Saturday, June 09, 2007

Dog Breed Prejudice or Just Sound Wisdom?

I don't spend much time on forums. Although there are some people there who have a lot of knowledge or ask intelligent questions (and it's great to share information with them), there are also people who pose the most ridiculous dog questions that anyone who did a little "thinking through" would figure out.

One particular individual felt that Labs, Goldens, and German Shepherds were always in the spotlight when it came to movies. He was very angry because Beagles weren't. He also felt the Police Force should use them because their sense of smell is better than German Shepherds.

The truth is that we don't need to be making movies where Beagles are the stars ... or any hound dogs, for that matter. I love these dogs, but they make lousy family pets. They are miserable when they don't get to hunt. Imagine not getting to do the one thing you are born to do! That's cruel.

If these dog breeds are promoted in movies, people go out and buy them as house pets, because they think how cute that dog was in the film. Appartently some producers are starting to figure that out.

If you want to make a movie that has hound dogs in it, do one about Search and Rescue Dogs that shows how wonderfully their gifts can be used ... and yet shows them as working dogs, not pets. This would stimulate people to get involved in the training of Search and Rescue Dogs, instead of filling our animal shelters full to overflowing with perfectly beautiful dogs.

When this gentleman stated that Beagles should be used on the Police Force because of their superior sense of smell... Yes, he's right. They do have a better sense of smell than German Shepherds. However, he did not take into consideration the fact that Beagles howl and bawl when they have located that for which they were searching. German Shepherds don't.

Shepherds are silent and unpredictable in their movements against the target. With a Beagle, though, how many lives would be lost simply because of a loud-mouth dog! That's far too high of a risk to take.

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