[lrushe]

I can totally relate to the 'banging your head of a brick wall' feeling. I feel like a parrot repeating the same thing over and over and getting now where. I am so sorry to hear about the poor child getting mauled, even if it does prove that any breed can be a culprit it pains me to hear of a child paying the price of an adults negligence, negligence caused because people have been given this 'good' dog 'bad' dog list ie. if your dog is on the restricted list its a 'bad' dog but if its not its a 'good' dog and therefore ok to leave with children.
I am in the lucky position in that I've never been bitten despite having dogs for 30 years. As a child my dad bred and trained GSDs and dobermen for security and I was always taught to have respect for dogs, not to pull out of them, not to touch their food etc., skills alot of children aren't taught.
I've had restricted breeds of my own for the past 16 years who I train and socialise with avengance, my dogs will literally shadow me whenever I go out for the first year and then as much as possible after that. The interesting thing I've noticed in the last week since I've started putting a dogmatic collar on my Rottie is not no one stops to complìment her anymore as they precieve it to be a muzzle and therefore that she is vicious which make me sad because she doens't understand why people don't stop to rub her anymore, how can this beneift socialising a dog???

[ppink]

I muzzle our 2 GSD's out in public but i have to say it never puts people off them. we had them in killarney national park and several people asked us could they rub them and could their kids rub them. they all realised the muzzles were on because it is the law. maybe it was just a good day!

I fully agree with deed not breed however I would be in two minds as to whether abolishing the restricted breeds act would be a good thing or not. certainly it cannot be wiped without putting something in place to ensure the owners of all animals are responsible.

[sheenadeegan]

Originally Posted by EGAR

This will make interesting reading for anyone concerned about dog bite statistics:

http://www.ucd.ie/news/0710_october/..._dog_bite.html

I think that alot of owners of non banned breeds are just too relaxed because their dogs arnt banned they can let them roam freely and do as they please. I live in the countryside and our neighburs about half a mile up the road have labs and a ger. shepard, who roam freely. my dad is a farmer and last year had to beat one of the labs off a sheep with a stick while his owner watched from the road! A few times the dogs came into our yard and attacked our dogs but not enough to report if you get me! same as the sheep it wasnt cut or marked but shaken. About 4 months back i was riding a young horse i was working with up the road and i seen the owner walking with the 3 dogs and some kids, the horse began to spook when the dogs started barking, he turned around and started trotting back towards home, when i looked down beside me there were the 3 dogs leads swing behind them frothing at the mouth nipping my horse who was in full canter up the road out of control and i could barley control him. if i was a novice rider i would have def. fell and possible gotten my foot stuck in the stirrup and maybe dragged!! it was a terrifying experience for us both. but to make matters worse, when i managed to stop the horse and dismount i led him by the owner who was now holding the dogs. who had leads but it seemed they got away or were let go, when i passed they were let off again and attacked my almost yearling who was grazing in the field!!!

[Latchy]

Another dog / child horror story to add to the list


http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-sto...5875-22193240/

[Discodog]

The impetuous is towards increasing breed specific legislation not removing it. A UK style ban is very likely in Ireland at some time in the future. There is an increasing view that dog owners should have public liability insurance.

In the UK whenever a child is attacked, as happened very recently, there are increasing calls to make dog legislation tougher. There is also the fear of litigation if a government or local authority is seen to not act.

I personally believe that no dog should ever be left alone with children. I meet kids all the time & there is a big difference between those that know my dogs & those that don't.

Kids can easily be too bold with a nervous dog or too nervous of dogs. Either can send the wrong signal. Parents should make a lot more effort. Children are going to meet strange dogs at some time so it is better for the parents to teach the children how to interact. Of course many parents would not know themselves. This should be on the national curriculum.

[antomagoo]

I would like to make a point on the muzziling of dogs. I am not a dog owner but we are in the process of hopefully adopting a dog. I have a fair bit of experience with dogs both big and small. Recently we were minding a male rottie who we always muzzled when out walking.

There is a couple who walk their dogs in the area, a boxer and a fairly big lab. We would always get the rottie to sit when other dogs walked past instead of letting him pull towards the other dogs. So when this couple were passing with their dogs we got the rottie to sit but the boxer and the lab went nuts as they passed him and pulled their owners towards him who clearly having a hard time keeping the 2 dogs under control. The rottie never even flinched. We had the rottie standing beside us and not out in front facing the the other dogs. Now I dont know what set the 2 dogs off, maybe it was the "energy" of the rottie. And I've seen these dogs out walking (always on leash) with their owners and they seem fine. What really got me was as they walked on past the owners tutted and looked at us as if to say "what do you think you are at walking a dog like that?".

My point is the rottie was muzzled and the other 2 were not. If they had of broke free from their owners and got at the rottie what kind of damage would they have done to him? They were not just looking for a sniff they were definitely pulling in a very aggressive manner. I dont how we would have gone explaining to his owner that the dog had been savaged by a boxer and a lab, two by all accounts "friendly" dogs

[crotalus667]

Originally Posted by Latchy

Another dog / child horror story to add to the list


http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-sto...5875-22193240/

It is now belived to be an american bulldog not a mastiff

[lisar201]

My point is the rottie was muzzled and the other 2 were not. If they had of broke free from their owners and got at the rottie what kind of damage would they have done to him? They were not just looking for a sniff they were definitely pulling in a very aggressive manner. I dont how we would have gone explaining to his owner that the dog had been savaged by a boxer and a lab, two by all accounts "friendly" dogs[/QUOTE]

that is exactly my point when my rottie is muzzled what happens if she gets attack by another(s) dogs that aren't muzzled how would she defen herself?or worse if something happened me how would she protect me?My dog is purely a pet but I also have her to make sure I'm alrite when out walking by myself

[duracell_bunny]

Originally Posted by lrushe

The interesting thing I've noticed in the last week since I've started putting a dogmatic collar on my Rottie is not no one stops to complìment her anymore as they precieve it to be a muzzle and therefore that she is vicious which make me sad because she doens't understand why people don't stop to rub her anymore, how can this beneift socialising a dog???

I love all dogs but rotties have a special place in my heart. Whenever I see someone walking one I want to go over and ask can I rub them. If I meet a rottie when I'm out walking my dog, the owner usually drags their dog out of the way of mine almost apologetic for having a rottie. I wish I could just say "no need to do that on my account, I don't agreed with the rb thing". I met a rottie outside the vets once and asked the guy if I could give his dog a rub. He looked at me like I was insane - he obviously didn't get asked that much! To me they are just giant teddybears - I think they are one of the most cuddable dogs ever.

[meathstevie]

Originally Posted by duracell_bunny

I love all dogs but rotties have a special place in my heart. Whenever I see someone walking one I want to go over and ask can I rub them. If I meet a rottie when I'm out walking my dog, the owner usually drags their dog out of the way of mine almost apologetic for having a rottie. I wish I could just say "no need to do that on my account, I don't agreed with the rb thing". I met a rottie outside the vets once and asked the guy if I could give his dog a rub. He looked at me like I was insane - he obviously didn't get asked that much! To me they are just giant teddybears - I think they are one of the most cuddable dogs ever.

You might be overdoing it a bit now but from experience I'd agree with you that they're quite a sociable dog in general. Would want to piss one off on his own territory though.

[H123]

I would never own one of the restricted breeds simply because of the law and not wanting to unnecessarily muzzle my dog. I often walk in locations where off leash is fine, and the most problematic dogs are untrained labs, boxers and little have a go terriers. Why people are allowed to own large and boisterous dogs and yet not school them is madness. My great dane is often put on her back by boxers or labs, even jack russells! - she is very soft. I have been crashed into and jumped up on by mad labs. Many owners of these dogs have no verbal recall of them. One male lab kept coming back after my dog and trying to mate her (she's neutered!) and all the owner could say was she must be coming into heat and I should not have her out! He should have had his dog leashed! Just because the dog does not fight they see no problem letting them run wild.

I don't agree with muzzles but will use them when necessary. I have had to muzzle dogs for various reasons in particular my terrier. He does not like the vet and one of our neighbours dogs so is muzzled when required. The moral of the tale is make sure your dog is trained, keep him under control around children and make sure your insurance is up to date just in case!

And anyone with small kids, please don't let your children come running up to any dog and try to pat him on the head. Most dogs dislike being patted on the head - they can interpret this as an attack- and certainly by strange little people so they are putting themselves in danger. Ask the owners permission for the child to approach and make sure they go in from under the chin not over the head. Let the dog sniff your hand before actually touching. My Dane is very unusual looking, they all think its a dalmatian because of the colouring. As a small puppy she was terrified of children, and tried to run away if they came over. She had a bad experience when younger when a few young boys ran screaming at her for "fun". Now she is better after much hard work and socialising but I still make sure they approach gently. No screaming or shouting. She has never even growled but she is nervous and parents should realise that its not fair to either the dog or owner to let your child scare her. If she was inclined to protect herself she could do bad damage without meaning to. And its life or death for her, one mistake and she is toast. Parents don't seem to realise this when they fail to keep their offspring under control.