CORAL SPRINGS, FL - I have owned many a dog in my getting to be long life.
I wanted to be a veterinarian. As a teen, I worked as an apprentice to a vet and assisted on almost every possible thing that could go wrong with a dog except an amputation. I watch dog shows - until 10 years ago, when the AKC added a bunch of new pedigree animals to the lineup. I could identify every single recognized breed. Enough with the bona fides.
Last week, in a Coral Springs tragedy, a family was turned upon by its own pit bull. I read an article about a Doberman that did the same thing. I must confess there are legions of owners of these breeds who swear the dogs sleep with their children, and they are probably telling the truth. But here’s the wrinkle.
The ASPCA and other groups call certain breeds “flat head” dogs, though the shape is more of a triangle. For comparison take an Irish Setter. It has a ridge down the center of its skull. A Boston terrier has a round head. Pit bulls don’t.
Flat head dogs have two things in common. Usually, they are tremendously powerful animals. Secondly to describe what happens to them let’s quote the famous voice from the radio, The Shadow. “Who knows what evil lies in the hearts of dogs…? The Shadow knows.” Yes, he said men, but this article is about dogs.
I once owned a Staffordshire terrier. They are the genetic forerunners of pit bulls. He was playful, energetic, a good watch good, and very loving. He also was built like the brick house the third pig built, was so strong that one day in frustration at being alone he tore up the entire kitchen floor. When let out to run in the woods, he’d bring back a dead anything he could catch. I gave him to a farmer who said he raised prized ducks. I warned him over and over again. When he left assuring me there wasn’t a dog he couldn’t handle, I said this isn’t a good dog for you—don’t call me, I’m not taking him back. He called. I didn’t take him back. The ducks? Someone play TAPS.
Dogs that have for eons been bred to fight and kill, even fight and protect, have in them a switch. Sometimes it never goes on. Sometimes, something switches that switch, some sign of weakness it senses, some kind of potential threat it senses. Then, they go crazy, and stopping them is like stopping a freight train. Sometimes it takes a bullet.
The number of adopted dogs is sky-rocketing. So maybe you have found such a dog. Here is some advice besides caveat emptor. If it is more than two years old. Don’t. If it is a puppy, you need a professional to help you train the dog.
Note this: training a dog means also training you and anyone else who lives with the family. When it’s over, the dog must be put through its paces every day by anyone who is with it. That person needs to project “being in charge” and must reward with great praise.
The dog must know that he/she is not the Alpha animal in the house. The second thing is from day one that dog needs socialization, both with people and other animals. It is your job, not the dogs, to overcome what is in his or her genes.
Don’t ever let anyone put their face into the dog’s. This is a threat. I met a little boy in Miami whose otherwise wonderful, loving, protective pit bull ripped his scalp off. It took hundreds of stitches to put him back together again. He was I think three.
There’s a lesson in there, folks. Find it.
Read William A. Gralnick’s previous column for TAPinto Coral Springs:
Cock-A-Doodle Doo in Coral Springs: Mail-in Ballots, Elections, and Our Barely Still Great Nation
Coral Springs: He’s Your Sheriff, Too.
Who Will Make Best Decisions About Your Kids In Coral Springs Schools This Year? You.
The Future For John Lewis’ Past As It Impacts Coral Springs
A resident of South Florida for more than 30 years, Bill Gralnick has written more than 900 op-eds and columns for newspapers around the country, including columns for the Brooklyn Eagle.
His latest book, found on Amazon.com, Kindle or paperback, is the coming-of-age memoir, “The War of the Itchy Balls and Other Tales from Brooklyn.”
His writings can be found on his website: williamgralnickauthor.com
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter and sign up for FREE TAPinto Coral Springs E-News alerts to be the first to read about all things Coral Springs.
Download the FREE TAPinto App. Click here for Android - Click here for iOS for breaking news, traffic/weather alerts, and special offers.
Know a story we should share with our readers? Email editor Leon Fooksman (lfooksman@tapinto.net) and tell him about it.
"danger" - Google News
August 25, 2020 at 11:09PM
https://ift.tt/32qeorG
Beware, Oh Coral Spring People, the Danger of the Flat Headed Dog - TAPinto.net
"danger" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3bVUlF0
https://ift.tt/3f9EULr
No comments:
Post a Comment