Dog Blog

I love American Staffordshire terriers, also known as the American pit bull terrier or “pitbull.” With so many pitbulls sitting in shelters across the country (more than 9,000 on Petfinder alone), I thought I’d share how great these dogs are. My next dog just might have to be a pitbull. The guy in this photo is Matty, and he needs a home. (9/21/09 update: Matty has been adopted!) Staffordshire terri ...

The German shepherd is one of my favorite breeds. Although I’ve never had the opportunity to own one, I hope to some day. They are one of the smartest breeds, bred originally in Germany to be sheep herders and police dogs. The reason I don’t own a shepherd yet is because of their intelligence. This dog really needs a job to do, and I would feel guilty leaving a German shepherd home all day. It needs a lot ...

With all the hype about dangerous dogs and banning certain breeds, I decided to look closer at some statistics. I was curious as to which breeds were responsible for the most dog-bite related deaths. All the statistics I came across said roughly the same story: pit bulls and rottweilers are the most “dangerous” breeds, resulting in the highest number of fatal attacks. A 2000 report by Vet Med today listed ...

Legislators in Minnesota are considering regulations to ban five “dangerous dog breeds” in the state. That is, a proposed ban on pitbulls, chow chows, akitas, wolf hybrids and rottweilers. A strong argument against this proposal is that dangerous dogs are created by irresponsible owners, not genetics. I couldn’t agree more. But another problem with this proposal is how it doesn’t address mixed ...