'Dangerous' dog breeds - should they be banned?

[Trollheart]

I'd agree we don't need to be weaponising dogs. My family had dogs (and cats) all our lives. We had a collie, a golden lab/retriever mix and our last dog, though he had I think some mastiff in him, was more like a big bat on four legs and so lovable. We never had a dangerous dog, we never had a single problem with any of our dogs, they never bit anyone (including us) and in fact the only incident any of them were in was when Teddy (the bat) saved Karen when someone's dog left loose in their front garden went for her. He got badly bitten and she ended up carrying him home, crying, while he bled, but he survived. Other than that, good as anything.

My own suggestion is convoluted and complicated and most likely wouldn't work, but I would suggest a period of "training wheels", as it were, for anyone trying to get a licence for a dog over a certain weight or deemed possibly dangerous. During this time the prospective owner would have to wear a bodycam or something, some sort of monitor, so their behaviour with the dog could be watched and judged. If they complete that training course, they may then have their licence. If nothing else, maybe being forced to be "good" with a dog might actually bleed (sorry) into the way they behave with the dog they actually get. And needless to say, if the footage is reviewed and found not to be satisfactory, no licence.

In my day (zzzzzzz I know) about the most "dangerous" dog you had was an "aller" (Alsatian /German Shepherd), a Doberman Pinscher or a Rottweiler, and apart from the first, few people had these dogs. Alsatians were common, mostly for guard dog duty but people did have them, they were very popular, the others not so much so. We had labs, retrievers, dalmatians, collies, spaniels, daschunds, poodles, Jack Russells, and various terriers.

My only real incident personally with a dog was when I was crossing some waste ground on the way to work one morning and this Doberman came running at me. I stopped, he stood on his hind legs and put his forepaws (or was it two? Think it was four) on my shoulders. He was then almost as tall as I was, looking into my face. His owner came running and shouted "Don't move!" Like I was going to, or could. I stayed totally still and he called the dog off, but it never made any aggressive move towards me; I really think it was just being friendly. A change of underwear was required when I got to work though - you did NOT want to be on THAT bus!

We had dogs that lived side by side with cats. They were great pets, and we looked after them well - no dog of ours ever slept outside, always inside dogs, and some were large as I say, but that was how we were. It seems these days the pure joy of having a pet has been replaced by a mixture of their being a status symbol and a potential weapon. Nowadays, that sign we used to see BEWARE OF THE DOG is far more relevant and chilling than it was in my youth.

Tealdeer: today's dog owners suck.