Kid attacked.

lightening

Some poor kid attacked in the midlands by two Rothweilers. Lets hope he recovers well. Bound to be a backlash on people who own these dogs. Seemingly the two dogs were roaming for hours.

Irish-Lass

I think alot of questions need to be asked of the owners. Where they in the house when they reported the dogs had got out, if they were the owners how the hell did they have 2 dogs in a housing estate that were not ppl friendly. They obviously had little if no control over the dogs. But as always its the animals that suffer.

giddyup

Very sad. Makes me think that for certain breeds there should be a strict licencing system. You can only own the dog if you demonstrate ability and willingness to handle and train correctly. Otherwise you should not be allowed to own the dog.

corkimp

The dogs weren't socialised properly by the sounds of it. Did anyone hear Gerry Ryan this morning?! Talk about full of sh*te!! he was trying to claim ALL rotti's were dangerous and bred only for attacking. But one woman, an ex vetenary nurse, corrected him about it - he didn't like it. He wouldn't listen to reason. I know the child was badly mauled but there is nothing worse then bad information. Hope the child will be ok.

Blinder

giddyup wrote:

Very sad. Makes me think that for certain breeds there should be a strict licencing system. You can only own the dog if you demonstrate ability and willingness to handle and train correctly. Otherwise you should not be allowed to own the dog.

Personally I think this should apply for all dogs, not just certain breeds.

bounty_hunter

corkimp wrote:

The dogs weren't socialised properly by the sounds of it. Did anyone hear Gerry Ryan this morning?! Talk about full of sh*te!! he was trying to claim ALL rotti's were dangerous and bred only for attacking. But one woman, an ex vetenary nurse, corrected him about it - he didn't like it. He wouldn't listen to reason. I know the child was badly mauled but there is nothing worse then bad information. Hope the child will be ok.

Heard that too. I'm not a dog person but it pissed me right off, he wouldn't even let people argue their points.

jb91

I heard on the radio that the dogs' owner "didn't know they were capable of attacking a child"

:eek:

Vas_Guy

Also in the Irish Times today the child's mother said that rottweiler can weigh20 stone and should only be owner by security personnel.

I know it was terrible what happened but it seems like the breed in general is being punished, nowadays if you own a big dog like a rottie, german shepherd, etc your the first one they point the finger at for things like sheep attacks, etc.

I know someone who owns a german shepherd and was told by a farmer to get rid of the dog if he wants to continue living in the area, even though he's well behaved, fenced in never caused any trouble???

lightening

20 Stone? There is something wrong there.

corkimp

a rotti 20 stone!!! ehhh Is he 6ft tall at the shoulder or something! I think maybe 8stone. That was on gerry ryans show yesterday too. Some people have no sense when it comes to dogs.
I mean my pup Esri is now 4 months old and weighs over 14kg. She'll be at least 35kg fully grown so approx 6 stone. So a rotti would be maybe between 6-9 stone depending how large and whether its male or female. It is a shame that dogs are getting alot of bad press - automatically if you own a dog like a GSD, Rotti, Doberman, Pit bull (and other similar breeds) and more, you are subjected to things like "your dog is dangerous!", that dog should have a muzzle (yes some are on the list in the dangerous dog Act) and so on. People need to be educated on subjects like dogs - especially kids. If a dog is cute looking, don't approach it - let it come to you under the owners supervision and control. :rolleyes:

SCI

Yep I have to agree its nothing to do with the
breed just the owners.How can a dog than was
bred to pull a carts and obedience be associated with aggression.


Here's there history.Yes they were and still are used as guard dogs but
at the end of the day is it the dog's fault it's doing what
it's owner has trained it to do.
http://dogbreedinfo.com/rottweiler.htm
http://www.canismajor.com/dog/rottweil.html

Our man in Havana

Again a breed suffers due to isolated incidents - there are more attacks by smaller breeds than the larger ones! I know all dogs have the abillity to attack BUT a well trained & socialised dog is perfectly fine around humans. My rottie is still growing & he plays lovely with next doors kids - aged 3-6. Mind you all my dogs are fine with the excepsion of my westie who needs to be watched closely.

The backlash has stated thanks to the papers & to the likes of Gerry Ryan & good dogs are being surrended.

These facts were placed on petsireland:

March 2007 - baby injured in head by Jack Russell Terrier.
April 2007 - 2 yr old bitten by a Great Dane.
May 2007 - the lip was bitten off a women by a Labrador.
facts taken from understandable.com

So lets get rid of all JRTs, Great Danes & Labs......

EGAR

I got mauled a few years back by a Yellow Lab, never made the news, as it wasn't a Bull Breed, that dog nearly killed me . Collie bit of the nose of a child in the UK last week, not much said about it apart from ah well....

carpenoctem

All I can add really is:

http://www.rothburgrottweilers.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/rottweiler-baby.jpg

and:

http://www.german-shepherd.com/images/wells_fargo_baby.jpg

and:

http://www.808bluepitbull.com/images/allenangel.jpg

I doubt if all dogs of those and the other 7 breeds listed as dangerous ALL had tendencies to maul people that breeders and proud owners would let their babies this close.

The worst thing is that by listing those 10 breeds as "dangerous", people are always going to have a bad perception of those animals, acting scared and nervous around those dogs if they don't know their true temperament. As most dog owners will know, negative reactions from people towards a dog can make them frightened and asocial.

I also think a lot of people choose those breeds because they think of them as fighter dogs, and thereby train them to be agressive (I have seen this with a neighbour I had once and his two dobermanns).

It's a shame really, I think rather than giving those dogs a bad reputation there should be a big effort to teach people about those breeds, because they do require a firm owner, as does any dog, because a dog that does not have an owner that asserts his/her authority will think of himself as the owner of the house, and as such, he will protect it - aggresively if he thinks there is need for it.

houndsoflove

I'm a dog groomer and for the first time i got bitten on the finger by a little Papillion dog last week, he didn't break the skin but it hurt like hell. The problem is the owners! They treat their dogs like humans. Too often i get really matted dogs and the owners say "he won't let me brush him" I usually ask them what happpens when you brush him, they say" when i go to brush him he won't let me, he snaps at me, so i leave him off and don't brush him"

There you go, the dog has learned that if he snaps at you, you will give up he has won. Thats why i got bitten last week. Owners need to let dogs know they are the boss. I think people should do a dog training course when they get a dog to learn how to control their dogs. I wouldn't refuse to wash a rotti i love them.

golden

Why does the media always hype things up is it to get their newspaper sales up to what they used to be before the internet? Don't get me wrong it was bad what happened to the kid but not all "dangerous breeds classes" are agreesive. If you buy any dog no matter what dog it is you always should check the background of the parent dogs.

A rotti would be morbidly obese if it was 20 stone as the norm for a male weight is in around 9 to 13 stone even 1 stone can be alot for a dog to carry.

carpenoctem

houndsoflove wrote:

I think people should do a dog training course when they get a dog to learn how to control their dogs.

I actually think it would be a great idea if it was obligatory for first time dog owners to attend training classes and then do a test to proove that they are fit owners before they got some kind of license for owning dogs. Kind of like a dirvers license. :P

Not only would everyone feel a little safer, but it would probably mean the majority of dogs would leave long, healthy and very happy lives.

2funki4wheelz

One of the tabloids, I think the Mirror, had a little graphic on all the stories about it with a rottie snarling and the word 'Ban Danger Dogs' or something rubbish and sensational like that. A 'Ban Braindead Owners & Posers' would've been more apt.

Sensible people know it's the owner not the dog. I'm with all the other posters, proper licensing/training for owners.

I think the reference to 20 stone must've related to big ol' G Ryan himself. (is there a nausea smiley to insert here?)

fits

2funki4wheelz wrote:

....big ol' G Ryan himself. (is there a nausea smiley to insert here?)

I'll happily provide one for you