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Breed + Boy/Man = Disaster

Argentine Dogo Doing What It Was Bred to DoHi John,

My 20 year old brother has an un-neutered 16 month old Argentine Dogo. I am beginning to feel uncomfortable in the house, as whenever I am around him as he becomes tense and the hair on his back raises. If I even so much as pet him the hair continues to raise, he begins staring and growling. In some rooms if I show up in the doorway, he stares, growls, bares his teeth and moves towards me in a threatening manner so I back off. He is over a very muscular dog, over a hundred pounds, and I would not stand a chance if he ever chose to attack. What is the answer to stop this behaviour.

Becky

Dear Becky,

Good breeders and rescues know better then to sell even a Chihuahua to a boy of 18. Few are mature enough to provide for the needs of a dog. A breeder of Argentine Dogo would have to be insane to do so. For those that don’t know what an  Argentine Dogo is, picture a pit bull on steroids and then pretty much double it’s size. Picture a dog bred to hunt wild boar and cougars. Magnificent in its courage but not your average pet.

A while back the province I live in decided to make Pit Bulls illegal. I wondered at the time, “What do they think is going to happen? The young boy/men looking for courage on a leash are going to go out and buy hamsters? No, they’ll find some other breed to ruin.”, and they have. Pit Bulls didn’t spontaneously as a breed turn into slathering marauders. They’d been around for ages as a very stable breed and while many still are, they attracted breeders like this breeder with all the ethics of the American mortgage industry and enough owners that were on a first name basis with the local constabulary that their famed stability went down the toilet.

Instead of holding the breeders and irresponsible dog owners accountable, some of the powers that be banned them while others held owners accountable. Guess which is working? The breeders or greeders as I call them and the “I have a pit bull because I can’t afford a Harley” crowd have moved on to potentially more dangerous breeds that I estimate within 5 years will be in the news not for mauling but killing people.

The truth is there are very few people with the ability to understand and commit to what it takes to keep an Argentine Dogo a responsible member of society but they do exist and I’ll bet they’re going to be just wild that some wannabe Argentine Dogo breeder is being so irresponsible because they know it will sooner or later cost them their dogs. In an amateur’s hands this breed could easily become a gun with a brain and selling this dog to someone that hasn’t even wore out his first disposable razor is as criminally negligent as selling him a handgun and throwing in a bottle of hooch to boot.

As far as I’m concerned, you’re in immediate danger. I’m not ignoring the possibility that training  might make a difference but in this case forget it. Your brother is not the boy for the job. I predict that by the time that dog hits 18 months of age you or someone else will have made a trip to the hospital emergency. If I were you, either the dog goes or I would and I’m not kidding.

Hopefully the breeding industry will band together against the greeder industry and self regulate because if they don’t it’s going to get done for them by the government and the radical animal rights groups; but it will be just a single regulation, “Illegal to Own.”

Paw-sitively Yours,

John Wade – www.dogtrainingwithjohnwade.com


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2 thoughts on “Breed + Boy/Man = Disaster”

  1. I just found your site/you tube channel. Very excited for this.

    We just got our puppy 2 wks ago, born May 8.

    He was listed as a Dogo Argentino/American bulldog mix, (which my husband had a Dogo prior and he was the sweetest dog ). Our new puppy was very timid when we brought him home to our family of 3 (1 being our 6yr old son).
    we now believe he must have been hit by the sellers because he cowers away if you go to touch him and his leg shakes if you correct him with a stern voice.

    We started treat training awarding good behavior based on videos, but not sure that’s the best approach.
    My question is, I’m seeing some “testing” with myself but more importantly with our son, Who like most children can be just as unpredictable with movement as a dog, he (the son lol) knows not to hit, jump on, poke etc, and Bogey(puppy) is on a leash/line at all times, for quick correction…. but what would be one suggest we could do to get them more comfortable with each other.

    Thanks for your time

    1. Hi Esther,

      The sort of ‘treat’ training guidance you’re getting on the Internet is probably the sort of training that costs Ferrari-like breeds either their freedom or their lives in the long run. They’re great dogs but the movie The Lady and The Tramp wasn’t a dog training documentary as many of these ‘Internet’ and/or amateur trainers seem to think it was. Get some experienced knowledgeable guidance and you’ll be fine. FWIW, it’s not that treats are bad, it’s that it’s more useful for teaching tricks or shaping new behaviors and most of those that advocate their use really don’t know much more and are afraid to or don’t know how to say “No” to a dog in a manner that isn’t based on ‘Might Is Right’, Alpha, Pack Leader, Dominant (Yank and Crank). Neither ‘All Positive/Purely Positive/Force-Free/Never Say No/R+…’, treat, treat, treat or ‘Might Is Right’, Alpha, Pack Leader, Dominant (Yank and Crank) are the way any higher-order social species learns

        life-skills

      (as opposed to tricks). If you’re not sure how to tell the difference between an amateur trainer and a real one (the ration is probably 99:1) purchase my eBook – Best Dog Training – Different (and best) Puppy and Dog Training Methods or contact me to book a ‘Virtual+’ – Training session. It will be worth every penny.

      Regards,

      John ‘Ask The Dog Guy’ Wade
      Embracing Science and Common Sense

      >>——->;∞
      I PRESSED ON

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