General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Pitbulls Used to Be Considered the Perfect "Nanny Dogs" for Children -- [View all]hollysmom
(5,946 posts)I had an extremely gentle border collie. My new neighors were terrified of dogs until they saw her, the father asked me if she could have puppies because mine was the only one he met that didn't scare him since he was attacked by dogs when he was a child.
But there are always special circumstances. I had two young boys take care of my dog after school while I was at work. We were walking one day when we passed the boy's house and outside the house, some o;lder teens were beating on the youngest boy. I could not hold my border collie back, she took off and started barking and nipping at the oldest teen so that he backed off in terror. She never had to bite down, just touch him with her teeth (I checked, there were no marks on the boy). I can just assume that she (the dog) felt maternal toward the boys and no one should hit her boys. no harm was done, but what if the teen had not backed down - it really scared me. I had her since she was a pup and she was not abused or trained to behave this way.