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I'm amazed at how many people have the wrong idea...

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lharles:

--- Quote from: ChadTower on October 23, 2007, 10:39:57 am ---Growling, when not in the middle of physical play, is almost always a warning.  If the dog had growled before while being fed then it was probably warning you on those occasions, too.  Why it chose this instance to bite and not others is something you can't get from the dog's mind.  Sounds like the dog was generally afraid of being kicked while being fed.  Maybe your father used to kick it away from the bowl while refilling?  That would definitely cause that sort of behaviour - a negative association with the act of refilling the food dish.  Or maybe just one bad instance - one kick that really hurt the dog while refilling the dish.  Dogs, for the most part, are stimuli/response creatures, and if they have a consistent behaviour with a specific trigger like this there is a reason for it.

--- End quote ---

Oy!  I understand how growling is typically supposed to be interpreted!  :)  As for the 'stimuli/response', of course that's true.  Still, the only changed variable in the equation THAT day was the SPILLED food.  I had fed the dog in the same way at the same time for several years.  The attack at that point was simply unexpected but most likely completely  reasonable...you know as far as dog logic goes.  :)

Again though, my point is that it wasn't the type of dog that was the issue it was the treatment.  {See the 'crap/crappy' statement in my previous post...}

:)

billf:

--- Quote from: ChadTower on October 23, 2007, 10:59:27 am ---
My neighbors got a dog this summer - a very friendly mix of some sort of terrier/retriever.  They pay near zero attention to her and keep her in the fenced in backyard.  She loves to play - I reach over the fence and play with her all the time and she runs over whenever I'm out there hoping I'll chuck her ball around for a few minutes.  The reason I mention this is that I've never heard her make a sound.  Not a bark, not a growl, nothing whatsoever over several months.  Not even when playing hard tug of war (which she loves) - that's a game that a dog often growls over.  Could they have done something to her vocal cords?  It's not natural for an active dog to be this quiet.

--- End quote ---

My mother-in-law has two shelties.  She got them from a shelter I believe.  IIRC, both of the dogs were mistreated and my mother-in-law was contacted because she had had shelties in the past.  One of the dogs came "de-barked", which IIRC means the vocal chords were cut.  The dog still tries to bark, but it sounds kinda like the dog has laryngitis.  But it definitely still does make some noise.  And, for the record, my mother-in-law absolutely loves dogs and would never have done this to the dog; it came that way.

ChadTower:

Can't say I've seen that done but it would make sense.  Pretty mean to do to an animal, especially since they also have a little yip dog that barks at the bigger one.

Yrm0m has shelter shelties.

Ed_McCarron:
Anyone up for donations to have Tommy de-barked?

Oh, wait, that wouldn't keep him from typing.

Nevermind.

 ;D

ChadTower:

--- Quote from: Ed_McCarron on October 23, 2007, 12:40:25 pm ---Oh, wait, that wouldn't keep him from typing.

--- End quote ---

Well, he does work with glass...


Yes, that's a joke.

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