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Good article in WDJ- regarding dangerous dogs


imported_Cassie

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This I found in one of my WDJ magazines. This sounds like the right approach on how I can word my letter to the edition in regards to potential breed bans in my area. I am going to contact the WDJ and ask if I can use this article.

[quote]Despite the prevalence of certain breeds of dogs in the headlines, laws addressing specific breeds are far less effective than dangerous dog laws that do not mention breed. Breed-specific legislation applies unfairly to dogs who may be no threat what so ever, and doesnt help a community with dangerous dogs who are mixed-breeds or not of the breed mentioned in the legislation.
Dangerous dogs are better identified by their behavior than shape and size. The sort of Canine menace to society we are talking about includes:

A dog which shows aggression warning signs: freezing and giving a hard, direct stare; leaning forward, ears pricked, growling, perhaps with hackles raised; issuing one of more challenging barks; bared teeth, snarling, and or snapping; stiff, rigid appearance and movements.

A free roaming dog or pack of dogs who have stalked, chased, or threatened neighborhood people and/or animals.

A dog on leash who lunges aggressively toward other animals or people, and whose owner appears to be in danger of losing control of the dog.

A dog who gets in a fight and punctures or lacerates another dog, or bites a preson who is trying to break up the fight. [b]NOTE[/b]: Many dogs get in scuffles in group interactions. Dogs who have good bite inhibition may be involved in a fight that looks and sounds awful, but leaves no visible traces of injury on the participants. A dangerous dog in the same fight punctures or lacerates her opponents.

A dog who bites another person or animal, puncturing or lacerating the skin.

What you can do:

Take immediate action if you or your dog is seriously frightened or attacked by a dog. File a report with your animal control agency and/or police.
If you learn that other neighbors or witnesses have also had bad experiences with the dog, encourage them to file complaints, too.
Follow up to make sure police and/ or animal control reports were filed and appropriate action was taken.
If your local animal control or police officers appear reluctant to help, make an appointment with your local district attorney; ask him or her for information on applicable state or local statutes and advice on gaining support from local officials.

If you have dogs running at large in your neighborhood:
Talk to the dogs owner, be friendly, nonthreatening, tactful, and educational.
Follow up your first visit quickly with another friendly one. Offer advice to dog owner if needed (confinement problems etc.)
Its time to call animal control authorities if the owner was friendly on the second visit but fails to follow through on your suggestions, there's probably no point in a third visit; similarly, there is probably no point in a second visit if the owner was not friendly or receptive the first time.
Be prepared to identify yourself; many agencies won't act on anonymous complaints. Be specific in your information.

If you have no luck with animal control or with supervisor's its time to step up the ladder. If you reach the top of the animal control administration and still havent gotten resolution. Let administrators know that you're going public with your concerns.

Ensure your own safety until you start to see some results. [/quote]

[b]Quote from WDJ [/b]

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Guest Anonymous

woohoo great article, it's about time they show pepole that it isn't just certain breeds, but ANY dog can potentially (sp ) be dangerous!

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I have a question regarding this article. ( which I think is a great article by the way... :D )

Jada, our presa, often raises her hackles when she comes near another dog. Should this be something I should be overly concerned about? The reason why I am asking is because this article mentions a dog raising its hackles as dangerous. I always assumed that some dogs just raise them more often, which is the case with Jada. Alot of the time when she's in the backyard they are partially up, as she is always on guard of our backyard! When she is in a situation that she feels threatened or the need to be protective, she will raise them.
I have no doubt in my mind though that she would never attack anything/ one unless they attacked her, and then she would stand up for herself, nomore though. She has been put in a situation where she was out front with me and a dog off leash came up onto our property. She trotted down the driveway barking at the dog and people on our property. She stood at the end of our laneway, hackles raised and barked at them... but did not leave our property, or go after the dog.... just protecting the homestead!!

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Guest Anonymous

good question, i dont have any answers though, as Cody and Zoey raise their's when they see another dog, but they do it wil wagging tails.. Any time they bark their hackles are up to, b ut i would not consider them dangerous dogs.

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[quote]Jada, our presa, often raises her hackles when she comes near another dog. Should this be something I should be overly concerned about?[/quote]
First off, not all dogs like every dog they meet. Many dogs get into scuffles a few times in their life...its quite normal. What would be considered aggressive would be a dog which starts an unprovoked attack; for instance at the vet clinic I work at we had a Stafforshire terrier sitting nicely beside its owner, another lady came in holding her small breed dog in her arms. The Staff with out being provoked and with out making a sound grabbed the small dog out of the owners arms and tore its legs apart. This is some thing which I would consider an unsafe dog to have in public. This Staff also has its Canine good citizenship cert. and has done all levels of obedience and has all of its titles. It still turned out to be unpredictable. This can usually be seen by owners early on and this can be prevented, if a dog starts eye stalking little dogs...then watch out. I imagine if the owner had been watching her Staff the only indications of an attack would have been a slight lowering of the head and eye stalk.

If a dog does get into a fight and it goes beyond a scuffle and it turns out to be a blood bath...then this could be considered a dangerous dog as well...I know a few breeders who had dogs put down due to getting into a scuffle and breaking skin. But, then of course this is also wide open as I have seen some dogs fight, for instance 2 intact males as there was a female close by in heat. ...so even this is pretty conterversial.

[quote]The reason why I am asking is because this article mentions a dog raising its hackles as dangerous. I always assumed that some dogs just raise them more often, which is the case with Jada. Alot of the time when she's in the backyard they are partially up, as she is always on guard of our backyard! When she is in a situation that she feels threatened or the need to be protective, she will raise them. [/quote]


[quote]A dog which shows aggression warning signs: freezing and giving a hard, direct stare; leaning forward, ears pricked, growling, perhaps with hackles raised; issuing one of more challenging barks; bared teeth, snarling, and or snapping; stiff, rigid appearance and movements. [/quote]
In this part of the article they are not referring to dog to dog aggression. They are referring to human to dog aggression. This also does not take into account the dog in your back yard. No one is going to go around doing spot checks in peoples homes to make sure the dog will lick all intruders :wink: In the article it is also not just mentioning the dog only has its hackles raised. It basically glump all of these body language signs into one big "watch out for this dog" type scene.
What this article is referring to is free roaming dogs in the neighborhood and signs of the dog being aggressive. If I were walking down the street minding my own business, then come across a dog which is frozen in place staring at me, perhaps growling with ears pricked forward and hackles up...I really am not going to assume this dog is going to lick my hand. This dog is aggressive, it has nothing to protect and it is acting in an offensive manner.
It would be the same if I lived beside some one whose dog was acting aggressive towards me every time I am in my own yard. If the dog is properly contained, then no big deal. But, if I am worried about having my jugular rippped out every time I am pruning my trees...then I would consider that dog aggressive and the owners irresponsible.
Another thing about raising hackles, fearful dogs, offensive dogs, defensive dogs all will raise their hackles when they are in a situation they are unsure of. They will raise their hackles in an attempt to make them selves look tougher than they are. :lol:

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[quote name='Taurus and Jada']I have a question regarding this article. ( which I think is a great article by the way... :D )

Jada, our presa, often raises her hackles when she comes near another dog. Should this be something I should be overly concerned about? The reason why I am asking is because this article mentions a dog raising its hackles as dangerous. ...![/quote]

my understanding is that the hackle raising is a sign of concern/alert.
It won't necessarily lead to anything more.
For example, a border collie and my pitbull Lulu share an intense mutual hate relationship. Whenever we pass that dog's house, Lulu's hackles raise slightly. We always pass by peacefully; if the dog is sitting out in her yard (which she often is, but almost always stays...) then I get Lulu's attention on me to avoid any greater arousal.

So basically, I sure watch my dogs carefully when their hackles go up (and the higher the hair raises, the more concerned I am!) to make sure that I can anticipate and prevent anything.

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I agree that I think the article was stressing loose dogs for the hackles part. many dogs on lead will raise hackles at each other, and also in yards. Its a warning sign from the dog that no crap will be tolerated, or its afraid and trying not to look it. When mixed with the other signs, stiff stare, straight tail, no backing down, and offleash, I would consider that a dangerous dog. there are usually multiple signs given in any dog/dog and dog/people interaction.

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Thanks for the replies...

I have never had a dog thus far that has raised their hackles,, so i am a little naive as to what exactly causes it. Jada's fur is about 1 inch long, and when she is really worked up, they will be raised straight up, from her head to her tail.

I agree that it is the whole package though, not just one thing that could cause a dog to be labeled " dangerous ". I was just wondering if it was something that I should be concerned about or if it's just Jada?? Thanks for the help!

Kara

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Free too has short hair, which makes the hackles even more noticeable when they come up. She will raise them in the yard, when she hears something she "doesnt like" (or smells it). I am rarely ever able to determine exactly what it is, but we have lots of free roaming wildlife
around here (there are some humans I would put in that category :lol: )
and she is "alerting" to them. rarely does she ever raise a lip, altho she does bark, she is just alerting and "posturing" to what she hears/smells, that I dont. She will also do it on walks, if a strange person or animal approaches, like a dog off lead. again, no lip lifting, tail doesnt go straight,
she may bark, or growl low in her throat. ears are usually high instead of back, she is listening.

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