Do you value your dog's life over that of a total stranger?

[Crockett12]

There is such a thing called "Springer Rage" in dogs! Google it and you'll find quite a few write-ups about it. The term has been coined in Springer Spaniels because it's a thing in the breed -although rare! Most AKC Parent Clubs have ongoing health research and even though I couldn't find info regarding research into Springer Rage by the Springer AKC Parent Club, I'd assume the Springer Spaniel Parent club has donated money towards medically identifying why it happens with the intent of breeding it out! That sort of research usually involves identifying the DNA markers associated with it!

 

[XUSNORDIE]

Some people do need a dog capable of aggression. But that is not a reason for having such as dog as a family pet, unless you think having a dangerous animal makes you look super tough and cool!

Just like some people don't need "dangerous" guns? Do you look super tough and cool because you own a gun? Who are you to tell anyone what dog they should have as a family pet? You sound like the folks who say people shouldn't have dangerous guns in their homes

Dang I forgot the horse died on this......

There is such a thing called "Springer Rage" in dogs! Google it and you'll find quite a few write-ups about it. The term has been coined in Springer Spaniels because it's a thing in the breed -although rare! Most AKC Parent Clubs have ongoing health research and even though I couldn't find info regarding research into Springer Rage by the Springer AKC Parent Club, I'd assume the Springer Spaniel Parent club has donated money towards medically identifying why it happens with the intent of breeding it out! That sort of research usually involves identifying the DNA markers associated with it!

You are correct. I hunted with a friend who had a few Springer Spaniels. One was great at flushing birds my Vizsla had on point. You didn't want that thing to retrieve your birds....not just a hard mouth but sometimes would tear them apart before being commanded to drop. That dog latched onto my Vizsla once and punctured his neck. I refused to hunt with that dog anymore. My friend ended up putting it down after it kept killing his chickens.

 

[hittman]

Oh the irony ….. a bird dog that kills birds ….. go figure LOL

 

[XUSNORDIE]

Named "Freckles" at that....

 

[4896worker]

I like my dogs better than most people. It would be a hard choice but my dogs would have the advantage. After that it would depend on the circumstances and the human involved??View attachment 76670View attachment 76671

Best bread ever they make golden retrievers look aggressive.

 

[girlluvsaruger]

Not your particular post but I've never read a "stranger" thread than these 7 pages. Now we're being asked what we should shoot our dog with (if not a gun) if he/she attacks a total stranger. Whatever you choose make sure you don't miss and shoot the stranger. It would defeat the purpose.

It's strange but so is the OP's question and it made me think. I saw my 14-yo cousin get attacked by a dog when we were kids. I don't remember the breed but had the owner been prepared instead of just standing there doing nothing, he perhaps could've stopped it and spared her two days in the hospital.

 

[Yaworski]

Best bread ever they make golden retrievers look aggressive.

I like sourdough but it is nothing like a golden.

 

[stonebuster]

It's strange but so is the OP's question and it made me think. I saw my 14-yo cousin get attacked by a dog when we were kids. I don't remember the breed but had the owner been prepared instead of just standing there doing nothing, he perhaps could've stopped it and spared her two days in the hospital.

I adopted a Rotti/Sheppard mix from a litter that was going to be destroyed. It's mother was a Rotti guard dog at an auto body shop in the city. I got the pup at 6 months old from a guy that had the pup for two weeks & abused it. When I picked her up she was under a table barring her teeth at me. I got her a cow femor bone she was devouring and when I walked by she barred her teeth and growled. I yelled loud in her face until she flopped on her side and conceeded. I reached for the bone and she began growling again but I took it away for a minute & gave it back praising her. Did this several times a few minutes apart until she knew I'd give it back. This became a routine we practiced for a long time. Never barred teeth again and the low growl disappeared soon after and never got nasty with me or anyone else until the day she died twelve years later. I never struck that dog in my life but got her straight right from the start upon coming home. Looking back, I'm lucky when I got in her face she didn't rip my nose off but it was a pivotal moment. I believe I could control her in any situation I can imagine and certainly would step in if need be.

 

[vito]

Its a good idea to do something similar with any new puppy. Every dog that I have owned, and there have been many over the course of my 82 years, my wife and I start right away with doing things like sticking our fingers in the puppy's mouth and gently removing the food that they were chewing, and reaching over to take their food bowl while they are eating, always returning the food or the bowl moments later. It doesn't take long for the dog to learn that humans have the "right" to do this, and that they will not be deprived of their food. More than once I have had a dog grab something that could be dangerous to themselves or at least very unhealthy and have had no trouble taking the item out of the dog's mouth without any risk of being bitten. Years ago my 85 pound Standard Poodle had a rawhide chew get stuck to the roof of his mouth and extending down his throat and he was choking violently trying to get it out. I was able to reach in and extract this item without worry despite the dog being as frantic as I had ever seen him. This type of early training is invaluable in having a controllable pet.

FWIW, we also have had all of our dogs used to having a full bowl of food for their "grazing" when they want to eat. The dogs learn that they do not need to gulp down their food the moment it hits the bowl, but that food will be available all the time so that they can eat when they need or want to. It makes living with a dog much nicer than having one anxiously awaiting to be fed at specific times and then gulping down the food as if they feared it would be gone if they didn't eat it immediately. The only time we pick up the bowls are when other dogs will be visiting or the bowls need washing.

 

[Yaworski]

It makes living with a dog much nicer than having one anxiously awaiting to be fed at specific times

Our Lab believed that dinner time was when my wife came home. So if she went back out to the car to get something, dinner was expected upon reentry. If my wife went for a walk . . .dinner. Outside to cut the grass and come back in? Dinner.

 

[outlaw_dogboy]

It would have to be someone on the order of Adolph Hitler or Josef Stalin for me to value a pet over a human being.

Might as well be asking would you save your teddy bear before saving a human being.

I can, and do, respect you for that.
I strongly suspect you are a better man than I am.

 

[Joe Chartreuse]

My dog has been my devoted companion- not so the stranger. Not even a choice. Humans did not invent love and unquestioning devotion. I do not hold them to a higher level.

 

[t-reg]

A low percentage of people that I've come to know would find their lives valued above that of my dog's life. So statistically speaking it would make sense to value a strangers life over that of my dog.

 

[The Norseman]

It's a dog eat dog world out there. My Family
comes first and since my dogs are considered
part of our family, yes my dogs are first before
some idiot off the street!

 

[blume357]

Heck, My two dogs are more important to me than some of my friends and most of my family other than my wife.

 

[s4s4u]

Someone said the ketchup thread was the dumbest thing ever. This thread comes a close second if not inching in front.

The whole premise is unrealistic. I still haven't heard a reasonable situation where this could come to occur.

Dog and stranger drowning? Dogs can swim better than most humans.

A tornado approaching? C'mon!

Just dumb!

 

[dadstillsurfs]

surface four sides (thats what sfs meant in the lumber mill where I once worked), I posted an answer in the thread, I did not answer the hypothetical. ;-)

S4S at my mill in Mendocino County, California

 

[blume357]

Some of us realize that these discussions are actually the higher end of human philosophy.

 

[girlluvsaruger]

I adopted a Rotti/Sheppard mix from a litter that was going to be destroyed. It's mother was a Rotti guard dog at an auto body shop in the city. I got the pup at 6 months old from a guy that had the pup for two weeks & abused it. When I picked her up she was under a table barring her teeth at me. I got her a cow femor bone she was devouring and when I walked by she barred her teeth and growled. I yelled loud in her face until she flopped on her side and conceeded. I reached for the bone and she began growling again but I took it away for a minute & gave it back praising her.

I wish all dog owners were like that. I truly believe at least some of them end up attacking because they were just pushed over the edge by their owners mistreatment, lack of affection or neglect. It breaks my heart. Way too many people are ill equipped for pet ownership. I love dogs but I have cats because they're easier

 

[southernbuck101]

Im

Most of us believe that life is supremely valuable and likely believe that a human life is more valuable than an animal. But does that thinking apply if the human life is a total stranger, and the animal life involved is a beloved pet. I certainly hope that I am never in the situation where I was able to save either my dog or a stranger, but I think that I would choose my dog, who means more to me than most anything. Now maybe if the stranger was an innocent child, I would choose the child, but I doubt that I would do that for any adult (and if the adult in question were wearing an Obama or Biden t-shirt then it would be even less of conflict to choose my little dog).. Its a broiling hot afternoon, I'm just sitting at the computer rather than going outside (even to take a ride on my motorcycle) and I have time to wonder about things like this.

Im With you 100%.
I've even got a family member that would lose the coin toss if it came down to my dog or him.