tell us what happened. Assuming this story is accurate, here is my opinion of what was going on:
a.) Willey -- who has been cited in the past for having dangerous dogs. So, these owners had warnings about owning dangerous dogs. They had problems with more than one dog. And they own more than one dog.
b.) The dog was of a breed called Presa Canario, akin to a pit bull. They had a powerful breed, which is marketed as being a guard breed.
c.) The two officers who arrived at 3:25 p.m. saw the dog standing over her bloodied body. It was ''acting aggressively'' and they shot and killed the animal. This was a very personal attack by the dog. This was aggression with intent, and the dog knew what it was doing.
d.) Neighbors on Friday in this well-heeled neighborhood said warning signs had appeared in the past. The owners had allowed their dogs to threaten other people.
e.) Rafi Horwitz, 19, said a friend of his came over recently and gasped: ``I just got chased by two dogs.'' Willey had been walking a dog the day before and was struggling to maintain control over the canine, said neighbor Clemente Vaslo, 47. ''She had him on a leash but he was clearly having his way,'' he said. In other words, the dog wasn't under her control. The dog wasn't trained. She couldn't lead or manage the dog.
f.) In 2000, she was charged with having a dog at large, according to Hillsborough County court records. A dog ''threatened [a] witness into the house,'' records show. So, she had a history of having no control over her dogs.
g.) Willey also has a son in middle school. One neighbor, who declined to give his name, said the son had cautioned against playing with the dogs because ``they are mean.'' So, the family knew the dogs were challenging them in their own home!
Here is a perfect example of why you should train your dogs to obey. When you don’t have control over a dog, and that includes leadership over a dog, especially a large breed known for being protective, then you will endanger others, yourself, and your family. And to you "all positive", clicker training folks, or those of you who baby your dogs: this is what happens when you figure that you can train a dog without any rules, boundaries or leadership. This dog clearly got all it wanted in life, and it ended up killing someone.
Just because you think it would be cool to have a certain breed of dog, doesn’t mean you are going to be able to handle it on your own without professional training.
I get emails from people all the time telling me that they are having behavioral problems with a dog, but don’t see the need to train the dog.
In fact, these are the types who don't know a thing about dog behavior, but when it comes down to them having to work with the dog, they would rather either blame the dog, or tell me how they think the dog should be trained.
Check out this email I received last week:
"Hello, We got this puppy at eight weeks old he is now 7 months old. This is what I am noticing about him (my husband doesn’t think it's that bad). He sometimes growls when you try to put him in is cage. He sometimes tires to jump up and bite the kids when they are fighting they are 10 and 16 years old. When we took him to the kennel when we went on vacation they said he tried to bite them the first night and then he was fine (maybe he was scared)? The one girl actually said she was going to miss our dog. Sometimes when you are in the yard with him he tries to jump up and bite your hand (my husband thinks he just playing) I don't know if he is or not. He has showed his teeth to me and he doesn't like you to touch his feet at all especially trying to cut his nails. He is a little dog, Boston Terrier mix. He can be such a loving dog also he cuddles with you , but there is a side that can be mean. My husband doesn’t see it or doesn’t want to see it. I don't know what to do. My husband doesn’t think we should get rid of him. What do you think?"
I told her: "This can all be sorted out in obedience classes. There is no good reason to get rid of the dog. This is a problem created by not training your dog… it is your fault, not the dog’s."
Then, she responded: "There's only one problem with what you are saying, we had a dog before this one for 11 years who passed away last year and he never went to obedience class and he never did any of these things. Can you explain that?"
Just because you have owned a dog doesn't mean you know what you are doing with ALL dogs. This pup of theirs is heading down the wrong path. Training can and would fix this. Imagine such a person, letting a powerful breed of dog head down this path. You'd get the horrifying story you read about above.
MORAL OF THE STORY: All dogs need dog training. If you are too cheap, foolish or lazy to train the dog, then do us all a favor, don't get a dog.
Here is a family dog attacking the owner's girlfriend. There are some clues in the story to tell us what happened. Assuming this story is accurate, here is my opinion of what was going on:
a.) Willey -- who has been cited in the past for having dangerous dogs. So, these owners had warnings about owning dangerous dogs. They had problems with more than one dog. And they own more than one dog.
b.) The dog was of a breed called Presa Canario, akin to a pit bull. They had a powerful breed, which is marketed as being a guard breed.
c.) The two officers who arrived at 3:25 p.m. saw the dog standing over her bloodied body. It was ''acting aggressively'' and they shot and killed the animal. This was a very personal attack by the dog. This was aggression with intent, and the dog knew what it was doing.
d.) Neighbors on Friday in this well-heeled neighborhood said warning signs had appeared in the past. The owners had allowed their dogs to threaten other people.
e.) Rafi Horwitz, 19, said a friend of his came over recently and gasped: ``I just got chased by two dogs.'' Willey had been walking a dog the day before and was struggling to maintain control over the canine, said neighbor Clemente Vaslo, 47. ''She had him on a leash but he was clearly having his way,'' he said. In other words, the dog wasn't under her control. The dog wasn't trained. She couldn't lead or manage the dog.
f.) In 2000, she was charged with having a dog at large, according to Hillsborough County court records. A dog ''threatened [a] witness into the house,'' records show. So, she had a history of having no control over her dogs.
g.) Willey also has a son in middle school. One neighbor, who declined to give his name, said the son had cautioned against playing with the dogs because ``they are mean.'' So, the family knew the dogs were challenging them in their own home!
Here is a perfect example of why you should train your dogs to obey. When you don’t have control over a dog, and that includes leadership over a dog, especially a large breed known for being protective, then you will endanger others, yourself, and your family. And to you "all positive", clicker training folks, or those of you who baby your dogs: this is what happens when you figure that you can train a dog without any rules, boundaries or leadership. This dog clearly got all it wanted in life, and it ended up killing someone.
Just because you think it would be cool to have a certain breed of dog, doesn’t mean you are going to be able to handle it on your own without professional training.
I get emails from people all the time telling me that they are having behavioral problems with a dog, but don’t see the need to train the dog.
In fact, these are the types who don't know a thing about dog behavior, but when it comes down to them having to work with the dog, they would rather either blame the dog, or tell me how they think the dog should be trained.
Check out this email I received last week:
"Hello, We got this puppy at eight weeks old he is now 7 months old. This is what I am noticing about him (my husband doesn’t think it's that bad). He sometimes growls when you try to put him in is cage. He sometimes tires to jump up and bite the kids when they are fighting they are 10 and 16 years old. When we took him to the kennel when we went on vacation they said he tried to bite them the first night and then he was fine (maybe he was scared)? The one girl actually said she was going to miss our dog. Sometimes when you are in the yard with him he tries to jump up and bite your hand (my husband thinks he just playing) I don't know if he is or not. He has showed his teeth to me and he doesn't like you to touch his feet at all especially trying to cut his nails. He is a little dog, Boston Terrier mix. He can be such a loving dog also he cuddles with you , but there is a side that can be mean. My husband doesn’t see it or doesn’t want to see it. I don't know what to do. My husband doesn’t think we should get rid of him. What do you think?"
I told her: "This can all be sorted out in obedience classes. There is no good reason to get rid of the dog. This is a problem created by not training your dog… it is your fault, not the dog’s."
Then, she responded: "There's only one problem with what you are saying, we had a dog before this one for 11 years who passed away last year and he never went to obedience class and he never did any of these things. Can you explain that?"
Just because you have owned a dog doesn't mean you know what you are doing with ALL dogs. This pup of theirs is heading down the wrong path. Training can and would fix this. Imagine such a person, letting a powerful breed of dog head down this path. You'd get the horrifying story you read about above.
MORAL OF THE STORY: All dogs need dog training. If you are too cheap, foolish or lazy to train the dog, then do us all a favor, don't get a dog.
1 comment:
I BELIEVE ALL DOGS NEED TRAINING-when it comes to a dominate breed YOU have to be MORE dominate-you can't let them get away with things-I am a fan of the PRESAS-BULLS-ROTTIES & CHOW- have owned 3 of the 4-ALWAYS OBEYED
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