Dogs

[Alison556]

Id like an 'ard dog'...Staff, bulldog...pit bull...something like that who I can call Tyson..

Nice big thick chain..

He would look soooooooooooo good in the back of my ten year old Subaru Impreza with the four kids and a bleach blonde wife with love bites spelling out the dogs name on her neck.

Not that im generalising..

And this is the whole problem with certain dog breeds - you get idiots who use them as some kind of status symbol and you get others people generalising because of the idiots that give the poor dog a bad name.

I have my breed of dog purely because of the size (not too big and not too small) and because of the temperament and intelligence. They are listed in the kennel club breed specifics as being excellent with children - there are not many dogs who can have this listed with their breed.

 

[gcol]

I was walking down the high street on Friday with my 3 yr old daughter. A guy walked past us with 2 staffs. As they passed us, both dogs turned round and glared at my daughter. I was just thinking "go on I fuc*in' dare you, and see how far you get". No dog is to be trusted completely.

 

[Alison556]

And I agree that no dog should be trusted completely - and that goes for any breed from Yorkie to Great Dane (no offence to the OP's great dane - it was the biggest dog I could think of).

As much as I love my dogs, I would never, ever leave them unattended with a child of any age and it really amazes me that people do leave dogs unattended with kids.

I know of one woman who was in the kitchen with her toddler and dog. As she was preparing the meal, she threw a titbit to the dog. The toddler went to pick it up and the dog nipped the toddlers fingers - not a bite I might add, a nip. The woman went mad, but let's face it, what did she expect? You'd have to be pretty stupid to go and do something like that. Any high value treat to a dog is to be protected - it's instinct.

 

[Steve]

Our dog once chewed the plastic off a thermostatic radiator valve. Then she chewed the artex off the adjecent wall. But we love her. We once came home to find she'd decimated a 24 pack of walkers crisps that had been left on the worktop.

 

[tim west]

We once came home to find she'd decimated a 24 pack of walkers crisps that had been left on the worktop.

What not Co-Op's own brand? Tut tut.

 

[Hysteresis]

That's as bad as a girl on my forum that has a Dalmation. She's almost lost the will to live with the number of times somebody has said "spot the dog! Ha! Ha! Geddit? Spot the dog?"

I have two - a Staffordshire Bull Terrier/Collie X and a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Both my boys love me to bits and I love them to bits.

But I am absolutely SICK to the back teeth of some people looking at them and recoiling with shrieks of "that's one of them vicious Pit Bull things". The younger one would lick you to death.

If you know and understand Staffords, you'll know that they are one of the most loving and loyal dogs. Everything has to be done at 100 mph though - no gentle walks for us - we have to hurry everywhere.

The worst bit about them? The b****y chewing. I can't find a toy that lasts them any length of time!

I bet that poor family in Yorkshire with the Rottwieller said exactly the same thing, until it turned on the poor child. All dogs are unpredictable but some are more unpredictable than others and there are some that are so unpredictable they should not be allowed in the vicinity of humans, and my feelings are that Bull terriers fall into the later category.

 

[tim west]

Having been a dog owner in the past on many occasions, I believe an owner can be so taken in by their pet that they are blinkered to the potential danger such an animal can hide.
What really appalls me is that there are a lot of owners out there that wouldnt be able to control their animal if it went out of control, If an owner cannot be shown to have the strength to subdue such a beast if necessary then they should by law be banned from owning them.
If the dog is so powerful that a single human cannot subdue it then they shouldnt be allowed as a breed of dog in the country.

They are in my eyes a dangerous weapon and should be treated by the appropriate laws as such

 

[Zampa]

Must admit I'd love another dog...but you have to be 100% commited to them and the worst thing of all is getting attached, you know every 10-12 years your going to have a lot of upset when they die.

On the subject of owners I reckon they should re introduce licences for certain animals...people who dont look after them should be banned from having a licence.

 

[tim west]

Why cant they enforce the DDA properly whatever next owners walking pet lions along the street?!

 

[Hysteresis]

Why cant they enforce the DDA properly whatever next owners walking pet lions along the street?!

Definition of what constitutes a dangerous dog is the problem. 1st Cross - second cross etc etc.?????? Then at what point does the breeding cease to define it as a dangerous dog. And what can be bred with what to define it as now not a dangerous breed. The whole thing is thwart with difficulty.
Then you get the PC Brigade arguing that it is an infringement of their Human Rights to stop them having what they want, whilst us other poor human beings have to protect our selves and our children from these damn things - and to Hell with our Human Rights.

 

[tim west]

The dog owners are a strong community such like the gun community in the states and would put the fear of god up any government's attempt to get strong with them.

 

[JohnD]

I was a bit disturbed to hear the mother of that 1-year old snatched by the dog has just turned 17. And baby left in the care of its 16-year old aunt.

Some people aren't safe with dogs or families.

I see there was a Rottweiler killing Baby incident in Sept 2006 as well.

 

[Alison556]

The DDA is badly flawed - I go with "blame the deed not the breed". Is it more acceptable for something like a labrador to attack than any of the dogs on the Dangerous Dog list?

I really do think that there needs to be better control over what type of person can own a dog though. As it stands any idiot can go out and have a potentially lethal weapon on the end of a lead - and I mean that for any breed - because given the wrong kind of upbringing any breed can be dangerous. All dogs can inflict serious injury.

My dogs are hardly ever off the lead because I want to ensure their safety. While they are on the lead, they can't be blamed for anything. When my younger dog was a puppy, he was on lead for a walk and an off-lead Lhasa Apso charged over to him and attacked him for no reason and inflicted injury on him. Which dog got the blame though? Mine because of his breed - even though he didn't retaliate to the Lhasa and there was not a mark on the Lhasa and mine was bleeding. Where is that fair? To an extent a dog is only as good as it is brought up - like children - though there are genetic factors to be taken into consideration - like children.

I know my dogs and I know how they react to things. My youngest is terrified of men and I will tell men not to touch him. How many of them listen do you think? You should never touch a strange dog without asking the owners consent. I drum this into my niece all the time. It actually frightens me the number of children that will come running up to a dog that they don't know and throw their arms round it.

 

[noseall]

i have to say, i find the whole rottweiler thing rather disturbing too.

there are responsible dog owners and there are irresponsible dog owners.

unfortunately, the latter are allowed to breed too.

 

[tim west]

certain breeds have proven that they can kill, so at what point do we declare them dangerous like a lion is classed, ask a lion trainer or circus lion owner and they'd probably say their lion is as soft as a rice pudding and wouldn't hurt a flea but would you trust what they say?