Study Identifies Dog Breeds, Physical Traits That Pose Highest Risk Of Biting Children
New research at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center identifies dog breeds and physical traits that pose the highest risk of biting with severe injury. Doctors want parents of young children to use this information when deciding which dog to own.
The study, published in the International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijporl.2018.11.028] [DX], explores the risks of dog bite injuries to the face in children and bite severity by breed, size and head structure. Researchers found pit bulls and mixed breed dogs have the highest risk of biting and cause the most damage per bite. The same goes for dogs with wide and short heads weighing between 66 and 100 pounds.
"The purpose of this study was to evaluate dog bites in children, and we specifically looked at how breed relates to bite frequency and bite severity," said Dr. Garth Essig, lead author and otolaryngologist at Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center. "Because mixed breed dogs account for a significant portion of dog bites, and we often didn't know what type of dog was involved in these incidents, we looked at additional factors that may help predict bite tendency when breed is unknown like weight and head shape."
To assess bite severity, researchers reviewed 15 years of dog-related facial trauma cases from Nationwide Children's Hospital and the University of Virginia Health System. They looked at wound size, tissue tearing, bone fractures and other injuries severe enough to warrant consultation by a facial trauma and reconstructive surgeon and created a damage severity scale.
Researchers also performed an extensive literature search from 1970 to current for dog bite papers that reported breed to determine relative risk of biting from a certain breed. This was combined with hospital data to determine relative risk of biting and average tissue damage of bites.
That's a pity.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Appalbarry on Wednesday June 05 2019, @05:32AM (24 children)
I wasn't willing to cough up $35 to Elsevier, and the summary is devoid of actual content. Always be cautious when it's being claimed that one breed is more dangerous than another. Problems usually originate with owners, not the dog.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 05 2019, @05:55AM (3 children)
Pit bull owner found.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 05 2019, @02:24PM
Elsevier
suckersubscriber found.(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 05 2019, @04:32PM (1 child)
Found the idiots who don't understand the word "usually".
Ah well, this site is filled with "that fits my prejudices I will mod it up with no critical thinking whatsoever!" Genetics certainly plays some role, but when it comes to nature vs. nurture the difference between dog breeds is negligible compared to how they are raised. You have to teach dogs to be super careful with their mouths and humans. You have to teach proper play activities. Have you seen young dogs play before? They literally bite each other and tug on skin, and that is just playing around.
Even if you have a dog that seems super nice their whole lives, if they were never properly socialized then they only know how to interact with you on a pretty narrow set of situations. Put them in a new situation with people / dogs they don't know and there is no guarantee they'll remain the same super nice dog. There are a ton of behaviors that go on with dogs that humans are usually pretty oblivious to. Met a puppy who loved playing with my dog, but when mine was on leash the pup would get super protective / aggressive.
So both things matter, there are probably some dogs super wired into aggression just like some humans (save your racism boys, yer too fucktarded stupid for that discussion) but for 99.9% of dogs if you raise them well and get them socialized in a variety of situations then they will be fine.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday June 05 2019, @06:34PM
I think this is PROBABLY true.
But, with an opener like ""that fits my prejudices I will mod it up with no critical thinking whatsoever!" it seems like you should be providing the evidence you are basing your assertion on.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Arik on Wednesday June 05 2019, @05:59AM (8 children)
Without paying Elsevier for the privilege of confirming it, I'll assume that like previous studies it has pretended that all dog bites are reported.
It would be more consistent with experience to assume that small dogs bite constantly, they just don't normally do enough damage to require a hospital visit. A little soap and water, maybe a band-aid.
Pitbulls are statistically dangerous for two reasons - bad owners (because people that shouldn't have a dog at all see them on TV and think they're cool) and severity of wound. Those robust jaws are capable of doing incredible damage, even a warning nip can result in a hospital visit.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 4, Informative) by PinkyGigglebrain on Wednesday June 05 2019, @07:10AM (1 child)
A third reason is poor breeding. Once the breed became popular the puppy mills started churning them out the breed really got a bad rap.
A well socialized purebred Pitbull in a good home is generally not going to be a threat to anyone other than an intruder.
In all the cases of Pitbulls attacking someone I've ever heard about the dog was never a purebred, and the owner was some dumb shit that only got the dog because it was a status symbol in his hood. There have probably been incidents involving purebreds that I just didn't hear about but they are likely few and far between.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 06 2019, @03:37AM
Most pitbull "attacks" I've heard of are "pitbull thrashes small aggressive untrained dog". It's pretty rare for humans to be attacked, but a lot of good dogs are forcibly put down because some asshole thought their anklebiter was cute when it acted tough and never properly socialized or disciplined it.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by ledow on Wednesday June 05 2019, @07:52AM (4 children)
So what you're saying is that pitbulls are more likely to inflict more grievous damage, but bite just as often as other dogs.
And that somehow makes them safer, how?
A toddler smacking himself in the face with a metal hammer is just as likely to hit himself in the face with a toy one. But the damage is much greater. There's a reason you don't leave real hammers lying around when toddlers are picking things up.
Bad owners are a problem, yes. No doubt. But if - in the same instance of a given single bite - a pitbull hospitalises a child whereas a little terrier can't do more than nip them, how is that any excuse?
That's like saying that lions bite no more often than a domestic cat, but the lion does more damage.
Aw, bless, he was just playing... sorry he ripped your throat out... he's just a cat, you know... no more likely to bite than any other cat... that's why we have him in a little suburban semi around small kids...
(Score: 2) by Arik on Wednesday June 05 2019, @01:04PM (2 children)
Uh, no, didn't read very carefully, did you?
I said "It would be more consistent with experience to assume that small dogs bite constantly, they just don't normally do enough damage to require a hospital visit."
And this is definitely my impression, both from spending a lot of time with dogs of various breeds, and reading a similar study a few years ago that had a similar clickbait title.
You see, dogs 'nip' each other constantly, and they naturally want to nip people in the same situations. It doesn't cause any damage to another dog, they have thicker skin plus fur, but for a human this can be damaging, even require stitches, depending on the size and power of the dog. I haven't known a lot of pit bulls, but those I have known were all well bred and well raised and it was striking that they did not nip. Even as a puppy, I've just never seen them do that.
So no, I don't think they bite just as often as other dogs, I suspect they bite quite a bit less often than other dogs. There are historical reasons this shouldn't be a surprise really. It's just that when they do bite, someone is going to need stitches for sure.
"And that somehow makes them safer, how?"
I didn't say it did, but since you said it I'll point out it might be sort of true. A lower chance of problems, but if problems do occur they're likely to be more severe... sounds more like a trade off doesn't it?
As to the rest, you're acting like having a dog in a toddlers life is only a source of danger. You're looking at the potential downside, which is fair, but don't act like that isn't a tradeoff as well. A good dog, of any breed, is far more likely to save the toddler than to hurt her.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Wednesday June 05 2019, @04:47PM (1 child)
No, it's not consistent with my experience to assume that ANY breed of dog bites constantly without severe provocation. In addition, many small dog breed don't bite. I've heard that dachshunds are likely to do so, and I attribute this to continual back pain, but there could be other reasons. Many varieties of small dog are likely to *bark* constantly. And that *is* breed specific.
I *have* heard that dingo crosses and coyote crosses are likely to bite. That's not an ordinary mixed breed. They haven't been subjected to the n-generations of living in close contact with people that just about all other breeds have. Perhaps Malamutes, or Alaskan sled dogs would be vicious without provocation, or at least take a lot less provocation. And there are probably other breeds of dog that haven't lived in close contact with humans. (I'd mention Cape Hunting Dogs, but those aren't really dogs.) So there are breeds of dog that I have no experience with that I'm willing to believe would be more likely to bite. But dogs that bite without reason have been killed so systematically for so long in most of the world, that I tend to be dubious unless there's good evidence of a breed specific tendency to bite. And that doesn't mean statistics that are likely to have an alternate explanation.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by Arik on Wednesday June 05 2019, @10:02PM
Pits in particular were bred for many centuries for pitfights. In a pitfight, two dogs fought in a small pit, and the *owners* of the dogs are in the pit too. They were required to reach right in and grab the dogs and separate them immediately when the fight was called. And, as you say, if they bit they would be put down. So if anything, I'd expect them to be less likely to actually bite, and that's been my experience. They may be aggressive with other dogs, but not with humans, not unless they're specifically trained to do that at least.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday June 05 2019, @03:52PM
That leads up to the rat terrier my wife had. It was in a fenced yard. It and a german shepherd were companions for each other. One day, both dogs were out and it was assumed that the german shepherd had killed one of the goats on the property. Partly due to the fact that the german shepherd had some blood on it. So, they got rid of the german shepherd, nothing wrong with the dog, just couldn't be around livestock. Then, after a week or so, the rat terrier was out there again, nipping at one of the goats, ended up losing a second goat as well. Just because it's small, doesn't mean it can't do serious damage.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Lester on Wednesday June 05 2019, @04:19PM
And they a little more dominant and aggressive than other dogs. And they are catch dogs: they bite, shake and do not release.
Nevertheless when a pitbull bites I blame 20% breed and 80% owner
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 05 2019, @06:08AM (2 children)
Let's compare the typical pit bull with the typical teacup poodle. Pretend they behave the same. Assume they have an equal risk of jumping and and equal risk of biting. Somehow, we got a teacup poodle with the mind of a pit bull, having all the instinct to bear down while shaking the head side to side.
OK... choose a dog to bite you.
I'll give you a band-aid for the resulting wound. Choose your dog.
I claim that one breed is more dangerous than another. Prove me wrong. Feed yourself to the pit bull.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Magic Oddball on Wednesday June 05 2019, @09:10AM (1 child)
Different breeds have different temperaments, so it makes no sense to assume that they're "equally likely" to bite. A larger dog is obviously going to be physically capable of doing more damage than a smaller one, but that's kind of a moot point given the larger of the two is far less likely to attack in the first place.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Wednesday June 05 2019, @04:53PM
You're assuming that they larger dog is less likely to attack. I doubt this is a reasonable generic statement. There are breeds and breeds, and they have different temperaments. If you're talking about a St. Bernard, it's probably a good statement. If you're talking about a rottweiler, well, it depends on how it was raised. And many small dogs are quite unlikely to bite, even though some are.
How the dog is raised is a very important part of the question. If a German Shepard is raised as a house pet, it will be mild tempered. If it's raised as a guard dog...not exactly mild tempered. (And in either case it's likely to steal the roast off the kitchen table.)
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by MostCynical on Wednesday June 05 2019, @06:12AM (2 children)
Mis-treated dogs are only part of the story.
Some breeds (pure or when blended) seem to be prone to attacking their owners, without provocation.
Some are restricted [nsw.gov.au] or even forbidden.
Warning people to be wary of dogs that are more likely to kill [theguardian.com] seems sensible.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 05 2019, @06:24AM (1 child)
What do you do with a mutt of unknown origin? Eyeball it?
We should collect DNA from all the dogs, then track bite frequency and bite severity. Eventually we could learn to predict these traits. We could ban or even edit the bad DNA. Imagine something that looks like a pit bull, but with a weak jaw and an unwillingness to bite anything unless alone with a bowl of food.
(Score: 3, Informative) by MostCynical on Wednesday June 05 2019, @08:05AM
from TFS:
Yes.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 5, Touché) by maxwell demon on Wednesday June 05 2019, @06:45AM
Yeah, the vast majority of dog bites are from dogs that have an owner, this clearly demonstrates that dog owners are the problem. The fact that people who don't own a dog never get into the situation that their dog bites someone further supports this claim. ;-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Magic Oddball on Wednesday June 05 2019, @08:43AM (2 children)
Yes, especially when the "data" directly conflicts with breed temperament testing results (AKC/ATTS, private studies, etc.) — which tend to roughly agree with each other — and relies on the dog's breed/background being correctly identified by someone knowledgeable about the various breeds. There are a lot of different breeds that are easily & routinely mistaken for pit bulls, for example; here's one page that demonstrates it with just 11 other dogs [k9rl.com]. Another article on breed temperaments also describes the tendency toward inaccurate breed reporting [theatlantic.com].
No, I've never owned a pit bull; I just decided to research the matter after seeing a number of comments mentioning that the breed has been unfairly judged as the result of assholes who leave their dogs intact (which always ramps up the risk of biting in any dog) and abuse them in ways that make them more aggressive.
OTOH, my grandfather's second wife had to have plastic surgery when she was bitten on the face by a friend's "cute little dog" (I can't recall the breed) as she leaned over to pet it, and a guy I dated had plastic surgery as a boy after a family friend's collie reacted to being introduced to him by effectively removing his entire right cheek.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Oakenshield on Wednesday June 05 2019, @01:34PM (1 child)
All dogs are unpredictable. Dog owners that swear otherwise are delusional or outright liars. I have owned many dogs over my life and have had some that I would have claimed to be less unpredictable but not entirely. I had one dog that was MENSA smart and he became extremely aggressive as he got older. My best friend in high school got a family dog. It was a pure blood pit bull. He bragged about how friendly and docile it was like so many of the pit apologists I have seen on TV after a mauling. It always stood and stared and growled at me when I was a guest in his home. He and the family yelled at it constantly to stop. He never made the connection. He still claims it was a great dog all these years later, but finally admits it "didn't like" me. He never considered who else it "didn't like" or maybe what would happen if it escaped and encountered someone else it decided it didn't like.
Just recently in the news, there was an article about a man who filed suit against an airline and the owner of a "emotional support" dog for a mauling he received in an airplane. The photos were gruesome and I certainly hope the jury is very generous on the award. The victim should get a lot of "emotional support" dollars from the idiot taking a pit bull mix onto a airplane and the airline needs to be punished painfully for allowing conditions that permitted a situation like that to happen.
TL;DR
All dogs are dangerous under the right conditions. You cannot predict which conditions those are and I'd rather fight off a Jack Russel than a pit bull.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 06 2019, @03:49AM
The dog just might not like the way you smell or how you look. I've encountered quite a few dogs which are very aggressive to people wearing baseball caps, or smokers, or people who have been drinking. You have to remember that dogs experience the world differently and have different instincts and body language. If you aren't familiar, these things seem "unpredictable", but with observation they are pretty predictable.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Wednesday June 05 2019, @04:35PM
No, it clearly stated that large dogs are more likely to do severe damage if they bite you. Which is clearly true, even if not new.
I agree that the primary determinant of whether a dog will bite a person without severe provocation is the attitude of the owner. My friends and I raised dobermans that were quite gentle. Perhaps it was the precise strain, but *I* think it had more to do with how they were raised.
OTOH, there's likely to be a strong correlation between the breed of dog and the type of person that raises it. Probably a very strong correlation. And to deny that there *was* a genetic component of the propensity to bite would be pure foolishness. So I'd be surprised if they didn't find the correlation that they're announcing. But figuring out just what it means is a different matter.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by ilPapa on Wednesday June 05 2019, @06:29AM (1 child)
They're all good dogs, Brad.
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 3, Funny) by redneckmother on Wednesday June 05 2019, @07:23AM
Please leash your dog, first :).
Mas cerveza por favor.
(Score: 3, Informative) by SemperOSS on Wednesday June 05 2019, @08:59AM (9 children)
For those who dare, the article is available at SciHub and Library Genesis (and probably somewhere else too).
The gist of it is that the four top scorers (highest risk of biting) are, in order higher to lower, Pit Bull, Mixed Breed, German Shepherd and Jack Russell where the first two have the highest severity of the bite with a somewhat lower severity for the other two. The lowest risk of biting is from, ordered lower to higher, Australian Shepherd, English Pointer, Mastiff Boxer and Akita.
I did not see my preferred breed, the Newfoundlander, on the list at all, which should be a good sign.
Open Source Solutions and Digital Sovereignty is the new black
(Score: 3, Interesting) by RamiK on Wednesday June 05 2019, @11:50AM (1 child)
Considering German Shepherds and Jack Russells rank so high up the list, I'd venture to guess the popularity, availability and price of the breed as family pets are the dominant factors. Especially versus those oversized lovable drooling area rugs Newfoundlanders that cost 4 times as much as a German Shepherd and will fill any house-owner with vacuum-cleaning-related dread.
compiling...
(Score: 2) by SemperOSS on Wednesday June 05 2019, @12:03PM
Not to mention the uncountable hours of grooming and the ginormous amount of food they eat ... They are still absolutely lovely, though.
Open Source Solutions and Digital Sovereignty is the new black
(Score: 2) by bradley13 on Wednesday June 05 2019, @12:09PM (6 children)
Right, so "mixed breeds" rank #2. What an absolutely useless piece of information, given that a mutt can be any damned thing.
As for the breeds, there are so many confounding factors to control for. Pit bulls have strong jaws, yep, that's dangerous. But - as others have pointed out - they are often owned by people who want them to be vicious, and raise them that way. Just like a neighbor I once had, with his Rottweiler. He somehow thought having an aggressive dog made him more manly, so that's how he expected his dog to behave, and the dog wanted to please its master. Even his wife was scared of the damned thing - but it wasn't the dog's fault.
It's really hard to imagine a useful study in this area. Large, strong breeds cause more severe bites. Aggressive-looking breeds may be chosen by aggressive people. Little yappie breeds are sometimes so damned insecure that they bite anything that moves. Abused or neglected dogs have no social skills.
From all of this we conclude...not very much.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: -1, Troll) by VLM on Wednesday June 05 2019, @12:13PM (3 children)
Going off on a tangent, this is pretty much leftist immigration policy in a nutshell.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 05 2019, @02:23PM
Going off on a tangent, this is pretty much leftist immigration policy in a nutshell.
Haha, where "leftist" is defined as anything to the left of Genghis Khan. What utter nonsense (and a mischaracterization of pretty much every serious immigration policy out there, left or right).
Fascist scum.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 05 2019, @04:43PM
Still being an idiot? Carry on, everyone should realize what a waste of bits your posts are.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 05 2019, @05:53PM
Could you explain who you think is the master, and who is the dog?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday June 05 2019, @02:34PM
This study has been done multiple times. Most times, those "mixed breed" dogs are assigned to one breed or another. If it looks German Shepard, it goes German Shepard, etc. These guys appear to have been playing fast and loose with the introduction of a new category. "Oh, we can't tell if this dog is a German Shep, because, he doesn't exactly conform to standards!"
For the most part, witnesses are going to assign the dog a breed, and I accept the assignment.
For the record, my favorite dog is German Shepard, and I've long known that Sheps bite far more often than almost any other breed. And, for the record, I've long known that pit bulls kill more people than ALL OTHER BREEDS COMBINED. Maybe a pit bull doesn't bite as often as a Shep - but when the pit bull does bite, he intends to kill.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 3, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 05 2019, @03:50PM
"From all of this we conclude...not very much."
I conclude that I get a cat.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Booga1 on Wednesday June 05 2019, @09:28AM
Half decent in that it has some recommendations at the end about things you can actually do(or not do).
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190522141825.htm [sciencedaily.com]
(Score: 2, Troll) by VLM on Wednesday June 05 2019, @12:12PM (4 children)
Breeds do not exist, people who are not biologists, geneticists, or statisticians always say that concept is not scientific, there's more variation between members of a breed than between breeds, despite being only 13% of the population pit bulls do 52% of the biting is merely hate speech to be ignored, no one and nothing is personally responsible for anything because the concept of personal responsibility is a white privilege so naturally the high rate of biting is entirely the owners fault, it can't be a personal failing or social "pack" failing or genetic failing.
(Score: 1, Troll) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday June 05 2019, @02:36PM
Sorry, wrong statistic. Pit bulls probably don't bite more often than any other breed. What pit bulls do is KILL more often than all other breeds combined.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Wednesday June 05 2019, @05:01PM (1 child)
???
That breeds do not exist would be news to the American Kennel Club, and to various genetic testing outfits.
That breeds won't maintain themselves without human intervention is a true statement. Claiming that they don't exist is either stupid or insane, take your pick.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday June 05 2019, @06:43PM
False dichotomy: That comment is stupid AND insane!
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday June 05 2019, @06:41PM
Oh look, something else VLM is completely ignorant of.
You could start with what the term "breed" means in the context of dogs to alleviate some of your ignorance. [wikipedia.org] But, I'm not going to hold my breath waiting.
(Score: 2) by epitaxial on Wednesday June 05 2019, @12:16PM
I never liked dogs, even as a child. The older I get the more I dislike them.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday June 05 2019, @01:24PM (1 child)
Is the hospital seeing more serious injuries from mixed-breed dogs because more people own mixed-breed dogs, or because of some other intrinsic flaw in mixed-breed dogs?
As a life-long dog owner my observations are contrary to that part of what the study reports. Mutts are generally smarter, healthier, and better behaved than pure-breeds. Among pure breeds, pit bulls are flat-out dangerous. German shepherds can be sweet to their owners, but can be vicious to others. Same goes for dobermans and rottweilers. Anecdotes are not evidence and all that, but it makes me doubt their results.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday June 05 2019, @02:42PM
Possibly, and I am only suggesting a possibility, more mixed breed dogs are predominantly pit bulls today. Like you, most mutts I've met were smart, healthy, and, if trained properly, quite well behaved. "Mixed breed" might mean 3/4 pit bull, or it might mean that there are no identifiable characteristics at all. The latter is rather unlikely though. The victim and witnesses might argue about the mutt's breed, but "kinda looked like a poodle" is vastly different from "resembles a Siberian Husky".
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 05 2019, @02:17PM (10 children)
These things are litteraly a nuisance for everyone except their owner. And even then. They're everywhere, making life miserable for everyone. You can't go anywhere now without being bothered by one of these infuriating crotch-sniffers. I can't take an hour walk in my neighborhood without being barked at by at least ten of those histerical little pieces of shit. They are completely mindless, uncontrollable. They'll pounce on anything that moves, even skunks and porcupines, repeatedly. They'll jump in trafic to get to a walker on the other side of the road. They always have to be controlled, managed, kept in leash, told not to go there, not to do that, not to eat that decomposing shit they found and lick your face afterwards, to leave people alone, to come here, to stay there, etc. They shit eveywhere, ruin everything they touch, and their incessant barking constantly ruins everyone's peace and quiet, and keeps entire neighbourhoods awake at night. They are responsible for the most severe injuries to children, more than any other cause. Dog therapists make a fortune because there are so many of these mentally deranged, unstable, unmanageable four-legged abominations everywhere.
Yeah, they had their use. Ten thousand fucking years ago, when we were all savages living in caves. But today, every single one of their behavioral traits, that were an asset back then, are now making them unbarable and infuriating.
"But they give me unconditional love !". Yeah ? Big fat hairy deal. They've been genetically selected for tens of thousands of years to be totally dependant on human being and to "unconditionnaly love" them, obey them, do whatever to fuck they tell them to do, no matter how senseless and moronic. Is that what you're looking for in a relationship ? A blind, obediant slave that never critisizes you, always agree with you, always obeys your command, always jumps off a bridge if you jump off a bridge ? Then you're pathetic, and you and your dog deserve each other.
It's time to let this monstrosity of a species that we created die off. Sterilize these genetic abominations, let them live out the rest of their days, and then good riddance.
(Score: 2) by srobert on Wednesday June 05 2019, @02:32PM (5 children)
All you say may be true. But my dog is still the best person I know.
(Score: 1, Troll) by Lester on Wednesday June 05 2019, @03:52PM (4 children)
Your dog is not a person, it is a dog.
I wonder what are your priorities in your relationships with other persons.
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Wednesday June 05 2019, @05:03PM
You forgot to click "Post Anonymously"
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Wednesday June 05 2019, @05:06PM (1 child)
Considering many of the people I know, I would prefer to associate with my dog than with them. For others its a different story.
That said, just as there is an overpopulation of people, there is also an overpopulation of dogs, and of cats. I'm not sure that's true of parakeets. You could argue about pet Norway rats. There's an underpopulation of fish, but I doubt that pet fish will address the problem.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by Lester on Thursday June 06 2019, @12:01PM
Considering many of the people I know, I would prefer to read a book, watch a movie, or surf in internet. But that doesn't make a book, a movie, or site a person.
Say you prefer being alone than being with certain people, but a dog is not a person.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 06 2019, @04:00AM
Person= Personality. Most dogs I know have plenty of personality.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 05 2019, @04:11PM
Drank the cat coolaid?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 05 2019, @04:48PM
I'd rather get rid of people like you who are too stupid and angry to be of any use except to fascists who need a mindless hate filled jerk to be their bludgeon.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 05 2019, @07:38PM
Found the Muslim
(Score: 2) by etherscythe on Thursday June 06 2019, @08:04PM
While I have a white-noise app that I use every night for some of the exact reasons you specify, and I'm not exactly a dog lover, I think you're a little bit out of a defensible position. I hate that there are living noisemakers that pollute the air at the drop of a hat which people keep - sometimes not even on a leash - on their unfenced front lawn. There's even a dog down my street that has significant percentages of Pit DNA that's allowed to run wild and harass me in the street, on which I have personally pulled a knife more than once (to date, no blood spilled, only harsh words). Believe me, I am sympathetic to the sentiment.
However, dogs still have significant uses and I would not be in favor of eliminating them from ownership. Seriously, they bring so much joy to so many people, and deriding them for not being up to your standards of entertainment is not going to win many to your cause. We just need to select against the most adverse traits, and by breeding and custom it will change. Enforcement is key. Good luck enforcing your solution, in the face of public opposition.
"Fake News: anything reported outside of my own personally chosen echo chamber"
(Score: 4, Touché) by Lester on Wednesday June 05 2019, @03:32PM
The linked article list some tips for owners. I have my own tips for you.
Abstract: Train your dog properly.
TL;DR
Train your dog properly. The dog thinks it's higher in hierarchy than the child, so the child is not entitled to disturb him in any way, so it growls at child saying "get away, you ,loser" and may end in a bite. Train your dog properly. It should learn what i its place in the family
Train your dog properly. The dog thinks it's in charge of family and the baby is a stranger that it tolerates until it doesn't. Your dog should have accepted that the child is your cub, a part of family that must be protected, loved and tolerate its erratic behavior.
Train your dog properly. See 1) and 2), the dog must tolerate a cub in its crate. dog’s favorite spot is on the couch mmm What? your dog has right to a spot on a your couch? Train your dog properly
Right for the first years, nevertheless a dog should never be obsessed with food. Anyway What you mustn't do, with or without babies, is fill the container and let the dog eat whenever it wants. You feed the dog, it eats in 10 minutes and you remove the food container until the next feed turn. So it shouldn't be difficult to keep the baby out.
Train your dog properly. See 1) and 2). The toy is just to play and the dog should be delighted to find a mate to play with. What happens is that the dog is claiming for a possession. Wrong, the dog must know that it has no possessions. The toy should be just a toy the dog plays with, not a possession.
By the way, I have a 60 Kg (130 lb) male mastiff
(Score: 4, Funny) by AssCork on Wednesday June 05 2019, @05:01PM
Chihuahua's are the most vicious. I've seen one fight a bear.
One time a chihuahua stopped a sex-crime in progress, then proceeded to teach the perpetrator how to "do it the right way".
SWAT kicked-down the neighbor's door once, the chihuahua took our four full-on geared-up officers before they were able to take it down.
If a chihuahua bites you, you spend three nights a month in chihuahua-form.
Just popped-out of a tight spot. Came out mostly clean, too.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 05 2019, @06:09PM
So they got information from dogs at two hospitals (Nationwide is a hospital in Columbus Ohio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationwide_Children's_Hospital [wikipedia.org]) and don't (or the summary doesn't mention) adjusting for the dog populations in the area. Are all dogs equally represented in the areas? Huskies? Chihuahuas?