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SDC Talk! Archived
Messages
November 1 to December 6, 2000
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From: IC
Date: 12/6/00
Time: 1:29:04 AM
Remote Name: 24.237.123.109
Bravo John & Mike!! You said exactly what I have been thinking, only in nicer terms. From what I have gathered, the majority of people who read these posts are fairly new to the sport and I think that it is important for them to realize how terrible dog fights can be so that they are more dilligent about trying to avoid them.While it is fairly simple to mold puppies that you have raised yourself; keep in mind that most newcomers are starting out with trained dogs that came from another kennel(perhaps someone elses problem dog) and often from someone who has different training and/or discipline philosphies than the new owner. Often, these dogs know way more than their Newbie owner does about the sport. This situation can be the spawning ground for potential problems: New dogs competing for top dog status and a new musher who isn't quite in control-and the dogs know that. In 1999, a guy with a leased team(that's another issue!)scratched at the beginning of Iditarod because of a dog fight. He said the he "Didn't know dogs could fight like that" and injured himself in the process of saving a dog's life. Perhaps if someone had educated him, he would have known how to handle the situation and/or prevent it. At several different lectures at this years Symposium in Fairbanks, Jeff King talked about the subject of dog fights. He mentioned several times at one lecture that dogs have the tendancy to attack one of their comrades when they are down/injured/sick. This is Natures way of eliminating the weak so that the safety of the pack is not jepardized. He mentioned several problem runs of his own as examples of things that can go wrong on the trail. He once had a dog get caught in a trap on a training run. When it cried out, it's teammates attacked it. Jeff was trying to illistrate that crisises can happen to ANYONE at anytime and we need to be aware of this. He doesn't tolerate fighting in his yard either but the unexpected can and does happen. If anyone can be label "expert", he surely can. While I never got the chance to read the original posts, I find it pretty weird that subjects like the use of whips and culling have been been allowed while a frank discussion on a subject that can prevent injury or death isn't is censured. P.S. I agree with DH. John Wood has some of the nicest mannered dogs that I've trained around. I'm happy to see him help out a newcomer. Hi John!