Daily Blague

I have no problem with freedom per se, what I have a problem with is freedom without responsibility. In the context of dog ownership, this means the responsibility to raise a dog that is treated humanely and trained appropriately. In my experience, the breeds thought of as vicious aren't inherently so (various of my siblings have, at various times, owned a pit bull/doberman cross, a rottweiler, a doberman and a german shepherd mix, all of which would lick one to death before biting). But all of those dogs were trained and socialized to mix--amicably--with other dogs and people. Again, in my experience, the problem is not with the dog, rather with the owner. One of the nastiest dogs I've ever met was a golden lab (generally considered the ideal family pet and, at last report, the number one breed registered by the AKC), whose owner left him alone for hours on end in a 1200 square foot apartment with the occasional walk when it didn't interfere with his (the owner's) social schedule. I have another quibble with the Virginia dog registry (which may be incorrect, as I don't think the NYT article provided all the facts): namely, what are the circumstances under which a dog must be listed on the registry? I once owned a dog that went after (but fortunately, for the dog, didn't catch) a neighbor's child. The reason: the child was throwing lit firecrackers at the dog. There are usually two sides to every story.