Customs Patrol Dog attack

[LittleBigDog]

This case caught the attention of the Worms and Germs blogger.

Dog bites, the bad and the surprising : Worms and Germs Blog

There have been a rash of unusual bites lately. The only real 'excuse' in this customs dog case I can think of would be that the dog had an unknown health problem. Customs would still be liable, but at least not reckless if the dog had a stable history working with people prior to this.

Sometimes there is an overuse of force problem. This is an infamous case:

Washingtonpost.com: FBI Investigating Pr. George's Canine Unit
FBI Investigating Pr. George's Canine Unit
(By Lois Raimondo — The Washington Post)
By Ruben Castaneda
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 4, 1999

When Police Dogs Grow Too Vicious - ABC News

When Police Dogs Grow Too Vicious
Allegations of a K-9 Unit Run Amok

 

[Dog-Training-Outlet]

oh so sad and scary for the little girl. yeah lots of things could have provoked the dog, a lot of missing pieces in this story.

 

[rubysoho]

According to a previous poster the guidelines for how these dogs are acquired can be summed up as:

- rescue or donation
- strong retrieval drive
- generally a dog that would need to be put to sleep in any other situation.


So, to me, that sounds like a dangerous mix. I know two rescue Malis. One given up by the owner because she was A LOT of dog. The second has no known background and just showed up in the rescue. Both dogs would be extremely dangerous and in fact the second one has bitten multiple people and attacked multiple dogs. Not basing this on hearsay... I have had to pull that dog (not mine, btw) off other dogs and wished every day I worked around with him that his owner would be responsible and put him to sleep. Thankfully I do not work there anymore.

The first dog had known triggers to cause a bite (all reactive, most likely a defense from poor training).

Neither should be around children.

Now, this is just my experience with two rescue malis. However, in general, we know the breed is a lot of dog. WHY would the risk be taken with a breed such as this by taking on a high calibre dog with an unknown background (breeding and upbringing)? Can/do they train for every sort of situation? (sounds like they don't) I have no idea. I just think this formula would eventually lead to a situation like the news article posted by the OP.

As for scent... Dogs are reactive to weaker dogs and other dogs who are ill. I saw this while working with a rescue and I found it interesting. And as a pack they will gang up on a dog who is sick (not talking about a slight cold, but hormone imbalances, etc... which does have the possibility of changing an animals scent and we might not know it... think of the dogs who can sniff our cancer!). Just food for thought.

 

[Amanda885]

oh wow..didn't hear abuot this yet.. how terrible! Poor girl!