Argh, ita. Family!!

I bet there are cases when it's very believable that the dog didn't show any aggression before.

Of course. I'm sure it goes both ways. But I doubt there are very many never-before-aggressive dogs that severely attack people that aren't doing anything toward them (intentionally aggressive or not).

Oh dear ita, you didn't need this on your plate. I'm sorry.

Aw, ita. I'm sorry. Parents are so frustrating when they try to protect us from news.

Yikes, ita. Maybe they wanted something more definitive before they discussed it?

I've known delightful rotties and one scary one. While the labs I've known have been delightful, they've been really popular over the last few decades, and breeding with an eye to temperament didn't always happen. So I'm not that surprised to see a few on the list, alas.

I don't know if it's just because it's been one of those weeks for me, but this tweet of Joss' got the old allergies acting up.

[link]

We had an American Eskimo puppy that was found abandoned on the side of the road, riddled with mange. Mum took him in and got him back to good health. He was an awesome dog, but it was apparent that he'd been abused (pointing a finger or stick at him, and also saying "bang" while doing so resulted in a anger and fear). Several years on, no amount of love could overcome that early ingrained trauma and he soon started snapping at my mum, whom he adored above all else.

What I mean to say is: sometimes the nurture part can be fucked up before you even get into the picture. Mum had to put Sammy down after he bit her, and it broke her heart. But if he was the dude that protected her, and he turned on her, it was over. Nothing was sacred or safe.

I still remember walking the little dude through the park, and our streams have this weird foamy build up, and there was this nook that collected a lot of the foam, and he thought it was dry land, and leapt . . . wet doggy was hilarious! (Oddly, he had a habit of falling into water unexpectedly, and I ended up carrying his frozen ass up the hill after he fell through the ice on a creek).

And isn't saying that the dog was "so nice and gentle" akin to saying how polite and quiet the serial killer was? It's an exception. Otherwise, the answer is to write off the whole breed, to me.

The scary one was our dalmatian. She was basically sweet with us, but she was dumb as a box of hair, was 75+ pounds of muscle, and had crazy sharp teeth -- and didn't react well to humans who rushed toward her.

Thanks to Disney (and Budweiser), how many people do you think rushed at her when we walked her? Especially kids? There were never any incidents, but only because we learned to get in between her and strange kids really quickly.

Poor Kato, on the other hand, is a marshmellow, but looks like a rottie. Well, his coloring, at least. He's certainly WAY too fluffy-hairy and has the wrong head to be a rottie. We use a Halti (like a Gentle Leader) to walk him, and people think it's a muzzle. We'll be walking him, and parents will tell their kids to get out of the way because the dog bites.

Now, with an unfamiliar dog, it's always better to be cautious, so I do not fault a parent for not wanting their kid to be a Kato snack.

But it makes me sad, because I know that (1) the Halti is not a muzzle!, and (2) he's a marshmellow who lives for pettins and scritches. (Kato, OTOH, has no idea that his honor was impugned, and continues to gambol happily next to me, so it's all good in the end.)

I don't know if it's just because it's been one of those weeks for me, but this tweet of Joss' got the old allergies acting up.

Aw. And I hear you. Earlier today, I saw that the couple that did that wedding dance to "Forever" have a thing set up on their webpage now soliciting donations to a domestic violence charity, and they've raised $35K through it! And allergies.

Oh, parents of ita, not cool. Knocking wood that it's nothing, and also, Christmas plans?! Good god.