Dogs, like people, are individuals, and an animal’s personality has more to do with the outcome of training than the breed.
So said Jeffery O. McCall, a certified dog handler and trainer, who spoke to the McComb Rotary Club Wednesday.
McCall, who operates a dog training and obedience business west of Summit, has more than 13 years experience in the field, including working with both the military and law enforcement.
Mainly answering questions, McCall discussed a variety of breeds but reiterated the importance of individual characteristics in any breed.
However, some breeds are, through genetics, more aggressive than others.
About pit bulldogs, he said they were originally bred as hunting dogs, trained to catch and bring down animals such as hogs.
However, he added, an unstable blood line has been developed for dog fighting, and unstable dogs can’t be trusted not to attack humans or other animals.
Unstable genes or characteristics can lay dormant in some animals, he said, and then be triggered by circumstances.
Saying he doesn’t understand why anyone would want to fight dogs, McCall advises anyone who wants a pit bull as a house dog to buy one in a northern state where laws are more stringent than in Mississippi, and to check out the dog’s background.
Answering a question about the reported use of dogs by government officials in the past to interrogate suspected terrorists, McCall, who has worked for the Department of Defense, was evasive. “Hypothetically, I would think a dog would make an effective interrogation tool,” he said.
