Some owners excuse behaviours in guarian breeds because of the type of dogs they are and what they've been bred for. Aggression and wariness of strangers is excused because the dogs is a Dogue, Fila, Dogo, Rottie etc. The point I'm making is this is an excuse. Rottweilers make great family pets if socialised and trained properly. The Boerboel has a similar temperament to the Rottweiler but is used to great effect in South Africa as a property protector if it isn't socialised with people because it sees all novel things as something to guard against. They can also make fantastic pet dogs, I've seen it.
Firstly, which owners on this forum have explicitly 'excused' behaviours of their dogs demonstrating lack of/poor socialisation and training as desirable breed traits ? This harkens back to my question about the purpose of your post. Had been in response to a post in which someone said (I'm slightly OTT here) " Well, my dog ripped the arms off three people today, but he's a Breed X, so that's what he's bred for" I may have understood it. However, you initiated this thread seemingly out of the blue. As long as I have been a member here, people who have brought up unacceptable behaviours such as lunging, growling, nipping, people/ dog/ fear aggression, chasing cars, resource guarding and so on, have posted
sincerely seeking help and advice, not bragging about how 'bad ass' their dogs are.
I'm just trying to make the point that we don't need to live with a mastiff who is aggressive or reactive if we don't want to which so many people seem to accept theay have to and so many others say it's because if the type/breed of dog they are.
Who are these people? Again, on this board and the four other mastiff forums I belong to I have never heard anyone state that they accept aggressiveness and reactivity in their mastiffs because that is the type of dog they are.
Secondly, in my mind there is a massive difference between being 'aggressive' and being "Wary, watchful, alert, protective, bold, courageous, determined, etc." as the various standards call for. The standards require specific qualities of temperament which I have listed above. Any breeders who begin breeding for outgoing, sociable, "I love everyone" mastiff temperaments would be in blatant contravention of AKC and other organisations' standards and should be banned IMO. I should also imagine that such breeding efforts would also have impact on breed phenotype.
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"You can't have dogs like these round kids, dogs, female dogs, male dogs, livestock, strangers (insert any other thing you can think of)"
Ruthcatrin can (and I'm sure will) speak for herself, but I can unequivocally say I have never seen anyone post such statements on any of the forums I belong to. IMO, if a neophyte looks at our board (or the other mastiff forums) they are going to find support, enthusiasm about why we love our breeds, and a lot of good information. When walking my mastiff or IWH -- or before them our GDs, people have asked questions: "Are they good with children/dogs/whatever?" But most people seem genuinely interested and open to learning. I have heard the most misinformation and myths around the subject of spaying and neutering. I do try to act as a good ambassador for my breeds, as I think most of us do.
We can't help what is written in books -- particularly older ones which still extoll the debunked 'dominance' and pack theory based on the flawed and misinterpreted captive wolf studies. But we can point people in the direction of good books.
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