I'll echo Steve. One of my labs occasionally has issues with some other dogs . . . one reason I don't take him to dog parks anymore. While I can find SOME commonalities between his behavior and most of the dogs he gets frisky with, there aren't enough similarities for me to be able to adequately predict when he'll get agitated and when he won't. For instance, many dogs larger than him will set him off, but then, sometimes he'll get along just fine with other larger dogs of the same breed as the ones that set him off. On rare occasions, he'll get ornery with a dog slightly smaller than him, but usually has no problems with smaller dogs. I wouldn't doubt that there's a commonality of some kind that differentiates for him between dogs to get rough with and dogs to play nice with, but I haven't figured it out yet, so his public appearances are fewer than they used to be and are always tightly controlled.

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''The enemy isn't conservatism. The enemy isn't liberalism. The enemy is bulls**t.''

—Lars-Erik Nelson

   
Too many supplements this morning or is it PMS?
You seem somewhat "detached".

I appreciate the "smugness" comment in your PM. Hilarious!
I don't get that too often.

Will you marry me?

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Ego numquam pronuncio mendacium,
sed sum homo salvaticus

Dogs are extremely predictable

Not to a person on a trail who doesn't know your dog.

Pay attention to his body language (are his ears up or down, tail up or down, head up or down, did his gait change, where is he placing himself relative to you and the other dog/dog owner, etc.) as you are approaching the other dogs and I'll bet that you can predict how he'll react.

Dogs are lovers, not fighters. Ay Chihuahua!

Ex-Rower: Yup. That's how I know when to turn tail and run (with him, obviously).

YaHey: Nice!

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''The enemy isn't conservatism. The enemy isn't liberalism. The enemy is bulls**t.''

—Lars-Erik Nelson

That is all I can say:

http://www.thesuperficial.com/...ates_tinkerbell.html

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Ego numquam pronuncio mendacium,
sed sum homo salvaticus

I'm not scared of chihuahuas', but if one chases me I will pepper it in the face with salsa and guacamole :-)

A little late, but to add to the definition of "word up", I'll quote the freaky dude from Cameo:

word up,
Everybody say when you hear the call
You got to get it underway,
Word up, it’s the code word,
No matter where you say it,
You’ll know that you’ll be heard.

This is as good as place as any to post this...

SO many dogs are euthanized or mistreated simply because they look like a Pit Bull or Am.Staff. Take the "Find the Pit Bull" test at http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html to see just how easy it is to mistake one breed from another. Keep in mind that while you are taking this test how many of these dogs would have been killed if they wound up at a pound or Humane Society... Seriously, it's an eye opener.

I KNOW Pits have a bad reputation--and there were (and still are) a lot of owners out there breeding them to be viscious...and in that, they are simply taking advantage of the Pits normal nature--devoted to its owner and family; loyal to a fault; designed to-- like all terriers--kill vermin. But it's threads like this that help fuel the fire that one breed or another is a "bad" breed.

ANY dog can be dangerous--and ANY unknown dog should be treated as such.

And, FWIW, were I given the choice, based strictly on breed standard (and assuming a "normal" temperment), I'd MUCH rather have a Rottie, Pittie, or Akita as a family pet around my kids than many kinds of terriers and a lot of the small breeds out there.

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mmm-mmm-Momo Charms
Handmade beverage charms, jewelry, and miscellanea
http://momocharms.wordpress.com

I've never heard of this breed, but it sure is purty.

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

When I had my staffie I knew exactly what he would do. So yes, he was predictable. He would predictably chase anything that moved, so anytime we went out he had to be on a leash, no question about it. (not one of those bloody extenda-leashes either that I see so many owners letting their dogs choke themselves on). He was predictably the most obedient dog in the world if I had a pea sized piece of hot dog in my hand. He would do anything for that taste of a hot dog.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Maybe not, but if someone who knows dog behaviour comes across a strange dog, they can usually tell what the animals actions will be before the dog makes those actions. That is predictability. It may not be a desired behaviour, as you have no knowledge of what conditioning the owner has done with the dog, but it will be predictable. You can usually tell pretty easily which dogs to avoid and which ones are OK.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Catahoula Leopard dog is the state dog of Louisiana. ;-) And yes, they are pretty dogs.

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mmm-mmm-Momo Charms
Handmade beverage charms, jewelry, and miscellanea
http://momocharms.wordpress.com

I've found little kids are also dangerous on bike paths, swerving all over the place...do you suggest we just get rid of them too?

*note: I only ride on a path for about a mile as an access to better roads

If you let your kids play in the middle of a bike path with cyclists zooming up and down it then you must really hate being a parent.

I dont think small children should hang out in the middle of roads, no - nor would I let my child play in traffic, whether it was bicycles, motorcycles, cars etc.

Playgrounds are much better - also its not like a toddler is going to keep up with you on your run so there really is no point in putting it in danger. I have had some near misses with small children and it scares the crap out of me - yes I don't think little kids should run around on bike paths at all.

I think its a lack of the understanding of the laws of physics - people don't understand how collisions work or how momentum plays in - if you let your toddler run around on a bike path and I come around a sharp corner this is a disastrous situation. There should be designated little kid paths; or if you must take your children for a walk at least stand between them and the middle - keep them to the side and make sure you can grab them when a situation arises...

Almost as bad as dogs off the leash are dogs that are obviously too big for their owners. I had a pair of married friends with a good sized Weimerauner and a Weimerauner/Lab mix. The wife used to take them both out together to walk them, on their leashes, and there's no way she could have kept them from doing anything they wanted to. I understand some women want larger dogs for protection, but there's a balance there somewhere.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

"If you are merely harassed by an unleashed dog (or if one causes you to crash) you probably have no legal recourse."

i haven't read this whole thread, so sorry if i'm repeating... but this is what bugs me.
i love dogs. but that doesn't mean i want to play with them. and if i'm out for a run, and a dog jumps out at me, i don't want the dog's owner saying 'he won't hurt you' because, if i twist my ankle jumping out of the way, that means that the dog has hurt me.

oh, my problem is never with the dogs themselves. it's with far too many of the owners.

It is not the dog's fault that their owner is an idiot. Please remember that most dogs are smarter than the people who own them so take pity on the animal but feel free to beat their human into mindless submission!

"It is not the dog's fault that their owner is an idiot. Please remember that most dogs are smarter than the people who own them so take pity on the animal but feel free to beat their human into mindless submission!"

And that comment brings us straight back to Miss Hilton and Tinkerbell :-)

http://www.humorgazette.com/...es_paris_hilton.html

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Ego numquam pronuncio mendacium,
sed sum homo salvaticus

"Will you marry me?"

"First, let me correct you, I have only lived in LA over last two years - only because of my job.
I have spent most of my life in the Midwest, actually. So your assumption for this ignorant generalization is way off base.

Funny, how all these insecure men resort to PMS when they run out of responses.

I am way out of your league, pal."


I am now officially heartbroken....

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Ego numquam pronuncio mendacium,
sed sum homo salvaticus

Bob, thats the funny thing about strict liability(which applies to dogs/owners). That would be a legitimate legal case.