Here's a weird little story. I have a Pem Corgi (2 years old, named Farley) and my finace fell so in love with Corgis that he got a pup from the same breeder, same parents, that he named Oscar. Oscar, from day one, was and still is, a submissive and outrageously sweet little guy.

We took the pup in for his initial visit a couple of days after bringing him home. Since my vet wasn't available, we saw a different one who had a really good repuation.

From the minute the vet walked in, he started telling me about how vicious Corgis are. He said the most vicious breed he'd ever seen was a Corgi and they couldn't be trusted. I had both Corgis with me in the room, Farley was in a happy down stay on the floor next to the table, and Oscar was calmly sitting on the table.

I explained that I was very familiar with Corgis, that I used to train in basic dog obedience and encountered many there, and that I had done massive amounts of research on Corgis before getting one, including visiting many breeders. He couldn't be persuaded. He just kept bashing the breed.

Then, as he went to go look in the 8 week old pup's ears, the pup growed at him! I couldn't believe it! The vet grabbed his cheeks and stared him straight in the eyes and said to me, "See what I mean?"

That was awhile ago. Since then, I have seen NO signs of dominance in him...NONE to ANYONE. He wiggles, he licks, he cuddles with flat ears (Yoda-ears--anyone that has a Corgi will know what I mean. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

We took him in for his one year check up and this time, I made sure we got my regular vet (who incidentally owns the vet hospital). This time, Oscar actually couldn't stop himself from licking the vet, wiggling all over to get to him to lick him some more. Normal behaviour for him, in other words.

So I told my vet about what the other vet has said about Corgis and he said that the first vet was probably talking about a 7 year old Corgi they had to euthanize a few years ago. He said the Corgi had "Sudden Rage Syndrome."

He said that a seemingly normal, happy dog, can just suddenly go mental and attack. He said their eyes will go vacant, and after the attack will seem confused and may even lick the person they just attacked.

He said there are 2 lines in the Corgi breed that are predisposed to it, and that they had to euthanize a Golden for the same reason last year, and that it's more common in Cocker Spanials but any breed can get it. He said they can never be trusted if they have it, and most owners choose to euthanize. Sad, because the dog is usually older when it shows up and by then, a well-loved member of the family, and there is no warning.

He said that the initial vet's first experience with a Corgi was with the vicious one and that it predisposed him to a distrust of the breed, and that 8 week old Oscar likely growled at him because he sensed that!

I told him that I often get sudden rage.

He said, "Of course you do--you're a redhead."

I said, "Yeah, but at least you can't euthanize a redhead."

He said, "It depends on the vet." <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />


So 2 things:

1.) Have you all ever heard of "Sudden Rage Syndrome?"

2.) Have you had any experience with a vet being predisposed to disliking a breed of dog?

Now anytime one of our Corgis is curled up in a cashew shape, sleeping nicely, we say, "Watch out...he's got Sudden Rage!" <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Sorry so long!!

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(Yoda-ears--anyone that has a Corgi will know what I mean. )

Ah yoda ears...you mean something like this picture. (its not a corgi but will a GSD do for show and tell...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v601/urdum2/yoda.jpg

Exactly! The force is strong with that one! <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

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1.) Have you all ever heard of "Sudden Rage Syndrome?" .......
2.) Have you had any experience with a vet being predisposed to disliking a breed of dog? ..........

1. Rage Syndrome is rare. It's not reasonable to assume automatically that even a member of a breed that does exhibit it (rarely), such as ESSs, would be likely to have it, because it's *rare.* You will read and hear people assign that label to aggression, but I believe that they are usually wrong. It's the most unlikely of all reasons for aggression, from everything authoritative I have ever read. It's not certain what the causes are, but most vet-school sites I've read lean towards a serotonin or seizure disorder. JMO, but I researched it pretty carefully a few months ago.

2. Sure. Vets are human beings.

HA, you said, "I often get rage syndrome", right-on, Sista!

I would have flown into such a RAGE with that first idiot Vet that he wudda been scared to death of the "Single White Female" breed for the rest of his life >=(

I don't like or assoicate with people that generalize about other people, dogs or anything except liberal democrats. I sure wouldn't get into any relationship where I had to give them my money. I'd refuse to let that vet see my dogs ever again. He is probably the type of guy to lead the movement to ban bully breeds, GSD, Dobies, Rott's or in your case Corgi's because everyone knows they are ALL bad and dangerous to the community. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

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2. Sure. Vets are human beings.

I just thought that how passionately he was against Corgis was a little uncalled for, considering I already had the dogs...I wasn't asking his opinion on the breed and he went on and on about it, even when I showed that I wasn't receptive. He seemed hell-bent on trying to make me afraid of my dogs!

I know vets are human, but if it were me, I would have tried to temper my personal dislike of a certain breed, unless someone specifically asked me.

Also, I disagree with someone labeling ALL dogs of a certain breed as untrustworthy and vicious...especially a vet who is likely to be in a position to influence people's opinions of a certain breed. I wonder what he says to Pit Bull owners!

He kept saying, "People get Corgis without having any idea how vicious they're capable of being." Kind of insulting to me, as if I'm a moron who just picked a pup on a whim! When I explained all of the research I had done he acted like he hadn't heard me and just kept ranting. Very strange, IMO.

Personally, while I have a great respect for vet's knowledge of the dog's physical aspects, I haven't seen many who take the time to learn much about dog behaviour or training.

I have a friend who's a 3rd year vet student at Tufts Vet Scool and he has only had one small class about dog behaviour unrelated to illness. It only lasted 3 weeks, at one class a week. That's it. He's doing his own research on it because so many people come to vets with those kind of questions, assuming it was a part of their education.

Anyway, we won't be going back to him!

Saying he was a human being is not the same as saying he was GOOD. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I'd never go to him again and I'd probably spread the word about why, too.

This might sound a bit like a generalization, so I'll temper it: So far I personally, in my own personal experience, have never met a vet who knew anything useful about training or canine behavior. So far.

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Saying he was a human being is not the same as saying he was GOOD. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Connie, I know from your previous posts that you wouln't condone that sort of thing! <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I just didn't want him being human to be an excuse, and I now know you didn't think it was! Can you tell that vet still irks me?

As for the Sudden Rage Syndrome...my (good) vet did say that it was very rare. But, what I thought was interesting is that there have been studies to prove that it can be hereditary. Combine that with the fact that it usually doesn't exhibit itself until later in the dog's life...usually after the dog could have been bred. Also, considering that some breeders wouldn't relate an isolated case of SRS in their dog's line to someone purchasing their pups...and then they go on to breed... and viola! We have something that, while rare now, could become more prevelant.

Just an interesting tidbit.

Yeah well, all the more reason why that Vet doesn't know "there are 2 lines of Corgis that are pre-disposed to SRS" -- Wonder if he also believes "there are 2 lines of Dobermans who outgrow their brains & turn on their owners" or "there are 2 lines of Akitas that blah-blah-blah", LOL