I'm for gun control and pit bull control.

[jazzimov]

125. After following this discussion, one thing is very clear to me -

you know absolutely NOTHING about either guns or dogs. Which is indicative of most of both discussions and much of the problem with both - which is the ONLY thing that either discussion has in common.

There is no commonality to the 2 issues.

Guns are inanimate objects.

Dogs are complicated animals - ALL dogs. A dog's psychological make-up is just as complicated as any human beings, it is only our homo-centric beliefs that make us try to imprint our own belief systems upon this animal. Although it is true that over many generations we have tried to breed certain PHYSICAL traits into certain breeds of dogs, no one has been successful in identifying the psychological aspects of any breed, much less had any success in breeding any particular psychological traits.

EVERY dog is unique, despite the breed. At this point in our understanding of dog psychology, Breed Specific Legislation is akin to Racism.

There are some generalizations that we can make - for instance, many dogs tend to be territorial. Further, they respect other dogs territories. For instance, I took my Pit-Bull mix for a walk and when we came upon a smaller dog's territory my "scary dog" immediately went on his back and exposed his stomach - which is the ultimate show of submission. However, when the same dog came to "his" property, he chased off the same dog and seemed intent on killing it until it either showed submission or left "his" property.

I saw the same thing with my previous dog, which was also a "pound puppy" but after numerous Vet visits I was able to assume that he was a Basenji/Shepherd mix. Best dog ever. But there was one day when he challenged me as the Leader - and I had to prove myself by asserting myself over him. That was nowhere in any dog-owner book. But after that, he was the most loyal dog anyone could expect.

Many people expect a "pet" - whether a dog or a cat - to be an inanimate object like a "gun". NO, they aren't - they are living creatures with psychologies of their own. You should "raise" a pet just like you would a child.

If you buy a dog just for protection - ANY dog, not just Pit-Bulls - and don't give them the love and attention that they crave just like you and your children crave;

Then you have a big problem.