Junior: Why is the cat sneezing so much?

The Mrs.: I think she’s allergic to something. Could be something new in the house.

Junior: The Elf on the Shelf is new in the house.

The Mrs.: He is new in the house.

Junior: And he goes back to the North Pole every night.

The Mrs.: Yes, he does.

Junior: The cat is allergic to the North Pole.

From Pets

Then, a minute later, I saw this:

From Pets

She brought this up a blogger lunch a bit back. I told her to check into the labradoodle. They are advertised as such.

Any suggestions?

ETA: Maybe ask your physician? Perhaps they know something or a common allergy medicine can remedy that?

If you cover a dog (head and all) in a blanket, it will fight like mad to get out. Even if it has to hit its head on the coffee table a couple of times to do that. A cat will just lay down and go to sleep.

If you point at something, the dog will look where you’re pointing. If you point at something, the cat will sniff your finger.

Update: Yup, that’s what I got. Tetanus shot. Antibiotics and if no improvement by Monday, a potential hospital stay. Cat bites are apparently serious business.

So, I came home night before last and, despite my earlier concerns, that cat is still there. I say the Mrs.: Cat have a name yet?

She says it’s Abby.

I said: You Googled up cat names and that was first wasn’t it?

She said yes.

Junior has always wanted a cat. Neither the Mrs. nor I were ever cat people. But Junior was persistent. So, we now have a cat. Well, I think we still have it. I haven’t actually seen it since about 6:00 yesterday.

We’re up to three critters.

The measure would be limited to cities with a population of at least 100,000 and business owners would have the power to decide whether to allow dogs at their establishments.

So, restaurants in small cities still have no choice.

Me: You know how I always dreamed that Politically Incorrect Dog could talk and he had a deep voice with a British accent?

The Mrs: Yeah.

Me: Well, in my dreams, Flash sounds like Samuel Jackson.

The Mrs: Why do the dogs always talk in your dreams?

Me: Guess they got shit to say. That’s what Flash would say.

never expect too much from an animal that is surprised by its own farts

Vet tells me that when a dog is neutered, they’re supposed to see if there are, well, actually two that dropped. If only one does, then the vet should not remove any and await the arrival of the other one. I guess the previous vet may have neglected to count first. Or, perhaps, Flash had an extra.

Anyway, it’s odd. And we’ll find out today.

The reason he left was that, well, he was too much dog for two small kids. His attempts at getting affection and play were a bit on the reckless side. And he was clearly jealous of the amount of attention the kids received. I did not think for a minute that he’d intentionally harm my children but that he might do so inadvertently. He was corrected for the behavior yet it continued. And, well, with little ones around, there is no room for mistakes.

So, I delivered him to the nice lady who would be his new home. When I dropped him off, I cried. A lot. It’s a tough thing after you’ve had a dog for seven years. But leave it to Junior to add some levity to the situation. As I was leaving with him, she said So, can we get a kitty now? We’re undecided on the cat. She wants one but me and the Mrs. are not cat people.

Anyway, the Mrs. wanted a new dog. I was wanting to wait a bit. She was pretty insistent on getting a dog. And we know how that goes. We opted for a more docile animal. Meet Flash:

From Home Life

Only had him for a few days. Two and a half (ish) year old Bassett hound. A rescue, of sorts. Talk about extremes. I’m not used to having a dog that lounges around all the time. And in terms of obedience training, he has none.

The sponsor of a proposal to allow dogs at restaurants’ outdoor dining areas has delayed a vote on his bill.

The measure, HB1603, sponsored by Rep. Harry Brooks, a Knoxville Republican, would allow cities with populations of at least 100,000 to allow the practice.

So, those of us in small towns will be discriminated against?

Only a little moment was enough for the following to happen.

From Stuff

From Guav.

Yes, in light of the dramatic increase in face-eating monkey attacks from zero to one (a near infinite increase), congress must do something. I guess a ban on feeding chimps Xanax and giving them booze is too much. It beats gibbon up.

Finally, Time Magazine did a report on why the chimp attacked. Turns out, it’s because it’s a fucking chimp. Gee, domesticated wild animals some times lose it, who knew?

Update: People don’t like the puns? It is a matter of gibbon take.

Shelter Closing! Many Free dogs available to good GOOD homes. 10 are scheduled to be PTS [put to sleep - ed] Monday. Various breeds, some are fully vetted, spayed or neutered. Save a life, adopt one! You can see a list of dogs on petfinders.

80 pound bulldogs make a lot of poo when they have the trots. I’m guessing the kennel fed him something not on the approved list while we were vacationing. He’s also been very gassy since we’ve been back. And we know all about bulldog farts.

For the record, there’s probably no way to get Politically Incorrect Dog to cooperate for that without eating the lipstick.

I definitely see some bully in him.

Over the course of the campaign against Hillary Clinton and now McCain, Obama has elaborated more and more the ideas that would undergird his foreign policy as president. What emerges is a world view that is far from that of a typical liberal, much closer to that of a traditional realist. It is interesting to note that, at least in terms of the historical schools of foreign policy, Obama seems to be the cool conservative and McCain the exuberant idealist.

…snip…

Obama rarely speaks in the moralistic tones of the current Bush administration. He doesn’t divide the world into good and evil even when speaking about terrorism. He sees countries and even extremist groups as complex, motivated by power, greed and fear as much as by pure ideology. His interest in diplomacy seems motivated by the sense that one can probe, learn and possibly divide and influence countries and movements precisely because they are not monoliths. When speaking to me about Islamic extremism, for example, he repeatedly emphasized the diversity within the Islamic world, speaking of Arabs, Persians, Africans, Southeast Asians, Shiites and Sunnis, all of whom have their own interests and agendas.

Obama never uses the soaring language of Bush’s freedom agenda, preferring instead to talk about enhancing people’s economic prospects, civil society and—his key word—”dignity.” He rejects Bush’s obsession with elections and political rights, and argues that people’s aspirations are broader and more basic—including food, shelter, jobs. “Once these aspirations are met,” he told The New York Times’s James Traub, “it opens up space for the kind of democratic regimes we want.” This is a view of democratic development that is slow, organic and incremental, usually held by conservatives.

Obama talks admiringly of men like Dean Acheson, George Kennan and Reinhold Niebuhr, all of whom were imbued with a sense of the limits of idealism and American power to transform the world. “In his view of history, in his respect for tradition, in his skepticism that the world can be changed any way but very, very slowly, Obama is deeply conservative,” wrote Larissa MacFarquhar in her profile of him for The New Yorker. “There are moments when he sounds almost Burkean. He distrusts abstractions, generalizations, extrapolations, projections. It’s not just that he thinks revolutions are unlikely: he values continuity and stability for their own sake, sometimes even more than he values change for the good.”

…snip…

Ironically, the Republicans now seem to be the foreign-policy idealists, labeling countries as either good or evil, refusing to deal with nasty regimes, fixating on spreading democracy throughout the world and refusing to think in more historical and complex ways. “I don’t do nuance,” George W. Bush told many visitors to the White House in the years after 9/11. John McCain has had his differences with Bush, but not on this broad thrust of policy. Indeed it is McCain, the Republican, who has put forward some fanciful plans, arguing that America should establish a “League of Democracies,” expel Russia from the Group of Eight industrialized countries and exclude China from both groups as well.

The whole thing is worth the read. Cross-posted at Lean Left and TennesseeFree.

Random conversation at my house.

We got new neighbors. I met them a bit ago and they have three dogs. They were telling me about their dogs, of which they are quite proud. Seems their dogs are a cross between a Pomeranian and a Chihuahua. I was telling my wife about the dogs and what they were a cross between. But, as I told her, I couldn’t recall what they were called (other than mutt). And then I said: If I were naming them, they’d be called Pomerhuahuas because that’s just fun to say. And Chimeranian, in addition to not being fun to say, sounds like a mythical beast.

Turns out, I was wrong on both counts and they’re called Pomchis.

Seriously though, the dogs had a history of attacking people and it’s owners like that who give the owners of other politically incorrect dogs a bad name.

Senator Kilby thanks all those who have contacted his office to oppose the legislation. He very much appreciates the information that has been shared with him and the fact that our fanciers, enthusiasts, and concerned dog owners did so in a polite and respectful manner.

Cool. We were heard. And hats off to Kilby!

Via Aunt B.

Most people seem unhappy. It’s like Kilby did something stupid or something.

It is an offense for any person to knowingly own a pit bull dog in this state.

And this is awesome:

This act shall take effect July 1, 2008, the public welfare requiring it.

We seem to have gotten along without it thus far. You can contact Tommy and let him know that breed specific legislation is pointless at:

District Address
118 Henry Heidel Lane
Wartburg, TN 37887

Nashville Address
10A Legislative Plaza
Nashville, TN 37243-0212
Phone (615) 741-1449
Fax (615) 253-0237
Staff Contact: Nadine Korby, Jeremy Davis, Research Analyst

Or email him here Sen. Tommy Kilby

The bill would, specifically, ban Politically Incorrect Dog.

Update: The AKC is on it:

It is imperative that Tennessee dog owners contact both their State Senator and State Representative and voice their strong opposition to SB 2738.

To find your Tennessee State Senator, go to the Tennessee General Assembly home page. On the left side of the page, click “Senate”, then click “Members”.

To find your Tennessee State Representative, go to the Tennessee General Assembly home page. On the left side of the page, click “House”, then click “Members”.

Aunt B.:

I don’t know how we ensure this never gets out of committee, but we’ve got to do it. Tell me, folks what can be done and I’ll be at the capitol doing it.

A pit bull stopped five people from robbing a home and may have saved his owners life.

Christopher Payne told Bibb County sheriff’s deputies when a group of people tried to rob him his dog Dino attacked and scared off intruders.

120 pounds is awful big for a pit bull.

Via Ben.

An animal shelter board today refused to recommend changes in Knoxville and Knox County ordinances that would treat pit bull dogs different from other breeds.

Ten members of the board of directors for the Young-Williams Animal Shelter met for more than two hours today to review possible recommended changes in ordinances concerning dogs to city and county legislative bodies. While the board unanimously agreed that the city and county ordinances concerning dogs should be similar, they rejected the concept of a breed specific regulation.

And breed specific laws are generally pointless for a variety of reasons, including:

Some breeds are hard to identify (pit bulls, for instance, refers to a class of dog and not a specific breed)

If a breed is regulated, people will just switch breeds

Pit bulls have a temperament rating similar to a Golden Retriever.

The factors that contribute to dog attacks occur irrespective of breed (see here and here). Those factors are, generally, the reproductive status of the animal (at least Burchett gets that part right); an animal that is not properly restrained; chained animals become defensive; and unsupervised pets and kids.

Update: Turns out, Cali does allow for spaying/neutering based on breed. I forgot about that. Cali still prohibits bans based on breeds, though.

He weeps for he has but one small tongue with which to taste an entire world.

But at King’s arraignment, District Justice Gene Ricciardi put him in jail and set the bond.

“A police dog is a police officer. There is no difference under the law,” Ricciardi tells KDKA.

Well, the law probably wasn’t written with the fact that you’re a fucking retard in mind.

A few nights a week, I go for a bike ride for some exercise. I have one of those carriers so that Junior or The Second can make my ride much harder tag along. Last night, the wife was running errands and I got home before her and the kids. I figured I’d run into them in the subdivision, so I grabbed Junior’s helmet so that if I did run into them, she could ride with me. On my ride, one of the neighbor’s dogs was (as it always is) running loose (midsized mutt probably about 35-40 pounds). And he comes running up to my bike and acting aggressively. He was pretty close and looked as though he’d do what dogs do which is bite the tires. I still haven’t figured out why dogs bite tires. And as he does, the bike kinda weaves out into the main street. So, I kicked him real hard in the face. And he tumbled.

I make a lap and here comes the Mrs. Mobile. I stop and show Junior I brought her helmet and she’s excited about the ride. The Mrs. gets out to strap Junior in and sees the dog in the field by the car leering at us. She says: That dog looks mean. I don’t like him staring at us. And I say: He’s much more agreeable since I kicked him in the face.

If that dog had done that while I had one of the kids on the bike, I’d have been livid. It’s one thing to endanger me (I’m a big boy) but if my kids are threatened, I get a little grumpy.

People, please restrain your dogs. It’s safer for other people and for the dog.

I thought someone was in my house. I told Junior to stay put. Retrieved El Nino* from the safe (whole process took about five seconds). And went upstairs. Politically Incorrect Dog continued his hell-raising, ear-splitting barking. He was staring at the door. I set El Nino down by the banister and looked out the door. Two Jehovah’s Witnesses. At night. Repeatedly knocking and ringing the doorbell where there is a sleeping child. While an obviously angry dog kept barking at them. I guess they’re persistent. I looked at them through the door, shook my head, and walked away. You might get more converts if you weren’t such pricks.

The Second, thankfully, is a sound sleeper and slept through it. Of course, he slept through the alarm one night when I accidentally set it off.

To add to the story, the Mrs. was pulling into the subdivision and noticed the Jehovah’s Witnesses at our door. She did another lap to avoid them. She had the same reaction as I did. Seriously, it was night time you twits.

* Why El Nino? Because at close range, I can put 10 in an eyeball.

This matter seems to warrant some discussion. It involves pit bulls, which have been the subject in a number of cities. I sometimes feel sorry for responsible pit bull breeders and owners who treat their dogs with proper care. These dogs are more aggressive by nature, but so are other breeds.

Sorta yes, mostly no. Dogs commonly referred to as pit bulls (pit bull is not a breed but a class of dogs) have it in their nature to more aggressive to other dogs. They are less inclined to be aggressive toward humans unless such aggression is encouraged in the animal. The dogs have a history in dog fighting (hence their aggression to dogs) and, in a fight, the humans had to maintain control so the dogs were bred to be tolerant of humans.

Also, and I hate to break it to folks, but bully type dogs often make horrible watchdogs. Their curiosity will probably get the better of them (assuming they awake from their slumber) and they’ll often sneak around to investigate things. That’s what my dog does. True story from a friend is that someone was trying to come through the window of his house. The dog, apparently, sat patiently and quietly by the window waiting for the intruder to enter. Once the intruder did enter, there wasn’t a sound other than the intruder trying to get out and cussing because a dog had clamped on his heiny. Said burglar was later caught at a hospital when he was getting his tail stitched up. The dog never barked. Watchdogs alert by barking more than defending their castle with force. A poodle makes a fine watch dog.

My politically incorrect dog is probably scary looking:

And he’s got big gnarly teeth. But watchdog, he is not. That’s what the alarm is for. However, if there was any escalation of violence in my home, rest-assured he’d be there doing his damnedest to put an end to it. I have no doubt he’d take a bullet for anyone in the family but, barring a physical altercation, he’d probably just watch. Anyway, enough of that. A few things of note about the incident:

Unsurprisingly, the dog was an unaltered male (which is the case in most dog bites, particularly fatal ones)

The dog was tethered, which, in addition to being bad pet ownership, also tends to make dogs more aggressive.

Why did the police get so close to the restrained dog? Seems to me it could have been avoided by simply not going near the dog. Other than that, I tend to concur with Aunt B:

If your dog bites a police officer, chances are that your dog is going to get shot. That’s unfortunate, but that’s a fact of life. If you don’t want your dog to get shot by the police or you want to have a credible way to dispute the police officer’s account of what happened, keep your dogs in the house where you can control them and witness the police’s behavior.

Update: Not so fast. Aunt B. says in comments:

Did you notice, though, that there was a brief moment when “pit bulls” had killed that poor guy? The first reports that I saw all said that he’d been killed by “pit bulls” or “pit bull type dogs.” Granted, it only took about a half an hour for everyone to catch on, but dang, that makes me wonder how often we hear “pit bull” attacks that actually end up being other dogs, but the clarification never makes it to the general public.

I used to train such dogs. Great fun. Problematic is the one that bit the handler. Bad dog.

From here, via KDT.

First off, if you feel that chaining a dog to a tree is acceptable and responsible pet ownership, you don’t need to have a dog. Go breed yourself another ugly kid if you need something to tie to a tree.

Conversely, don’t let your dog run loose in the neighborhood. Have a fence or a house dog or don’t have one.

In other news, notice how when a pit bull does some good, the headline mentions it’s a pooch and not a pit bull.

If you reside in the Commonwealth of Virginia, be advised–Big Brother is extending his watch beyond the usual range of monitored activities. Not satisfied with simply tracking the routine stuff: your driving record, tax compliance, payment of child support, etc., Virginia state government is now expanding its purview, creating one of the nation’s first “Dangerous Dogs Registry.”

According to the Associated Press and WAVY-TV in Norfolk, the registry is in its early stages, so you won’t find many dangerous pooches listed–at least, not yet. However, the database is patterned on those established for sex offenders, allowing residents to search for canine threats by location or zip code.

Already in the registry is a dog that bit a bicyclist and another that killed a Persian cat that wandered into the dog’s back yard. Under Virginia’s Dangerous Dog Law (passed by the General Assembly last year), the designation can be applied to any canine if it bites, attacks or causes any type of injury to a person or an animal, provided the dog is not protecting its owner. Police dogs are exempt from the new statute, according to the state’s Chief Veterinarian, Dr. Richard Wilkes.

And if you’re dog is on the list:

Under the new law, owners of dangerous dogs must enter them into the statewide registry; confine the animal to a fenced run or other, secure shelter; obtain at least $100,000 in liability insurance for their property, and place the dog on a leash or muzzle when taking the dog off their property.

This whole area strikes me as a perfect scenario for a law school question. Under what circumstances do the police have a right to shoot dogs? Obviously, they’ll always say that the dogs were attacking, but if the police have invaded private property without a warrant, and the owner of the dogs is given no notice that they were there, how is the dog supposed to know that they were “good guys” and not the bad guys it is their job to protect against? Nothing is more dangerous than police in hot pursuit or police acting under a mistake, as unlike criminals, they’re acting under legal authority, and if you don’t know they are there, anything might happen.

There’s a lot more.

For nearly two years, pet owners from the low-lying Louisiana parish of St. Bernard have accused sheriff’s deputies of having wantonly killed dozens of dogs they forced evacuees to leave behind during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, without regard to the dogs’ size or the potential threat they might pose.

One owner said her family was forced at gunpoint to leave its dog behind. Another owner said residents became frantic when, they said, they overheard one deputy claim that “once everybody’s gone, we’re going to have target practice tonight.” They claim in court papers that deputies were under ” authorization…of their superiors and employers.

Two deputies have already been indicted by a grand jury in New Orleans on charges of felony, aggravated cruelty to animals. The Louisiana attorney general’s office is investigating and this morning lawyers for a group of owners will file a comprehensive complaint in federal court in Louisiana seeking class action status for their clients.

When the shit hits the fan, the law should act like the law and not a bunch of goons.

“Unbelievable” was the reaction from PetPAC today after Members of the California State Assembly voted 41-38 to outlaw the existence of mixed-breed dogs and cats in the Golden State.

Assembly Bill 1634, authored by Los Angeles Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, will allow only select purebred dogs and cats to breed. Pet owners who don’t sterilize their mixed breed pets by four months of age will face a $500 fine and possible criminal penalties.

“This crazy measure will end up costing families heartache and taxpayers billions,” said Bill Hemby, Chairman of PetPAC, an organization dedicated to the rights of pets and owners. “California will be the poster child for an invasive and overreaching government mandate that is impossible to fund, administer or enforce.”

AB 1634 will blanket all 58 counties in California with an expensive forced spay/neuter law that not all shelters want – or need. According to the State of California, dog impounds have fallen 86% over last 30 years. Puppies and kittens are already being transferred between counties to alleviate a shortage of adoptable pets: San Francisco and Marin Counties need to bring pets in from other areas to be adopted locally. In San Diego County – which has no mandatory spay/neuter law – only one adoptable animal was euthanized in 2004-05.

All dogs share about 99% of their genes:

a few distinct differences account for the different breeds. However, some supposedly different breeds have been found to be genetically identical. And some dogs are genetically closer to wolves than other dogs.

And the wolf kept locked in its genome everything that was necessary to make a Pekingese to a Great Dane.

But then given how politicians typically deal with dog issues, I don’t find this sort of stupidity surprising.

Update: And who exactly determines pure breds? There’s only about two dozen registering entities.

How many newspapers have reported the CDC report (from 1998 that’s 10 years old at this point) as a source stating that 32% of reported deaths caused by dogs from 1979-1997 (or most common is the 51% caused by Rottweilers and pit bulls and their mixes). Of those, how many have actually read the entire CDC report that then notes that they find the report to be inconclusive because their stats are subject to breed mis-identification, because they come from newspaper reports that are often biased, that it is unclear how to count statistics by crossbred dogs and even if all of those issues are resolved, the numbers are meaningless without knowing the total numbers of dogs by breed to put them into context?

Read it all.

Thank you for your article about Pit Bull attacks. In almost every article that I have read where percentages involving Pit Bulls are mentioned I never see percentage of the total US canine population Pit Bulls represent. In searching the internet and emailing people who might know, I have received information that Pit Bulls represent 5% to 9.6% of the total US canine population of roughly 55-60 million dogs.The lower percentage of 5% translates to roughly 2 1/2 million Pit Bulls in the US. Other dog breeds involved in fatal dog attacks have dramatically smaller populations. Some breed populations numbers for the US that I did find are as follows:

Rottweilers- 900,000
German Shepherds-780,000
Chows-240,000

In addition to Pit Bulls, these 3 breeds were involved in fatal attacks from 1979-1998 as follows:

Pit Bulls-66
Rottweilers-39
German Shepherds-17
Chows-8

Other breeds of dogs that also caused fatalities were during that same 20 year period were:

Huskys-15
Malamute-12
Doberman Pinchers-9
Saint Bernards-7
Great Danes-7

I was unable to find any reliable population numbers for any the other breeds involved in fatal attacks.

I am unsure if the Chow, Rottweiler and German Shepherd population numbers are accurate but if they are even remotely close, Pit Bull population is 10 times the population of Chows and 2-3 times more than Rottweilers or German Shepherds. If this is the case, would it not be logical to conclude that the actual number of fatal attacks involving a Pit Bull would be higher than other breeds? When I used those populations and divided them by the attacks each breed was involved in, Pit Bulls were last on the list. Chows were number one. The AKC has only registered dogs in their statistics and do not even recognize Pit Bulls to be a specific breed and therefore no numbers on populations were available. I have had a difficult time getting dog populations by breed on the internet. It’s been a frustrating search and I still have not gotten any reliable numbers regarding breeds and their populations. In my opinion, without knowing the true populations of each breed involved in fatal dog attacks, all the statistics and percentages of specific dog breeds involved in these attacks are misleading if not flawed. Do you agree? When I read that Pit Bulls are responsible for 60% of all fatal dog attacks it is the same as finding out that California has more suicides than Rhode Island. Also, are there any web sites that have any information on breeds and population numbers in the US that you are aware of?

I’ve never found any info on that. Trouble with ‘pit bulls’ is that so many different ‘breeds’ are also considered to be ‘pit bulls’. So, the numbers would likely be inflated.

On the outside, I may look like a rat in a dress. But on the inside, I am a killer.

This post at NIT got me to thinking that I ought to talk about dogs again. More importantly, about perceptions of dogs and why dogs aren’t people.

You leave the house for a few minutes to get something. You return to find the roast you left on the counter gone, the dishes in the floor, and a quite content pooch asleep with gravy stains on his face. What happened? Did the dog make a choice to snatch the roast? Or did something in the fiber of his being remind him that he is a scavenger and override the rule you established for him to not jump on counters? Regardless, you shouldn’t have left the roast on the counter.

Or, another made-up example is my dog (here’s a pic for reference). He was bred to be a farm dog and, more specifically, he was bred to hunt hogs and to restrain cattle. Later, his breed was used to create dogs specifically for fighting other dogs. He has the following characteristics:

And that’s genetics. A couple of other facts about my dog in terms of socialization:

Now, if you came to my backyard right now and put a pig in there, what do you think would happen? Give up? I’ll tell you, without me there to direct him, he will kill it. Period. He’s genetically programmed to do that. He’s built to do that. He has a desire to do that. And unless trained to stop, that’s what he will do. It’s never come up because there just aren’t a lot of pigs in suburbia.

When it comes to a fighting dog, the dogs involved in that hideous and repulsive activity have been bred and conditioned to do just that. Period. The dogs are not forced. Dogs do not have a will like we do and they don’t make choices like we do. Pavlov’s dogs did not choose to drool nor did they do so against their will. They were the product of their genetics and conditioning. Dogs fight for a reason and the primary reason is that it often is how they decide who is in charge. That is, for a dog, a natural tendency. Fighting dogs have been conditioned to kill the other dog, which is something that is rare in a dog fight among non-fighting dogs that usually fight until one dog says uncle. But the urge to get into the fight at all is something all dogs have.

Assigning human qualities to dogs is foolish. Dogs are not evil or good. They don’t make bad or good choices. They react to their environment and that can be controlled through conditioning. Dogs are just dogs.

Dogs are animals. Dogs are killers. Dogs are scavengers. Dogs are followers. They are also loving companions and great protectors due to their nature. But never forget that even little fluffy would love to rip the throat out of a rat. Those cute little Dachshunds were bred to kill badgers. Do you realize how tough a badger is? And how tough a small dog would have to be to go toe-to-toe with one? When people forget that dogs are animals to be controlled, it’s dangerous for the people and unfair to the dogs.

Update: Funny story to illustrate. I was camping and Politically Incorrect Dog and I went fishing. He was hanging out (restrained, of course) and I landed about an 8 pound catfish. I pulled it out of the water to remove it from the line. Without so much as a sound or warning, Politically Incorrect Dog was on that fish like Barbie Cummings on a Tennessee State Trooper. He saw something he didn’t recognize, perceived it as either a threat or prey, and reacted. I pulled him off and we had a fish fry.

Update 2: When a bull dog mistakes your couch for a pig. Heh. Speaking of, my dog likes couches too. But as a springboard.

Today, Politically Incorrect dog is five. That means, factoring in dog years, we’re the same age.

State legislators will hold a hearing later this month on whether to outlaw pit bulls, though Walsh said lawmakers hope to look into broader issues regarding dog safety.

State Rep. Vincent Pelone said the state may consider either banning pit bulls outright or requiring owners to get training or a dangerous dog license.

“If you want to own a pit bull, which in my estimation can be the same as owning a weapon, the owner and the dog should receive training,” said the Worcester Democrat.

Breed specific legislation is mostly a waste and I’ve covered this topic quite a bit (see here). You ban one breed and the bad owners just latch on to another. In the 70s, it was German Shepherds. The 80s, it was Dobermans. In the 90s, it was Rottweilers. Now, it’s pit bulls. Trouble is that dogs are practically identical genetically.

Also, there’s this:

“You can’t allow people to be afraid all the time,” said Avril T. Elkort, vice chairwoman of the Canton Board of Selectmen, where a new ordinance limits residents to one pit bull per household, the Herald reported. “It was a public safety issue.”

The correlation between stupid dog laws and stupid gun laws is astounding. Pit bulls are actually bred to be less people aggressive than other breeds because they were bred to fight other dogs. So, it was helpful that the owners be able to end the fights without getting bitten. They do, however, have natural inclination to being dog aggressive. This can me mitigated somewhat by socialization. For example, I trust my dog completely around people and kids. But I do not let him around other dogs. And since I don’t have a new pic, here’s an old one:

The state Senate approved a proposal Wednesday make dog versus hog fights a felony Thursday.

Bill sponsor Sen. Douglas Henry contrasted the hog dog matchups with what he considers to be more fair fights. The 80 year old Henry told 51 year old Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey that a fight between the two lawmakers would be a fair fight.

Henry said the hog dog fights, meanwhile, are stacked against the swine and it was a form of torture.

People convicted of using swine in fights could be sentenced to up to two years in prison under the proposal.

The companion bill is scheduled for a vote in the House Agriculture Committee next week.

As someone familiar with hog hunting (though I don’t actually do it myself – me and politically incorrect dog are lovers and not fighters – get your mind out of the gutter), I wonder if there are actual fights or if this is a ban on training dogs to hunt? Hunters who hunt wild hogs with dogs usually have a captive hog or two that they use to train the dog to hunt with. The dog will be trained to run up to the hog, grab it by its snout or ears and hold it down. I’ve never known of actual hog v. dog fights, per se (which seems to imply gambling like cock and dog fights). Anyone know?

Politically Incorrect Dog has some rather odd idiosyncrasies. One of those is that he is terrified of balloons. If you wish to keep him out of a room, put a balloon in it. Or you can keep him confined by placing balloons in doorways.

In the event he can’t avoid balloons and is in their proximity, he tucks his tail, ears down, and issues a low growl while staring at it. All traits of a spooked pup.

Since we have kids, we’re now buying a lot more balloons than before so he’s having a rough time.

Just find it odd, is all.

In her ten years of existence she [pupster - ed] has escaped 3 or 4 times. I cannot imagine being arrested for such a misdeed. Neither of us have never been arrested for anything. I think this is just a step too far.

I suppose my next step is to ask what problem resulted in the introduction of this bill. And, hey, if dogs then why not cats? They can do damage too. I jest. Just because there is a bad bill does not mean we need to make it worse.

It does seem excessive. But Cats can do damage.

Good.