Bad Dogs

[white avenger]

For all of the non-United States members: For quite a few years, there have been a rash of dog attacks throughout the country, invariably by one of several breeds: the Pit Bull/Staffordshire Terrier, Rotweiller, various Mastiff and Bulldog breeds. My question is this: Have dog attacks by these same breeds seemed to increase in other countries as well, or is it particular to the United States?

I'm doing a safety presentation about child safety, particularly dog attacks, and this information would be very useful.

 

[definition of insane]

We hear about these all the time in Australia. It is usually the breeds that you've mentioned to the point that I believe that you either need a special permit to own one (not sure about that though, might have been something I've heard in my passes by).

 

[November]

Some dog breeds need to have permits and special conditions such as fencing etc.
I think that people should be screened for suitability before being allowed to own some breeds of dogs, It is usually their fault for not ensuring proper training, enclosures and other safety measures. If the dog was kept under control or suitable measures in place to help avoid accidents everyone would be better off.
There have been a few bad dog attacks recently - rottis and mastif the main culprits from what the media says. But they dont tell you the good stories about the dogs. And there are many good stories. Heaps of dogs have protected their owners from snakes, Children have been saved from drowning by dogs, there are so many occasions when dogs have done more good. Google canine heroes or something along those lines.
I hope that you remember with this study that the dog itself is not always entirly at fault. Irrisponsible owners are just as much, if not more to blame.
Goodluck 🙂

 

[white avenger]

Some dog breeds need to have permits and special conditions such as fencing etc.
I think that people should be screened for suitability before being allowed to own some breeds of dogs, It is usually their fault for not ensuring proper training, enclosures and other safety measures. If the dog was kept under control or suitable measures in place to help avoid accidents everyone would be better off.
There have been a few bad dog attacks recently - rottis and mastif the main culprits from what the media says. But they dont tell you the good stories about the dogs. And there are many good stories. Heaps of dogs have protected their owners from snakes, Children have been saved from drowning by dogs, there are so many occasions when dogs have done more good. Google canine heroes or something along those lines.
I hope that you remember with this study that the dog itself is not always entirly at fault. Irrisponsible owners are just as much, if not more to blame.
Goodluck 🙂

This is my opinion as well. No dog, if it is properly raised and trained, is dangerous to anyone, but it is most definitely the owner's responsibility to see that that training is provided. For every dog that attacks someone, there are hundreds who provide beneficial services, plus literally millions more who spend thrir entire lives without ever harming anyone. I've been around dogs of every breed and type all of my life, and I have never seen a mean or dangerous animal that wasn't made that way either through neglect or by the willful intention of some unscrupulous person.

That is one of the subjects of my program, as well as the warning that ANY dog, regardless of breed or size, can be dangerous if it has been raised irresponsibily.

 

[Lyri]

why do people lump Staffordshire Bull Terriers in with the list of 'dangerous dogs'? i can't remember the last time a Staffie was blamed for an attack. it must have been well over two years ago.

we've kept Staffies my whole life, my dad breeds and shows them, he's won so many Best in Shows i've lost count. my Staffie i have now, Rosie, is the sweetest dog you could ever hope to meet. i've had her for 8 years, and i've only ever heard her bark at us once, when we'd arrived home from vacation.

i agree, that if a dog isn't raised properly, it can be dangerous, but this goes for any dog, not just those listed above. a Pomeranian can be dangerous if it's not brought up right, but a Rotweiller can be as gentle as a kitten.

 

[white avenger]

why do people lump Staffordshire Bull Terriers in with the list of 'dangerous dogs'? i can't remember the last time a Staffie was blamed for an attack. it must have been well over two years ago.

we've kept Staffies my whole life, my dad breeds and shows them, he's won so many Best in Shows i've lost count. my Staffie i have now, Rosie, is the sweetest dog you could ever hope to meet. i've had her for 8 years, and i've only ever heard her bark at us once, when we'd arrived home from vacation.

i agree, that if a dog isn't raised properly, it can be dangerous, but this goes for any dog, not just those listed above. a Pomeranian can be dangerous if it's not brought up right, but a Rotweiller can be as gentle as a kitten.

The Stafford Bull Terrier, unfortunately, shares many of the physical features of the Pit Bull Terrier (My favorite dog). In fact, most people don't even realize that they are two separate breeds. It's a purely cosmetic thing, much like the "assault rifle" craze of several years ago. It sounds much more impressive in the headlines to say something like, "60 year old man attacked by pit bulldog," than "60 year old man attacked by some kind of dog. We don't know how big it was or how it looked, but we're gonna call it a 'pit bulldog' simply because we're too lazy and stupid to get the real facts in the matter."

Not long after my wife and I were married, we were walking her black lab around our neighborhood, when one of our neighbors came out and said, "What a beautiful dog, but how can you keep a PIT BULLDOG that big around your son?". To him, "Pit Bulldog," and "Big dog with shiny white teeth," were synonymous. That's another reason most attacks by Pit Bulldogs are the result of ignorance, The people reporting the attack are too ignorant to know what kind of dog was really involved.

 

[Harley]

I think people naming a particular breed of dog as "aggressive" is wrong. My family owns a pit bull/rotweiler mix as well as a pure lab. Our lab is much more "aggressive" than our pit/rot. I'm 100% behind the idea that there is no such thing as a bad dog, only bad owners. Any dog can be trained to act right.

 

[TabulaRasa]

When I lived in Canada it was not rare to hear about said attacks.

 

[Faith]

To be honest I think its to do with the owners and not the dogs themselves. Animals are like humans in the respect that they each have their own personalities so claiming they are violent because of a type of breed is like saying one race is more violent than the other.

The reason (I think) these dogs are given the bad reputation is because the chavs/neds/social misfits/whatever you choose to call them have them for pets and don't train them or treat them properly as lets face it they can't even behave themselves so how can they be expected to train an animal to?

I got chased by a Staffie (with a hair lip so its teeth was showing), I was that petrified I ran and as I looked back to see if it was still following I fell over a well and done myself in quite bad.

Changes are it might not have done anything to me but because of the reputation I wasn't going to take the chance.

Its the similar rep that dobermans/alsatians used to have.

Good luck with the report.

 

[November]

How did the presentation go?

 

[white avenger]

Actually it went pretty well, thanks for asking. I found a page on the internet that had pictures of every similar breed to Pit Bulls to Rottweilers, plus Labs and Collies. Only one was a Pit Bull, and nobody was able to identify it. Primarily, what I was trying to get across was that ANY dog, regardless of size, age, or breed, could be dangerous, and that anyone, but most importantly children, should know just what to do if attacked in order to minimize injuries. Everyone seemed impressed, and one (a scout master) asked me to meet with his boys and their parents about the same thing. That one went really well, since several families had so called "dangerous breeds" of dogs.