“A lot of people feel that if a dog has nipped, growled at or bitten someone there’s no hope for that dog. Nearly 99 percent of the time a dog like that can be turned around if an owner is willing to work with it.” – Ruth Marquadt
Thoughts?
Todd
18 thoughts on “Thoughts On A Quote”
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Todd, is this an important subject to you? I agree with the quote.
I think it shows how easy we are to give up on things when it becomes “inconvenient”. I cannot help but draw a parallel to how quickly we give up on each other (even our own self). If it requires hard work, dedication, or extra time, we give up. The thing about it is Jesus doesn’t give up on anyone. He will invest all the time, energy, and love necessary to help us become better creatures. Sorry if I got a little “preachy” but that is where my thoughts went.
I totally agree that a dog can be reformed. However, we did have a dog who bit our three-year-old, and my husband had him put down. He just wasn’t willing to take a chance on it happening again. We did see signs previously that the dog felt he was above our son hierarchy of things. Not good.
Blessings to you!
Keep making music to glorify God!
~Dee
In my humble opinion, I think that a growl, or nip may be corrected. We have all growled or nipped at one point in our lives. But a bite, breaking skin on an innocent bystander is a deal breaker. If it was my dog I would keep it in the yard, and no outside visitors. I would need to research before concluding Ms Ruth opinion is accurate.
I agree to a certain point at least. There are many cases where a dog has been abused and when rescued, that dog is retrained to be a good dog. Such was the case when Michael Vick was busted for his dog fighting events. I saw one in particular on the news that had been retrained to be a therapy dog. It may not be true of every single dog. But for many, it is.
It’s been proven that even a very beaten-downed,badly abused dog, can be re-trained into a loving but protective pet, again…
Just watch the “dog whisperer”..haha…that show gives dog-lovers hope ~
100% Agree.
I had many dogs and their behavior mostly depends on their owners and their education. The problem is when people “humanize” them and don’t treat them for what they are: dogs. When that happens, they develop some very nasty behaviors.
So when they develop such behaviors, as those as you listed, with a new owner or with the current owner, if he decides to learn dog’s “psychology” and put time and work on his dog, that dog can become the best dog ever.
Only a VERY few percentage of dogs are just bad and crazy by nature.
I believe there’s hope for any animal since God gave Adam dominion over them. But you must have that owner who’s willing to learn.
I would agree. Usually it’s the owner who needs more training than the dog. Especially not knowing the circumstances behind such behavior. My dog has almost bitten me. On the surface some would say be done with him. But, he did so when I went to grab him by the collar. The was abused before I took him and had been drug around by his neck/collar. When I went for his collar he was acting in defense given his previous experiences. Was that his fault? Was it my fault? I was reacting to him running towards the street with a car coming. We both did what was our reactionary response. Since I have changed my behavior and he has too. Last night I walked him to the fenced area by holding his collar and all was good.
I am a dog groomer and have dealt with alot of different attitudes. Many dogs have tried to bit and the owners think right away that we will not take them back. I am not one to give up and we try and try again until we show the dog that he is loved and it is ok. We have had dogs go from hating and scared to kissing us and letting us know they care. God don’t give up on us so we should at least try not to give up our selves. God Bless you Todd!!
Hello Todd
The first thing that I would ask is what was the circumstance of the nipping or attitude of the dog. I was told that our dog had a wire crossed because he was very loyal to me, I had him before anyone became a part of my life. But my daughters could do what they wanted with him, he was a wet noodle for them, he would protect us against anything or anyone, and he loved us to the end. When I became wheelchair bound for a short time with a broken leg, he was a service dog, and a good one too, but he had a good teacher the love of my life, she didn’t teach him tricks because I don’t believe in that, and she didn’t try to tame him the ways that you are talking. Sometimes it’s the nature of the dog to be protective and loyal, certain breads more so than others, mine was a Queensland Healer, thickheaded and loyal to death, and the best dog a man could ever own. If the dog is otherwise a good dog and the growling and nipping occurs, you better look at why and don’t be so fast blame the dog. If there is biting, look at the circumstance and take it from there, quite often it all comes down to the actions of people (we can be morons at times). At that point yes they can be swayed. But we all know, if a dog is pure mean, your going to know it. One more thing, I have never known a bad Pit, and I have known some good Dobie’s and Rots, its not always the dog. As far as mine, well, God has the love of my life and our dog up there now, and I am sure they are doing well, after all, what do you get when you spell dog backwards?
What kind of dog?
Happy New Year to you, yours and your dog!!
Dave
i say it depends on what or why he is acting this way. if he has been like slapped or something then maybe its the owner that there’s no hope for.
In my opinion and from my experience with dogs, a dog only nips, bites and/or growls if there is a reason. Maybe they sense something in a person. Think about it…it’s their only defense! We have hands that can push someone away or slap them. Dogs only have their growl, bite and nips. Some dogs that bite too quickly could be an alert that they themselves are being abused. I do not believe that dogs naturally use this defense mechanism unless provoked or mistreated. I also believe that the “problem” can be fixed with some re-training. 🙂
I have also had many dogs and trained many dogs. I totally disagree with sticking the dog outside without any contact. A dog is a social animal and wants nothing more than to be with its owner and to please its owner. Whenever i hear that a dog has bitten my first question is what did that person do to the dog to get bitten! Dogs will bite to protect themselves. A poorly trained or untrained dog is left to try to figure out how to behave. I agree with Cesar Millan – The Dog Whisper, ‘there are no bad dogs just bad owners’ -owners who don’t know how to be a dog owner. When you train a dog – and I don’t mean just one class of 6-8 weeks- I mean train, you end up with a dog that years later will remember and respond to a command that you have not given in years.
Hope this helps!
I am looking for advice in this area.
We have a small/medium sized dog (possibly blue-tick dachshund mix) who we have had for a few years, and we had “humanized” him, letting him on the furniture, feeding from table, sleeping in our bedroom, ect. We now have an 18 month old toddler, and another baby on the way. The past 18 months have been tough with this dog, he acts hierarchically above our toddler, she just wants to pet and hug him and he growls and backs away, he started peeing on the floor and running away, my wife went to move him from the living room to kitchen for the night a few days ago and he bit her hand (indents, no broken skin thankfully). He has not been allowed on the furniture in 2 years and yet he still occasionally jumps on the couch and pees when he thinks he is being yelled at (when we sternly correct the toddler he usually thinks it’s him always). We got the urination mostly under control, but the growling and almost nipping at the toddler, running in front of her and in effect tripping and pushing her (it seriously seems intentional) is getting aggravating. I’m thinking of looking for someone to take him to a new home. I’ve read all the previous posts on this wall, and I’m agreeing most with Dee’s husband (post #3 above). Any thoughts?
Thanks.
Jeff,
Dogs very much decide what their family position is. If your child is ‘below’ him, we don’t think it’s worth the risk. He would likely be better off in a home without young children.
The good news is, that when our youngest was 4 years old, we bought a puppy, and taught our little boy how to walk the dog, make her heal, etc, so this dog knows she’s at the bottom of the pack. (She’s a labradoodle; very smart and easy to train.)
Our youngest is now 10, and very good with the dog. The dog is a little leary of him from years of him teasing her (pulling her ears, climbing on her when he was smaller), but she’s never bitten him.
I don’t think it’s necessary to feel guilt over surrendering a dog if you can’t reform them, don’t have the time to invest. I do appreciate all God’s creatures, but people are more important.
Blessings,
Dee
Whether it’s dogs or people, we need to decide if they’re worth the effort to try to help them get past the inappropriate and aggressive behavior. It doesn’t happen easily or quickly, but it can happen, if someone cares enough.
I know your post was about a dog, but when I read it, it wasn’t a dog and his master that I thought of, it was us and our Master. What if when we nipped or took a bite of someone, and God decided right then and there to put us down, thought that we were helpless and not even worth a second chance? Things would be different if we didn’t have the second chance or third chance or millionth chance to find God’s favor. There would be no hope if God wasn’t a God of second chances.