A Dog Scared to Death of Everyone Just Needed a Hug - The Most Beautiful Video

[Coyote_Bandit]

47. I know somebody that trains pits

She has two pits that have their AKC good citizen, companion dog, open A & B, utility A & B, and rally excelent titles. It took her over 6 years of training and testing to train those dogs and earn those titles. She also shows the dogs in conformation - so even though they are not bred they are intact dogs. They come with a long pedigree and their history is well-known - as is the genetic and medical history of the five generations that came before them.

I'm not looking for a just a pet or companion animal. I'm looking for a dog with the capacity, temperament and longevity to become a highly skilled and obedient working dog. I'm more likely to get that from a pup with a pedigree from responsible breeders than I am from a rescue dog.

I've had a large assortment of rescue dogs over the last 50 years. I am well acquainted with the advantages and disadvantages of taking in rescue animals. I've got nothing against rescue dogs. But I recognize their limitations.

One rescue dog I got was surrendered back wthin 24 hours because its health had been misrepresented to me. I was told that the dog was a little fat but in otherwise good health. When it could not walk to the end of my street and back (across the frontage of 4 quarter acre lots) I took it to my vet. There I learned that it had severe heart disease and was not likely to survive a year. Not what I signed up for and an expense I was not in the position to manage at the time.

Another rescue pup I got had been malnourished and abused. He lost a large number of teeth before turning two years of age. Although he was trainable, his history of abuse left him with tendencies toward both aggression and fear (depending on the circumstances) that made his temperment unsuitable for therapy work. A good pet but not suitable for therapy or competitive obedience work.

Another rescue pup I got was a renal failure dog before reaching the age of one year. This dog has required quarterly labs and a prescription diet for the last 10 years. Expensive. He is a sweet boy and a wonderful pet and companion. But he never had the physical capability to train as I had hoped.

Another rescue pup I got came with a visual impairment. He lost the genetic lottery and I'm not even sure I can remember all the genetic conditions he developed. Mitral valve heart disease and Cushings were the most devastating. Before reaching the age of 5 his physical abilities were significantly impaired. Again, a wonderful pet but not suited for the purposes I had hoped.

I prefer to train my dogs to do therapy work and then continue on to more advanced competitive obedience and agility training. I reasonably anticipate investing several hundred hours a year for 5 or 6 years in training and competition. I want a dog that is likely to succeed in that kind of endeavor. I'm more likely to fiind that in a dog that comes with a history that includes its genetic and medical history several generations back. I don't believe my expectations are unreasonable.


BTW, thank you for working with the pits. Some of them are wonderful dogs. The stigma associated with the breed is largely unfounded. A dachshund is far more likely to bite than a pit.