08/06/2022
Here’s the trifecta for a perfect storm. A guardian or ‘battle’ breed, with a known bite history, produced by an individual that has a track record for breeding dogs with questionable temperaments, being ‘rehomed’ into a scenario that could potentially involve children.
Who is the enabler here? The ‘breeder’ who has routinely produced dogs that are not suitable to the homes they are being sold to? The ‘rescue’ that receives these dogs on the back end and willfully deceives potential new owners about the dogs’ checkered past?
The current demographic for new dog owners reveals individuals that have been indoctrinated into the false belief that the internet is based on facts, and ‘research’ consists of reading the ads ‘above the fold’ on the first page of Google search results.
What motivates people to acquire dogs has always fascinated me. Some folks get dogs because human relationships are difficult for them. They were witnesses to unhealthy human relationships, or maybe the products of them, so they opt for a relationship with an animal instead. This is its own issue, but for the sake of today’s discussion, we’ll include this type of owner.
There are folks that genuinely enjoy dogs for their dog-ness and invite them to share a home for their companionship. The increased enrichment dogs add to their lives and the feeling of security they bring to the home is important to them.
One of the reasons I have heard over the years, is to teach the kids some form of responsibility, and although noble, those life lessons don’t need to involve a dog, or any animal for that matter.
A global sense of compassion can be taught by involving your children in community service, aiding the economically displaced, or volunteering to assist folks in nursing care. No animals need to be harmed in developing your child’s character.
Then there are the people seeking a dog that becomes an accessory to their own self-esteem. These are the folks that choose large, powerful breeds as an enhancement of the image they want to project about their own badassery. Big dogs are like big guns. They can offer a sense of security, but there is always the risk of a negligent discharge.
These are the type of people that want dogs that look menacing, and often select certain types based on their physical appearance or reputation. I have a lot of questions for breeders of these type of dogs and what criterion prospective homes must have for placement. A check that clears should not even be in the top 100 reasons to place a dog in this type of home.
Unscrupulous Breeders can’t keep up with demand. Reputable breeders don’t have to. The proliferation of Molosser types in suburban homes is unprecedented. Their popularity is still far behind the usual fluffy doodle types but are increasing as folks try to salve their sense of vulnerability with a desire to feel ‘protected’.
Enter breeding choices between dogs that were selected more for their intact status than any real discernable attributes. The exasperating refrain of professional dog people everywhere echo the same concerns; no temperament testing, no health clearances required, no discriminatory placement criterion. No discernable ethics.
Indiscriminate breeding practices are already an issue. Creating a surplus of molossers is going to become a nightmare.
So far, we have not been disappointed.
No, not every Molosser is sold into inappropriate homes, but rescue are starting to fill up with the names of fairly uncommon dog breeds and Facebook is filled with the desperate pleas for ‘fosters’ to help with breeds of dogs known for their difficulty adapting to environments and things they are not familiar with. These dogs are finding their way into the system in numbers never seen before.
What does Suburban Sally need with a Boerboel, Cane Corso, Dogo or Presa? She doesn’t, really, nor do her kids. I have several breeder friends that have produced some of the world’s best in at least three of the breeds I just mentioned and when anyone asks me where they can find a ‘good’ example of XYZ breed, I pre-screen them before I ever refer a name. If they do not meet *my* criterion for dog ownership, I am pretty confident they wouldn’t meet that of my breeder friends.
What happens anyway, is these people locate a breeder that is more interested in the size of their checking account than in their genuine understanding of what is entailed in the ownership of a large, guardian type breed of dog, and whether they have the sand to endure all the rigorous training and socialization these dogs require from cradle to grave.
The folks gleefully take their adorable infant Power Breed/Status Symbol/Histrionic Display home, indulge it as if it were a Golden Retriever, and then wonder what happened when the dog hits young adulthood at about 8 months. That cute roly poly ball of mooshy skin and saggy jowls is now almost 100 pounds of pure protest because he just discovered he can resist when the humans no longer tolerate the jumping and the mouthing.
As the young dog enters the fog of bad decisions and ineffective leadership, scared owners generally tend to contact the person they acquired the dog from, after there is an incident or two that forcefully points out how ill-prepared they actually were for a dog of this size and infamy.
A good breeder is there to guide them through adolescence and into adulthood, complete with references for good trainers that can help them understand the juvenile delinquent their dog is becoming, before he becomes a serial offender.
'Other' breeders blame the owners for whatever reason they wish to not hold themselves accountable and then block the owners number from their cell phones. Who cares if there's a bad review on the social networks. There are still TONS OF PEOPLE willing to shell out money for one of these dogs.
Occasionally the second type of breeder will take a dog back. Most often they don't.
They might- if it's young enough- be able to find a new home for it, if they carefully couch the original placement as not working out because the previous owners didn't understand the breed, or it's needs. Gawd forbid they actually disclose… you know… acts of aggression.
‘Bad Boy’ syndrome. It's a thing. We as a species are attracted to danger. We love it.
Seems to me that should have been part of the vetting process, but whatever.
The dog, now an adolescent with an established behavioral history gets placed in a new home. The new home is blissfully unaware of the dogs behavioral outbursts and pretty soon, an environment exists where there is competition for a resource and this time somebody gets bit.
And let's be clear here. If a dog opens his mouth on a human being, it's a bite. It's not a “nip" or a “warning", it's an intention. That intention is to relieve pressure. Like it or not, whether you bleed or not, a dog closing his mouth around any portion of your anatomy, is a bite.
People realize they are overmatched, give the dog back to the breeder, and the breeder recycles the dog back through the system. Again.
Maybe it gets dumped at a shelter. If it's a shelter local to the breeder, I guarantee the staff knows where the dog originated, further damaging the reputation of *all* breeders, not just sh*tty ones. Then they make the mistake of perpetuating the myth of the poor misunderstood doggie and the cycle continues.
Until the dog is dropped by a cop because it went on a rampage, or by a potential victim who is tired of living in fear for their life.
Maybe he does find that unicorn home, populated by at least one individual that understands the commitment of cohabitation with an animal that could crush their skull like a grape.
This type of person does not exist in large quantities anywhere within the tribes of dogfolk. Anywhere. They are rare and precious.
Exploiting them by expecting them to become the dumping ground for every failed placement a breeder makes tells me it's not an owner issue. That buck stops at the doorstep of the one who collected it last.
If a breeder is experiencing a relatively high rate or returns, it's time they 1) stop breeding as much, 2) start being more selective about placements and 3) begin offering better support for owners. It goes without saying that temperaments are important. Make health and solid minds a priority and I guarantee the world will beat a path to your door.
Trying to make that Old World Molosser into a Border Collie ain't happening any time soon. Advertising them as such makes you a criminal.
Tell me I'm wrong.
What will forever remain elusive for the folks that voluntarily burden themselves with a large, difficult breed, is the casual ease with which these folks envisioned spending their life with this dog.
There is no timeline that ever ventures far from an aggressively regimented existence with a dog that could potentially end you without a lot of effort.
In an experienced home, these dogs are well-managed throughout their entire lives because there can be no opportunity where that risk is allowed to exist.
These dogs can make fine companions for people willing to put forth the effort and rigid management that must coexist to make that placement successful, and the producers of these dogs must assume responsibility for minimizing that risk, educating their buyers, or stop selling to just anyone because the color of the buyer's money has clouded the breeder’s judgement.
These breeds are not for everyone, and they were never intended as family pets. A guardian is not a pet. A guardian is barely a companion. They don't have malice in their hearts, nor are they bound to head south just because of their breed, but they are bred specifically to have a naturally elevated level of suspicion, they do enter and remain in what are commonly called fear periods as they mature, and tend to favor starting fights before they learn enough temperance through training to not feel compelled.
What this means for the average owner is that these dogs are beyond their scope and acquiring one best be considered carefully. Needing professional help is a guarantee and should be engaged before the puppy is even procured.
Owners are not exempt from their responsibility to these giants, and should consider them carefully.
Preservation breeders that are considering safe placements for their dogs are not my target here, but on the occasion when a dog has slipped through the cracks, if there is no willingness for its producer to step forward and assume responsibility, the naïve and unassuming public should never become the dumping ground for someone else's bad decisions.
Nobody wants a project. In 50 years of active involvement in dogs of all stripes, sizes and shapes, I have yet to have a person come to me desperately looking to take on a dog with a bite history.
That ubiquitous ‘farm’ simply doesn't exist. It never did. The fantasy that a ‘good home’ will eventually show up is just that, a fantasy.
Those things don't happen.
That dream is rarely transcribed into any sense of reality, as shelters and rescues become clogged with these breeds, capitalized on by greedy people.
Dogs don't owe us anything.
We owe them everything.
Starting with honesty.
