Restricted Dog Breeds.

We are new to the RV world. We just bought our first RV this May, but we have rented an RV before. We are looking forward to travelling this wonderful country of ours and seeing its many beautiful sights in our RV with our ROTTWEILER Della. She is such a friendly girl but I understand why some people are afraid of the breed. I have asked a few people from our local dog park where she is a favorite to write a letter describing Della so we can have in a file in the RV. She also has a designation called a CGC (Canine Good Citizen). I have emailed a few places we want to visit this summer who are breed restricted but only one has replied back telling me they have to meet the dog first before allowing us a camp site.
I was wondering if anyone has experienced this and if you have any advice for me. Thanks in advance.

Have I posted this question in the wrong area?

This message board is just fine, but you might need to be a little more patient.

You posted your question at 4.18am PST, when most of us on the west coast were still in bed. Also, be aware that most folks check in once or twice a day and, if they're in transit, that might be the end of the day. Others might not have an internet connection while on the road due to location, while others only check in when they're in the mood.

Personally, I don't know the answer, but we have many members who travel with dogs, and hopefully someone will be along to answer your question.

Thanks Tom.

propertylady57 said:

Have I posted this question in the wrong area?

Click to expand...

No, here is just fine.  Give the rest of the country time to wake up and someone will reply.  We travel with a Schnauzer so have never had any problems with the campgrounds.

We used to travel with a 105 lb German Shepard and only once were we told the CG had a 30 lb limit on pets. We never were asked if the dog was dangerous, only told that he must be kept on a 6' leash and could not be left outside alone. Reasonable rules we felt. I do know some of the fancier resorts now days do restrict the size of the pets and some even have rules about what breeds of dogs they will allow. Like your Rottie, our Shepard was rather intimidating to look at but was very friendly and loving. We now have a Sheltie traveling with us and have never had a problem with a CG since.

Welcome,

Congratulations on your CGC dog.  I had a dog who received his certification also.  However, we lost him last December.  I'm now in the process of training a puppy who will eventually (hopefully) get his CGC award.

We travel about 6 months out of the year with our Standard Poodle.  So when we call to make a reservation we always tell the campground what we have.  Not to discourage you, but 80-90% of the time they ask me what breed he is.  Most campgrounds have told us that if it were a rotweiller, pit bull or chow they would not let us stay....Period...no exceptions.  The main reason is insurance.  Most insurance companies will not cover you, or if they do, will raise your rates if you have any of the above breeds on your property.  It seems a shame to refuse someone insurance coverage because of a particular type of dog; but it does happen.  It happened to my friend also.  She had her homeowners insurance before she bought a Rotweiler and the insurance company dropped her coverage.  She got new coverage; but did not tell the insurance company that she has the dog.  It will probably be a mess if something happens. 

What we found with traveling with our CGC dog, is that nearly everyone we met did not know what the certificate meant.  So I would go through the routine explaination.  That may be what you find when trying to explain the certificate to campground owners.  They won't know what it means. 

I also found out, that the CGC certificate will help "lower" homeowner insurance premiums with certain insurance companies.  So as soon as our "puppy" completes his CGC, I'll be applying for a reduction.  ;D

Good luck,  Hopefully your letter and the CGC award itself will help.  Keep us posted on what you find out so that other dog lovers/owners can learn too.

Marsha~

You know, this is really sad that some breeds are discriminated against.  We have a 100# Black Lab who did bite someone, so he is a dangerous dog, but I bet no campground would bar us from staying there with him.  We take extreme caution and safety measures with him, so he can't hurt someone again. 

My Vet told us that Labs bite quite a bit (maybe not as much as some of the other, more "notorious" breeds); apparently they are quite overbred/inbred right now which may be part of the problem.  Any dog can and probably would bite given the "right" situation, so caution with all dogs should be taken, but i don't think certain breeds should, across the boards, be banned from campgrounds.  Just my 2 cents!

We've seen bans on Rottweilers, Pit Bulls, German Shepherds and Chows. But mostly we see bans on size. We've seen 10-, 15-, 30- and 50-pound limits. When we call or get to a campground, we always tell them we have an 80-pound lab. We have occasionally been turned away because he exceeded their size limit but mostly they just ask that he always be leashed and that we pick up after him.

I understand the breed restrictions because it almost always has to do with a campground's insurance. I don't get the size limit, though. Can't be the poop because the stuff I see that hasn't been picked up is almost always from a small dog. Can't be the barking because 90% of the annoying barking I hear in campgrounds is from small dogs.

How does one go about getting their hairy kid a CGC? Sam never would have qualified but Gordon is training up quite nicely.

Wendy
Cortez CO

Scrappykat,

I trully believe most bad dogs are created....not made.  And if you were cruel to even the kindest dog, it may resort to biting.  Like you I hate that breeds are singled out; but there are statistics that bear the results.  Sad, though.

Wendy,

Any dog (to the best of my memory) can take the CGC test.  It's offered by the AKC and in my area costs $10.00 to take and if you don't pass, the next test try is free.  It consists of 10 stations and the dog must pass all 10 stations to get his CGC.  It's such stuff as:  down/stay, down/stay/come, letting someone else take the dog from you and he doesn't bark or put up a fuss, heel on a loose leash, meeting another person who has a dog with them and sitting quietly while the humans shake hands, not panicking when a large/loud object is dropped behind them, greeting people in wheel chairs or crutches.  There are a couple of others, that I forget at the moment.  I'll get a website for you.  Most training facilities have a series of classes to prepare you for the test.

Charlie (puppy) is somewhat ready, but I'm still using a training collar on him and you can only use a "buckle" collar for the test.  Plus I'm just not a deligent as I was with Remy (the dog we had to put down last Dec).  So, I haven't been practicing as much as I did.  I was really proud that I took Remy through the process.  One of the best things you can do for a dog, is to take them everywhere.  We go into Home Depot, the park, walking through strip malls and even to restrauants to eat out on the patio.  It's so good for them.

Probably more than you wanted to know....

Marsha~

Thank you all for replying to me.
To answer your question Wendy, about how to get a CGC. It is a obedience class (about 6 weeks long). After the completion of the course you and your dog have to do a series of exercises, 10 if I remember correctly, and the dog has to pass each exercise with flying colors. Examples are walking at a heel in a crowd and the dog cannot pay attention to the people. Another is walk at a heel in a crowd with there dogs and your dog cannot pay attention to either people or their dogs. Your dog at a sit and stay while you walk about 20 ft. away. After a couple of minutes you call your dog and they have to come and sit. Just a few exercises they have to do. If your dog does not pass, you can try again at a later time. I enjoy training with my dog and now I want to train her to be a therepy dog. She loves people and she is a very calm dog.
Call some trainers in your area to see if they are certified to be a CGC intructor. Good Luck.

Marsha,
Like I said previously, our dog bit someone, and we are not "bad" dog owners.  Apparently, our dog is wired a little too tight and has anxiety issues.  If he gets stressed out, he will bite (i.e. if someone knocks on our front door, he freaks out, so before we answer the door, we always have to put him behind closed doors).  Thus, I don't agree that ALL biting dogs are "created," some definitely are: by irresponsible, abusive owners, but not all.  We didn't create ours---his brain chemistry did.  We have had (4) other dogs (and two of those dogs were Chow Chows) beside him and none ever bit anyone.  I guess I don't like being blamed for my dog biting when the only thing I had to do with it was not knowing that he was predisposed to biting when stressed out. FWIW, I would have NEVER thought he would bite someone until it happened.

I would think that a lot of the breed and size restrictions are insurance and intimidation related.  Your 200 pound "baby" may be very well behaved but the people in the RV next door don't necessarily believe that and might be uncomfortable, as they might also be with my cage of snakes that are of the non poison variety and have never bitten anyone.

If you don't know the dog, you figure a teacup poodle can't do much damage, but a 120 pound pit bull can kill you.

We have had several English bull terriers (Patton's dog) in the past, a very gentle loving dog. But typically everyone was afraid of them, so we always put them up when we had company.

ScrappyKat,

I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you did anything wrong.  Sometimes, this media can be a problem.  :-[  So, my apologies. 

We had a dauschand female dog that bit someone.  Our dogs had gotten out and some neighbors were trying to help and picked her up....she bit them.  I was just mortified that the dog did that.  Nothing I could have done to prevent it, except to make sure they didn't get out.  She was the kind of dog that didn't like to be picked up.  With us she just squirmed so we would just let her down.  With the neighbors, I think the dog was afraid, so she bit.

I always feel sorry for the dogs that live outside and are chained.  That just breaks my heart.

Marsha

Thanks for this very informative and interesting thread. CGC sounds like a very desirable and advanced certificate. I'd love to train our next dog to do that. (Present ones are pretty old.) How long does training typically take? (Say, for a standard poodle.)

What about a dog that bites because someone reaches over the fence into the yard when the owner is not home? The dog is just doing his job and the person should know better.

It does seem that the restrictions are more insurance and intimidation related, as suggested. I'm a dog person but I do not want a large (or any) loose dog bounding in my direction, whether it is nice or not, because I don't know it. And an uncontrolled dog unintentionally can seriously scare or hurt and old or infirm person. Owner responsibility is the key of course.

Pierat,

I would think for the average dog, it might take a couple of months of training and some maturity on the dogs part.  Along with practice...practice....practice.  As well as exposure to tons of stuff.  The exposure part, they suggest you start when the puppies have had all their shots.  Take them everywhere.

It depends on the dog also.  For my dog, the hardest part was to learn not to go "play" with the other dogs, but to stay focused on you.  Some of that takes maturity.  Most obedience classes help to teach your dog to stay focused.  It took my first dog two obedience classes that were 8 weeks long, one day a week with lots of practice inbetween.  The first set of classes was just basic; the second set was focused on helping the dog/owner learn the skills necessary to pass the CGC.

BTW, there were several older dogs in the classes as well.

Here is the website:  http://www.akc.org/events/cgc/index.cfm

I sure don't know how to answer the question about someone sticking their hand over the fence, then getting bit.  That's similar to a situation we had at a boarding stable where we kept our horses.  Horses will bite and one horse in particular was always biting someone.  The owner wanted to put a sign near the horse to warn people not to put their hands in to pet him.  The Boarding stable said no.  Their insurance company had warned the barn owners that if they put a sign up about biting, then they knew/acknowledged the problem existed and should have moved the horse to a place where people couldn't get to him.  Whereas if no sign existed, ignorance was claimed.  Insurance is a tricky entity.

Having large standard poodles, both of them have been taught "four on the floor".  I don't let them jump up on anyone.  I had an older lady helping me with our horses when we had them on our property.  I held my breath everytime the dog ran out to greet her.  He could have "plowed" her down so fast.

Sorry for the rambling post.  Animals are my love.

Propertylady57 how long did it take for your Roti to get his CGC?

Marsha~

Pierat,
Marsha pretty much has answered your question about how long it takes for your dog to earn its CGC. But the most important statement Marsha made was to "PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE AND TO SOCIALIZE YOUR DOG WITH PEOPLE AND OTHER DOGS OFTEN" We had one woman who had a St. Bernard pup, that was bigger than her, and it was evident that she never practiced with the dog at all. The trainer asked her to leave the class because she had no control over the dog and she was taking up too much of the classes time. Another important fact is after you and your dog earn the CGC, it is not time to stop the practicing. It is an ongoing process if you want your dog to be the best it can be.

Marsha, in answer to your question "How long did it take for my dog to earn her CGC?", I enrolled her in the puppy obedience class first (8 weeks long, one day a week) and after she graduated from that I enrolled her in the next class about a month or two later. I was thinking it was 6 weeks long but like you, we were in another 8 week long class, once a week. In both classes it was a 2 hour long sessions. The same instructor/trainer as the puppy obedience class. It was amazing to see the difference between the dogs whose owners were working with them and the ones who were not. Not everyone passed the class which meant they didn't earn their CGC. It was a fun class. Both of us enjoyed it. When I work with her she is very intent on doing well.

I will say one thing, my Rotti is never off her leash unless we are inside the dog park. When I take her she has to be at a heel when we are walking to the first gate. Once inside the first gate she has to sit and stay while I walk to the inner gate. She has to earn the privilege of going in and playing. Plus she has to be calm before entering the park with all the out of control dogs. All of the dogs are at the inner gate to greet us but she is at a sit away from the inner gate and when all the dogs finally get bored and leave to play I call her to me, she then sits and then that is when I let her inside to play. It is our ritual so now she automatically sits when we go through the first gate. She knows the sooner she does what I want the sooner she can go play with her friends.  ;D