Dogs have been such familiar associates of human-kind for so long that dog breeds along with dog characteristics and traits have long been used without qualification or footnoted definition in literature and the press to describe humans and human behavior.
Lap dog, attack dog, Pit Bull, guard dog, terrier, are all terms that get dropped into everyday speech describing human behavior without fear of confusion. When Tony Blair was dubbed “Bush’s Poodle” by a disparaging British press, everyone got the reference.
When then Presidential candidate Pat Buchanan was referred to as the “People’s Pit Bull” back in 1996 for his tenacious commitment to populist issues and regular Joe ideals it was a compliment. When Bill Clinton was recently referred to as Hillary’s attack dog that was definitely not a compliment.
So, turning this around, would it be safe to say that any of the 22 Vicktory dogs, that have recently taken up residence at Best Friends, would make someone a good “Bill Clinton”.
The answer is an unequivocal “No!”
What you want in a Bill Clinton is a dog that has some shepherd of the German, Belgian, Dutch or Anatolian variety in them. Shepherds are purpose bred to get the “friend/foe” signal and to have a relatively low human bite inhibition. That’s why military guard dogs are almost all shepherds of one type or another. They are the “point and shoot” animal of choice for police and military work.
When I hear stories about gang bangers keeping Pit Bulls to guard their drug dealing enterprises, I realize how clueless these people are about dogs.
They’ve got a Pat Buchanan running around the yard who looks and sounds tough but who, generally speaking, never met a person they didn’t like! What they really need is a Bill Clinton or two to really sink their teeth into the whole intruder / turf issue. Jeez, even a Tony Blair would be better.