Monday, October 27, 2008

"There are no good dogs or bad dogs, just dogs."

This is from an anonymous comment on an excellent and very kind blog post by Granny regarding Brindi:

... I cannot fathom why this case has not been resolved. As a member of an SPCA outside the province, I can attest that we get plenty of dogs just like Brindi. Dogs that were not socialized with other animals, dogs that were not spayed/neutered until we got 'em. Dogs that have had a tough life. Many have dogs they don't like but are fine with some others (often with no rhyme or reason to us humans), some don't really like any other dogs. With patience and training, many will learn, but it doesn't happen overnight and it sounds like in the short time Francesca had Brindi, the dog had already made progress. I believe that Francesca and Brindi deserve that chance.

As much as we'd like to think we progress, sometimes it seems in ways we are going backward. When I was a child, cases like this were settled among neighbours. If your dog got in fight with another dog, you felt shitty about it, apologized to each other, settled up and it was over. People just knew it was a dog being a dog and didn't take it as a personal affront to themselves. Too many people anthromorphize and expect dogs to act and reason like people. If people could understand there are no good dogs, no bad dogs, just dogs.

October 25, 2008 2:44 PM

The last paragraph sums up my exact feeling dating from the first time Brindi was reported, since in each instance I did my best to act as she describes.