dagblog - Comments for "‘NO EXCESSIVE BARKING’: A Chevy Chase dog park divides the rich and powerful"

Sometimes politicians pass

ocean-kat — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 19:31:34 +0000

In reply to Gladley covered many of the

Sometimes politicians pass legislation for no good reason beyond the politics. If the legislation isn't harmful I don't get upset by it. If a dog breed is banned for no rational reason I don't care. It's not like the species is going extinct which is happening to hundreds of wild species every year.

While I support stricter enforcement of regulations controlling dogs to lessen the number of dog bites I don't worry much about dog bites or fatalities from them. Life is inherently dangerous and imo the costs are too high to meaningful or pleasurable life by attempting to remove all danger. I'll go to the cliched lightning strike comparison. About 30 people die each year from lightning strikes. About 30 to 50 people die from fatal dog bites. Just slightly more. Out of a population of 350 million. Or compare it to 37,000 deaths each year from car accidents. The increase in the quality of life for so many people from having a dog is worth the small increase in danger in this dangerous world.

Gladley covered many of the

PeraclesPlease — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 11:39:00 +0000

In reply to Oh that case. I remember

Gladley covered many of the same points, incl small dogs produce some of the most vicious injuries/deaths each year, so what're the sane criteria for assessing, categorizing and legislating against risk and danger. Do nothing? It's an option, just isn't always politically or viscerally satisfying.

Note that much of society's actions is to address minor exceptions like 9/11, vs the much larger, more frequent occurrences (even gun massacres tho more frequent these days, vs the much larger business-as-usual killings, so we'll ban assault weapons and feel good, even though over time handguns have the most casualties - but there's a different type of concern re massacres, so it's not entirely illogical to legislate this way)

Oh that case. I remember

ocean-kat — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 09:09:04 +0000

In reply to In this case 3 pitbulls

Oh that case. I remember reading about it. It was unusual, bizarre, and I can't explain it. That type of attack is exceedingly rare and shouldn't be used to label the breed. Pit bulls are an aggressive breed but I've seen many studies that doesn't show the pit bull as markedly more aggressive than other aggressive breeds. German Shepherds, Dobermans, Rottweilers, Labradors, Akitas, a few others, all have about the same tendency to bite. The pit bull is usually near the top but often not the top biter. Some people write that Terriers are by far the most aggressive breed but they're so small that the bites go unreported because they're only small puncture wounds that aren't very deep.

In this case 3 pitbulls

PeraclesPlease — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 08:05:19 +0000

In reply to It's a multilayered problem.

In this case 3 pitbulls attacked for no reason, 1 put jaws around kid's head and started swinging it, father finally beat the pitbulk enough to get the kid, toss to its mother to cover it while dogs attacked her and she tried to at least cover her neck, meanwhile father and passerby kept beating the digs who wouldn't give up until nearly unconscious.

In this case wasn't much "erroneous". But to extrapolate? Were these 3 like all others? Was the fashion of too many training pitbulls to be mean too much to accept? How to reun in the bigger problem, bad owners?...

You don't have to put a

ocean-kat — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 07:39:18 +0000

In reply to Oceankat: I've enjoyed what

You don't have to put a smiley face for me. I agree with you. Of course my dog is more important to me than most people but when I take my dog into public spaces I'll control her as much as I need to based on how people feel about it. Even if I have to control more than I think necessary because some person is imo an idiot. It's easy to train a dog if you take the time and care. If she is well trained you can actually allow her greater freedom without causing problems with other people. Also I spend so much time with just my dog in wilderness areas where she is completely free. When a dog has that much freedom she much more readily accepts control when necessary.

I just saw this article.

ocean-kat — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 07:13:33 +0000

In reply to Yes, but proper mounting

I just saw this article. Colorado Woman Fights Off Bear With Baseball Bat Why didn't she just mount the bear to signal she was just friendly messing around? If only more people would read dagblog to reach a better understanding of the world.

Oceankat: I've enjoyed what

artappraiser — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 06:19:17 +0000

In reply to ‘NO EXCESSIVE BARKING’: A Chevy Chase dog park divides the rich and powerful

Oceankat: I've enjoyed what you've done with this story and discussion as an example, metaphor and teaching moment.

Ok now that I'm done with that, can I just point out that the real actual trouble behind this particular example and story: people who think their dogs are more important than other people.

I don’t see a Tragedy of the

ocean-kat — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 05:28:03 +0000

In reply to The crime rate is decreasing.

I don’t see a Tragedy of the Commons here or in the case of BBQ Becky. I see isolated incidents not requiring police intervention.

Three times in the last 14 years I've had a problem with dogs humping my dog and I don't often take my dog into group settings where many dogs run free. Despite my dog growling and snapping at the dog to get away the dog persisted. The dog's owner decided their dog harassing mine wasn't a problem. It was a problem for my dog and therefore me. If I hadn't handled it it would have led to a dog fight that might have been dangerous to the dogs and the bystanders. All dog owners know this is a problem and not an isolated incident. The reason you see isolated incidents is you either don't have a dog or rarely take it to places where it must interact with unknown dogs.

Again you feel capable of weighing in on a subject you have no knowledge or experience of. Only because you want to claim racism.

It's a multilayered problem.

ocean-kat — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 03:27:47 +0000

In reply to Oddly I was just reading

It's a multilayered problem. Pit bulls erroneously got a reputation for being vicious. Some people suggest it was because of the Omen movies. People who want vicious dog get pit bulls and train them to be vicious. So it is slightly more likely that if you meet a pit bull it will be vicious. Not because of the breed but because of the owner. People also get the message and fear pit bulls even though most are sweet. I sorta knew this from reading but experienced it when I watched a friend's pit bull for several months when she toured South America. This pit bull was so good, so calm, so sweet. But most of the people who saw her when I went out for a walk were terrified. That fear can cause what's know as anxiety biting. The dog senses the fear, doesn't know why, gets afraid, and bites to in it's mind defend itself. It's not a full bite or attack, just a snap with little or no damage to say stay away from me, but it's still a problem.

Pit bulls are nice dogs but sometimes you have to conform to society's misconceptions. I like to take my dog with me to flea markets and other public events. My dog is always very well trained, carefully watched, and never a problem but I don't want to deal with the irrational fear. I won't get a put bull.

Oddly I was just reading

PeraclesPlease — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 02:56:37 +0000

In reply to Society isn't going to

Oddly I was just reading Malcolm Gladwell's "What the Dog Saw", and one subject area he addresses was the banning of PitBulls after an attack on a child, when facts could have easily pointed to banning them and other meaner, antisocial breeds, *not* banning calmer sub-breeds of PitBulls, requiring training, and other possible sane ways of tackling the perceived problem(s).