Did you know

Socialization: "The process of interacting your dog with other dogs to ensure there is no dog aggression."

A day at the dog park can be a blast, especially when there are no issues or fights. Every day thousands of owners bring their dogs to the dog park and most of the time all the dogs there get along great. Once in a while, you'll get a dog that is great but than dog aggression hits. No one knows why he or she snapped, they just knew that they were playing, running and having fun but it does happen.

In my experience dog aggression comes from a lack of socialization and the owners reactions to their dog, you must watch how you react to other people, other dogs and how you react when your dog is playing. Now even under the right circumstances a dog who is well socialized must still be kept under close supervision, after all we are a well socialized group but we can get nasty too if someone decides to fight us. It's the same with dogs, they may be well socialized but whose to say the other dog is. If a dog fight does occur remain calm and take care of the situation because when your calm your dog has a better chance of becoming calm.

In order to socialize your dog there are a few things you must know. Start off early, 16 weeks is the youngest I'd recommend due to vaccines. 16 weeks is when you get your first rabies shot, and as some of us do not know the United States has the most cases of the rabies virus. England is not affected by the rabies virus at all (The More You Know) ;) . Also be sure to get a bordetella vaccine if you’re going to socialize, only because you never know if another dog has kennel cough. If you socialize earlier, ensure the other dogs are current on their vaccines. Socialize with dogs of all breeds, sizes and ages. This gets the dog used to being around dogs of sizes much smaller and larger than itself. Make sure the other dogs are well socialized if you’re socializing your young puppy. You want to keep your young companion safe after all. Socialize often, a couple times a week and for an hour or two each time. If you want to socialize more do so, but be cautious not to tire out your baby. Socialize in different settings such as pet stores, dog parks, the beach, a friend’s house and anywhere else dogs may gather in your area. Last but not least be sure to reward for good behavior, discipline bad behavior and always ALWAYS keep your dog/puppy under close supervision.

Everywhere you go you hear the words "Breed Restrictions" and I just have to wonder what it all means. Where these legislators and government officials came to the conclusion that a specific breed is dangerous or even a nuisance. The answers I sought out shocked me. I've been in the veterinary field for quite some time and all the time I have never came across a "dangerous" or "nuisance" dog that was defined as the "bad" dog they are claimed to be. In fact they were outstanding patients. Now wouldn't this dangerous breed actually be dangerous in a hospital setting? I mean after all if the dog is coming in for anything from a nail trim to a blood test the dog would have to be restrained. A dangerous dog in my book would be more aggressive in these circumstances. Now don't get me wrong, I've had my share of aggression in the veterinary field, however I never looked at aggression to be classified by breed. I look at different circumstances to determine the aggression. Such as, have the owners trained him/her correctly or at all, was the dog socialized with other dogs and people besides the ones where he/she lives and was the dog abused or neglected in any way? And I look to the circumstance. Is the dog in pain or even suffering from age-related ailments? Hey, when I'm in pain watch out cause I'll snap too!

So, is one breed more dangerous than the other? Are some breeds hard wired to attack dogs and maim children? In the course of researching this article, my opinion is that much of this fire concerning the "bad breeds" is fanned by those who don't know the breed. The dog owners, the neighbors, the Johnson’s with their 4 kids living down the street and yes even Mrs. Peterson the widow on the corner who makes those rock hard fruit cakes on the holidays and give them out. In one circumstance a middle-aged woman who lived a couple houses down from a young male was attacked by a "Pit Bull". This incident went to court and due to a few more similar cases this breed was thereby restricted and classified "dangerous". Now in Ohio a Pit Bull is classified not as a specific breed but as any dog of the bull terrier type. They also say that any dog that looks like a "Pit" will be classified as a Pit unless the owner has STRONG evidence supporting otherwise.

Breeds earn their negative reputations from newsworthy attacks, media coverage and exaggerated stories spread word-of-mouth. Pit Bull types are crowding our animal shelters because their reputation as the uncontrollable and unpredictable attack dogs make it difficult, if not impossible for them to find a home. That is all because of "Breed Restrictions" and because of the reputation everyone is giving them. It's not the breed that needs to be punished with tainting it's name or restricting these possible family members filled with love from finding a home.

We as a society are constantly placing a label on everyone and everything. We do it to our neighbors and colleagues. Whether by race, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion.... whatever. Everything has a place and everything in its place, right? It saddens me that we do this to dogs as well.

My final thought: blame the owner not the breed!