Wednesday, July 1, 2009
TV My Weapon is a Dog
Posted by Jonah Spangenthal-Lee on Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 9:46 AM
It's been awhile since we've had a good ol' screaming match about pitbulls on Slog hasn't it? Allow me to put an end to that.
Here's a BBC documentary on pitbulls and other monster dogs called My Weapon is a Dog. about, um, weaponizing fighting breeds. Argue away about nature vs nurture, etc.
Fair warning: it's slightly obnoxious in a twitchy, MTV-style Attention-Deficit-Disorder-causing kind of way.
The other 5 parts can be found after the jump.
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3
This is very likely the original prehistoric reason for keeping a dog at all. This is also an example of the ultimate futility of trying to keep poor young men from having any kind of weapon. Britain has even made pocket knives illegal. But people have amazing ingenuity. Football hooligans make clubs out of newspapers. And the boys on the corner fetishize having dangerous aggressive dogs.
4
I just got a new puppy. Not a pit bull - a little poodle, yorkie, cocker spaniel mix that I'm sure Dan Savage would approve of. He's pretty tiny, so it's easy for other dogs to be a little too rough with him. Consistently, the dogs that have been the most gentle with him have been the pit bulls we've met. Let me repeat: of all the breeds we've come across, big and small, the pit bulls have been the sweetest and most gentle to my little puppy.
6
@4 Aha! Proof that pit bulls are the *nicest* breed! This completely negates all those reports of pit bulls eating children! Quick! Let's all run out and buy pit bulls!
8
How many people who complain about pit bulls have actually had a bad experience with one? How much of your opinion is based on urban legend or anecdotes? Statistically, the breed is no worse than others, and in many ways better. Personally, I've met LOTS of pit bulls, and I have never had a negative experience.
9
For a well informed article about pit bulls, see Sports Illustrated's article about what happened to the dogs that Michael Vick abused: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/ma…
10
A quotation from the article:
"Of all dogs," says Dr. Frank McMillan, the director of well-being studies at Best Friends Animal Society, a 33,000-acre sanctuary in southern Utah, "pit bulls possess the single greatest ability to bond with people."
"Of all dogs," says Dr. Frank McMillan, the director of well-being studies at Best Friends Animal Society, a 33,000-acre sanctuary in southern Utah, "pit bulls possess the single greatest ability to bond with people."
11
This video has convinced me that I should start carrying a gun when I walk my kitties. And that people are such assholes.
12
@8, 10 -- are you trying to be ridiculous? Because you've succeeded.
"How much of your opinion is based on urban legend or anecdotes? ... Personally, I've met LOTS of pit bulls, and I have never had a negative experience."
You decry people who use anecdotes to judge pitbulls and then cite some nebulous "studies" and (ta-da!) your anecdotal experience to prove that they're harmless.
And that quote from McMillan proves nothing -- just because pit bulls bond more strongly with humans than other dogs, assuming that's demonstrably true, that doesn't mean they can't still be vicious with people they haven't bonded with (anyone other than their owners). No one's saying pit bulls maul their owners, just people they haven't "bonded" with.
"How much of your opinion is based on urban legend or anecdotes? ... Personally, I've met LOTS of pit bulls, and I have never had a negative experience."
You decry people who use anecdotes to judge pitbulls and then cite some nebulous "studies" and (ta-da!) your anecdotal experience to prove that they're harmless.
And that quote from McMillan proves nothing -- just because pit bulls bond more strongly with humans than other dogs, assuming that's demonstrably true, that doesn't mean they can't still be vicious with people they haven't bonded with (anyone other than their owners). No one's saying pit bulls maul their owners, just people they haven't "bonded" with.
13
The reality is ALL dogs possess the ability to hurt people. Unfortunately the mythology surrounding pit bulls, coupled with their appeal to "Unsavory Types" has placed them in the public's eye as Monster rather than Dog.
It isn't a question of Nature OR Nurture, but rather a combo of both that determines a dog's behavior.
It isn't a question of Nature OR Nurture, but rather a combo of both that determines a dog's behavior.
14
@10 Yeah, they'll bond your throat to their teeth. Most articles about pit bulls attacking someone have a quote from the owner saying it was the most sweet lovey dog until it suddenly snapped and killed someone. Your defending a landmine that no one has walked over yet. Since you like destructive hobbies, maybe take up cocaine. Cocaine is still destructive, but can't maul your neighbor's child. Enjoy.
15
@14 Actually, most articles about pit bulls attacking someone talk about the fact that the owner is a convict. Bad owners abuse dogs; abused dogs have problems.
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