[Seth]

I agree with the establishing dominance way of creating a functional owner-pet relationship. It's just been my personal experience with countless dogs that when an owner is firm about their 'rules' then the dog understands not to be a little devil. I want to get a dog, hone the responsible side...but when I do it definitely is going to involve a lot of work on my part to train it properly. I want my dog to bark when appropriate, and behave on command.

Speaking of chokechains, what about physically disciplining children? I'm not completely convinced either way, but I think it will be difficult to raise a child who 'knows' that they can get away with bratness. There was a cbc radio interview with a lady from Sweden who says that since spanking laws, children have been taught by the school and elsewhere to tell an 'authority' if their parents have spanked them. --parents are subject to jail time and whatnot. Seems like a crazy amount of leverage for a 1st grader to have....assuming that spanking is this archaic and stunting form of discipline...
When a kid is soooo young, but not too young to know they're doing something bad, I think a spanking isn't totally out of the picture. It's tough though because there's so much physical abuse against children.

What are your thoughts on pitbulls? My buddy on van island had a pure breed(small!) and it was the nicest dog ever. Pitbull ownership has been an issue in Ontario for the last few years. Not sure about dog ownership laws in the states, regarding 'fighting breeds'. I've also wondered about whether I should get two puppies at once or raise one dog through maturity first. ?