I am getting close to being done with The Lost Dogs. I knew I was going to read about the triumphs of the Michael Vick dogs but what I did not expect to get from the book was an education. I thought I knew about pit bulls before reading this book and I discovered there is so much more to the breed’s history that I did not know about.
The rescue group, BAD RAP, which had a huge part in the rehabilitation of the Vick dogs, discovered pit bulls like to have their face lightly blown on. They see it as an invitation for face to face contact. They used this method when evaluating pit bulls. A negative or neutral reaction indicates the dog is not as people friendly. My dog Sydney loves to have her face blown on. Tony and I do suspect she does have pit bull in her. Her face and ears resemble a pit bull but her fat ass body is more of a lab.
I liked this evaluation of dogs breed for fighting that Gorant wrote about.
“And breeding a dog to fight is different than breeding it for other traits. There’s nothing about herding or retrieving or pulling a sled that goes against the dog’s internal drives. But creating a dog that wants to attack other dogs is at odds with twelve thousand years of evolution, a period of time in which dogs were instilled with the instinct to work together in a pack to survive. Centuries of breeding based on mutual dependence goes far deeper than fifty or even one hundred years of manipulation to encourage a desire to harm.”
This is so true! Now it makes even more sense why 80 percent of dogs breed for fighting will not even scratch at another dog. It is just not in their nature to.
Another lesson I learned was how the media portrayal of certain breeds increases the fear and at the same time increases the population. In the 19th century it was bloodhounds that were feared as pit bulls are today. Followed by the German shepherd then the Doberman. “In 1964 there were 4,815 new Doberman registrations filed with the American Kennel Club. By 1979 there were 80,363 new Doberman registered, making it the second most popular breed in the United States.” Now with the pit bull it seems it needs some time before another breed is deemed dangerous. Just in one year from 1983 to 1984 pit bull registrations grew by 30 percent after they were labeled the new most dangerous dog with many more not registered. “The breed, which had existed in some form for hundreds of years, didn’t suddenly lose control. The dogs simple fell into the hands of many people who had no interest in control.”
Right now I am in the Redemption section of the book. I LOVE reading about Jonny and Jasmine. I will give you all an overview of their cases in the next post.
The rescue group, BAD RAP, which had a huge part in the rehabilitation of the Vick dogs, discovered pit bulls like to have their face lightly blown on. They see it as an invitation for face to face contact. They used this method when evaluating pit bulls. A negative or neutral reaction indicates the dog is not as people friendly. My dog Sydney loves to have her face blown on. Tony and I do suspect she does have pit bull in her. Her face and ears resemble a pit bull but her fat ass body is more of a lab.
I liked this evaluation of dogs breed for fighting that Gorant wrote about.
“And breeding a dog to fight is different than breeding it for other traits. There’s nothing about herding or retrieving or pulling a sled that goes against the dog’s internal drives. But creating a dog that wants to attack other dogs is at odds with twelve thousand years of evolution, a period of time in which dogs were instilled with the instinct to work together in a pack to survive. Centuries of breeding based on mutual dependence goes far deeper than fifty or even one hundred years of manipulation to encourage a desire to harm.”
This is so true! Now it makes even more sense why 80 percent of dogs breed for fighting will not even scratch at another dog. It is just not in their nature to.
Another lesson I learned was how the media portrayal of certain breeds increases the fear and at the same time increases the population. In the 19th century it was bloodhounds that were feared as pit bulls are today. Followed by the German shepherd then the Doberman. “In 1964 there were 4,815 new Doberman registrations filed with the American Kennel Club. By 1979 there were 80,363 new Doberman registered, making it the second most popular breed in the United States.” Now with the pit bull it seems it needs some time before another breed is deemed dangerous. Just in one year from 1983 to 1984 pit bull registrations grew by 30 percent after they were labeled the new most dangerous dog with many more not registered. “The breed, which had existed in some form for hundreds of years, didn’t suddenly lose control. The dogs simple fell into the hands of many people who had no interest in control.”
Right now I am in the Redemption section of the book. I LOVE reading about Jonny and Jasmine. I will give you all an overview of their cases in the next post.
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