4 ms·

Really interesting, thanks for posting. What do you practically do with the psychopath dogs/pups? Presumably the 'insane effort' required to keep them in line d

Really interesting, thanks for posting. What do you practically do with the psychopath dogs/pups? Presumably the 'insane effort' required to keep them in line doesn't square well with all the other hard work your farm requires. Are you essentially forced to give the mentally unstable ones to a shelter?

zoe4883 5y ago
Not OP. Dogs are pack animals, so less bright are kept in order by pack. They are still usable for guarding, but can not be used for herding or hunting. "Psychopat" dogs have to be put down. Risk they attack something is too big. But they are rare.
h2odragon 5y ago
I put the effort into the first one i met; she was named "Rascal" and one of the best dogs evar! (as they all are, of course :) I had her when the next one decided she needed to try to be boss; and then that pup left to run a wild dog pack for a couple years. they were decent neighbors but didnt thrive. We'd put out food at their corner of the place and they'd sometimes accept some, she set and respect boundaries otherwise. I tried to keep one of the great dane ones, she came after me at about 9mo old and >100lb; i still have scars. I put that one down then. I had one other of the danes i wasn't sure about, so I placed it with a guy who does "police / guard dog" training and heard it responded well. One of the more notional of the bluetick crosses got a job as a junkyard dog, where he didn't have to worry about people too much and vice versa. We've got a local "no kill" shelter we've been to several times, they have several dogs i classify as "psycho" too. None of mine, and I haven't tried adopting any of them (though i have helped take them to the vet sometimes). My view is that kind of dog can't be happy without a job and care and is unsafe to let roam where there may be humans for it to hurt. Shelter or dead and I can argue either side of "which is better". Having fostered the birth of a dangerous animal, I feel some responsibility to see it doesn't present a risk to others; and finding jobs for them, keeping them in a jail, or putting them down is a burden.
- californical 5y ago
  Thanks for sharing! I’m curious how you’d identify a “psycho” dog in a shelter, assuming you don’t have tons of time with the dogs. Are there some particular traits that are obvious or quickly identifiable? I’m curious just from a knowledge perspective, but also what someone should look out for if they’re adopting a dog?
  - h2odragon 5y ago
    My wife calls me a werewolf, I can't say she's wrong. I speak dog. "Psycho" is probably a bad word to use. "Independent" could fit many of them. Too smart to be dogs. ... It's a spectrum and many of them can find places they fit. There are dogs that you just can't trust. The ones whose greatest joy is being aggressive, and are independent minded or otherwise unwilling to listen to anyone else anymore. Or too stupid to understand, for whom the world is a terrifying place and there is nothing but cringe. One of Rascal's puppy moves was, after peeing on the floor and not wanting to be pushed outside, a leap for the throat and bulldog "hang on and wrench" attack. That kind of disproportionate response is a bad sign. Lack of fear and "pain don't teach" are bad signs. Perhaps this dog would respond better to someone else or another dog or something but then again maybe not.

zoe4883 5y ago

Not OP. Dogs are pack animals, so less bright are kept in order by pack. They are still usable for guarding, but can not be used for herding or hunting. "Psychopat" dogs have to be put down. Risk they attack something is too big. But they are rare.

h2odragon 5y ago

I put the effort into the first one i met; she was named "Rascal" and one of the best dogs evar! (as they all are, of course :) I had her when the next one decided she needed to try to be boss; and then that pup left to run a wild dog pack for a couple years. they were decent neighbors but didnt thrive. We'd put out food at their corner of the place and they'd sometimes accept some, she set and respect boundaries otherwise. I tried to keep one of the great dane ones, she came after me at about 9mo old and >100lb; i still have scars. I put that one down then. I had one other of the danes i wasn't sure about, so I placed it with a guy who does "police / guard dog" training and heard it responded well. One of the more notional of the bluetick crosses got a job as a junkyard dog, where he didn't have to worry about people too much and vice versa. We've got a local "no kill" shelter we've been to several times, they have several dogs i classify as "psycho" too. None of mine, and I haven't tried adopting any of them (though i have helped take them to the vet sometimes). My view is that kind of dog can't be happy without a job and care and is unsafe to let roam where there may be humans for it to hurt. Shelter or dead and I can argue either side of "which is better". Having fostered the birth of a dangerous animal, I feel some responsibility to see it doesn't present a risk to others; and finding jobs for them, keeping them in a jail, or putting them down is a burden.

californical 5y ago
Thanks for sharing! I’m curious how you’d identify a “psycho” dog in a shelter, assuming you don’t have tons of time with the dogs. Are there some particular traits that are obvious or quickly identifiable? I’m curious just from a knowledge perspective, but also what someone should look out for if they’re adopting a dog?
- h2odragon 5y ago
  My wife calls me a werewolf, I can't say she's wrong. I speak dog. "Psycho" is probably a bad word to use. "Independent" could fit many of them. Too smart to be dogs. ... It's a spectrum and many of them can find places they fit. There are dogs that you just can't trust. The ones whose greatest joy is being aggressive, and are independent minded or otherwise unwilling to listen to anyone else anymore. Or too stupid to understand, for whom the world is a terrifying place and there is nothing but cringe. One of Rascal's puppy moves was, after peeing on the floor and not wanting to be pushed outside, a leap for the throat and bulldog "hang on and wrench" attack. That kind of disproportionate response is a bad sign. Lack of fear and "pain don't teach" are bad signs. Perhaps this dog would respond better to someone else or another dog or something but then again maybe not.