Can attack dogs be rehabilitated - Page 1

 Link to Time Magazine, with some good questions:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1942950,00.html

 I have not read the link you sent but from the topic of the article. My opinion is that defence and attack training is like a flame in the mind of the dog which once when ignited can never be extinguished. The dog's perception of threat totally changes and hence I don't feel that attack dogs can start living in families. This is one reason that a lot of parts you see protection training done ONLY in prey drive. Defence training in the true sense is a one way street for the dog. The dog's mind goes through a mutation in awareness of its surroundings. And it starts perceiving threat in its surroundings. Also a fear is basically instilled in the dog and that can never be rooted out.

regards

Total bullshit.And what do you mean by attack dogs? Have a nice one.

I think some of them can be rehabilitated, but who is going to do the work? I have a friend who volunteers with teaching obedience to shelter pit bulls, but that's just one woman and one dog at a time. Need to find several thousand other people to step up and volunteer, because several thousand "unadoptable" dogs die each day.... 

The article is worth reading and THEIR experience suggests that some dogs can be rehabilitated. One question it poses relates exactly to the question of time and opportunity and use of resources when thousands of other pets are daily euthanized for lack of good homes. As someone involved in GSD rescue for many years, I can attest to having had this conflict within myself every time someone called wanting to dump a dog who, for example, had already been in serious trouble (such as biting someone or killing a smaller animal), or one who had serious and likely chronic health issues. The fact is that resources and money are limited. There is also the issue of liability. Just like granting a commutation in a sentence that led to the release of the man who apparently killed four LEOs this last week, there is always the issue of whether one is wrong about whether a dog (or a human) has truly been rehabilitated.

Read the article. Then post your opinion.

Added a clarification to who thinks such dogs can be rehabilitated.

There are certain tempermental issues that could never be changed. They are ingrained in to the dogs. They can be covered up like a hole in a wall that is filled with plaster. It looks fixed but it will always be weaker then the rest of the wall and will always manifest under duress and stress. A trained protection dog can be trained in any manner a good trainer sees fit. A dog that bites from fear whether gentically or man made cannot be trained. they can be socialized and the problem can be minimized but the problem will always come out under extreme stress. this is why only dogs with confidence should be trained in protection training. A dog should be able to turn on under threat and turn off under when the helper submits. Anyone who trains a dog with fear issues in attack should be hel d legally accountable. This question is common to the lamen whom cannot seperate a truly well trained protection dog and a attack dog. Most lamen think a scared dog is being protective when in fact the dog is saying to its self I have to hurt you before you hurt me and is in a defensive irrational state. the difference between a well trained protection dog and attack dog is the well trained dog is rational and the fear biter is not..............Need I say more!

Well....I did read it. What did I miss? 

"The article is worth reading and experience suggests that some dogs can be rehabilitated"

Except that as always the caveat is that these dogs be placed in homes with no other animals and no children.  That's not rehabilitated. 

Generally speaking, fighting dogs are not aggressive to people, so it's not surprising that they would not be attacking people - they never would be, even without rehabilitation, so there's no people rehab taking place anyway.

The good question brought up is why spend all this time, all this money, saving these fighting dogs who cannot be placed with children or other animals, dogs who have 3 legs, or no lips, as one poor dog must suffer through life, thereby giving the needle to the other non-fighting strays?  That poor dog without any lips....would it have been such an awful thing to give that dog a peaceful exit?

My local pound is full of pit bulls - 90-98% of the dogs there are pits.  You can't tell me that shelter hasn't either turned away or euthed dozens of other non-pit strays...OR maybe not...maybe there isn't really so much of an unwanted animal problem anymore.  More than 90% pits?  Hmmmm.  With the decrease in other dogs the pits are big business for shelters now.  But you walk down the rows and see sign after sign: "Not with children,"  "Not with children under 12," "Not with cats," "Must be only pet in household."  Don't give me "great pet" and "rehab" crap...not with all those signs about no kids, no cats, no pets, no this, no that.

I read the article and watched the video,
These people are idiots, and seem to know very little about the breed , the breeders, or the training.
Now they have 300 or so left out of 500 including puppies in a secret location?
Marvelous.

Rehabilitate a pit dog means what?

A true pit dog could never be trusted around other pets.
As for children, I wouldn't risk it simply because it would not be worth that risk.
Its not the same as picking out the right breeder and raising one from a pup,  I could see that as a great pet, but not one of these.

These dogs are not any more or less deserving than any other animal GSD's included.
They are the property of the state now.

So much time and money wasted.    
The liability of re-homing one of these dogs should have some influence in how this is handled.

BTW,
What else was seized?
Money, property, who's in jail?

Typical news story, little fact.

Interesting Article,

However the person involved is not a trainer or knowledgable in the mind of a dog and the methodolegy of trainning dogs that have been in the pit.

I purchased a very unique pit once from a guy that had been stolen 3 times and held at the local pound as a Mascot for months for their own sick fun prior to my purchase.

The dog was 14 months and had been fought many times and killed several dogs and cats before I got him. He had no aggression to people and was very easy to steal.

I trained the dog in basic and advanced OB and proceeded into training him for Personal Protection which was a lot of fun and time intensive. Long and short this was a very intelligent dog and was very good with puppies and young dogs.

He was also safe around my moms cat and her 10 year old male GSD that was also a dominate male, after taking him to church a couple of times.

However he was always anxious to fight if he saw a dog show any aggression and would respond to direct eye contact from any stranger or animal in seconds very intensly.

Dogs like this are safe in some peoples hands but do not belong in the general population of our society. Hell most people can't raise a child to be respectfull and considerate let alone raise an animal bred to fight to the death with the heart of a lion.

I sold him back to the man I bought him from a year later and he lived his life out with his family and small children as a very good family pet and loyal guardian. The man told me it was the best $100.00 he had ever invested in his lifetime.

Remember he was not the norm but a special example of a pit.

just my thoughts, mahon