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People tend to anthropomorphize their dogs – and there is no convincing them that dogs don’t possess the same range of emotions that humans do. And since many people also believe that since they’ve “had dogs,” that they “know” all there is to know about dog behavior – its a just brewing up a recipe for disaster.
So many of the dog attacks that are reported – the owners usually say that there was “no warning” because the dog “never displayed any aggressive behavior” – when in reality, they either missed the signs – or completely misinterpreted them.
Ex: my brother-in-law had 2 dogs in the home … and one dog attacked the other, nearly killing it. They decided that the aggressor had (at some point) been trained to fight, so they had the dog euthanized, because it was dangerous. The dog was under 1 yr old when they found it on the side of the road, and they’d had it for 6 (?) months when the attack occurred. They now have 5 dogs – with 2 *more* dogs who don’t get along … π€¦ββοΈπ€·ββοΈ Then, my best friend’s daughter owns a pack of 30 snow touring/racing Huskies. All are kenneled together, in groups of 6, in appx. 15′ x 15′ (?) kennels. One night, one of the dogs attacked another dog in its kennel & killed it. The attack apparently took place over several hours (their security camera caught the entire attack). They also had the dog euthanized for being dangerous.
Both of these attacks supposedly “came out of nowhere,” and were “completely unprovoked.”
Both families believe that they know all there is to know about dogs. Neither have any education about dogs. And neither would ever listen to me, so I don’t even try to discuss those incidents.