Hope this Taser thread turns out better...

[CingularDuality]

This one's not so funny, but perhaps the knowledge of how temporary the pain inflicted by a Taser is will make the dog video more funny?

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2663565

[Diceman]

Originally Posted by CingularDuality

This one's not so funny, but perhaps the knowledge of how temporary the pain inflicted by a Taser is will make the dog video more funny?

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2663565

I know that taser incapacitation is very temporary. I think tasers are a great non-lethal tool. I'm all about law enforcement having more non-lethal options available to them. For too long, the average police officer has had too few options before the weapon had to be drawn.

But the dog doesn't understand any of that. The dog is freaking out, for whatever reason; it sees a threat and goes after it. The dog receives a hugely painful shock, and doesn't know what the hell just happened, but it wants to get out of there. So it boots it, at top speed.

I agree with tasers. I just don't agree with laughing at pain, fear and misery.

[CingularDuality]

Originally Posted by Diceman

I know that taser incapacitation is very temporary. I think tasers are a great non-lethal tool. I'm all about law enforcement having more non-lethal options available to them. For too long, the average police officer has had too few options before the weapon had to be drawn.

But the dog doesn't understand any of that. The dog is freaking out, for whatever reason; it sees a threat and goes after it. The dog receives a hugely painful shock, and doesn't know what the hell just happened, but it wants to get out of there. So it boots it, at top speed.

I agree with tasers. I just don't agree with laughing at pain, fear and misery.

Right, well, I guess I think it's funny because that dog is yelping and running scared after experiencing a 5 second (extremely painful) shock. Quite a contrast to his attitude just a few seconds earlier... Do I feel sorry that the dog was ever in that situation to begin with? Sure. But it's still funny to see a vicious dog reduced to a tail-tucked pup that quickly.

[SmokingTarpan]

Originally Posted by Diceman

I disagree with that, mainly because I believe that a dog reacts based on how it is raised and treated, rather than if it is a rottie or something else.

Genetics actually have a large part to do with an animal's temperament. Any dog can be treated badly enough to go psycho, but some breeds lean toward being viscious from birth. It's not that they are going around thinking "I'm gonna get you!" or such, but rather that once the fight/flight switch gets turned on, they generally keep fighting until either they or their target is dead. It is very comparable to dealing with a human that requires medication to remain sane; something is broken in the brain. Couple that with breeding for stronger muscles, jaws and a bigger body size, and you have a problem.

I was a vet assistant for four years, and specialized in behavior for my degree. I've seen thousands of dogs from all kinds of breeds and upbringing. All I can say is, there's a reason why some breeds are sterotyped as violent; they simply are.

[Diceman]

Originally Posted by SmokingTarpan

[...]All I can say is, there's a reason why some breeds are sterotyped as violent; they simply are.

That's very interesting, I didn't know that. My opinion comes from only my personal experience with my dog. If you are the owner of a more aggressive breed, what would you say would be the most effective training to help overcome that?

As a guess, I would wager that socialization (the more, the better) would do a lot. Get your dog to meet lots of other people, and lots of other dogs; I would think that helps to make the dog a far better judge of character and intent when dealing with another person/dog who is being aggressive versus playful or defensive.

[leejo]

Originally Posted by Diceman

Fear is hilarious? You know, I can't think of a single time that I have found fear hilarious (I'm talking about real fear, not the "gotcha" kind). Can you?

Not when I'm experiencing it personally, but a lot of times later it's funny as you-know-what. And when a character in a movie is afraid, it's often the funniest part - intentionally or otherwise. Think of an hilarious moment in a movie and I bet someone in the scene is afraid of something. Maybe not getting his balls ripped off by a dog but maybe he's afraid that Mary will realize the has jizz in her hair, or Steve Martin will realize that the guy doesn't hate the cans he hates him. Etc.

With regard to pain, that's just slapstick comedy to a t. Kramer, the Stooges, Zoolander racking himself. Austin Powers banging a crotch-chomping midget into a bulwark. Pain is funny.

A man in sandals orders a venti chi decaf lowfat latte and makes a donation of his change. Suddenly a small dog lunges at his crotch and latches on his johnson. He screams and spills latte all over the dog and his crotch. The dog runs off yelping. The man leans against a chair clutching his groin then slips in the spilled latte and cracks his head on the floor. Several weeks later he wakes from a coma a staunch conservative. His girlfriend leaves him when he begins demanding that she say "By George I think he's got it!" in bed.

[SmokingTarpan]

Originally Posted by Diceman

That's very interesting, I didn't know that. My opinion comes from only my personal experience with my dog. If you are the owner of a more aggressive breed, what would you say would be the most effective training to help overcome that?

Positive reinforcement training. My senior year, I did a research project that entailed me interning for 3 months at a dog training facility. Now, we did some fun things like teaching roll over tricks and such, but 95% of the training was teaching sit, stay, how to walk your dog on a leash, etc. The basic "good dog citizenship" training. This clinic was unique compared to any other that I had experienced, because it focussed on positive reinforcement. Never yelled at the dog, or yanked the leash, or hit; in fact, outside of a "good boy!" pat or hug, there was almost no touching involved. If the dog did something wrong, there was no reward or attention given. When the dog did something right, ample reward was given. These dogs were some of the most well-behaved dogs I've ever seen because of their unique training, and to this day I still cringe when I see someone yank the leash; not because I think they're being mean to the dog, but because I know how ineffective that is in training.

As a guess, I would wager that socialization (the more, the better) would do a lot. Get your dog to meet lots of other people, and lots of other dogs; I would think that helps to make the dog a far better judge of character and intent when dealing with another person/dog who is being aggressive versus playful or defensive.

It can help, yes. Some dogs are people aggressive, others are dog aggressive, and still others are both. Every dog has their "flip" point, where they go from happy-fun-time to killer mode. Proper socialization will increase the amount of stimulus needed for a dog to flip. Like I said earlier though- breeds aren't necessarily classified as violent because they go after anything nearby. Instead, they're classified that way because once they flip, they generally stay flipped.

A fair comparisson is actually honey bees vs. killer bees. A normal dog, like honey bees, are of the mindset that they should attack only long enough to get rid of a threat- basically make it run away. A viscious dog and killer bees, however, will just keep going until the threat is dead- even when the target is no longer a threat (or might not even have been one in the first place).

[leejo]

I like the Will Ferrell skit on SNL: "Dissing Your Dog: How To Train Your Puppy with Mockery and Verbal Humiliation."