Quote Originally Posted by RICHARD
No, the dog did not deserve to be shot. But there is enough blame to spread to both parties....
I completely agree. You know how many times I've heard "my dog was in heat in the backyard and a male dog jumped the fence and got to her." So it was the male dog's fault, right? Nope. It's YOUR dog. It's YOUR responsibility to watch the dog. If you do not want your dog to get pregnant, you make sure it's 100% impossible for your dog to get out and another dog to get in. The same goes in any situation. While it was wrong for the dog to be shot, the dog should not have been loose in the first place. Belgians are very athletic dogs -- while my Visa was in Alberta, she was placed in a yard with an 8 foot fence. She jumped it. Luckily the breeder was responsible enough to have been watching through the window the entire time. In French ring (a sport that police dogs are occasionally quite active in), Belgians jump 10 foot fences.

No, I don't think the dog should have been shot. But a Belgian owner, and one that owns a police trained Belgian, of all people, should know that these dogs are not golden retrievers. These are dangerous dogs. These dogs posess a drive like no other and are NOT to be underestimated.
99% of schutzhund trained dogs are in it for the game -- these are stable, well trained dogs. They will not attack unless they see a sleeve, and in their mind, they aren't "attacking." They are playing a game.
Then you get the 1% of schutzhund trained dogs (these are the ones used by police officers) that are serious about their work. They will attack whether or not they see a sleeve. I have seen these dogs in action and have not been impressed by the lack of control that the owners and trainers have over these dogs. I've almost been attacked, my dog has almost been attacked. It's not the dogs' fault -- they were born with an aggression and a drive -- and then they were trained to use it. Visa is one dog that could easily have been used by a police officer. It took alot of training and effort on my part to control her drive and diminish what effects it had over her so that I and others around me could feel safe -- a police officer would have brought her drive up, encouraged it. A Belgian in drive WILL bite their owner and people they know well, if they are in the way. A Belgian's drive is not triggered by something unimportant -- it is triggered by another dog, a child running, an animal moving, etc.

These are not just dogs you can leave in your backyard unattended. I would never speak about another breed with such candor, but I have been around these dogs, I own these dogs, and now I breed these dogs, and I have seen and experienced enough to know that these are not dogs for the average joe, and they need to be properly contained at all times.