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Scariest LOOKING breeds, public perception?



 
 
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  #51  
Old January 3rd 07, 01:10 AM posted to rec.pets.dogs.breeds
pfoley
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Default Scariest LOOKING breeds, public perception?


wrote in message
ups.com...
Does anyone know if there have been any studies/polls that measure what
the "general public" thinks of as a "scary" dog?

I'm ruling out the most obvious that I 'hear' about (Pit Bulls,
Dobermans, and Rottweilers) for the purposes of this post.

In the future (next year or so) I want to add another dog to our family
and I want a dog that, on looks alone, will be a deterrent to any
uninvited person attempting to enter our fenced yard/closed gate.

I am not looking for a dog who will be aggressive, but rather a dog
who, if outside in the yard and someone was thinking of coming over the
fence, would bark and frighten just by appearance. If they growled
that would be great too but I'm not counting on it. This dog will be a
family member just like our other two. The "scary" factor will just be
an added bonus. The dog will have access to both yard and inside via
a doggy door, no "outside dogs" here at our house.

My lab mix, although black and about 60 lbs, is obviously not "scary"
looking as I've had 3 people come uninvited into my gated yard within
the past year while she was right there barking her head off, but while
she goes "nuts" barking, she retreats the entire time. Once the cable
guy, another the water company guy, and a third time some dummy that
the landlady sent over to inspect the roof without warning me first.
All three just waltzed on in without ringing the bell even though I
have a doorbell on the gate clearly saying "Please ring bell!". :-(
I'm guessing they saw that she's a lab and assumed she was all bark, no
bite (and they were correct). Lucky for them she didn't get out and
get lost or I'd be the one to fear! Anyway, I don't want a "biter", I
want a dog that people will ASSUME might bite and not chance it.

I will repeat that I don't want a dog that is by nature going to be
difficult to "control" (natural aggression/dominance issues).... I want
a large dog that is a "big baby" but still scares the pants off someone
who doesnt' know the dog.

Boxers? Great Danes? What else "looks scary" that I've overlooked?

================
I wouldn't get a Rottweiler for your purposes, because they won't stay out
in the yard unless the owner is there with them; they are house dogs and
want to be near their owners all the time, and they hardly ever bark. When
they do, it is really frightening. It comes from someplace deep within their
chest.. It usually happens when they are caught by surprise or someone or
some dog approaches my car while my Rottie and I are sitting in it. In
general, they don't give any warnings.
Insted of getting another dog, you could just hang up a sign on your back
yard fence, "Beware of Dog". If I saw that sign I wouldn't go into your
yard uninvited. I have a sign on my fence next to the gate that says
"Protected by Rottweiler Home Security Systems - 24 hour monitoring" (it has
a picture of a Rottweiler on it). I have a "Beware of Dog" sign above that.
That might work for your back yard. For the front door, you could keep it
bolted with a slide lock when you are home.



  #52  
Old January 3rd 07, 03:38 AM posted to rec.pets.dogs.breeds
Rocky
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Default Scariest LOOKING breeds, public perception?

"pfoley" said in rec.pets.dogs.breeds:

I wouldn't get a Rottweiler for your purposes, because they
won't stay out in the yard unless the owner is there with
them; they are house dogs and want to be near their owners
all the time, and they hardly ever bark. When they do, it
is really frightening. It comes from someplace deep within
their chest.. It usually happens when they are caught by
surprise or someone or some dog approaches my car while my
Rottie and I are sitting in it. In general, they don't
give any warnings.


"In general, they don't give any warnings that *you* [pfoley]
can see" may be a better way to phrase this type of advice.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.
  #53  
Old January 3rd 07, 04:16 AM posted to rec.pets.dogs.breeds
Paul E. Schoen
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Posts: 1,654
Default Scariest LOOKING breeds, public perception?


"Tara" wrote in message
4.196...
"Paul E. Schoen" wrote in
news:4599f0f2$0$2644$ecde5a14
@news.coretel.net:

but I
think I have done a good job with Muttley and he is now family.


Didn't you just give him away last week only to have him returned to you
a
few days later?


I did take him to another home on a trial basis. More details on that are
in my reply to Diddy's post in the "hemp" thread. The short version is that
the prospective new owner knows less about dogs than I do, had him tethered
outside alone 23/7 (one hour for walks), and almost lost one of his cats to
Muttley.

If it looked like he was going to be better cared for and loved there, I
probably would have felt better about giving him up. I really missed him,
and knowing he was spending nights alone in an unheated garage, instead of
in my house on his bed or in mine, was more than I could bear. He is now
fully *my* dog.

Now I will see what I need to do in order to give him more exercise and
supervised play time. My options include a 4' high 100' x 50' field fence,
or an electric radio fence. I also have a 50' aerial cable run I might
install.

I don't see any immediate need for intensive behavior modification or
training. He is doing much better and not causing any problems. More
exercise and play will probably help a lot to provide physical and mental
stimulation. If anyone can point out any severe problems in his present
behavior, then I'll seek the services of a professional ASAP. Otherwise, I
don't run to the doctor today, to cure a stomach ache that disappeared two
months ago.

Paul and the MuttMeister


  #54  
Old January 3rd 07, 04:31 AM posted to rec.pets.dogs.breeds
Lynne
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Posts: 2,609
Default Scariest LOOKING breeds, public perception?

on Wed, 03 Jan 2007 03:16:14 GMT, "Paul E. Schoen"
wrote:

Now I will see what I need to do in order to give him more exercise
and supervised play time. My options include a 4' high 100' x 50'
field fence, or an electric radio fence. I also have a 50' aerial
cable run I might install.


I just want to point out that a large dog such as Muttley could easily
clear a 4' fence if he wanted to, and probably run right through an
electric fence. My neighbor's Boxer does it all the time and they joke
that they have the stim turned up all the way. Thankfully when the Boxer
runs out of the fence to greet Roxy and I it's because she's happy to see
us.

Food for thought.

--
Lynne

http://picasaweb.google.com/what.the.hell.is.it/
  #55  
Old January 3rd 07, 04:52 AM posted to rec.pets.dogs.breeds
Paul E. Schoen
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Posts: 1,654
Default Scariest LOOKING breeds, public perception?


"Lynne" wrote in message
. 97.142...
on Wed, 03 Jan 2007 03:16:14 GMT, "Paul E. Schoen"
wrote:

Now I will see what I need to do in order to give him more exercise
and supervised play time. My options include a 4' high 100' x 50'
field fence, or an electric radio fence. I also have a 50' aerial
cable run I might install.


I just want to point out that a large dog such as Muttley could easily
clear a 4' fence if he wanted to, and probably run right through an
electric fence. My neighbor's Boxer does it all the time and they joke
that they have the stim turned up all the way. Thankfully when the Boxer
runs out of the fence to greet Roxy and I it's because she's happy to see
us.

Food for thought.


OK. Thanks for the advice. I'm sure Muttley could clear a 4' fence if he
felt confined, and I certainly would not leave him run unsupervised in such
a fenced area. I'm sure he could also dig under it or just bend the wire
fencing as he did with his chain link kennel. I could also get a 5' or 6'
wildlife fence, or maybe I could string a wire about a foot above the 4'
fence with ribbons or something to make it appear higher. I don't think
he'd normally try to run away, but he certainly might want to chase a
squirrel, deer, or other tasty critter.

Paul


  #56  
Old January 3rd 07, 01:31 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.breeds
pfoley
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Posts: 1,285
Default Scariest LOOKING breeds, public perception?


"Rocky" wrote in message
...
"pfoley" said in rec.pets.dogs.breeds:

I wouldn't get a Rottweiler for your purposes, because they
won't stay out in the yard unless the owner is there with
them; they are house dogs and want to be near their owners
all the time, and they hardly ever bark. When they do, it
is really frightening. It comes from someplace deep within
their chest.. It usually happens when they are caught by
surprise or someone or some dog approaches my car while my
Rottie and I are sitting in it. In general, they don't
give any warnings.


"In general, they don't give any warnings that *you* [pfoley]
can see" may be a better way to phrase this type of advice.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

===========
Yes, you are correct. They don't give verbal warning, but they do show a
certain body language you will notice if you are looking at them at the
time. Their eyes and focus will lock on to something. Sometimes they give
a very low growl first, but not always. But, because they are so quiet all
the time, if you are not looking at them at the time or observing their
body language, their verbal attack will seem quite sudden and deafening; it
can shake you up. They observe for awhile whether it is a good guy or bad
guy, before they do anything. Sometimes, when approaching a dog or person
from a distance, they will crouch down and slowly move towards them, eyes
locked, sizing them up; very intimidating, somewhat like a tiger or lion.


  #57  
Old January 3rd 07, 01:37 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.breeds
Melinda Shore
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Posts: 7,732
Default Scariest LOOKING breeds, public perception?

In article . net,
pfoley wrote:
Yes, you are correct. They don't give verbal warning,


"Dude! I'm pissed!!"

There are several excellent books out on canine body
language, the most recent of which is McConnell's "For The
Love of a Dog" (which is about dogs and emotion but talks at
length about body language). Cesar didn't write any of
them - sorry.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Sending more troops into a war is properly called an "escalation."
  #58  
Old January 3rd 07, 04:37 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.breeds
Melinda Shore
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Posts: 7,732
Default Scariest LOOKING breeds, public perception?

In article ,
Suja wrote:
And FWIW, it's been my experience that Rotties are pretty transparent and
fairly easy to read, once you get past the tail-lessness. Reactions of Pits
to other dogs, now that took a lot more time to figure out.


I think that you learn to read nearly any dog if you pay
attention.

The Aloff book is on my Amazon wishlist. I hear that
although the book production is kind of crappy the contents
are terrific.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Sending more troops into a war is properly called an "escalation."
  #59  
Old January 3rd 07, 04:46 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.breeds
Suja
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Posts: 873
Default Scariest LOOKING breeds, public perception?


"Melinda Shore" wrote in message:

There are several excellent books out on canine body
language, the most recent of which is McConnell's "For The
Love of a Dog" (which is about dogs and emotion but talks at
length about body language).


And FWIW, it's been my experience that Rotties are pretty transparent and
fairly easy to read, once you get past the tail-lessness. Reactions of Pits
to other dogs, now that took a lot more time to figure out.

Suja


  #60  
Old January 3rd 07, 05:21 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.breeds
Rocky
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Posts: 1,678
Default Scariest LOOKING breeds, public perception?

"Suja" said in rec.pets.dogs.breeds:

And FWIW, it's been my experience that Rotties are pretty
transparent and fairly easy to read, once you get past the
tail-lessness.


I agree. Pfoley didn't read my post for content, I guess. Just
because she can't read a Rottie doesn't mean others can't.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.
 




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