One of the dilemmas of owning a dog daycare business is whether
or not to accept dogs commonly categorized as bully breeds. These are
breeds who are prone to dominant, sometimes aggressive behavior because
of the jobs they've been bred to fill. The best known are the Pit Bull
(American Pit Bull Terrier,) the American Staffordshire Terrier and the
Bull Terrier. People often call all three breeds Pit Bulls, or Pitties.
But there are numerous others: Boxers, Bulldogs of all kinds, Bull
Mastiffs, and even Boston Terriers and Pugs. To these I would add three
breeds that were developed largely as guard dogs: Doberman Pinschers,
Rottweilers, and German Shepherds.
The question arises as to
whether to accept these breeds because all of them make gentle, loyal,
affectionate pets, especially when owners pay attention to training and
socialization. Thus, they do show up, requesting daycare on a regular
basis, and business owners have to make decisions about whether to
include them in play groups.
There are several approaches to bully
breeds in the dog daycare business. Some businesses just don't take any
of them. Others take some breeds and not others (Pit Bulls are the most
commonly black listed). Still others evaluate bully breed applicants
and make decisions based on the individual dog.
Finally some dog
daycares will take bully breeds on a trial basis to see how they behave
in active groups of playpals. Business owners arrive at their policies
through their knowledge about and experience with the various breeds,
and there's no commonly accepted practice.
The most difficult part
of not accepting bully breeds, or rejecting them after an evaluation, a
trial day, or even an extended period of daycare is that owners are
often flabbergasted at their dog's report card. I often hear, "He
wouldn't hurt a fly;" and "He's a marshmellow at home!" Owners have
trouble believing our descriptions of their dog's behavior and, if they
do believe us, feel terribly confused. "I trust him with my toddler,"
one woman told me. Some challenge us: "Well, what happened to make him
do that?"
Owners' objections and confusion are completely
understandable, because bully breeds are wonderful pets and even play
well in small groups. Many are used as therapy dogs, or seeing eye dogs
because they will walk away from aggression or provocation from another
dog rather than fight. One on one, I've seen Pits and Boxers simply
ignore aggression from others, just as I've witnessed Bull Dogs allowing
children to maul them mercilessly.
Bully breeds even play peacefully
off leash in dog parks.
So what's the problem in daycare? The
answer is that unlike all other situations, daycare causes dogs to
revert to instinctual behaviors, and those behaviors can and do override
training and socialization. That's because the play groups are really
packs, which cause dogs to revert to their most basic instincts.
If you
breed a dog to fight or to guard or to defend, he or she will eventually
do those things in a pack. Particularly in indoor facilities, where
dogs spend the day enclosed in groups of ten or more, a unique situation
in a pet's life. Behaviors that pet owners never see at home quickly
emerge.
In daycare, hunters can attack older, weaker dogs, which
is why dogs must be separated into groups based on size, temperament and
play style. Fighters will chomp and hold, making it difficult to pry
open their jaws if they've grabbed another dog. Herders will bark, use
their bodies to reposition other dogs, and nip at heels. Terriers will
grab and shake, as if to kill the rodents they were bred to control. Any
breed can in fact revert to the pack behavior of copying the alpha,
which means that if an attendant yells at a dog, other dogs may go after
the one being reprimanded.
The way reversion to pack behavior is
countered in good daycares is that the whole play group knows that
humans are alphas, no exceptions allowed. Human commands must be obeyed
or a dog loses his or her play privileges momentarily. Humans also model
behavior, so gentle handling, safe play, affection, and good will can
become the norm if attendants consistently display such propensities.
But the main rule of dog daycare is that human attendants need to be
trained to know the early signs of aggression and to stop it before it
can escalate. They must also know how to behave as loving, protective,
dominant alphas. In such a situation, dogs of most breeds will play
peacefully and safely, and can be handed over exhausted to grateful
owners in the evening.
My own experience has led me to change my
policies over time. At first I evaluated all comers and took those who
passed. One always wishes to be democratic and see people's pets as
individuals. One wants to believe there are no bad breeds. However, I
began to notice that some dogs who do well during the evaluation change
for the worse in daycare, and these are largely bully breeds and guard
dogs.
Reluctant to eject a dog before trying to correct the problem, I
sometimes continued with dogs that eventually attacked or bit others.
I've also had to accept that every Pit Bull of every variety that I've
ever admitted, started out fine after a great evaluation and became
dangerous to his or her playpals within a couple of months. So now I
don't take Pits at all. I find the hardest thing a business owner has to
do is to tell a customer that after weeks, his or her dog has flunked
out of daycare. Some never forgive you.
With other breeds, my
experience is mixed, so I continue to evaluate them on a one-off basis. I
had a Rottweiler who began snarling at others within a week, while I
hosted a female Rottie for years who was one of the sweetest, most
accepting dogs I've ever met. About a third of the German Shepherds I've
admitted have been ok; the rest get aggressive over time. Boxers vary
greatly for one to the other, so I still evaluate them. I've had
generally bad luck with Dobermans, so, as with Pit Bulls, I don't take
them at all. On the other hand I've never had to refuse or eject a
Boston Terrier, a Rat Terrier or a Pug. All of those tend to rough play,
but are fine if well supervised.
If you own a large bully breed
or guard dog breed and want doggy daycare, my advice is to look for one
where the dogs play in large, open spaces, preferably outside. The space
allows the more submissive dogs to run away, which can dissipate an
attacker's aggression. It also reduces aggression just because there's
more territory. Most important of all, you should ask what the
attendants know about your breed, and what's been that business's
experience with it? It's always best to ask lots of questions when
chosing a dog daycare for your pet, and especially so if you own a bully
breed.
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