Arkansas Blog

...lacking a rational way to handle the influx...

I'm happy to hear that there WAS an influx! That's great. Everyone (almost everyone) loves pets,and most pets love us back! (I'd speculate that the dog hater's attitude comes though clearly to dogs, who probably don't like him.)

I was planning to get a photo this afternoon of our new Scottie puppy reading the Arkansas Times, but will hold off. (At least I think he was reading it. He was squatting over it for some reason.)

A note to the blogger: don't ever ask if anybody has photos of grandchildren they'd like to share!

I did a Google search, thousands of stories surfaced about dogs that attack people viciously. Just check out this example:

http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1084&id=2343652005

To Why Dogs Suck --

Why don't you google "animal abuse" (or talk to someone at your local Humane Society)? Undoubtedly the dogs are just fighting back against people like you.

My little dog and I were attacked by a pit bull in April. I blame the stupid owners who kept it on a chain - all but that one day - and physically fought with it, then lied to the police and hid it from the shelter workers, not the dog.

both my dog and I are lucky that we're still here. Very scary.

so yes there are vicious dogs, but I still love dogs. These nasty posts prove that there is no shortage of vicious people, either.

Emmaline is gorgeous.

To Why Dogs Suck --

Why don't you google "animal abuse" (or talk to someone at your local Humane Society)? Undoubtedly the dogs are just fighting back against people like you.

AMEN! There are no 'bad' dogs...only human assholes who inflict their miserable lives onto dogs...and the rest of us.

It's life affirming to see so many responses to our universal love of dogs...it warms my heart!

Yes, Emmaline is gorgeous!...as were the other dogs! I had a dog named Sugar that was a smaller version of Emmaline. She was the most loyal dog I've ever had.

I would, however, like to see the photo of the chicken that displaced the dog...what a quintessential Arkansas photo!

My biases are going to show but here goes.
Some thirty or more years ago, my vet called me a while after we had to put our dog to sleep, saying he had a beautiful German Shepherd someone brought in as a vicious animal. It had attacked a child in the family. The vet described the incident as one in which the boy had kicked the dog and backed it into a corner while hitting it with a stick. He had known the dog since it was a puppy and didn't think it was mean. He wondered if I would like to see it. Since the dog seemed so loving, I decided to adopt it, although with some trepidation. We had this sweet animal for more than 12 years and never had a problem with him. In fact, he was quite tolerant of small scratching, pecking, tugging creatures, including children when we finally decided we could trust him around younger family members.
More recently, a family with two preschool-age boys moved in nearby. One morning I was awakened by my sweet, wouldn't-hurt-fly, loves-everybody Doberman sounding vicious. I looked out the window to see one kiddie beating at the fortunately substantial fence at the back of our yard with a plastic sword and the other squirting the dobie with a watergun.
After calling the dog, sending kiddies to their home more than block away and getting dressed, I went over and found mom still in bed and, although irritated at being awakened, not concerned that her kiddies were roaming the neighborhood freely.
Can you guess what my biases are?
And as an addendum, I will admit to having a vicious dog for many years, one which I didn't really trust around anybody without careful monitering. He was a small -- less that 15 pounds -- Heinz 57 variety which hopped unbidden into my car on a hot parking lot. When I couldn't find his owner, I brought him home. He was terrified of everything, including grass. I can't imagine what kind of life he had led before he adopted me. He never did chill out.
Ok, I guess I've overdone the dog stories.
Good thing for you Max that I'm not a camera person. I guessed you'd be inundated when you asked for photos of our pups.

What kind of dog is Emmaline? Wheaten terrier is all my poor brain can come up with and I dont think that's right.
My dog is a wire-haired dachshund mix. I love him dearly, and i miss my Lab and all our other dogs every single day.
I think those kids who teased your Dobie are my neighbors now........

ARK. BLOG wheaten terrier she is.

The Nazi neighbor finally moved. Prayers were answered. He threw BIG rocks at my ancient 6 pound Pom because the dog was barking. Please note: this is an INSIDE dog who only ventures out to do his business and "talk" to the neighbors - if they are out. When confronted with his abyssmal behavior, he replied, "MY children are afraid of dogs." Well, HIS kids would beg to play with the ancient pom and come into my home to do so. I loved it when his son replied, " Dad. We play with Sid all the time. We aren't afraid of him." Mean man. Wonder what he does to his wife and kids????????

I suspect that the way a person treats and feels about dogs is a pretty close reflection of how he treats and feels about humans. It must be sad to be so miserable.

There is clear, established historical evidence showing that dogs are a sign of the devil. It is believed that when when the Antichrist comes to earth he will be protected by dogs.

Therefore, it is the child of a dog owner who will become the son of the devil. Those who shepard dogs are evil followers of the dark.

I think I've told this story before, but what the heck. About 15 years ago I knew a woman who was severely manic-depressive. On her good days she was a wonderful human being, on her bad days she was a zombie.

Poor thing, it wasn't her fault and I did what I could to help her out, though at times she was far beyond my help. She had been institutionalized many times and after a year of rocky freedom it was time for her to go away again. A mutual friend was her lawyer and he mentioned to me that she had a dog and no place for him to go when she went back to Benton.

Being the dog lover and woman lover that I am, I volunteered to take the dog home with me. I wish I had a picture because it was about the most beautiful animal I've ever laid eyes on. Large and built like a collie, the dog had long luxurious almost auburn hair and black eyes like a wolf.

Anyway, Houston we have a problem. The lady had named the dog Jesus and Jesus was the only name the dog would answer to. We tried calling him Jeezer and Gees, but he'd pay no attention to any other name. Also, the dog was every bit as insane as it's former owner. Loving one minute, vicious the next for no apparent reason. He was also a 110 dog, running on 220.

And sure enough one early Easter morning Jesus got loose and was running in and out of the Baptist traffic trying to park 20 feet from my home. With shorts and no shirt it was obvious to all the dressed up Baptists that the crazy man chasing the crazy dog was not one of the elect, not one washed in the blood as they say.

I spent 10 minutes running around screaming JESUS JESUS JESUS in an effort to get close enough to the dog to pull him out of harms way. By the time Jesus was tired of the chase I was screaming goddamn it Jesus, which really didn't go over with the church crowd. It may have been my most embarrassing moment.

The next week I traded Jesus the dog for 2 sick cats. Jesus went on to terrorize his new neighborhood and after biting the 3rd neighbor as she bent to weed her flowers, the new owner had Jesus put to sleep. Not crucified, just put to sleep for the safety of all. It still makes me sad but there was nothing else to do.

I thought I'd throw in this story to provide some middle ground between the dog lovers and the dog haters on this blog. The moral to the story if there is one, is never take in an animal raised by a crazy person and never name your dog after a higher power if you live anywhere close to a Baptist church. Happy 4th of July.

I had a cute Beagle, great dog for 5 years. Then, one day it savagely attacked an eight year old girl who was playing with it. The girl got away but I saw the whole incident. It was horrible, the girl was behaving so nicely and the dog just snapped.

I talked to a few dog expert after this incident. I was told dog are basically wild animals and can never be trusted. They cannot be domesticated and should never be allowed around children. I have nightmares every night since the incident and haven't slept through the night for 5 years. The poor girl will have a scar on her face for life. Should we really risk the life of even one child for a dog???

If there is clear established evidence that dogs are the devil then Im Eleanor Roosevelt.

You might want to start taking those medications again.

most dogs dont bite or attack kids. im sorry that happened with your beagle, but i have to disagree that dogs are wild animals that cant be trusted. It's not the dogs that aren't responsible, its the people.

dbi - youre hilarious.

I love dogs, but I will caution people not to allow their children to be around dogs withour supervision.
My daughter was 2 years old when a neighbor's German Shepherd wandered into our yeard, attacked her, and had it not been for her dad literally beating the dog off of her, she probably would have been killed. She spent 3 days in the hospital and had over 100 stitches, mostly in her face, head, throat, arms, and chest.
We found out 3 years later (after we moved) that the dog we thought the neighbors had destroyed after the incident was running freely again. They had kept it in their basement. How did we find out? Yeah, you guessed it - the dog had attacked another kid, a 7 year old, who died.
So love your pets, but PLEASE do not allow them to run free and never leave a child alone with a dog.

I'm one of those who doesn't get along with dogs. But the way I see it is that irresponsible dog owners who are the problem. After all, the dog is an animal incapable of understanding our legal systems.

Allowing a dog to run free or irresponsible use of kite string leashes only further divides dog owners from the non-dog-owners like myself. Thus dog haters will get more militant, as well as create a public hazard.

But some dog owners want to push the envelope by lobbying for parks where you don't need a leash or complain if a cop dares issue tickets. (this happened in Chicago) Give them a millimeter, and they take a kilometer.

An uncontrolled pit bull kills someone, and next thing you know dog owners close ranks fighting against any law to regulate owners (say, mandatory insurance) or breeds (pit bull bans). They are like the NRA and any attempt at gun control.

Like gun owners, there are lots of responsible dog owners - but only a few are required to ruin it for the rest. Please police yourselves.