'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.

[FETCHER.]

Haven't seen them but I'll keep an eye out.

Do you see many XLs up there?

Yes, tons of them.

A guy that stays nearby me was attacked by an XL bully guard dog (his friends). It was terrible, he nearly lost his hand. He said he stabbed the dog multiple times with a pen knife type thing and it still wouldn't stop attacking him. I bumped in to him a few months later with his very own Xl bully by his side lol. wtf.

[Lisnaholic]

^ That guy had a strange response after being attacked by an XL, FETCHER - perhaps he misunderstood the idea behind the phrase "the hair of the dog that bit you" !

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.

Your  encounter with a Doberman could've been a lot worse, Trollheart, and you clearly chose the best possible course of action. But even if that dog was "just being friendly", your story still makes me angry. Walking across wasteland should be an enjoyable experience: not a place where you are scared, accosted by a huge dog, then told not to move by its owner. It makes me think of a bunch of  "What if..?"s :  What if the dog wasn't friendly? What if you were a child, or a little old lady?

You clearly had a good relationship with family pets, as I did myself with a family dog: no serious probs although the neighbours did once complain about too much night-time barking. None the less, for me, dog owners are a little too quick to defend the harmlessness of their dogs, with the usual,  "Don't worry, he doesn't bite". I think that's the wrong tense to use, because biting is an instinctive reflex in dogs and can be done in just one unpredictable second (as I know to my cost). To be more accurate, dog owners should only say, "Don't worry, he hasn't bitten anyone yet".

It's a lesson the parents of this little girl learned the hard way:-

  Baby Killed by Pet Dog in Coventry: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cl44k0rnr2eo 

[Jwb]

Yes, tons of them.

A guy that stays nearby me was attacked by an XL bully guard dog (his friends). It was terrible, he nearly lost his hand. He said he stabbed the dog multiple times with a pen knife type thing and it still wouldn't stop attacking him. I bumped in to him a few months later with his very own Xl bully by his side lol. wtf.

assuming he bought it after the attack? Cause that's kinda weird I guess. Other than that I don't see why he would get rid of his dog just cause he was attacked by another dog of the same breed.

[FETCHER.]

assuming he bought it after the attack? Cause that's kinda weird I guess. Other than that I don't see why he would get rid of his dog just cause he was attacked by another dog of the same breed.

Yeah JWB, he didn't have any dog at all before the attack. I wouldn't expect someone to get rid of their own dog unless it was something they wanted to do, fear etc. I thought it was a strange breed choice after what he had gone through. Each to their own though I guess.

[Trollheart]

Yes, Lisna, reminds me of that old joke where the guy sees a woman with a small dog and asks "Does your dog bite?" She says "No" and he leans down to pet the dog. He jumps back, angrily holding his hand. "I thought," he says, eyeing the owner and her dog with new suspicion, "you said your dog didn't bite!" She sniffs and says, "That isn't my dog!"

Funny but yeah, in fairness that guy was cool. He was literally just walking his dog and it was friendly, though when 70 pounds (or whatever) of powerful potential attack dog hits you, you do wonder why the hell he hadn't got a muzzle on? The dog, I mean, not the owner. And as Judge Judy says, the dog should have been in his control at all times, not running loose. After the wasteground it was out onto the main road, so the dog could theoretically have run into traffic, plus there's a bus stop just outside the wall so he could have upset someone there. Still, I was always told dogs can smell fear so tried never to show it. I think something else masked the smell anyway! 

[DJChameleon]

Yeah JWB, he didn't have any dog at all before the attack. I wouldn't expect someone to get rid of their own dog unless it was something they wanted to do, fear etc. I thought it was a strange breed choice after what he had gone through. Each to their own though I guess.

I think his choice makes sense especially because of what he went through. Now he has his own to essentially keep himself safe from others. It's similar to getting shot randomly and then once you heal you acquire your own gun for future protection.

[Jwb]

That's like adopting a Muslim kid 3 weeks after 9/11. It just means you subconsciously want the lingering threat of death around to keep you feeling alive.

[DJChameleon]

That's like adopting a Muslim kid 3 weeks after 9/11. It just means you subconsciously want the lingering threat of death around to keep you feeling alive.

No that analogy doesn't even come close to what I said.

Getting injured by gun, getting your own gun for protection.

[FETCHER.]

I think his choice makes sense especially because of what he went through. Now he has his own to essentially keep himself safe from others. It's similar to getting shot randomly and then once you heal you acquire your own gun for future protection.

I thought this was satire 😆.

Most news reports here are of people being mauled and killed by their own XL bully's so that point is moot.

[DJChameleon]

I thought this was satire 😆.

Most news reports here are of people being mauled and killed by their own XL bully's so that point is moot.

Isn't that from raising them badly though?

Also my analogy still kind of works because people die at the hands of their own guns.

[FETCHER.]

Isn't that from raising them badly though?

Also my analogy still kind of works because people die at the hands of their own guns.

Not always no, there's multiple references of "family dogs" doing this. I will quote some for you later but I'm just about to start work. I don't believe the answer to XL bully's is more XL bully's.

[DJChameleon]

Not always no, there's multiple references of "family dogs" doing this. I will quote some for you later but I'm just about to start work. I don't believe the answer to XL bully's is more XL bully's.

Hehe People say the same thing about guns. The answer to lessening gun violence isn't more guns.

I'd love to hear the stories later on.

Idk I'm just not the type to condemn all dogs within a specific breed just because some a holes raised them rough and to be aggressive fighters.

[SGR]

Idk I'm just not the type to condemn all dogs within a specific breed just because some a holes raised them rough and to be aggressive fighters.

That's kinda the problem with the breed as a whole though. It's not really their fault, but we as humans bred them specifically to be rough and aggressive.

The victims are mostly adults, attacked suddenly and often without provocation. Only a small number of injuries are fatal, but many are life-changing. In 2023 xl Bullies made up less than 1% of Britain's dog population and yet, according to Bully Watch uk, the dogs were responsible for 44% of dog attacks on people. They estimate the breed is 270 times more deadly than all other dog breeds combined.

Their ancestry helps explain their aggression. Pit-bull terriers were bred to win dog fights, contests which begin with two animals and end with one. Though illegal in Britain since 1835 and in America since 1976, dogfights' popularity as a forum for betting means many continue underground. With money to be made by breeding the best fighters, handlers selected those with tenacity and "gameness"—the ability to keep fighting despite serious injuries. Over decades, the pit-bull terrier developed the ability to attack suddenly, and sustain grave injuries without retreating. This genetic history is present in the xl Bully. "These dogs, being bred for aggression, are likely to inherit aggression," says David Sargan, a geneticist at Cambridge Veterinary School. "However well you treat them, a proportion of them may explode."

[Jwb]

No that analogy doesn't even come close to what I said.

Getting injured by gun, getting your own gun for protection.

It was a joke, not an analogy. And it was still better than your gun analogy lol.


You're saying getting a dog for protection after being attacked by a dog is like getting injured ( I assume we mean attacked) with a gun and then buying a gun for protection. The difference is a gun would also be better defense against a dog than having your own dog around to fight it. So why would you not just get a gun in both cases. You're assuming the person who gets shot wants a gun for protection simply because that's the weapon they were injured with. Which is a strange assumption.