no propaganda please wrote:
I have always had dogs, and sometimes cats around. My father was a country veterinarian, so my brother and I learned to respect, care for and love animals. We learned how to deliver puppies, kittens, goats, foals and calves, give shots, castrate and do all the other things that animals need to have done. I got my degree in animal behavior, still run training classes for dog owners (the owners need the training more than the dogs do). Yes, I do have a bias toward well bred purebred dogs, simply because it is easier to predict what methods of training will get the best results if you know what the parents, grand parents and even 4 to 6 generations behind the dog were like to train, and what kind of behavior patterns each had. I would not consider training a Belgian Malinois the same way we have trained our Cane Corso Mastiffs, let alone the way we have trained either the Welsh Terrier or the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. I do not believe all dogs are trainable, because a puppy raised as a wild animal or raised in a puppy mill does not get the opportunity to develop his mind properly, but if you work with most dogs they can be trained well enough to make great house pets. For the most part I prefer dogs to a number of humans I have had the misfortune to meet. Since I am now 75, and stuck in my ways, I guess I will always be a dog person, no matter what.
I have always had dogs, and sometimes cats around.... (
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