Ok, I just read through all the posts. Wow this is a tough topic!!
I'm a little on the fence here. While my gut reaction is to say "OMG you're encouraging human aggression!" I do realize this is not the case at all...
I agree with whoever said we are weeding out bite inhibition. And this does seem dangerous to me. The dog in the video was obviously very well behaved and you could tell how much training went into him. He did not bite until commanded, and it was obvious that he was not human aggressive.
But the thought that we are training our dogs to not care when a person screams out in pain, to not let up until we decide they should, bothers me. As much as I may want my dog to be protective of me, I also don't want him to be oblivious to another person's screams of pain...
I'm not entirely comfortable with bite work being done with other breeds either (GSD's, etc) unless it has a purpose (police, etc). But I am most uncomfortable with it being done with pit bulls. The current pit bull craze is just insane right now. Do we really want to feed the media frenzy?
Now I'm not suggesting that there be a ban on bite-work with pit bulls. That would be breed discrimination. But I do think it is the responsibility of pit bull owners to make sure that pit bulls get a positive image in the media. Bite-work with GSD's is pretty much "accepted" by the general public, especially because of their use with the police. But pit bulls biting people, no matter how well trained they are, may never be accepted or portrayed as anything positive...
With there being so many activities you can do with your bully breed, I don't see why bite work has to be one of them. If you love bite work so much, why not use a dog that is often associated with it (in the general public's mind) like a GSD?
Is it fair that pit bulls are portrayed so negatively in the media? No. Is it fair that as an owner of a bully breed you have a responsibility to help promote the breed's positive image? No. Is it fair that there are certain activities that will be portrayed negatively if you engage in them with your pit bull? Absolutely not. But life is not fair. And I for one don't want my ability to own a pit bull to be threatened by some idiot trying to teach his pit bull to be an attack dog...
mnp13 wrote:Aggression comes from fear, not confidence. The best dogs in protection sport are not the aggressive ones, they are the confident ones.
Aggression does not always come from fear. Aggression comes from many sources, and in my experience with pit bulls, I have seen quite a few dominant ones. If you are saying that the confident dogs (to me, confident often = more dominant) are the best dogs for bite-work, this does not sit well with me. Perhaps you could elaborate on this?
mnp13 wrote:the stick is used for pressure. To say "they are hitting the dog with a stick" is not the same as actually being there and watching and understanding how it is used (it's hard to explain, much like explaining prong collars to people who have never used one or seen one used). The dog is not being beaten. Does it hurt? yes. Does it cause injury? no.
Wow. I'm having a really hard time responding to this.
What gives you the right to intentionally hurt another living creature? It doesn't matter that hitting it with the stick did not cause an injury. Why must you inflict pain on the animal in the first place? If the dog is so well trained, why must pain be part of the equation here?
I have MAJOR problems with any "sport" that requires the dog to be in pain for it. Hurting an animal and making it feel pain is not a sport to me. It is animal abuse. Maybe this is just me, but this is not far off from the reasoning given by dog fighters. They probably also claim the sticks they use to beat their dogs are just for "pressure"...
~Lindsay~