:goodpost: and exactly. ANY dog today is morphed in more ways than one. Myles currently is 2 pounds away from hitting 100lbs, 100 years ago he would have been considered MASSIVE and very, very few breeds would be larger. Today? We have 100+ labs, 100+ bullies, 200+ mastiffs, etc etc which in return makes them utterly useless in comparison to back in the day.David that's just it .. It was pointed out in this video that show breeder's are not health testing and are breeding/grossly inbreeding dog's for the show ring without being required to health test their dogs. The Kennel Club guy even stated that the show dog is the correct version of the breed over the working dog LOL. Now that was hilarious look at how different the German Shepherd, and English Bull Terrier's look today compared to what they looked like many years ago when they were bred for working purposes.
I never said dogs shouldn't be worked in some way because they don't come from working lines lol all I am saying is that a working dog and a pet dog are two different animals. Take a police grade working malinois and take one of your dogs and see which one will demand more work and attention from you. I have a 6 pound chihuahua that can give me a 1.5 mile daily walk in 80 degree weather I could push him much more but I put 3 miles of road work with Bernie right before the chihuahua. I owned a paper less dog that was an athletic freak nothing would tire him out, treadmill, weighted backpack on a 5 mile hike and the dog would come home and start running circles in the yard. Bernie is another story he has the perfect balance of workability but my next dog will be something else all together. While we can show our appreciation for working dogs not every home should own one.While you make some good points David about the working dog, i also disagree with you on the belief that most people that own dogs..shouldn't. They are just part of the on going problem and the cycle affects everything..directly.
Bandogges, Bulldogs, Yorkies, etc etc if you are going to own one in my opinion in some way or another you should work your dogs. No matter if its a 15 pound dog or a 120 pound dog. To me no dog should be just a show dog or just a pet, humans did not create these dogs by selective breeding to stand around and look pretty or be lazy they bred them to work and perform duties..what those jobs were greatly depended on the breed obviously but no matter they still had a purpose.
Owning a dog and having one apart of your life is not a necessity it is a privilege that majority of people take lightly. If your going to own a dog you should provide all essential needs and part of those needs is a purpose in life. Everything has a purpose that walks this earth or breathes in some form or another, people as a whole are completely killing dogs and their purposes for nothing more than personal gain. Dogs no matter how bred could give a crap if they have ribbons, win titles, etc. They care about pleasing us and the work.
I can show you a few 100+ pound dogs that can listen and obey better than a 50 pound dog.:goodpost: and exactly. ANY dog today is morphed in more ways than one. Myles currently is 2 pounds away from hitting 100lbs, 100 years ago he would have been considered MASSIVE and very, very few breeds would be larger. Today? We have 100+ labs, 100+ bullies, 200+ mastiffs, etc etc which in return makes them utterly useless in comparison to back in the day.
Even breeds like Bandogges, while many breeders are breeding with the best intentions imo a 140 - 150 pound Bandogge is counterproductive. Theres no reason for a working Mastiff to be that large which again would go back to the breeds involved in the breeders yards. You can have drive all you want, if your too big your too big.
You didn't know guard dogs need a pretty coat and big paws ? LolI agree you don't need a dog of that size to function for their intended purpose. I mean APBT's can pull thousands of pounds against their little 45-50 lb bodies . Why do you need 150 dog to protect a human? Breeding for looks should be the last thing on the list Function, temperament and health first ... Looks second. I didn't know a protection dog was supposed to look like anything when their number one job is to protect their owner not look good while doing it LOL.
Exactly, i have zero desire to own a 150 pound dog, i'd prefer Myles not to hit 100 but i have no choice in the matter. lol Hopefully he wont get too much bigger, even if he doesn't fair well with PP type work hes bred for work and thats what i wanted beyond anything. Kilie was bred for work and shes in the mid 40's why people feel the need to breed these huge freaks for work is beyond me.I agree you don't need a dog of that size to function for their intended purpose. I mean APBT's can pull thousands of pounds against their little 45-50 lb bodies . Why do you need 150 dog to protect a human? Breeding for looks should be the last thing on the list Function, temperament and health first ... Looks second. I didn't know a protection dog was supposed to look like anything when their number one job is to protect their owner not look good while doing it LOL.
I can show myself as i have seen them. Obeying and training has nothing to do with function, practicality and in the end the ability to perform the work after training is said and done.I can show you a few 100+ pound dogs that can listen and obey better than a 50 pound dog.
I don't discriminate sizes lol haha jk I think in the protection world a dog is only worth as much as how much nerves it has. Sort of like the game test, if the dog can't pass a courage test it wont work out. You can have a nice pedigree on a protection dog or an impressive look but if the dog can't handle pressure and it runs away out of fear then the dog is useless for that function. this is what most bybs don't get, they think about crating a dog for the first two years of it's life so it doesn't get socialized and once they have a fear biter they think they got the best protection dog to breed lol I can make some nasty labs like that too lol don't bring them around people until they are done developing and they will want to take a bite out of everything that scares them. However, if you go deep in enough in testing the courage and do frightening things to the dogs you will see if the dog is truly built to defend or if it's just a big bluff.LOL David I am all for a dog being larger don't get me wrong as long as it's healthy first. But I don't think size matter's when it comes to working dog's. The APBT is proof of that. Now of course the APBT would suck at being a guard dog because it's not what they were bred for. But I don't think size has anything to do with protecting a human. I think it's more of the breeder's wanting to produce a certain look which is fine if you are not sacrificing health, working ability, mental soundness ect. But still the purpose of a protection dog is to protect it's owner as long as it can do that and function the way it was intended to I don't care how big or small it is.