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Thoran · 05-08-2007, 04:42 PM

They're not generalizations they're BREEDING, certainly there's a statistical distribution associated with every breed but the story goes against the general breed characteristics of BOTH breeds. Pit Bulls have been bred to be dog agressive and specifically NOT human agressive. How else could handlers wade into and break up a dog fight without getting shredded? Jack Russels are TERRIERS, they have the same propensities as other terriers (including Pit Bulls), one of those propensities it dog agression. In my experience Jack Russels have this trait at roughly the same rate as Pitties (which is to say that most of them have it). I clearly stated that Pitties are ALSO typically dog agressive, I was not defending them as much as attacking the transparent "feel good" baloney that the story is based on. The story was clearly biased to plant certain conclusions in the mind of the non-critical reader. Of course the owners are going to put the dogs down... they can't do otherwise at this point, and the version of the story I read did not indicate that the dogs had shown human agression before this occurance (if they had they should already have been put down).

I was not defending Pit Bulls... merely pointing out the fact that the story as communicated is far less likely to be the REAL story than the scenario I suggested. My scenario is based on well documented breed behavior, the "story" is clearly hyperbole based on what some media genius knew would sucker in the most people. The problem I have with the story is that it once again demonizes a breed that is oft unjustly maligned and typically held to blame for the bad behavior of OTHER breeds, and it glorifies a breed that in general makes a poor pet for most potential dog owners (not many can deal with the ultra-high energy of Jack Russels).

The net result of this poor article is that lots of Jack Russels will be sold, many of which will end up at the pound. Additionally, we can expect to see some more breed specific anti-Pit Bull legislation. You can feel good about this article if you want, but I see NOTHING good about it.

05-08-2007, 04:42 PM	#8
Thoran Galvatron Join Date: January 10, 2002 Location: Upstate NY Age: 56 Posts: 2,109	They're not generalizations they're BREEDING, certainly there's a statistical distribution associated with every breed but the story goes against the general breed characteristics of BOTH breeds. Pit Bulls have been bred to be dog agressive and specifically NOT human agressive. How else could handlers wade into and break up a dog fight without getting shredded? Jack Russels are TERRIERS, they have the same propensities as other terriers (including Pit Bulls), one of those propensities it dog agression. In my experience Jack Russels have this trait at roughly the same rate as Pitties (which is to say that most of them have it). I clearly stated that Pitties are ALSO typically dog agressive, I was not defending them as much as attacking the transparent "feel good" baloney that the story is based on. The story was clearly biased to plant certain conclusions in the mind of the non-critical reader. Of course the owners are going to put the dogs down... they can't do otherwise at this point, and the version of the story I read did not indicate that the dogs had shown human agression before this occurance (if they had they should already have been put down). I was not defending Pit Bulls... merely pointing out the fact that the story as communicated is far less likely to be the REAL story than the scenario I suggested. My scenario is based on well documented breed behavior, the "story" is clearly hyperbole based on what some media genius knew would sucker in the most people. The problem I have with the story is that it once again demonizes a breed that is oft unjustly maligned and typically held to blame for the bad behavior of OTHER breeds, and it glorifies a breed that in general makes a poor pet for most potential dog owners (not many can deal with the ultra-high energy of Jack Russels). The net result of this poor article is that lots of Jack Russels will be sold, many of which will end up at the pound. Additionally, we can expect to see some more breed specific anti-Pit Bull legislation. You can feel good about this article if you want, but I see NOTHING good about it.