It always confuses me when I encounter someone who talks about how good their dog is, and it goes something like this: “He can sit, he comes whenever I call him, he loves kids… Oh, and he would bite anyone who tried to break into my house.” … wait, wait, wait… Did you just say that your “good” dog would go out of its way to attack a human being? That is your definition of good?
Let me tell a true story to help put this into context. I was at my friend’s house and he was showing me pictures of a large Doberman Pinscher that his family owned when he was an infant. As they all sat around reminiscing, he was talking about how good the dog was, and they all shared the same general story. I guess when he was in his crib the dog would go into his room and guard him. Anyone who would come in, the dog would make sure to scout out before allowing them to enter. He said that if they did not pass his “tests” the dog would not let them in, and even get aggressive. They all smiled and said “what a good dog”. I sat, confused by this. And said, “Wait you are saying that if someone that the dog didn’t know walked in, it would potentially attack them?” Proudly they all said yes.
“That is not a good dog!” I said. “That is the very definition of a BAD dog! You are saying that people who did not come over so often that the dog would intimately know them, it would attack and injure them!” They all looked at me in confusion, so I continued. “So, if your 75 year old grandmother who, let’s say, had never been there before came by and went in to see you, the dog would attack her… Plus, you are saying that a dog that is a constant threat is welcome in your home around an infant child. AND, the dog makes you do extra work, since you would have to escort someone in to see the baby… Not to mention if the dog did bite someone, you would then have to deal with all of the legal mess that would follow.”
I saw the cogs working in all of their heads, but in the end, they had decided that that is what dogs are for… IT IS NOT!!!
Let’s put this in another context. Let’s say that I had a nice brother who lives with me, but one day you unknowingly approached our safe, which held something that meant a lot to us. So, my brother, using his protective nature, walked in and beat the shit out of you. Do you think that anyone who has half a brain would stand there and say “oh, good brother! He’s such a good brother!” No! It’s not okay to inflict pain on others for such a foolish reason. Why then is it okay for a dog to bite a human?
Now, you always have one half of the people who say that dogs don’t know better, they have an instinct about them. These people are wrong. Bad dogs don’t know better. Good dogs, the kind that are trained for these types of things, understand that protecting a house simply involves alerting the person who is there. You think that your dog’s bite is going to stop someone. Go read about people who make their careers out of breaking into houses. The only reason that they don’t break into houses with dogs is because they bark, not because they bite. I can tell you now, that if I wanted to get something done, and there was an aggressive dog there, it would not stop me, and if it came at me, I would not spend more than 20 seconds either scaring it off, or killing it.
Always remember a few things about dogs. Dogs rely on smell, emotion and vision to identify a person, they don’t remember you by your face like we do. We know this because we know that they don’t see the same way that we do. A dog is not going to remember your grandmother who comes around every 3 years… A good dog will protect a house by alerting the Alpha of the pack. A good owner will establish themselves as the Alpha of the pack. If someone did want to steal my baby, but I had a Good guard dog who alerted me, they would not get far.
Always remember this about being robbed: If it has to happen, better to come home and see that things are taken and your dog hiding safely in the corner, then to come home and see that things are taken and that your dog is dead.
Take my word for whatever you think it is worth, but just to add some context… I trained dogs to be adopted for the humane society for over a year. Most of these dogs were aggressive, but it was my job to determine if they were able to one day be called a “Good Dog”.
As Random As Random Gets 