General Chat

I dont believe in 'Bad dogs', but do believe in bad dog ownership, and irrisponsable adults... No child should be left unattended at any time, with any dog...No matter how trustworthy the dog may seem..All it would take is for a wasp to sting the dog, or a variety of other incidents for the dog to lash out...There are no 'bad breeds', 'visious breeds' ect... I dont really think dogs should be muzzled when off the lead, to be honest, if a big breed of dog was running at top whack and ran into a child it would do serious damage, muzzled or not...! It's about Dog owners being responsable. LOU XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Ps. not against Muzzles btw, i have two that wear them while out as they pick up food and stuff off the floor and it makes them poorly, GSD bellies!!

Hello I agree with some people on here! I dont agree that rottweilers should become a banned breed, as other people have said all dogs have got the potential to attack! I think just as many kids get attacked bye smaller dogs ie - jack russells, yorkies and such, but we dont hear about all these because they are not big dogs! I think it is not the dogs, it is how they are trained and brought up! I have had in the past - rottweilers, alsations, and staffs and all have been brilliant with my kids! not even growled or shown teeth! we now have a alsation/collie cross and a husky/collie cross! they are both brill with the kids!! i prefer large dogs to small dogs! when we had our alsation my friend brought her little boy round aged 2 and she was wary of our dog with him but they got on great!!! lol, its funny remembering it!! lol, she then went to another friends house who had a (cant spell the breed but the little hairless dogs) and her dog attacked the son for no reason at all! he ended up in hospital with 15 stitches! everybody assumed it was our rottweiler and were very surprised when they found out the truth! I think you can tell within an hour wether a dog is going to be good with kids! i do agree that it is owners responsiblity and if they think their dog could bite someone for no reason(child or adult) they should have them muzzled if outside! x karen

I agree with you Kaye, what I find so frightening now is that all this breed of dog will get bad press!! I wonder how many will end up in shelters?' They should not all be made out to be the same, its very wrong! My Brother has 3 staffies all are as soft as butter,my mother also has a staffie, they are beautiful Animals, It is the owners most of the time.

I do agree that it's the owners that are at fault, but some animals do have an evil streak, so you never know when it may attack. I have a white boxer, dopey has anything, she's more like to slobber someone to death ;)

I am not convinced that licensing would work - how many people do we hear about who drive without a license and do it time and time again. The irresponsible ones won't bother.

But that's my point - if you know your dog has a problem then you act responsibly. I didn't say that it was always the owner, just that 99% of the time it is and I'm afraid we'll have to agree to disagree on that. I agree about the dog license too - I would happily fork out for a license for my two every year, because they mean enough to me to warrant spending that money - sadly not everyone feels the same way about their pets. It's a shame Brenda that you've had bad experiences with dogs, but you can't judge every dog by the ones you've had bad experiences with. If you met my little Retriever she would change your mind in about 5 minutes and even my German Shepherd after a little while - in fact he would be more scared of you than you of him, but he comes around after a little while. Dogs aren't that different to people and sometimes you do get ones that are just not nice from the beginning, but more often than not it's been instilled in them through mistreatment or just bad handling. I do feel for the families involved in the recent attacks - it is terrible for them and I am not trying to play that down in any way. Kaye x

I too am a dog lover but I have to disagree that it's the owners fault. Yes you see the young lads with the Staffordshire Bull Terriers and the Japanese Akitas and they should never have been allowed to own one but there are also very responsible owners whose dogs have turned. I had a Staffy bitch and while she was wonderful with people especially children, she would not tolerate any other dog - she would show aggression as soon as a dog was in her vicinity. I had to keep her on the lead at all times which was awful - it ruined the enjoyment of the walk. A friend of mine had an English Bull Terrier and was a fantastic dog up to about the age of 2. The dog totally changed from then on but was never shown any aggression. Debby

I'm sorry but I have to disagree that it's only sometimes the owners - 99% of the time it's the owners. As I said I have what some would class as a dangerous dog, but he's far from that because he's been brought up in a sensible, loving and stable home with another lovely tempered dog. I have known lots of allegedly aggressive breed dogs who were lovely natured and I have also known a lot of supposedly non aggressive breed dogs who were nasty. My own Brother had a little cross breed dog - some jack russell in him and perhaps some king charles or something - he was a pretty little thing, but a bit of one man or one family dog. They had problems with him getting aggressive with strangers, then he eventually went for one of their children. My Sister in Law was pregnant at the time and it scared her to think what he might be like around a baby, so he had to go. Sadly the reason for this little dog being so aggressive was largely fear and also the fact that the child who he attacked had tormented him too many times. We need tougher laws to stop idiots keeping dogs for all the wrong reasons. Kaye x

Well I have one of those 'Fierce Breeds' - a German Shepherd - and I can tell you that he is the biggest fairy on this earth - he hides behind my legs when we're at the Vets because some little toy dog has looked his way, he comes and cuddles close when the back door creaks in the wind! As many have said it's not the breed it's the owner and as Roxanne said some people should be banned from EVER having another dog. The dog who attacked the boy on the news today was leashed in his back yard because he had got out once or twice - that's not a fair way to keep a dog, I think I would get pretty aggressive if I was kept chained up all day! I'm sorry but dogs do have rights as well. Kaye x

All dogs,In the wrong hands are killers!! Its not the breed its the owners, any dog trained to attack will attack, the owners should be banned from having dogs again! I have known plenty of breeds that are thought of as dangerous,that have been wonderful family pets and have actually been very protective of the children in the family.

Heard on Sky News a little while ago that the little boy who was bitten yesterday should make a good recovery. That is good news. Mary in Spain

The courts can make orders for specific dogs (as opposed to specific breeds) to be muzzled, kept on a lead, tethered or excluded from certain places. This is a flexible provision which can be used to deal with nuisance complaints about dogs.

I thought that some time ago a Law came out that certain types of dogs had to be kept on a lead and Muzzled when in public places. Hal.

We re-homed our dog when he was 5, and were told that he had jumped up and bitten (or, more correctly, caught with his teeth) the previous owner's 8 yr old daughter, probably through over-excitement, not viciousness. However she wanted him to go to a home with no children, and he has had virtually no contact with them. I don't for one minute think he would be nasty, but I've always kept him on the lead when there are children playing or, indeed any groups of strangers, as not everyone likes dogs going up to them. I think that all breeds have a potential to be nasty, good handling, training and responsible ownership are essential.

My two grandchildren 5 and 3 love all dogs and when I saw them in May I was very impressed - before going to stroke a dog they asked the owner of dogs -in a Nottingham accent - does it bite? Much better than going up to the dog. Mary in Spain

I personally wouldn't want anything to do with large fierce breeds of dogs. When our older daughter was tiny we were out for a walk when a very nasty alsation was about to attack her but its owner dragged it off just in time. She's never been keen on dogs since though she would have been too young to remember the incident. I think people underestimate how many animals can be dangerous. Years ago we had a netherland dwarf rabbit as one of two pet rabbits. The other one was a real softie but the dwarf was horrible. It used to try to attack us so I did my best to tame it and cuddle it so it would respond nicely to the children but one day it was sitting on my lap and quite unprovoked it bit me on the chest quite badly! That one went back to the breeder who said it probably had some brain damage. The breeder used it for breeding (which I didn't think was perhaps such a good idea though it was pretty to look at) but it had a fit and died suddenly when still quite young. We used to call it Killer Rabbit while it lived with us and despite being tiny it would have bitten the kids badly. I also remember a friend's cat which would lash out at people unexpectedly and was really frightening if you went near it. So sometimes it is just the nature of some animals to be unpleasant. Sue

Pat Dog's should not be let run lose round where kid's are playing, that's why I say they should be muzzled if they are. I would say kids' have more of a right to run around a play park than a dog does. Marion

I agree that Muzzling dogs is not fair and not the answer. I don't take my dogs to parks because my GSD is nervous, we take them up the woods when it's quiet - this is for his benefit as much as anyone elses though, as I want to build his confidence and having lots of people around won't help. My other dog is a Golden Retriever and I have let her off the lead to play in parks lots of times - I have to admit that on occassion she has gone after or nicked a football, but she is completely harmless. The point is I am a responsible owner - I don't want to want to put my dogs in a position where there could be a problem, both for the sake of the people around me and for my dogs sakes as well. I will add that I have never ever come across an aggressive Rotti - the only ones I have known have been big softies. It isn't the breed - it's the owners. Kaye x

jayvee yes lol hes now moved up to norfolk so someone else has got the pleasure. susie xx

No problem,Susie, glad we haven't fallen out ! Dogs are my passion and I just hate any unkindness towards them - I bet you're glad you binned that particular friend lol !!