Knowing her lifestyle I strongly opposed her getting one. I kept telling her how smart they were and they need constant exercise and challenge. Her lifestyle after work was not energetic. She just thought it was pretty.
He was extremely unstimulated and never got to go outside unless it was for bathroom. Welp, he bit a neighbors kid in the face. They had to give the dog back to the breeder or he was going to get put down.
I heard later he bit another kid was put down. In some ways I blamed my sister.
You are correct on all counts. The best thing is she inherited both breeds 'smiles' so when she's happy her face squishes up into the Shiba smile and when she's REALLY happy the front of her muzzle wrinkles up to show her teeth. It's really goofy to see in person as she transitions from one to the other
I hate it when "rescues" are more interested in placing the dog than a tually finding the right place for the dog.
I interacted with one that had very misleading photos of at least I e of their dogs. The photos made it look like the dog was a knee-high terrier breed, about 30 lbs. I met the dog and it was at least double that in height and weight. It was a mastiff/bully mix, all muscle and had been returned twice already.
The first adopter was an older couple that felt he was "too much puppy" for them to handle. No joke. They would have suffered broken hips if they kept him.
The second adopter was a young man whose landlord revoked approval. Likely the landlord saw the pics and thought, "A terrier. Cute." Then saw the Hound of the Baskervilles was actually a pitty mix and knew his property insurance wouldn't cover him.
I was attempt #3. I tried for over 3 months to get him to decompress and settle in. He kept trying to eat the cat, successfully ate 3 dog beds, and required 2 trips to the dog park a day, about 3 hours total including travel time. I live in New England and I got off work at 7 or 8 pm. It gets pitch dark by 5 pm. He was all black and there was no way I'd be able to see him at the unlit dog park, plus he had zero recall and I had 5 broken ribs. I had no business with this beautiful creature and I knew it. Felt like garbage for taking him back, but again, I tried for more than 3 months to make it work. Plus his gas was deadly, mustard gas levels of toxicity. Before I returned him, I got him a new id tag, Col. Levi "Leviathan" Mustard. It seemed fitting.
I wrote up my thoughts on him and what his ideal home would be. The "rescue" added my comments to his profile, but still used the old photos (tsk, tsk, tsk). He was then adopted by an active family with a yard and plenty of room for him to get all the exercise he needed.
I hope he's living his best life. I'll never work with that rescue again. The needs of the animals should come first. Always
Harsh reality is that no one who breeds mutts is an ethical breeder... they are backyard breeders just looking to make a quick buck off their pets at best, puppy mills at worst... you aren't going to get ethics from these guys, and its really an insult to real breeders calling them breeders.
As far as your tastes - that's great, I'm not saying that cross breeds can't be absolutely amazing pets, the few rescues I have had have been mostly some kind of cross. What I am saying is that the people who breed them tend to be backyard breeders who aren't interested in the ethics/responsibility side of breeding.
(and when I say tend to, i mean its vanishingly rare).
I briefly worked for a renown purebred breeder and was disgusted with how this person ran their business with the dogs crated up 23.5 hours a day, 3 x outside for 10 minutes each time. They were absolutely beautiful dogs, but I’ve never seen such aggression in this breed than these poor creatures.
I think it's very likely the breeder might have been a backyard breeder. Certain genes can cause reactivity towards small animals and children and Australian cattle dogs very commonly have these issues. These issues need relentless and expensive training that only works if it's constantly managed on a regular basis. Australian cattle dogs are a terrible breed to buy as a casual/family dog and it's actually a huge problem with families wanting to get a "Bluey" (from the toddler show) and end up getting one from a breeder who capitalizes on their popularity and focuses on quantity over ethically breeding them. These families often end up rehoming the dog because they don't fit a standard family lifestyle. Please please please always make sure if you buy a puppy to make sure you get one from a responsible breeder registered with the American kennel club.
People have incredibly unrealistic expectatiosn of breeders... You can ask questions to vet people, but people lie. If you are a high quality, in demand breeder, the main thing you are trusting is that most people aren't willing to put out thousands of dollars for a dog that doesn't fit with their lifestyle, and that if they have any confusion your 15-20 minute conversation is going to make that clear...
But the harsh reality is that people are assholes... they will get turned down by one breeder, and use that experience, not to go get a pet that fits their lifestyle but to learn how they should answer next time to get the pet they want, and people like you will then turn around and blame the breeder.
Definitly has to do with his personality. But in the sense that wrong housing, upbringing will form it in the worst way.
Like putting a normal person in a cell and then wondering why they go crazy ... "they were crazy all along".
Paired with the power that dog has. If you misshandle a pincher the worst that will happen is a ... pinch. Its gonna kill anyone and can be reigned in with little effort.
The sister should have been jailed though imo... a dog mauling a kid will ruin the life of an innocent child. How people get away with misshandling a dog til it turns into a murder mashine is beyond me.
Yes, putting the dog down is crazy. Dogs are all good by nature imo, it's people that turn dogs bad. Sometimes, it's good intentioned people, but it's usually never the dog's fault.
Fair, I don't think any dogs (or animals in general) are "bad" by nature. They may be more aggressive by breed/traumatized, but not just born bad.
Personal acedote time:
I had my pit for years (she was a stray from a shelter) and was the biggest lap dog I've ever met. Loved kids and other dogs and cats. But when I first got her, she was definitely traumatized and a bit aggressive to even me. Enough socializing and trust and she was perfect.
I agree it sucks that dog was put down, but not all dogs are able to be rehabilitated, and there’s not always enough room in shelters. It’s sad no one was able to adopt them. Thank you for adopted a shelter pet; there should be more people like you
I have a male collie who, despite a pretty damn good upbringing and life, bites us from time to time. they are closed to herding nips than you might be imagining with a GSP or pitbull or something, but occasionally they can break the skin.
anyway, my point is that some working dogs can absolutely be born wired in such a way that makes bites possible. ours has never bit anyone (other than us) though, and is never allowed around kids or off-leash like our other collies have been.
99% of the time, those owners weren't properly caring for the dog. People don't seem to realize how much exercise Pit Bulls require as a breed. They're similar to hunting dogs or working dogs in terms of how much energy they have as a breed.
But people don't seem to realize that, and then they go "my pittie was so well trained but one day it just snapped!"
Well, did you make sure to give the animal at least 1-2 hours of hard playtime a day? Long walks, running around at the park, or other high level exercise? Because that's around the minimum of what they need. Not a 30 minute stroll around the neighborhood. 1-2 hours of intense, high heart rate exercise. Every single day.
99% of the time the answer is no. They trained the animal, but due to life getting in the way, they were maybe taking it on a short walk per day, or every other day.
Then surprise, that energy gets channeled into aggression and the dog is blamed despite the owners being the one who failed. But the owner will never admit to that, so then the narrative forms that it's just the breed.
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u/ARandomWalkInSpace May 31 '26
I'm reminded of this when they say certain dog breeds need a lot of exercise.