Tiller- (Skansen's- Ira in the M
I DO Exist...To- Drive You Batty | 
 | | Barked: Thu Dec 20, '12 10:42am PST |  | |  | | I will talk about dogs again in a minute  First, Morafic is "my" Arabian. It's him and then everything else. I love the Egyptians. And Khemosabi, who anyone could handle. Lovely animal.
Appaloosas are a huge love for me. But in terms of my apprenticeships for stallion manager, I learned on the Arabians. And a very interesting thing was the very strong similarities between Arabians and Appaloosas (the foundation kind, vs "QH with spots"), and both were tribal breeds, living LOTS closer and amongst people than most. That's what people don't get about Arabians, Gus, is that while they are fiery on appearance, they are total people lovers. Will follow you around like a puppy and have uncommon interest in people, much likes Appaloosas will. And seem to have more sense when it comes to watching over their people, in more of a dog like way.
Now while I must preface this by saying I loathe bull fighting with more expletives than would be permissible....I have a very, very restless soul when it comes to bull fighting, HERE is a most amazing sequence for you to look at, Gus and co. Don't worry - no bulls were harmed in the making of this video, and this stallion's determination to defend his handler is just amazing and dispels a lot of myths some would imagine. And look at how he handles without even a stud chain. Full of prance and it would intimidate many, but I found Arabian stallions....breeding stallions....very easy, if somewhat dramatic , to handle.
I also think for Ms "Twenty Seven years experience" it dispels many myths. As it should with TBs, who are just so kind. Kind and brave. Arabians have the people sense and braveness from the desert history. And TBs from their race breeding. There is no more game horse than a TB. I love them and have an extended long history with them. They are lovely.
Back to dogs, I know in the dog fancy, the best breeders do not excuse bad behavior. It's what I call the "hardcore" POV. I actually use that, that training, when it comes to shelter pulls. I know a lot of dogs who have every excuse to be a bit troubled, but there are plenty of dogs who have been through as much or more and don't. And when it comes to Pit Bulls, some admission amongst the "lick you to death!" crowd that there are some dangerous genetics out there. Pit Bulls CAN be highly prey driven, and when you couple that with gameness other breeds don't have, there is the potential for them to be cujo type neighborhood marauders. Also on a street level, some ARE bred to be sharper. HA is not unheard of. Shyness is not typical for a Pit Bull. I know Duncan, who has LOT more direct shelter experience than I do, is very unnerved by a shy Pit Bull.
Those who defend Pit Bulls can't be daft about these things. They need to be honest and educate as to why these are not Pit Bull typical, and draw attention to real culprits, such as BYBs and the fighters. You can't go around trying to paint victim portraits on dogs who are displaying over the top sensibilities. You need to know where to draw the line and not get lost in your own forest. I feel really bad for this dog due to his owner, but at the end of the day, what he did on the day was way beyond what most dogs would do, and it does make him dangerous. Not if leashed, but with that history, should he get unleashed again....what is our excuse? What do we say to that victim 
I am definitely aided by my childhood dog being brought close to death by a Saint Bernard who had killed three dogs already. He WAS leashed, but he was a killing machine and it's hard to hold back a dog of that size. It took four people to beat him off. That's powerful stuff. So I don't excuse. I've been on the other side. Our love of defending dogs can't be so extreme as to go totally screwy.
The foster I have right now is a wonderful boy. Drive-y, but you can train him through it, which I have been working on. Duncan's daughter has a lotta love for that dog He's patient and very loving, total Pit Bull. Includes the drives, but he is a total gentleman and extremely trainable and driven to bond with his handler. A very community safe dog with only a reasonable management protocol, and were he to get in trouble, it would be far easier to bring things under control. I don't mind high drives, but you need to have some bar for what is reasonable and what is not, and be able to stand your ground in the crucial-ness of those discernments.Edited by author Thu Dec 20, '12 10:50am PST
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They had a TB, but I don't know where they got him from, and they were having to retrain him, the poor guy got scared quite easily. 
Very beautiful horse though (though he may not have been trained at all previously, I don't know), I would have loved to ride him if it had been possible,he was soo tall!
I also don't think I could safely handle a strong dog if it turned out to be aggressive in any way (it was hard enough for me trying to handle my brother's 80+lb dog, who while very friendly, pulls on leash). So really, even if your dog has issues that can be seen as 'normal', you need to be able to handle it without putting others in danger...if you can't, something needs to be done.
