Wow, lots of people with strong feelings whose version of “I did my research!” is remembering what stories the newspapers wrote because they knew it would spark outrage and attract eyeballs, and hearsay on friend-of-a-friend stories.
So called “bully breeds” are the best dogs I’ve ever met. I fucking love cuddling with those meatheads. Cane Corsos, Dobermans, and Rottweilers are amazing, loyal, and loving, too.
I’ve been bitten and needed stitches from both a Chihuahua and a Poodle. My daughter was bit by a absolute shit of a Bichon, and my ex was bit by a Husky when she was a kid. Fuck those dogs we should outlaw and euthanize them all, right breed-banners? Or maybe it does indeed have to do a LOT with nurture, and very little with nature? (or in the case of my ex (according to her Mom) because she wouldn’t stop harassing the dog).
However, I’ve met some nice poodles and chihuahuas and huskies too (not bichons though, little assholes), but I’m not so fucking dumb and shallow as to say we need to outlaw them all, just that owners should absolutely be responsible and liable for their pets’ behaviour.
PS - OP your dogs are cute as hell. Look at those smiles!
Chihuahuas are demonic little shits, and if they were the same size as a pitbull, they’d be banned everywhere. The only reason they’re tolerated is because they’re too small to do any major damage.
Thank you, and yes, your absolutely right. Any dog is capable of violence, but I think the reason pitbulls have this reputation is because many people want them as an attack/defense dog and don’t actually know how to care for them in a way that keeps them calm.
Same could be said for Rotties, Dobermans, Shepherds, and so on. It’s not the dogs that are shitty; it’s the people that own them. Address that problem and leave the dogs alone FFS.
I will always trust a dog at the dog park around my dog as I would with any dog but I am more then 100% ready to destroy any animal should it do something unprovoked to my dog, or any other dog.
This is for any breed. I am more observant when it’s a known aggressive breed however.
I mean, it is a little big about nature as the different dog breeds were bred for very specific purposes. That just puts responsibility on the owner to know about this and act accordingly (i possible, not every dog is a pure blood breed). And most importantly to know your dog and act accordingly.
Tl;dr: The dogsbite data set is poorly constructed and misleading. Real science performed by actual scientists has overwhelmingly found the belief in inherently violent bully type breeds to be exactly that - just a belief.
This whole thread is a great example of why science education is so important. I suspect a not insubstantial percentage of the people touting the “70% of dog bites are by pitbulls” statistic have previously mentioned how correlation is not causation and decried the cherry picking of data.
Here we have many individuals cherry picking data while making claims that require correlation to be causation. They also seem to lack the skills required to evaluate the strength of a study or data set, otherwise they wouldn’t be quoting one where calling it shoddy would be a massive compliment. My cat makes better, then scratches dirt over it.
For anyone interested in actually learning about the nuance of the situation, plus why the dogsbite data set is pure horse shit, here are a few pertinent articles.
Uneducated? Yes, at least in math and/or statistics. Stupid? Not necessarily.
My education once stopped at the high school level and I can guarantee you I’d have made the same unsupported conclusions based on the data. I later attended college for nearly a decade and it opened my eyes to a world of bad and misleading statistics. All it took is a little education and a lot of critical thinking.
Wow, lots of people with strong feelings whose version of “I did my research!” is remembering what stories the newspapers wrote because they knew it would spark outrage and attract eyeballs, and hearsay on friend-of-a-friend stories.
So called “bully breeds” are the best dogs I’ve ever met. I fucking love cuddling with those meatheads. Cane Corsos, Dobermans, and Rottweilers are amazing, loyal, and loving, too.
I’ve been bitten and needed stitches from both a Chihuahua and a Poodle. My daughter was bit by a absolute shit of a Bichon, and my ex was bit by a Husky when she was a kid. Fuck those dogs we should outlaw and euthanize them all, right breed-banners? Or maybe it does indeed have to do a LOT with nurture, and very little with nature? (or in the case of my ex (according to her Mom) because she wouldn’t stop harassing the dog).
However, I’ve met some nice poodles and chihuahuas and huskies too (not bichons though, little assholes), but I’m not so fucking dumb and shallow as to say we need to outlaw them all, just that owners should absolutely be responsible and liable for their pets’ behaviour.
PS - OP your dogs are cute as hell. Look at those smiles!
Chihuahuas are demonic little shits, and if they were the same size as a pitbull, they’d be banned everywhere. The only reason they’re tolerated is because they’re too small to do any major damage.
Thank you, and yes, your absolutely right. Any dog is capable of violence, but I think the reason pitbulls have this reputation is because many people want them as an attack/defense dog and don’t actually know how to care for them in a way that keeps them calm.
This is the “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” argument.
Sufficiently powerful projectile weapons require a license, training, etc. Dogs should be no different.
Same could be said for Rotties, Dobermans, Shepherds, and so on. It’s not the dogs that are shitty; it’s the people that own them. Address that problem and leave the dogs alone FFS.
I will always trust a dog at the dog park around my dog as I would with any dog but I am more then 100% ready to destroy any animal should it do something unprovoked to my dog, or any other dog.
This is for any breed. I am more observant when it’s a known aggressive breed however.
I mean, it is a little big about nature as the different dog breeds were bred for very specific purposes. That just puts responsibility on the owner to know about this and act accordingly (i possible, not every dog is a pure blood breed). And most importantly to know your dog and act accordingly.
Tl;dr: The dogsbite data set is poorly constructed and misleading. Real science performed by actual scientists has overwhelmingly found the belief in inherently violent bully type breeds to be exactly that - just a belief.
This whole thread is a great example of why science education is so important. I suspect a not insubstantial percentage of the people touting the “70% of dog bites are by pitbulls” statistic have previously mentioned how correlation is not causation and decried the cherry picking of data.
Here we have many individuals cherry picking data while making claims that require correlation to be causation. They also seem to lack the skills required to evaluate the strength of a study or data set, otherwise they wouldn’t be quoting one where calling it shoddy would be a massive compliment. My cat makes better, then scratches dirt over it.
For anyone interested in actually learning about the nuance of the situation, plus why the dogsbite data set is pure horse shit, here are a few pertinent articles.
American Veterinary Medical Association - The Dangerous Dog Debate
Applied Animal Behaviour Science - Breed differences in canine aggression
American Psychological Association - Pit Bulls and Prejudice
BMC Genomics - Genetic testing of dogs predicts problem behaviors in clinical and nonclinical samples.)
Science - Ancestry-inclusive dog genomics challenges popular breed stereotypes
If someone actually needs to have these statistical problem with dog bites explained to them, it’s because they’re fucking stupid and uneducated.
Uneducated? Yes, at least in math and/or statistics. Stupid? Not necessarily.
My education once stopped at the high school level and I can guarantee you I’d have made the same unsupported conclusions based on the data. I later attended college for nearly a decade and it opened my eyes to a world of bad and misleading statistics. All it took is a little education and a lot of critical thinking.