Dog breed descrimination - showing up late un-announced

[MartyW]

Hi to all,

We've been camping with our German Shepherd dog for over 30 years (of course different shepherds along the way and always one at a time). We had always stayed in public / state parks in the past so we were not aware of the breed descrimination issues until we boutht a 34' TT last summer with the hope of doing some extended stay trips during semi-retirement.

We're scheduled to get on the road within the next few weeks and I've worked out some good routes and stops using the many mobil apps and internet, but in the process we've had quite a few CGs tell us that we can't stay with our shepherd. We're speaking mostly of FL for now. I've also heard that in many cases the breed restrictions aren't always inforced, but we haven't tested anyone or any CG on this.

So my question is if we're on a trip and can't make it that day to our planned CG that has accepted our dog in advance, and we pop in un-announced at a CG that has an anti-Shepherd policy (in late afternoon / evening), has anyone seen any of these restrictive CGs allow one of the banned breeds for just a one night overnight stay? We haven't tried this yet but we've been told that it does work in some cases.

Many thanks in advance for your experiences about this.
Marty

[davosfam]

Go Dogs wrote:
'In following this thread, I only have one thing to add. I've been training dogs for a little over 30 years now, and I've got a pretty good read these days for which dogs might possibly be dangerous. My first clue? The owner.'

Samantha, Using the same method, Teachers look at the parents to see which students are going to be a handful!!

Haha! My oldest son was the helpful, sweet student who never did his homework and my youngest son was a little rascal, always getting into trouble but always did his homework. And they had some of the same teachers throughout school. I'm sure the teachers were scratching their heads.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

BCSnob wrote:
I'm not saying all expressions of a genetically linked behavior can be trained out; I'm just saying that dogs can be trained when they are and are not allowed to express these behaviors.

Marking in the house not allowed
Marking a tree outside allowed

"Herding" children not allowed
"Herding" a soccer ball allowed

Mine can discriminate between wild ducks and geese (chase them out of the yard) and the neighbor's "pet" ducks and goose (leave them alone)

[Go_Dogs]

'In following this thread, I only have one thing to add. I've been training dogs for a little over 30 years now, and I've got a pretty good read these days for which dogs might possibly be dangerous. My first clue? The owner.'

Samantha, Using the same method, Teachers look at the parents to see which students are going to be a handful!!

[corgi-traveler]

BCSnob wrote:
We don't condemn our breed of sheep based upon the crazy/undesirable behavior of some sheep; we look at that the family line (nature/genetics) and how it was handled (nurture).

Crazy sheep? You don't happen to have Kathadins, do you? 😉

In following this thread, I only have one thing to add. I've been training dogs for a little over 30 years now, and I've got a pretty good read these days for which dogs might possibly be dangerous. My first clue? The owner.

[BCSnob]

In addition there can be significant temperament/personality differences between family lines within any breed, traits which are genetically controlled.

I even see this in our sheep; I can often tell grandmother and/or great grandmother of a sheep based upon its temperament/personality. We don't condemn our breed of sheep based upon the crazy/undesirable behavior of some sheep; we look at that the family line (nature/genetics) and how it was handled (nurture).

[Go_Dogs]

I volunteer at the local shelter. In order to even put the dog on the adoption floor-they label pit bulls as lab cross, shepherd cross, etc.
My own rescued pit was identified as a boxer cross. When I took her to my vet for the first check-he looked at her shelter card and said, 'You know this is a pit bull, don't you?'. I said I certainly did and if he didn't mind putting boxer cross in the computer, so her vaccination certificates didn't say pit bull. He said, 'I'm not going to argue with the shelter, if they say boxer cross-that's good enough for me.'
So, breed restrictions are ridiculous. IMHO.

[toedtoes]

Exactly!!

The saddest part is that a dog can get labeled as being one of these "dangerous" breeds, get confiscated and put down - without actually being this breed. Yet, a dog who is one of these breeds can be purposely misidentified and and be safe.

So much for the effectiveness of breed bans.

[ljr]

I got some questions many years ago with a mutt of indeterminate ancestory. That was at a private campground. I've only been to one other since.

Stick to state, county and municipal and you won't have a problem.

[dturm]

toedtoes wrote:
I think you missed the point.

If the dog is a rescued mix, then ANY identification of its "breed" is a visual guess - whether done by a vet, rescuer, owner, or city official. It means absolutely nothing in regards to the dog being dangerous or not.

It's amazing the breed identification we get when people first visit with a dog. Rescues and individuals often put breeds and mixes that defy my experiences with breeds. We will often label a mix breed as a labX or goldenX or terrierX when the X is a pit or doberman or shepherd. Taking a vets id is no more accurate that just allowing the public to fill in the blank.

This is one reason why the breed restrictions/laws are a joke. A huge percentage of the named breeds are not included due to bad ID. A law or regulation where people can knowingly avoid it (by merely adopting a position - "my dog is a lab cross") makes no sense.

[toedtoes]

I think you missed the point.

If the dog is a rescued mix, then ANY identification of its "breed" is a visual guess - whether done by a vet, rescuer, owner, or city official. It means absolutely nothing in regards to the dog being dangerous or not.

[4X4Dodger]

The city of Minot and most other localities that have breed restrictions will honor a Vets certificate of breed and or the "papers" from the original breeder of the puppy to prove what breed your dog is.

Get your vet to go on record with what your breed is and get it on the dogs health records...if questioned produce the vets paperwork.

[BCSnob]

I'm not saying all expressions of a genetically linked behavior can be trained out; I'm just saying that dogs can be trained when they are and are not allowed to express these behaviors.

Marking in the house not allowed
Marking a tree outside allowed

"Herding" children not allowed
"Herding" a soccer ball allowed

[Crowe]

Mark, point well taken. I was referring to the more difficult behaviors to overcome but you are absolutely correct. Some pet owners need to be far more willing to take the necessary time to train their animals properly.

[BCSnob]

Crowe wrote:
sometimes inherent traits can be overcome

Inherent traits are overcome by the general public all the time.

Male dogs have an inherent trait to mark and yet most people have no issues knowing how to train their males that marking in their house is an unacceptable expression of the inherent trait. Most people don't just accept "boys will be boys" (in their house); and yet they are willing to accept that herding dogs will nip children and make no effort to train them not to because "herding dogs will herd".

[Crowe]

Pawz, I agree with you that most people should get a dog that is going to be the easiest for them to handle. My point was that sometimes inherent traits can be overcome, but it does take a lot of work. I've had a number of difficult breeds-coonhound, bloodhound, Gordon setter-which I had no problem with. Now I have English Springer spaniels and as long as they are exercised properly (having almost 2 acres of land helps) are EASY.

Toadtoes, you are dead on that directly observing a dog is far more beneficial than just assuming it will behave in a particular manner. A good breeder OR rescue group will match personality with potential owner. We got our bloodhound based on our ability to handle him (including our son who was only 8 at the time) versus other people interested in him.