Friday Ephemera (799)

More turning my dog into a pulp magazine cover model. I liked this one enough to order a t-shirt with it for myself.

There’s none so blind as those who will not see.

Re: pit bulls – yes and no. But I have known dogs of all breeds where some, well . . . needed euthansia. I recall a friend who had champion Viszlas. One dog, “Joshie”, was an AKC ring champion and when his show collar was snapped on, he became all business, strutting into the ring like he owned it. At home, however, he was a completely different dog and became so unstable that eventually my friend had him put down when he attacked my friend’s wife.

It is true that ANY dog owner should think about breeding. Like it or not, breeds were developed for specific behavior and traits, and regardless of how many generations removed it is from an ancestor who worked those traits, a brain chip still exists inside its head to what it was meant to do. Look at the folks at the Ryder Alley Trencherfed Society, aka R.A.T.S. – they take their terrier and doxies and go rat hunting in NYC. Those dogs are in their element, very happily doing the work they were bred to do.

Pit bulls are not the only breed that was bred to fight, however. Worked regularly with exercise and tether toys, you can have a bully breed be a great dog. What has changed is people’s attitude towards dogs. I’ll say it – we’re lazy AF. We may say, “Oh, my dog is like my child” but that’s why there are a lot of fucked up kids, too. Stimulation? Exercise? Training?! I see people spend $x,xxx’s sending their dog AWAY to be trained and never following up when the dog returns home. Or allowing situations where even the best dog may behave poorly, like having a visitor with a child and not watching, much less intervening, when the child decides to play with the dog’s food bowl. “She’s never done that before!” Well, no, because a family member has approached the bowl and the dog has learned that there is no threat posed, but a small human stranger brings one. I recently photographed a woman with two lovely blue heelers, and she told me that the breed is being seen more and more in shelters. Why? Because there is a popular children’s show, “Bluey,” with a cartoon heeler and kids want a “Bluey” dog only for the parents to discover after paying a breeder thousands of dollars that a dog bred to drive cattle for miles over unforgiving terrain needs an outlet for its energy and can be stubborn. Go figure.

I am a huge dog lover but I am a realist, too. The author of that article is right – go get a Golden or, in my opinion, a good dog that is intelligent, even tempered, and doesn’t shed is a Standard Schnauzer. Let people who understand pitties get pitties, let people who will work Border Collies get Border Collies, and for the love of God, Chad, don’t prove you’re a “bro” with a Malinois unless you are ready to dedicate time for the dog.

Ira Glass’ problem wasn’t the dog. It was Ira.