I expect my family dogs to kill a strange human they don’t know that’s doing something threatening. If my daughter was playing in the yard and a strange human strolled out of the woods on her and advanced towards her, my bulldogs would be defective if they didn’t split the human open if the stranger advanced too close to my daughter.
On the other hand, a dog is also defective when they’re prone to misconstrue human behavior as threatening when it is not. Or alternatively to misconstrue a human as prey when they are not (as bulldogs can be prone to do).
Can I really say a momma dog is defective for aggressively attacking a strange human that picks up her puppy in front of her? I had the intent at that
moment to take the puppy away. I would definitely find it defective if she did that to her master or master’s family. She should tolerate them handling the pups all they want. But I am not her master nor am I an acquaintance.
I agree with you that a person shouldn’t apologize for dangerous animals. People do it all the time. Especially in the bulldog world and as a bulldog lover, I’m always fighting against bulldog owners who excuse dangerous dogs.
In this specific instance, I assume any momma dog will bite a stranger that’s a real or imagined threat to their young. Breed doesn’t matter. They probably should have that instinct. It just didn’t cross either my mind or the breeder’s mind at that moment that having the mother within biting distance of me wasn’t a good idea while I wrangled with the puppy. We were lax. I know better. My daughter got bit in the face and arm by one of my brother’s dogs after she had just whelped a litter. That dog, a blue tick hound, was the most laid back dog in the world. But instincts rule all when offspring are involved.
