by Richard Griffin

Created on: December 29, 2006   Last Updated: April 30, 2007

There is no such thing as a bad breed of dog. The breed has nothing to do with a dog attacking humans. Banning a breed of dog will not stop dog attacks on humans. The problem lies with people misunderstanding dog behavior. The solution is to require all dog owners to be trained and licensed to own a dog.

Dogs are social animals and have a pack mentality. There is a hierarchy in the pack and each animal has a certain behavior that the pack leader requires of them. If a pack member gets out of line they are punished by the pack leader. This is the way order is maintained in the pack. All dogs have this knowledge instinctively.

When a human acquires a dog they need to take on the role of pack leader in order to maintain proper behavior of their dog. Too many owners overly indulge their pet and the pet ends up running the home. On the other end of the spectrum if the owner overly punishes their pet undesirable behaviors will also emerge. Along with proper discipline, protection is also required of the pack leader. If a dog feels insecure it can lead to the animal attacking out of fear for its own safety. Dogs do not have sinister motives to attack humans; they are simply lead by stimuli to react in certain manner. If a dog feels threatened it will defend itself.

Whenever the subject of dog attacks is brought up there is always a particular breed that is on the most hated list. This is usually fueled by one or more news stories. Pit bulls are the current target to be banned. The ironic part about this is that often when the news shows the offending dog it is not a pit bull at all, but some other type of dog. Pit bulls were original bred as fighting dogs. This means they were bred to fight other dogs not people. As a matter of fact, the handler had to get in the ring or pit to separate the dogs. If there was a dog that was aggressive to a human it was destroyed immediately. So to say pit bulls were bred to be aggressive to humans is simply false and in fact the opposite is true.

The dog is not the problem in an attack of a human. The dog is just attacking as its instincts tell it to do as a dog. The human pack leader is the actual problem in a dog attack. Banning a breed is merely a knee jerk political action that will do nothing to solve the real problem. The solution is to train and license the dog owner to be a pack leader.

Learn more about this author, Richard Griffin.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.