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| Photo by Thomas Hawk via Foter.com CC BY NC |
The poster and the politician: Alan Tobin "delighted" about breed specific restrictions at the dog park, Ireland
Pet parents are outraged. Councillor Alan Tobin is receiving serious backlash after posting his views on the new posters for the dog park that list restricted breeds. The County Councillor of Meath, Ashbourne in Ireland stated in his Facebook post that he is "delighted" to get the signs that he had asked for, and that is amazes him that "some people think these are ideal family pets."
Dogs on the list include American Bull Terrier, Bull Mastiff, Staffordshier Bull Terrier, German Shepherd, Japanese Akita, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Doberman Pinscher, Rottweiler, English Bull Terrier and Japanese Tosa. Most Facebook users are outraged, and the post has over 140, 000 shares and over 240, 000 comments. While most people are in opposition to Tobin's poster there are comments from people who agree with him. Breeds that bite has been a great debate among pet owners, most veterinary and canine research organizations take a similar stance on the breed bite: the main focus should be on responsible pet ownership, not breed.
Puppy
play biting: How to teach a teething puppy not to bite
It is a painful problem that every puppy owner faces:
play biting. Puppy owners are far too familiar with the feeling of an adorable
fuzzy puppy clamping on to their sensitive skin with those tiny, deadly and
razor-sharp puppy teeth. But play biting is a natural thing for a puppy- she is
trying to use her mouth to learn about the world around her. It starts with the
other pups in her litter. They bite when they play fight but when one pup bites
too hard the other pup will yelp loudly and stop playing. From the beginning puppies
are learning the boundaries of biting and it is a lesson that needs to continue
when they leave the litter to join their human family.
Biting too hard is a behavior that needs to be corrected
right from the beginning if the puppy is going to be able to have good
relationships with other people and dogs. Founder of The Academy For Dog Trainers Jean
Donaldson published an article in 2007 for the Calgary Humane Society about aggressive behavior in canines. She educates about acquired bite inhibition (ABI) which “is
the degree of pressure a dog exerts with his jaws when he bites, and likely the
most significant prognostic indicator in aggression.” Puppies must be taught
not to put force behind their bite because according to Donaldson “ABI has
proven virtually impossible to modify in an adult dog.”
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