Exactly Melissa_W, I did not read all the posts by rottiegirl so I didn't know she was getting nasty. What I find happens more often is that when people express concern over some breeds...the people who own the breeds become defensive, angrey and use some flimsy excuses to deal with the situation....for example of excuses; I own one and he is sweet, they were specifically bred to be non human aggressive. This single statement got a local lady into a bad situation...she purchased an APBT for her "first" dog...well bred, good lines etc. The dog attacked her due to redirected aggression...she mentioned she purchased this particular breed and did research because they were considered more tolerant and only dog aggressive...this is not something that people should be using to defend a breed. Any dog can become human aggressive, any dog in certain situations can and will bite weather it be from fear or offensive behaviors...the only breed I have run across that has the highest tolerance levels for human stupidity for first time dog owners are most Retrievers, and Newfoundland dogs, and even they can bite, they are after all dogs, not gods....I would feel safer for some people to get some breeds over others for first time only due to the deleted motor patterns they have been selected for, which makes them much safer around children.
Most behaviors are learned, some are genetic...any dog can learn to become aggressive either from lack of socialization, spoiling, harsh training methods etc. that goes for any breed.
What people have to do is listen and learn...I own a Rottweiler and I have had the opportunity to witness first hand just how dangerous a high prey drive is. A breed with a high prey drive can be dangerous, no if and or buts about it...a dog with a high prey drive can be the sweetest dog you have ever known...its when they go into predatory drift when they can be dangerous.
I don't agree with banning breeds either...but, I am the first person to stand up and explain why, how and when a dog could go into predatory drift. If more people understood it there wouldn't be as many accidents...the people who are the victoms are not normally bad people as in burglers or robbers etc. they are normally children who are the victoms of dog attacks that end up in mauling deaths. Children are going to be the object of predatory drift more often than an adult...in most cases. This is what concerns people the most who want to ban breeds. It's up to us as dog owners of these breeds to educate people and let them realize that we know what we are doing.
