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Dogs are in the news again, but why do people buy savage dogs? If I see a nice dog, especialy Jack Russells I go and stroke them and talk to the owner. As an ex dog owner (he died aged 16 in june )I wanted people to like my dog and not run away scared.

I'd say that having a dog that mauls your niece must be boardline man slaughter.

Do we have or do we make savage and bad dogs - one TV program i have started watching given half a chance is "DOG BORSTAL" - and one of the most common comments is "first we train the owner" - one trainer advocates when the owner comes home -first greet the partner, second the kids and last the dog - in other words dogs are pack animals and need to be told their place -at the lowest point in the pecking order.Another comment is about the amount of excercise .
Of course now the anti dog lobby will be in full voice - and any Labrador that shows it's teeth will be dragged off - irrespedtive of the fact that this is their way of showing friendship -a sort of doggy smile.

I think the Dangerous Breeds category are accepted as being bred or likely to kill or maim without warning, so the original question stands in my book.

WHY?

Drug dealers have them, and extremists, but what on earth posesses ordinary folk to keep them, especially with a child in the house.

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

I think all large dogs like pit bulls, Doberman, Rottweiler can revert to the purpose for which they were originally bred as a result of fear, frustration or even jealousy. (Some dogs and even cats can be like an older child and feel jealous of the attention the new arrival can generate)


This dog was a large dog in an urban environment and we do not know if the owner managed to exercise it in all the Christmas hoo-ha. Also .. fireworks may have set this dog "on edge". Our own docile animals are very tetchy at Bonfire and New Year firework times.

Certainly I would not have left a child alone with a large dog which could be disturbed by loud fireworks and a lack of exercise and the dog's perceived "neglect" if - say - a walk had been missed and it needed to attend to its "business"


We have Lab Retrievers. They are soft and cuddly.. but even so .. I do not leave the youngest completely alone with them even though I can trust them implicitly. These dogs are actually scared of our cat .. (not Wildy .. but a very snooty Persian ) The cat takes fireworks and storms in her stride.. but the dogs hide under the bed .. couches and one heads for "under the stairs... She opens the door and yanks anything in her way out of there and stays there until it's all over!

Cuddly and soft .... but if you invade their space .. try to take their toys from them without their tacit compliance.... they will glare and give a warning growly murmur at you. Not a bllod curdling one.. but enough to tell you they "do not want that .. leave alone please!" .. and as their caring owners ... you know the animal just wants their own space like any other animal including the human one.

But .. like your child.. you want your pet to be liked and respected.. and I think the care, love and basic training you give the animal will be reflected in way the dog behaves in general. Ours are lovable.. a bit boisterous and very "licky and waggy" ... but are fine once they have "greeted you, kissed and shaken paws" - and usually respond to key words and sounds.


Pit Bulls, Staffordshires, and like breeds have never appealed to me. I will stroke a miniature .... King Charles, Pekinese, chihuahua, poodles and little Yorkies, Highland and Cairn terriers .. but would not want to own one as a pet.

I love Springers, Airedales, large poodles... but the Lab/Retriever .. stole my heart as a boy .. and fortunately my wife also likes them.

But . a tragedy ... and I do not for one moment think the Granny or her son could have ever thought the dog they thought they knew and loved was capable of such an attack on a young family member.

Moral I suppose.. never leave child alone with large animal - and we do make sure our youngest are never unsupervised... and not just because they are bundles of mischief in their own right

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Lack of thought /research - that was another point brought out in that program.Perhaps time has come for licences to be re-introduced ---to see if prospective owners are fit to keep a dog ,and if so what type.
Saying that -one problem dog - when forced into it's place it got vicious - on dangerous breed list - no - it was a collie cross. Turned out to be a German Shepherd/collie cross that took a professional dog trainer to understand why it behaved the way it did.

Dogs are like their owners. Aggressive insensitive owners have aggressive dogs! Well brought up owners have well behaved dogs. It is the owners that need banning rather than the particular type of dog. How can you breed an emotion ie aggression into an animal without training it in some way? You could make a poodle vicious if you mistreated it in the right way.

Having known of a rottweiler that used to like being carried around and given jam sandwiches it isn't logical to assume that particular breeds will always behave in a certain way.

TB - i find that the breeds that are /have the worst names are generally the least aggressive and gentil - Dobermans/Rottweilers --i find most honest(lots of snarls first) - and the most "slobbery" (and the most petted) --possibly it's a case of knowing how to approach a dog - and some of the smaller ones are the quickest to bite.

The most aggressive dogs seem to be those hairy rats like chi-wah-wahs. They are only not banned as they can only slightly nip an ankle rather than tear your head off which I have the feeling is what they really want to do which is why they have that frustrated bark Jack Russells also vary a lot in temperament, some are good fun and others are bad tempered and spoiled. I would say it is 99% an owner thing. The only unknown is if a dog was mistreated by a former owner and something the new owner does suddenly triggers some behaviour that they didn't know about.

Jack Russels are ace, I've got two of the little beggars having previously owned one which was the most mild tempered animal I've ever come across. Our vet loved him to bits, and when he had to be put to sleep because of heart problems she cried as well as me and the wife

But I agree with Botach on this one. Responsible dog owners generally own responsible dogs which they control properly. Its the tatooed f*ckwits who own the dangerous breeds as a symbol of their own status that need sorting out.

As my gran keeps tellin me...'a dog is what you make it'.

Our two are as loving and caring as you could want. But we made the committment to go to dog training every sunday for at least 6 months, regular vets trips, big garden, well fed and never off the lead unless well away from others etc etc. Mind you if either of them so much as growled at a child they'd be put to sleep in a shot. (incidentally this happened to my gran's retriever when it snapped at me as a kid)

It's all tragic although once again it's become the latest media 'thing', this morning one of the headlines was that a stray dog bit a kid on the ar$e!! Painful and distressing I'm sure but is it reallly national news?

I think that it was the late Barbara Woodhouse who said that there was no such thing as a bad dog, only bad owners...

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Now we have it!

It turns out that the Dog in questions owner was infact a drug dealer who recently served time for posession of over £20K worth of cannabis!

The Thot Plickens, as they say!

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Nice, well-behaved parents generally have nice, well-behaved kids. ChavScum parents have chavscum kids. ChavScum dog-owners have badly-behaved dogs.

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You can't say 'that dog is dangerous because its a such and such'. I remember as a kid playing with a HUGE rottie that was the sweetest thing you can imagine, and I've known loads of staffies that have been the same.

Jack russels? Small dogs in general are snappy, yappy little sh*ts.

Yes its an awful tragedy. but like every time this happens, the child was alone in a house with a 'dangerous' dog. Who is really to blame?

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I've heard staffs called 'nanny dogs' as they are so well suited to kids.

One of ours is a kind of half staff half..................something and is possibly the kindest natured dog i've ever come accross.

I'm no expert on dogs but, going on my experience of humans, it would be surprising if there was not something in the 'nature' as well as in the 'nurture'. I'm sure these 'fighting' breeds can be well-trained and completely safe, but perhaps they have a pre-disposotion to aggression that can surface more readily if it has not been 'trained out' by a good owner? I'm not sure if this applies to individual breeds or individual dogs.

When all said and done it is the duty of the owner to make sure that the dog is well trained and is not in a position to cause harm.

If the dog is aggressive by nature then it is the duty of the owner to take the appropriate action. when all said and done a dog is an animal and can be unpredictable. This should be understood and respected.

This media hysteria certainly doesn't help things. There'll be a new law soon mark my words.

My guess is that most of us have been bitten by a dog. So I set up a poll: http://www.safespeed.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11674

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I would second that. I shared my "Toddlerhood" with a Staff Bitch. She followed me everywhere (which was just as well since I would go "Walkabout" for several hours at a time even when I was only 3 or 4)

Staffs have a problem with other dogs sometimes (Well! Quite often actually! You need to keep them on a harness (Not a lead and collar) at all times when in public), but they are good with people and excellent with kids, In part because there is very little that a child could do to a staff that would hurt it enough to piss it off! (They really dont seem to feel pain! Or, at least, they are not particulary bothererd by it!) I wonder how often a childs mauling has been preceded by a pulled tail or ear or a poked eye!

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"The road to a police state is paved with public safety legislation"

My cousins when they where younger used to have a staff; it would let them do almost anything to it . But heaven help anyone who tried to hurt them, she was very protective . Then that died they got another one, it was the same, a very soft dog but tough, used to play with it was bloody strong. If you sat in it’s seat it would get behind you and push you off . Both really nice and friendly dogs, I would consider one

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