Do you feel a person should be an expert on a breed...?

nowadays it should be law to have to take a course on proper dog care and learn their breed. so many people get dogs just to say they have one yet dont take the time to raise them right, feed them daily, train etc.... but knowing that will never happen, i think a person should have a general knowledge of dogs and their breed of choice, at least know what they were bred for and things like that.

and for the blue/red/black nose pit bull question, some people i can understand explaining that the nose color has nothing to do with its bloodlines, breed etc. but for the most part when people who own Pit Bulls say that they have a rednose pit understand that nose color is just the nose color nothing more, i say it to other Pit Bull owners to let them get an idea of what my dog looks like if i dont have a pic of them or if they arent with me. like if i was talking to a pit bull owner in the store and they say i have a blue nose "Pit Bull", i can get an idea that they have either a blue/white, blue, blue fawn, blue brindle coat color. its not talking about the breed itself more of the looks, so it annoys me when people on here jump all over some people when they say they have a rednose pit. as for BYB's saying it, no Pit Bull coat color, nose color etc. in Pit Bulls are rare anymore so if someone falls for that, then they are just ignorant to the breed, and shouldnt own one.

only thing that bothers me when it comes to Pit Bulls on here is when they call them American Bully mutts Pit Bulls which are those 120 Lb. "Pit Bulls". that anooys the hell out of me and then when you try to explain they own a mutt and was scammed they want to get all offended. they just dont want to believe they paid $1200 on a mutt i guess.

for the most part when people tell me they have a blue pit bull, the first thing i will think is mutt, because the color blue in a real Pit Bull is very rare, yet you see so many today..and it all started after Dave Wilson started breeding those huge ugly mutts.so i dont count blue as being full Pit Bull.

I'll be the bad guy here:

Yes, I feel a person is ignorant if they refer to the breed of their dog as a Red Nose Pit Bull.

Why? Because it too often means that they bought the dog based on nose colour - a nose colour that's completely irrelevant to the breed at hand. I don't say I have a black nosed greyhound or a red nosed yellow lab, and even that's not an equal comparison. Ignorant People actually believe that there is something special about nose colour in pits.

The secondary issue is that NO good breeder would sell an AmStaff/APBT/Staffy as a "red nose pit". Which means that the person saying it used a BYB, which means they are ignorant.

As far as being educated, yes, they need to be educated. Referring to a chocolate lab as a black lab or a blue AmStaff as a Blue Nose Pitbull (sic) means they haven't done proper homework. In most cases, it means they aren't prepared for the dog. If they can't even refer to the dog correctly. . .

To me, it's like all the 13 year old girls that come on here begging mom for a mini chewaawaa (sic) they saw at the pet store. No clue what they are getting into, but they know that small dogs are "cool" and that's about it. They haven't even done enough homework to know how to spell the dog's name or to know how to refer to the breed.

My calling them ignorant has nothing to do with judging their intelligence. Ignorant simply means uninformed of the issue. Stephen Hawking may be ignorant of how to build a mud hut. It doesn't make him any more or less intelligent.

Although, I will be honest, when I hear red/blue nose pit, I tend to immediately think of bad people buying status symbol and fighting dogs.

I personally prefer that when referring to a "pit bull" that they use the actual breed name. But, that's me. APBT, AmStaff, Staffy, or whatever. A conformation show Staffy is a he77 of a lot different than a working UKC APBT.

I won't even pretend that I knew everything about my dog's breed when I rescued her. But, the rescue organization made sure that I knew quite a bit. And the breeder I worked with when considering a second dog made sure I understood the breed extensively. I even considered AmStaff's for a little while and you can bet that had I contacted the breeder looking for a "red nose pit", she would have never returned my e-mails or would have corrected me immediately.

So does a new owner have to be an expert? No. Should they at least be able to call their dog the right breed name? Yes. This, along with the other things that you mentioned, in addition to basic knowledge about size, breed quirks, proper punishment, lifestyle (not spending 12 hours a day in a crate), grooming, etc.

I don't believe they should be an "expert", but atleast know their own breed. Like APBT's for instance, you cannot imagine how many people i've met that thought a "Blue Nose pit bull" was a type of pit bull. Same for the ridiculous "red nose" crap.

I've also had people come on here thinking that they have a 112lb pit bull not knowing that they a mutt that is overbred and poorly bred. To me, when I say a person is ignorant, that does not mean they are idiotic or stupid, it just means they're uninformed or unaware.

Believe me, a person saying they have a "rednose pit bull" or a "110lb fake pit bull", doesn't do any justice or make it look any better than those pits in shelter.

It is just like saying your dog is a "Chocolate Lab", well reguardless of color, it is still just a Lab.

No, you don't need to be an expert. I am far from an expert.. but I know my breed.

I think I can judge someones intelligence off of more than what they call their dog. But an educated person knows and understands that the color of the nose or anything of that sort has nothing to do with the dog itself. And I can only assume that most of those that call a dog by the color of it's nose think that it is a certain type of breed, and I assume that because I have seen it countless times.

I have seen and know many people who think they know everything, but are very ignorant on the facts and reality of their breed. I say ignorant because they don't know better... they know what they are told, what they have seen. They never actually try to go in depth into the breed and read and study the facts for themselves.You see these idiots out there with the Bullys, the masculine 120lb "Pit bull", when they are nothing of the sort.

When it comes down to it I consider a person uneducated when they refer to their dog by a trait that most idiots assume is an actual breed. I don't call mine a "Cow Pit" because of his markings. or a "black nose pit". How foolish would I sound, honestly? I would sound like an idiot who had no idea what i was talking about.

No, an owner does not need to be an expert on the breed to own it. If that were true, very few people would be owning dogs. As long as you have researched the breed and are aware of typical breed temperament, health problems, and general characteristics, then that is sufficient. However, a person SHOULD be an expert on the breed if they plan on breeding at all, because the only reason a dog should be bred is to improve the line, and in order to do that, a dog would have to prove it's worth through competition.

I don't think you need to be an expert on the breed because it'll take YEARS to become an expert but I definitely think you should have good knowledge on the breed you want. If people knew more about the breed(s) of dog they purchased, I bet there wouldn't be so many dogs in shelters or being thrown away like trash. Some breeds need more obedience then others and some breeds need more exercise than others, etc. You can't go on the cuteness factor.

Also by educating yourself about the breed and breed standard you can try your best to aviod backyard breeders or people who call their dogs rare. In Dachshunds, some breeders like to call the double dapple pattern rare but it is not rare, but instead, a deadly color... double dapples have a chance of being blind, deaf or deformed.

Another thing is if a breeder is breeding more than 2 different breeds, that should raise many questions on their quality. Most good breeders only one MAYBE two.

<<So, what are your thoughts? Do you think it's right to judge someone's intelligence by how they call their dog's breed?>>

Er...no. But I admit that I hate it when people call Siberian Huskies "huskies." The reason I hate it, though, is because a husky is a TYPE of dog. (Just like "retriever" is a type of dog, and doesn't necessarily mean a Labrador.) Any double-coated, northern-breed dog with prick ears and a brush tail is a husky. Back in the early 2000s, when the CDC released its dog-bite report, they listed "husky-type of dog" as one of the top ten-breeds most likely to bite, even though they could only identify two of those "husky-type of dogs" in their statistics as being pure-bred Siberian Huskies. But a "husky" could refer to a Norwegian Elkhound or an Alaskan Malamute or a Greenland Dog or an Eskimo Dog or a Tamaskan Husky or any number of other dogs from the Spitz family. They all have a similiar "look." Temperamentally, Siberians are friendly and gentle, good-natured dogs, with no "guard-dog" instincts. (The other breeds the CDC listed as "most likely to bite" were dogs with strong guard-dog instincts.) However, the CDC report is taken to heart by various homeowners associations or insurance companies. I know when I was looking for an apartment three years ago, I was told by two complexes that they didn't allow Siberians because they were "aggressive." Which they're not. So I think it does Sibes a disservice to be called "huskies." When I'm out with my dog and people ask me, "Is that a husky?" I just reply, "A Siberian, yes." I know I can't educate the world about Siberian qualities or breed characteristics -- or why they may or may not be the right breed for a dog owner -- but that doesn't mean I won't speak up when the occasion presents itself!

I can understand why people feel passionately about a specific breed, and why they feel a need to use the proper, rather than familiar, names for that breed.

Not an "expert", but I do believe they should know the basics of the breed's characteristics, how they behave, how much care they need, how much they shed etc.

Too many people buy a dog and are surprised when:

Their Great Dane or St. Bernard gets too big

Their Basset Hound or Bloodhound drools

Their German Shepherd sheds

Their Husky pulls on the leash

Their Sheltie herds them.

Their Jack Russel is hyper

Their Old English Sheepdog needs lots of grooming

You'd be surprised how many people think "Red-Nose" is a breed of pit bull. Knowing exactly what a "pit bull" is, as compared to an APBT or Staff, is the key to not getting ripped off or ending up with an ill-bred, unhealthy or temperamentally unstable animal.

I guess I'm a bit of a stickler for correct terminology, as I think it's important to communication. Even as first time pet owners, we knew that Labs come in Black, Yellow and Chocolate, and would not have dreamed of saying we had a "Golden" Lab.

People WILL judge you on how well you communicate, and whether the terms you use are correct.

1) I definitely do not think you need to be an "expert" on the dogs breed to be a proper owner. You are right to say as long as you have done research to know the dogs temperament, you can be the judge whether you can care for it or not.

2) I also do not think it is ignorant or unintelligent to call a breed basically whatever you want. People don't call chocolate Labradors that. They call them black labs. Same thing as a blue/red nosed pit.

I think like you said that as long as a person is willing to research the breed and with these strong willed breeds, you have to be very firm with them on a daily basis from when they arrive then you should be fine.

These dogs need lots of discipline. You must show them this all the time. they should be walked every day two or three times and they need play time too. Don't ever give in to them never show fear.

They need to be properly trained. If you feel nervous of how they will react to other dogs or people then you should'nt own one. They will pick up on how you feel.

These dogs can be excellent pets, they are very loving and loyal.