What should be considered in training and dedicating a dog breed to a be service oriented is what contact would the dog have with the public. Any dog can be aggresive but there are certain breeds aside from pitbulls that wouldn't make good serivce dogs either which include German Shepards. The fact the breed is very protective make them great for protecting homes and families, but may be asking for trouble as a service dog that has constent contact with the public.

I don't understand your post. Did you just say German shepherds
don't make good service dogs because they are protective?

I said there are certain breeds, which German Shepards should be included that shouldn't be service dogs. Yes.

Take out the bias of your love for certain breed of dog. Rather it's a German Shepard or Pitbull, understand the position these dogs are in constent contact of other people. These people have the same rights to be in that public place as the person that needs a service dog, but now they included this varible of which the service dog is considered a dangerous breed. Why have a service dog that comes from a dangerous breed? Isn't that adding a liability that isn't needed?

One reason German shepherds are used more than any other breed
as service dogs is that they are very smart and have courage.
A Lab also make a great service dog but by that logic they
would not be a good seeing eye dog because they
would chase a ball out in the street and drag
their owner in front of a car. You can train any breed
with the right physical charictoristics to be a service dog.
On the average however it would take half the time to
train a German shepherd than a pit bull because on the
average they are just easier to train. Why train a pit bull
to be a service dog? Easy. If you are blind and live in
my neighborhood what other reasonably sized dog
will be able to protect you from another pit bull?
Saying all pit bulls should be banned in my mind
is like not allowing African Americans in liquor stores
because they are more likely to rob them.

I just think the service dog organizations should consider the breed of a dog when considering a service dog. If for anything else peace of mind of the public that has to interact with these animals. Pitbulls have a bad reputation, justifiably so. Many apartments and business don't make the decisions on what kind of dogs you can have on their premises, many times that is made by the insurance carrier. It's a huge liability for these places, esspecially a breed that is considered a risk like a pitbull.

Personally I trust a German Shepard more than a Pitbull, not because it's not as dangerous. But because the German Shepard is more disciplined. That's why they are used with law enforcement. A German Shepard is a great protector, but it's a disciplined protector. Pitbulls don't have the same discipline, once they pop a gasket it's hard to get them under control.

You made some points I can't argue with, won't argue with, and agree with for the most part. I wouldn't let ANY child alone UNSUPERVISED with ANY dog. And many people DO have dogs as status symbols. THOSE people shouldnt have ANY dog, let alone Pit Bull. ANY DOG should be "owned" by a responsible human, and sadly that is not the case in many instances.
The dog in the story apparently had passed "with flying colors" appitude tests, as have many dogs of that breed (82% of dogs tested in 2006) compared to less than 80% of golden retrievers, Lasha Apsas and other "popular" breeds. [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.
I have known many pit bull dogs, We have fostered several as well.


But as I have stated before, most of the time a "pit bull" (APBT, AMSTAFF or STAFFY) is misidentified as the breed responsible for the bite. Human agressiveness was originally bred OUT of the dog, by immediately killing the dogs that showed human agressiveness.

A SIMPLE test here: See if you can identify (if either or both dogs are) the "pit bull".

Is THIS dog a "pit bull"?




or is THIS dog a "pit bull"?



I assure that BOTH of these dogs, regardless of their "appearance" are the gentilest of dogs (even though the one on the top is perhaps the UGLIEST) and I would not hesitate in trusting either of these dogs around children, even infants.

As I stated, the dog is only as dangerous as its owners....the owners of the 2 dogs, allowed them to roam free or had an inappropriate holding situation that allowed them to break out.

A grenade itself is not dangerous, but if you allow the pin to be pulled or fall out, it becomes very dangerous.

My main point is to not simply ban things, it is to hold people accountable for the actions of their animals.

There are legitimate reasons for wanting a guard dog, I have one, and it is a first line of defense. I am not home allot and the dog would give my family the valuable seconds needed to grab one of the well placed firearms. When my wife walks or runs, the dog goes with her, no one is gonna mess with her, including other dogs.

Dogs can be a tool, but sometimes the tool is mishandled.

I am sorry I called your post 'moronic' it is simply 'ignorant' to say all of one breed are dangerous. If we used this logic with people we would lock up 1/2 the people in the country, because a certain group is responsible for a large percentage of murders.

K

Service Dog organizations only consider the temperment of the individual dog, as they should. And apparently, Cloe passed the temperment tests with flying colors. And believe me, these tests arent easy to pass.

Again, I don't know how clear I can say this, in MANY instances, the offending dog is MISIDENTIFIED as a Pit Bull (APBT, AMSTAFF, STAFFY)
And the "bite-stats" for Pit Bulls are falsly inflated.

According to ATTS ([LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. ), Pit Bulls (APBT, AMSTAFF, STAFFY) scored better than German Shepherd dogs in Temperment tests.

That is IT, any dog can be TRAINED, but the owner needs training as well.

One of the FACTS concerning BITE STATISTICS are that a CHAINED DOG is 3X more likely to bite someone (on or off the chain).
The rest of your post only goes to prove everything I have said all along, it is the OWNER and not the DOG that is the problem.

And as always:
The intellegence of a dog runs DOWN a 6ft leash.