Spoken like a childless person... you DON'T understand.
It's not bashing people who don't have kids. It's that one has to admit that they don't understand the bond between a mother and her children and how that is a very unique and powerful thing. There is no explanation. A person has to experience it...
Wow. You guys are very sensitive. You defend a dog to the death but not a child that could potentially get mauled....
I have two children. I teach children, have for 19 years. I’m pretty sure I do understand the mother child bond.
It is because I am a mother that I would not automatically go out and kill a dog for laying a tooth on a child of mine.
Because I am a mother, I know how much my children adore our dogs, and I know how distressing it would feel to them to think they might have contributed to said dog’s death.
Because I am a mother, I want my children to learn dog signals, and know how to protect themselves in homes with dogs who may not be as well behaved and trusting as ours.
Because I am a mother I want my children to be respectful of ALL creatures, including dogs. Harassing a dog until she bites is not respectful. Invading a dog’s space who is trying to eat or sleep or relax is not respectful. My children know - because they have been taught - that respect is a two way street that has NOTHING to do with fear of consequences, and everything to do with an earned esteem.
Because I am a mother, I would never want my children to witness me or my husband exacting capricious, vengeful punishment on a dog; lest they conclude that is an acceptable way to treat any less powerful, dependent that we have chosen to include in our lives. Or worse, lest they internalize that they might be next.
Because I am a mother, I would rather take an opportunity to teach my children about empathy, compassion, and forgiveness than revenge.
Make no mistake, killing a dog who defended his food is not about protecting your family. It is revenge. And no lesson I would ever deliberately teach my children.
Protecting your family means not allowing a baby to toddle up to a dog who has known guarding issues. Not killing the dog for what amounts to normal dog behavior.
Rubygirl, I do understand where you are coming from. It is the same mentality I am surrounded by day in and day out, and it is deeply entrenched in some cultures in this country.
However, I haven’t agreed with it in the 17 years I have lived here, and your arguments on this thread are nothing new to me. Nor have they even remotely swayed me. I see what kids who grow up with this mentality grow in to, and I want no part of that for my own kids.