I’ve heard a lot recently regarding banning certain breeds from city parks, or cities altogether. Canada is pretty big on banning breeds. Italy has banned 43 breeds so far. They started with 13 breeds, the latest on the list is the Welsh Corgi. You probably know the top breeds on the list: Pit Bulls, Rottweiler, Mastiff, Doberman. The list is in constant growth with breeds being added to it in a steady stream. I have known Dobermans to be pussy cats. One house that I clean has 2 Dobies. One of them is a younger male and he’s a thief. As he walks by my bag, without missing a step, he’ll grab one of my cloths and keep walking away. If I didn’t see it happen, I would be short a cloth or two! He cried when I wouldn’t let him into the room I was cleaning. Poor baby. The other Dobie is a sweetheart. She loves me up and down then goes to her really nice bed and stays there - until I turn on the vacuum cleaner. There was a Rottweiler chained up in the front yard of a house I would walk by every day. This dog would growl and bark at me every time I walked by. He’d pull on his chain menacingly. One day he got off his chain and when he saw me he came running full speed barking and growling. I stopped (realizing I couldn’t out run him), held out my arm and yelled, “Stop!” in a loud guttural voice. The dog then yelped, turned around and ran back home! Strange story, I know, but it happened. It’s the little dogs, the ankle biters that have given me the most trouble. Not the big dogs. Again, I was walking when a little dog, a hairy, yappy, little thing ran after me. I stopped and yelled at it. It just barked back and growled. The man was watching and laughed. He told me it was just a little dog. I told him I was more afraid of kicking the dog than anything. The man didn’t think that was funny. Truth was, it was hard to walk without kicking it because it kept getting in my way. I walked just a few more steps and that little yapper bit me!

So, should we ban the little yapper breed? It’s so easy to own a dog, anyone can do it. You can get them free, or cheap. Most people don’t seem to realize that they’re in for 8 to 18 years of a furry toddler that barks and bites. There are no age requirements, no degrees, no training, nothing. So, is it any surprise that there are problem dogs out there? It’s kind of like driving a car without taking a course. It comes down to this: bad dogs come from bad owners. Bad owners come from being ignorant, which often comes from being lazy (not wanting to train their puppy).

I can’t help but equate banning dogs to banning guns. Ban certain breeds that have a history of biting. Ban guns because they have a history of hurting/killing people. Okay. Sounds good. But let’s get deeper. First, all dogs have the potential to bite. All guns have the potential to shoot. The owners of both are responsible, not the dog, not the gun. It’s back to being a responsible owner. Have your dog immunized, trained, socialized, trained some more. The dog should enjoy training, after all it means being with you and hearing you say, “Good dog!”. Learn what type of breed suits your needs the most. No, you don’t have to have a pure breed, but understand the characteristics of breeds so you know that some breeds require lots of exercise, some require lots of grooming, etc. With guns, learn what type you need, learn to shoot. Learn the rules and the laws. Learn the maintenance of guns. Naturally, there are always going to be some people who will bypass any responsibility and take/use what they want. Why should everyone suffer for the small minority of irresponsible people?

Banning breeds? What’s next? Where does it end?

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