Why do people keep mean, agressive dogs? What is the point?

This is a question I’ve been asking for years. Surely it can’t just be for protection.

I have the same problem, though not as bad as yours. The two big dogs next door hurl themselves at the fence whenever I go into my front or back yard and bark on and on at the slighest sound, even the raising of my window upstairs. One time they dug under the shared back fence, raced up to my back door (which is glass) and barked and snapped at me until his owner could retrieve them. I’ve never talked to that “neighbor” since.

I think they think they’re announcing to the world “Hey don’t mess with me! I got dogs!” Which is stupid. Any dog will protect his or her people…..except maybe those mean dogs that the owners have encouraged to be aggressive and mean. Those kinds of dogs may just as easily turn on the family, and it’s happened before.

My Dakota…if anyone broke in, she’s so quiet, like a ghost, they wouldn’t know she was there till she had them down.

Aggressive breeds were made to do jobs, like bring down big cats to protect cattle. We have turned them into the guard dogs of suburbia where they were never meant to be. It’s always the humans fault, not the dog’s, place the blame appropriately.

By the way, my pitbulls and other people’s pit bulls, rotties, etc…are babies in the home and with their family’s, that’s why being an owner of an aggressive breed should only be taken on if you’re smart and responsible. Which obviously your neighbors are not.

My question is Why do some people keep mean and aggressive dogs?
The question is not “Why are some dogs mean and aggressive?”

I’m not blaming the dogs @KNOWITALL. I put the full blame on the owners. But if their dog got out and attacked one of my kids, the dog would be the one to die. And that would be the owner’s fault too.

I have no idea what breed my back door neighbor’s dogs are. The ones across the street were some sort of hound dog/lab mix from what I could tell.

My Dakota is technically an “aggressive breed.” But if she showed that kind of unwarranted and blind, mindless aggression I would get rid of her. Why do some people insist on keeping those kinds of dogs?

The answer is simple. They are SOB’s.

Status symbol for pinhead chavs,

Yup ^^^

They are in denial and ignoring the facts of their dogs overly aggressive behaviors. I had a dog I chose to euthanize years ago when my daughter was small as he was unpredictable, bit my ex brother in law on the hand, bit me, and growled at kids. He was raised and socialized well, loved, never abused, I put him in puppy and obedience classes, exercised him diligently but he was just a mental case. After two bites of moderate injury, we choose to put him down.

I was heartbroken and felt like the mother of a serial killer, but…no way could I deny the risk of keeping that dog nor the good conscience of trying to give him away with his issues. To keep unpredictable dogs is to play with fire. I never could have lived with myself if my dog ripped the face off of a child. Forget it, and that’s me, the animal lover of the planet, but….can’t risk being stupid about a dangerous dog.

@KNOWITALL Great answer! I couldn’t agree with you more. My Rottweiler was a princess. I miss her terribly. When I got divorced, I couldn’t take her with my, so my ex has her. She doesn’t have a mean bone in her body.

Here is an example of a stupid dog owner. My ex boyfriend’s brother had a bull mastiff. He was having a party and he and a few others thought maybe it would be funny to get the dog drunk, so they kept giving it beer. The dog ended up damn near biting my ex’s son’s face off. The little boy was about 6 at the time and wanted to play with the dog, like he’d done numerous times before. The dog turned around and lunged at this poor kid.
He lived, but he has some pretty brutal scaring which will be with him for the rest of his life.
It’s so sad, he’s such a sweet little boy. The very first time he meets somebody new he feels like he has to explain why his face is all scarred up.

Yes @KNOWITALL It was partly my fault.
My dog was a Coonhound, a cross between a Plott and Walker Hound. They are usually of good nature, goofy, but need massive amounts of exercise. My dog could run for miles and miles, swim, chase sticks and balls and still have energy to burn after hours of hiking, running, etc. Thing was, it was the Plott hound blood in him, Walker Hounds are very sweet tempered, but…the Plott breed I found out are often very aggressive, they are used to hunt bear and big cats and boar.

They are tenacious, strong willed and very aggressive hunting hounds. Sadly my dog not only had that genetic factor going but, he was also just so high strung that I think he was mentally unbalanced.
A sad lesson learned, no more crazy Coonhounds. lol

My daughter’s dog was only very occasionally being aggressive toward other dogs and certain individuals, so she consulted with a “canine therapist” (who knew ?).

After a 30-minute discussion, the therapist made some helpful suggestions, but after that said:

“And of course, it could be that he’s just an asshole….”

I had to put a dog down because of that too. My husband had gotten him from one of his co-workers and he had been abused. Locked in a dog run. And for fun, they’d turn the hose on him. The only exercise he got was throwing his dog bowl around with his nose. I was never comfortable with the dog. He didn’t do anything overt, it was just a feeling.
Then about 6 months after we got him he jumped on my couch. I told him to get down and go outside. He just looked at me, so I gripped his collar to help him down. He snapped at me. I just reacted….I slapped that dog across the head as hard as I could. I played competitive co-ed volleyball at the time and my serve was a killer. This was more of an open hand punch than a slap.
He got off the couch and moved to the door and stopped. I went to push him outside and he snapped at me again. I shoved him out the door with my foot on his butt and called animal control.
It was sad, because I think he was a good dog at heart, but I was relived too.

Knock on door…

“Hi, I’m your neighbor. My children are terrified of your dogs. They prevent them from doing their chores. I’m terrified for my children because of your dogs. What can we do to change this? I’d like to work this out with you before calling authorities.”

—-sits on porch with night scope pellet gun and poisoned tenderloin waiting for response.—-

I agree with @Coloma. Denial is one big reason.

Then there is a group of people who want aggressive dogs specifically, I am not saying they want aggressive breeds, I mean they want aggressive dogs and so they tend to choose aggressive breeds, but with any breed that type of owner would fail to even try to curb their dogs behavior. My assumption is many of these dog owners often are aggressive people themselves and the dogs mirror the personality of the owner.

I even complain about dog owners whose dogs are not dangerously aggressive, but let their dogs come right up to me, sniff me, jump on me. Get your dog away from me. Dog owners seem to think everyone will be just fine with their dogs.

I like the way this RealEyes guy thinks…

I think it’s a low self-esteem issue. A bit like driving a huge SUV only in urban regions.

^^Known in London as “Chelsea Tractors”

@Dutchess_III There is nothing wrong with owning aggressive breeds and I resent the implications here that someone owning an aggressive breed has low self-esteem or are aggressive themselves, that is so ignorant.

I’ve rescued a bird and dogs, and I myself am not breed discriminatory, I choose to judge them on their individual personalities as we should.

A purebred teacup chihuahua bit my friends face and almost tore her septum apart. A Dalmation bit my head once. We’ve all got stories that do not involve the ‘terror-inducing’ breeds.

I suggest you take @RealEyesRealizeRealLies advice and communicate with them before someone gets hurt.

@KNOWITALL I’ve said it 3 times now. I have not used the words “Aggressive breed” once in either of my posts on this. I said “Aggressive dogs.” I have no idea what breed of dog my neighbor’s dogs are. I just know that they are threatening dogs.

As a German Shepherd my Dakota could be considered an “Aggressive breed.” I believe I said that 3 times so far too. She was also a rescue dog.

I have done as @RealEyesRealizeRealLies said, twice, but as @JLeslie said, the dog’s personalities mirrored the owner’s personality. Without fail they were stupid, defensive, blamed us, and were forever after shooting dirty “threatening” looks our way until they finally got evicted because they were losers.

You seem to think that gentle reason works across the board. I used to think so too, but it doesn’t.

The sad part is that it might take one of these dogs escaping and injuring a child or other pet before something is done. Even if you have some recourse, Dutchess, the damage to child or pet may be done.

I would talk to the local Animal Control officer or even the Mayor of the town. Explain the problem to them.

I know @jca. Isn’t that how it works though? Common sense tells you there is possible danger, but they can’t DO anything until that danger comes to pass. Sucks.
We have talked to various authorities at various times, but nothing has been done. Maybe the neighborhood could start sending anonymous letters to the perps. Maybe post something in the editorial section of the paper.

@JLeslie I agree, so many people expect you to find their dog adorable and allow them to get in your face. A few weeks ago I took my fluffy cat to the groomer for his summer shave job and he was in his carrier next to me on the floor waiting when this dingy older lady comes out with her stupid little fru fru dog on a leash after his grooming. My cat is very easy going but he is not used to being around dogs.

I always stay with him/assist the groomer while he is being shaved. This women just lets her stupid little dog jump all over me, jump around and put his face right up to my cat in his carrier and upset him, AND…this goes on for about 10 minutes while she babbles on about her little precious dog. OMG! I finally told her to please keep the dog away from my cats carrier because he was stressed out and she got all offended!

Moron! lol

I hate fru fru dogs!! We took Dakota and Dutchess to the vet once. We took Dutchess in first. All the other dogs started barking and yelping. Then Dakota walked in and they all shut up. That’s all she did. Walk in! Didn’t even look at them, but they all shut up.

The dogs become mean and aggressive because the owners fail to train and socialise them properly and encourage them to be aggressive through either neglect or abuse.

Or they actively train them to be aggressive. But a lot does depend on the dog’s personality. The guy who owned Dakota originally tried and tried to get her to be aggressive. He paid $650 for her as a puppy because she came from a long line of aggressive attack dogs, but she was a hopeless, gentle pacifist so he “got rid” of her, which is how we got her.

@Dutchess_III It’s my understanding that actively training a dog to be aggressive almost always involves abuse of some kind. (Note that I do not include such things as training a police or military attack-dog here. I’m talking more about the snarling hurling-at-the-fence type that is described in the OP).

Yes, I’m sure it did involve abuse. Her owner was an asshole. We had her at the lake once and the flies were thick. Tried to spray her with Off, and she ran away. She was really frightened of it. It made me wonder if he’d maced her. I don’t know what all he may have done. It’s a miracle she came out of it with her personality intact.
I will say this, though, she was REALLY well trained.

When Rick picked her up from the guy he brought her to our shop. She went into my office and stayed there. My son came in later but didn’t see me behind the counter at the back of the shop and he had no idea we had just scored a dog. He just took an immediate right to go in my office. He did an immediate about face and came out of my office. He saw me and said, “Did you know there is wolf in your office?” It was SO funny!

@Dutchess_III wow, she is just beautiful.

She is! Intelligent too, boy. I can’t believe our good fortune. Better than a gun any day.

@Coloma I would have lasted maybe 60 seconds before I said something. I usually within probably 20 seconds tell people I am not a dog person, hoping they get the hint. If they don’t I tell them straight out to please get their dog away from me.