PDA

View Full Version : Why do people mis understand animals?


Jac
22-06-2006, 10:38 PM
You know what I'm kind of on my high horse. Just before I got involved with boxer welfare there was an oldie placed with a family. It wasn't done how it is now and that is no exuse BUT. This wee girl was accused of biteing a child and nearly got PTS. Look at her now.http://www.freewebs.com/boxerwelfare/cleo0024-medium.jpg
To people that dont know boxers, they are "mouthy" it's as if they talk to you. Some people take this as agression, another thing they do when they want attention they nibble you. A bit like children wanting attention. Anyway this wee girl is now enjoying her seniour years with a family that really love her and wish they ahd had her from a pup. Isnt a happy ending nice? Bless!

Moli
22-06-2006, 10:43 PM
I remember that dog too, she was a lovely oldie, and really wouldn't hurt a fly, just glad she was returned to the rescue and put with a family that really cares for her...
It goes to show, how dangerous it can be, if someone doesn't know a breed!!

Jac
22-06-2006, 10:47 PM
dito :shock: :shock: :shock: but she's doing brilliant now although she hates dogs:roll:

Fran
22-06-2006, 10:58 PM
I am so pleased all has worked out well for her in the end. I agree, people should really do their homework before taking on a breed. I always quiz my new puppy owners on their knowledge and experience of Labradors..

Jac
22-06-2006, 11:24 PM
quite rightly so...........people say.........now we have the mix right that it's harder to get a welfare dog than a puppy. My answer to that is, that's why we have welfare. Most breeders in scotland only see the colour of your money (sadly, and we are talking well known in the show ring breeders) I'm so glad the laws are diffrent for kittens but why?

Kim
22-06-2006, 11:32 PM
Glad she had a happy ending.

Caleb still 'mouths' a lot, never hurts us and we do try and stop him but he is only a year old. I do worry that he will do it while out and somebody accuses him of biting them.

I agree that people need to have done their homework on a breed before considering owning one.

Kay
22-06-2006, 11:52 PM
Totally agree with everything that has been said. Homework should be done on any breed. We have a disaster waiting to happen in our village. A lady in her sixties lost her old dog last year so her daughter in her infinite wisdom decided to buy her another dog. She has bought her a male, who will remain entire as the last one did, Japanese Akita. It is at present 8 months old has bitten already, regularly gets out the garden, has pulled her over and she is walking with a walking stick and he isn't fully grown yet. She is never going to be able to hold him back as she struggles now. Unfortunately it will be the dog who suffers in the end. How irresponsible can someone be???

Snoof
22-06-2006, 11:56 PM
I think it happens with a lot of animals, not just dogs. I know people who think cats cannot be trained to any extent - because they expect them to be dogs instead of cats. I think it's due to the constraint of a popular paradigm involving, on one end of the spectrum, people who think cats are like dogs (or should be) and on the other end people who think cats are like people (or should be).

I'm so glad that girl got a new home. I love boxers, they're so loving and sweet.

CJK
23-06-2006, 06:04 AM
I can asnwer the question in your title easily jac

Why do people misunderstnad animals?

AS already said, because they dont take the time to try and understand them!

Before I get any pet I reserach online, and with books from the library, and often ask my vets, about the type of animal, breed, character traits etc

Some people just don't bother and rush in to buy a pet without trying to udnerstnad it's behaviour.

Glad that this dog found a good home!

Naomi
23-06-2006, 10:16 AM
Yep agree 100% with what everyone says....people just don't do the research.

Admittedly when I met my friends 13st rottie i was rather scared of him. He was massive and did nothing but sit infront of me and make growling noises. Not knowing much about rotties at the time I thought he was being aggressive. It turned out he was only telling me all his woe's and worries :lol:

It's like staffies playing....you hear 2 staffords playing and you'd swear WW3 had just broken out. Many a time we'd have to explain to passerby's and neighbours that they were only playing :D

It doesn't take much to research a breed, whether it be dog, cat, bird etc. With the majority of people using the internet information is readily available at the touch of a button.

I'm so glad that she's found a loving, understanding home to spend the rest of her days with. If only every story had such a happy ending

Luz
23-06-2006, 10:23 AM
So many people just go out and buy a pet without giving it the time and thought as to what it will mean to their lives. They see a well behaved dog being walked down the street and think it looks easy.
What they dont see is time of training and walking and money and feeding and chewing and messing and hair and the list is endless of whats involved, they go into it blinkered.

JemBob
23-06-2006, 06:03 PM
simular thing with my collie cross rocky 3 owners had him n took him back because he was hyper n not house trained he is the best dog in the world! goes to the door if he needs his business calms down on comand it just takes time!

Donna
23-06-2006, 06:27 PM
I would never have a dog as I do not know how to train them, or know anything about any breed. I am rather nervous around dogs so thats why I have cats!

random
23-06-2006, 07:31 PM
I hate it when this happens, stupid ppl not knowing what they are getting into, and it's always the animal that suffers. Like when ppl buy snakes that get too big, or give up on pups because they expect them to magically housetrain themselves.

Whenever my dog Maddy (weimaraner) is out, she barks a lot, she is still only a pup really (10months) but a lot of ppl are scared of her (she is a pretty big dog and has a loud bark).

People who know about weimies are always saying, "oh mines exactly the same", I guess I can't expect everyone she encounters to understand her, but I think too many people now don't bother to learn much about dogs in general before buying one, never mind the specific breed.

How often has anyone heard a dog bark? And how often has that bark ment "run for cover i'm coming to eat you"? :lol: :roll:

My best friend stays in a little village in Glasgow, and he lives on a farm and he walks his 2 rotties there in the fields, because he says if he takes them round the villiage, most of the ppl are so naive the tend to gather up their children, and turn the opposite direction! :lol: :roll:

JemBob
23-06-2006, 07:44 PM
How often has anyone heard a dog bark? And how often has that bark ment "run for cover i'm coming to eat you"? :lol: :roll:

rocky barks either when someone is coming to the door early warning system!
Or when I play fetch and I hide his toys he barks as if to say if you dont give me that toy am going to pound on you with my paws and he does!

Rocky is great he will NEVER take food from you hand and he is so gentle with kids when they come over and play fetch with him he like to tug on the toy but does it so gently he is so lovely!

Booktigger
25-06-2006, 09:55 AM
I think it can be worse when people get a dog and don't understand them than a cat - esp when they get the larger breeds. My neighbour knew that she shouldn't get a dog when she lost hers last year due to work, then fell in love with a rescue dog - he is 38kg with aggression and separation issues and she works too many hours to try and re-train him (or just doesn't bother, not sure which) - the poor dog gets walked by an assortment of people, all with their own ways of dealing with him - she has been lucky so far with the people he has gone for, but that won't last, and it will be the dog that ultimately suffers if he gets too nasty with someone. He is a lovely dog though, but I feel he needs someone who has more time/dedication to try and deal with his issues.

Moli
25-06-2006, 10:34 AM
This poor little girl was threated with pts, she had done nothing wrong....Once again its the owner not the dog!!

borderdawn
25-06-2006, 11:57 AM
Far too many people buy Cats and dogs without any thought, like Bengals for instance, look at the problems with them in rescue now. When looking for a kitten, 2 of the Persian breeders I approached also had Bengals, they BOTH tried to sell me one, knowing I wanted a laid back breed, with little wandering tendancies! :mad:

People also seem to collect pets, they then get out of hand, breed willy nilly and there you go again, "breeding like Rabbits" comes to mind, see it all the time.

I did Labrador rescue for 7yrs, the amount that bought field trial bred animals and couldnt cope with them was unbelievable. I blame the breeders too for selling them to them, you MUST understand the needs of the animals you are buying. They cost money, time and patience, this little Boxer would never of been so close to death if the owners had done their homework.

Glad she is ok now.
Dawn.

Moli
25-06-2006, 01:07 PM
Thats the whole problem, people see a breed and like the look of it, not thinking of what the dogs needs are, and will they fit in with their way of life...There are so many breeds I really like, but they are totally wrong for my way of life....So just have to admire other peoples dogs....

logoes
25-06-2006, 04:11 PM
Digging back in my memory I can remember when Crufts was won by a pyrenean mountain dog - even remember he was called Bergerie Knur. At the time I had a friend that bred them and she was inundated with calls from people who wanted a dog 'Just like the one that went Best in Show at Crufts', absolutely no idea of the breed at all Makes you despair of some people does't it. No wonder the rescues are so full - and, of course, a lot of the breeders are at fault too Logoes

moggymommy
26-06-2006, 06:28 PM
Aww, now that is indeed a very sad, story!

Can I just ask, how come you have picked this case to make your point? I'm sure you see far worse cases :?

Was the dog neglected or abused? Surely beating a dog or locking it up in a shed and starving it is worse than rehoming it because it has bitten a child, no?

Moli
26-06-2006, 06:45 PM
She was accused of biting a child, which in fact was a pack of lies...But, she is now happy in a wonderful home, so it has turned out well...Jac got an update about this girl recently, and although I am no longer a member of Boxer Welfare, I like to know how the dogs are doing...

borderdawn
26-06-2006, 07:35 PM
Aww, now that is indeed a very sad, story!

Can I just ask, how come you have picked this case to make your point? I'm sure you see far worse cases :?

Was the dog neglected or abused? Surely beating a dog or locking it up in a shed and starving it is worse than rehoming it because it has bitten a child, no?
I did rescue for 7yrs and the biggest thing we came across was lies. People telling us anything to get rid of the dog, to save face, to make them feel and seem like the good guys. We had no end of it, the other way round too, saying the sog was lovely, then finding out they were not.
Dawn.

Jac
26-06-2006, 07:50 PM
The reson I mentioned this was because I just got an update on her. We keep a "for life" interest in our dogs and when I think of "what could have happened to her" well it makes me shiver to say the least. She goes away to a caravan at the weekend, swims in the local river and sleeps in bed with her family. She is contented and happy. A brilliant ending for an old lady.

The other reason is we are gwtting so many calls from people and the dogs are getting younger! at one point they averaged to about 2 years old. Ocasionally we got them older or younger but now the average age is 8 months! does that not say something?

Canis-Equus
29-06-2006, 07:41 AM
I think a lot of it stems from the fact that people seem to assume more now than in the past - presumably because these days as opposed to 30 years ago, people generally have more disposable income - that they have a RIGHT to own whatever pet they so desire.

Im not saying there was any greater interest then than now, in understanding dogs and cats (or anything else) BUT, it does seem that people were much happier to allow and accept that dogs ARE dogs, cats ARE cats etc.

Most people didnt get a dog or a cat if they couldnt afford to feed it..... and most people who DID, had someone home all day. Dogs were allowed in far more places, it wasnt unusual or particularly frowned upon to allow dogs to wander teh same as cats do, and those who DID cause problems were swiftly and permanently dealt with.
As a result, dogs were well socialised, they were not cooped up all day in tiny modern houses with owners working 12 hours a day, they were not fed high octane multi coloured foods designed to please the owners sense of smell and thus were generally not bouncing off the ceilings.

It wasnt really 'the good old days' as i said, its not that people knew more about animal behaviour, its just that lifestyles have changed and then allowed for dogs to be dogs more than now does.

What i DO find quite horrifying, is the amount of pet owners who have NO idea what their pet is attempting to communicate. They dont know WHY their cat is peeing in corners (my housemates mothers cat... incredibly unnerved because she 'trains' her cats by SHRIEKING at them), they dont nkow WHY the dog pulls on the lead (because the dog gets where its going faster) or refuses to eat its multicoloured doggy dins when owner leaves dog a large bowl down all day (dog is resource guarding - 24/7 food is not natural for a dog, so they guard it in case it ever goes away, rather than eat it!).....

But definately, more and more people have money, have posh houses posh cars and there is a very definate attitude of 'i want, so i shall have' and NO thought is given to the minor details.... a Wiemeraner is a stunning looking dog, there is no doubt.... but a high working drive Hunt Point Retreive dog is hardly ideal for the person who works 12 hours a day and likes to relax with friends in wine bars in the evenings....or how about the Old English Sheepdog who has left his mark on my forearm for eternity.... a mixed up dog, hated by the husband, adored by the wife and left for up to 15 hours a day on his own. He was chastised for anything and everything by the husband, allowed to get away with murder with the wife, and when a 'non important' human overstepped the mark (me) BAM i got bitten. That dog bit because of a situation ENTIRELY caused by his owners NOT understanding that an OES, even TODAYS modern OES is a dog designed to trot all day for miles and miles, a dog bred to be quick witted when required, independant when needed..... left to amuse himself and develop strange phobias abotu all manner of weird things.

He is lucky in one respect that it was me he bit and at the very least, his owner wont allow that to happen again. Another dog would have been destroyed for that.

The absolute worst though, is not the animal owners who dont understand, or misunderstand, its the ones who dont WANT to understand.

A dog i know, Dyson, is a delightful little dog.... except one thing. He now has NO character, at all. He isnt allowed to bark, or to play, or to run off lead, he is ignored 99% of the time at home, all he is is a furry ornament and quite HOW he has never upset his owenrs i dont know, but they told me that if Dyson did even ONE of the things one of my dogs does (lurcher - steals food left available (tahts anywhere between locked in the fridge and stored 9ft off the ground) ), they would send him back to the rescue straight away.

Now THAT is horrible.

Em

Booktigger
29-06-2006, 09:36 AM
I Think you make some really good points there, and most of those seem to apply to my neighbour.

Rosie
29-06-2006, 11:54 AM
I have been guilty of this. My ex partner and myself acquired our first Anatolian from friends who had bred a litter. We knew absolutely nothing about the breed and had an extremely hard learning curve. He was a beautiful dog who I loved very much but as a breed should never ever have been brought over here. They are flock guardians with in-built guarding instincts and the majority have to be kept on the lead at all times so never have the ability to enjoy free running etc. My beautiful boy always looked sad, although we socialised him and took him everywhere it just wasn't the life he should have been leading i.e. roaming the plains looking after his flocks with absolute freedom. There are so many breeds like him who have been brought to this country for "novelty" value and to whom we have committed a grave injustice.

Jac
29-06-2006, 12:08 PM
I agree whole hartily with all of the above.

There was a case of a dog we got in. He was 6 months old (some of you know this story) he wasnt house trained and not socialised. Why? Well the people went to a breeder who recomended a cage, so that's where the poor craitor was kept! He was even fed there. The people thought thats what you did because the breeder had told them to get one. I'm glad to say he now has a wonderful new home and NEVER caged.

I could go on and on we even had a woman turn down a dog because it's colour wouldnt go with her decor..........no she didnt get one!

Moggz
30-06-2006, 08:02 AM
I get quite a lot of bad responses from people who find out what animals I keep, and often to the number of animals I keep.
I keep rats, and yes i have 48 of the little blighters, but they all get attention, they all get veterinary treatment, are all well fed, and only 1 bites.
I have cats - 12 of them to be precise, so I get the comments about my house must smell, and do I feed the rats to my cats. Most people are surprised when they are in my house and although they can smell "animals" they cannot smell litter trays or urine.
And the worst one, I Have 4 dogs, 2 very large staffies, and a jack and a yorkie (again with the rats as food comments). The comments I most object to is the "you cant keep cats and staffies, the staffies will kill the cats" what a load of tosh. My staffs get beaten up by almost-dying 9 week old kittens, they get pounced on, hunted and they have their food stolen from under their noses. In cold weather, the cats often crawl under the staffies to stay warm (yes I'm evil and won't have the fire on).
I also get the "vicious" dog comments and to echo what someone has already said, I often have people stop outside my window, then knock on my door to tell me my "dogs are fighting" when its just a "Staffywar". They are a couple in the married sense, and they bicker and wrestle the same as any couple would - but it does sound horrific at times.
I also get comments about my crate from visitors "cruel, selfish" etc. but the crate is bobby and zeldas own personal space, they choose to go in there most of the time, I rarely Put them in there.

Many people make comments and assumptions, rather than ask questions, as they have read this and seen that, but never stop to think "is there another opinion"

Mog