GentleLake Posted April 7, 2014 Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 Every Rottie I've known has been a big mush. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kian's Mom Posted April 7, 2014 Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 GentlleLake, I agree with you on that. I have had several over the years. One I raised from a pup and several that I got from rescue, and they all wanted to be lap dogs. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideon's girl Posted April 7, 2014 Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 As far as good vs bad owners... Good owners don't allow a pack mentality in dogs like that. I, too, have known lots of horrid pit owners that had nice, nice dogs, and lots of great owners that had lousy dogs. The great owners took great pains to make sure their dogs look to them for leadership, not each other. The great owners didn't leave them outside to their own devices, 24/7. The great owners socialized within an inch of their lives. The great owners gave them a constructive job to do. The great owners train, train, train. Kind of like great Border Collie owners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urge to herd Posted April 7, 2014 Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 Tommy, I'm afraid of any large dog that I don't know and don't know the human. I never believe a human saying to me,Oh, s/he's really friendly, when the dog is trying to stare me down or is stalking my dog. There are a lot of very ignorant, and/or stupid people out there, and it seems lots of them have dogs. I've know great dogs of many different breeds, but an unknown large, muscular dog I always give a wide berth to. I can defend myself or my dog from anything under 40 lbs or so, but 80 lbs of muscle? Not taking the chance. I am happy to talk to the owner, observe the dog, and possibly strike up a friendship, but my first obligation is keep me and my dog safe. I am very cautious until I have more information. Ruth and Agent Gibbs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted April 7, 2014 Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 This should also serve as a reminder that having a dog door that is not secured when there is no one at home to supervise dogs going in and out, is probably not a good idea. Most of us would never leave a dog in the yard while we were gone. Leaving a dog loose in the house with a functioning dog door is almost the same thing and, as this case shows, not only does not protect your dog by confining him/her but also (like an invisible fence) does not prevent an intruder dog (or other animal) from accessing your house (once it's gotten over, under, or through your fence). Poor dogs, poor people, what a horror for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideon's girl Posted April 7, 2014 Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 With an unlatched dog door, you also don't have any idea how annoying your dog is to the neighbors while you are gone. I had a neighbor that had a dog with permanent laryngitis because all day every day the dog was barking at every noise in the whole neighborhood, including it's own echos. They couldn't understand why their dog was always hoarse even though I told them repeatedly. My dogs absolutely despised their dog and it was the only dog I ever saw that my dogs hated. They would have gladly played tug o war with it as the rope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushdoggie Posted April 7, 2014 Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 GentlleLake, I agree with you on that. I have had several over the years. One I raised from a pup and several that I got from rescue, and they all wanted to be lap dogs. LOL 99% of Rotties I know are sweet. Then there is the 9 week old puppy I had come to puppy kindergarten recently who gave her owner several hard stares and has bitten her owner pretty dang hard in a manner that didn't look like puppy play biting to me...a hard stare then a lunge at her owners hands. 9 week old puppies should not act like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted April 7, 2014 Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 99% of Rotties I know are sweet. Then there is the 9 week old puppy I had come to puppy kindergarten recently who gave her owner several hard stares and has bitten her owner pretty dang hard in a manner that didn't look like puppy play biting to me...a hard stare then a lunge at her owners hands. 9 week old puppies should not act like that.Some dogs, like some people, are just not wired right. One issue I think is that while maybe many more people get bitten by small dogs, the potential for serious or deadly damage is so much greater with large dogs and dogs with the powerful jaws that certain breeds like Pits and Rotties have. Not to mention the multitudes of poor breeders and idiots trying to produce, buy, or raise "muscle dogs". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Coyote Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 Another reason not to have a doggie door is that thieves will crawl thru them and then unlock the door to the house and walk off with everything that you own. I'm pretty sure we have had cases here where would be house breaker inners have gotten stuck in doggie doors. One man I talked to had a large dog with a doggie door. Some roofers came to work on the house next door and then one of them tried to crawl into his house thru his doggie door. It would take a pretty small person but it could be done. And racoons are good with doggie doors, too. Doesn't take them very long to figure out how to come in. And they will come in thru cat sized doors. I don't want a racoon loose in my house. For one thing they poop all over - to mark - I guess. I do think they usually can figure out how to get back out again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shetlander Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 When I used dog doors, I usually locked them up at night, IIRC. I never had any issues with wild or unwanted animals coming in. I think that is more an issue with cats only households. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Coyote Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 Oh, that might be true. Wild things know when there is a dog around. The two places I knew of that had racoons come into the house were cat households. Cats and racoons tolerate each other pretty well. I used to take care of a house where the owners fed the racoons. They would have 10 racoons up on the deck at a time and their two huge cats would just be laying out there watching. They didn't mix it up but they did tolerate. The other house had a cat door. The owner would leave cat food and water out on the kitchen floor and the racoons would come into the kitchen every nite and eat all the cat food. And then they would poop on the floor which is a bad thing to be around. Racoon poop carries a parasite that is really dangerous to humans. I asked the woman if she ever saw the racoons in the kitchen and she said yes but they would usually just go back outside if they saw her. It was a rather odd situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloria Atwater Posted April 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 This should also serve as a reminder that having a dog door that is not secured when there is no one at home to supervise dogs going in and out, is probably not a good idea. Most of us would never leave a dog in the yard while we were gone. Leaving a dog loose in the house with a functioning dog door is almost the same thing and, as this case shows, not only does not protect your dog by confining him/her but also (like an invisible fence) does not prevent an intruder dog (or other animal) from accessing your house (once it's gotten over, under, or through your fence). Poor dogs, poor people, what a horror for them. The more of the Reno story that comes out, the worse it gets. Yes, the family had a dog door, but the dog door led into an enclosed chain link dog run, which was in turn enclosed by their wooden back yard fence. And the pit bulls first broke through their own fence to get there. Through two wooden fences, a chain link fence and a dog door, all to get in that family's home. Most people I know would think that a chain link dog run inside their fenced yard was safe enough. Oh, well, it is what it is. ~ Gloria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 Yes, it sounds like the owners had a very nice (and you would think safe) setup for those poor dogs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideon's girl Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 A dog that could/would break through all that to get at another dog could/would break through a door or window too. That's really scary! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushdoggie Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 The more of the Reno story that comes out, the worse it gets. Yes, the family had a dog door, but the dog door led into an enclosed chain link dog run, which was in turn enclosed by their wooden back yard fence. And the pit bulls first broke through their own fence to get there. Through two wooden fences, a chain link fence and a dog door, all to get in that family's home. Most people I know would think that a chain link dog run inside their fenced yard was safe enough. Oh, well, it is what it is. ~ Gloria Oh my. That's exactly the set up I have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Coyote Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 I wonder if those dogs could have been presa canarios and not really pitbulls? They are a lot bigger and can do a lot more damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz P Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 A 50 lb dog can do plenty of damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geonni banner Posted April 10, 2014 Report Share Posted April 10, 2014 I read somewhere a long time ago that any dog over 35lbs. could, if it were motivated to do so, kill a person. It was some study. Sounds crazy, but think about it. How much does a raccoon weigh? Not that much, but I wouldn't want to tangle with one unarmed. Most dogs just aren't motivated to homicide - lucky us! But having a dog door is asking for trouble, in my opinion. Thieves put kids through them and get them to unlock the doors - or windows if the lock on the door requires a key on both sides. I would no more leave my dog free access to the outdoors than throw it out of a moving car on the freeway. As far as cats go, they shouldn't be roaming around neighborhoods either, for lots of reasons. Bird killing, getting run over by cars, screaming and fighting at all hours, bringing home Lepto, feline AIDS and who knows what else. Mine goes out the bathroom window into a covered chicken-wire run. He loves it, but at dusk he comes in and we close the window. Mosquitoes, you know... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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