Dangerous dog breeds

Ah, see how news stories can change in the blink of an eye?

My student just told me about this kid-eating snake story today and he told me it had escaped from the pet shop and gone up the ventilation shaft.

Thanks for posting that, Warri - the truth has set me free.
 

Dogs, like fire, or water, can be either a lifesaver, or a life taker, totally depending on the dog and the circumstances.
I believe there are many more stories of dogs saving humans, or being devoted to them in ways that help that person live life better, than there are stories of dogs injuring or even killing someone .
With something like the snake, most people would not expect it to be safe around a child, but with a dog, we do expect that, and usually, the dogs do not disappoint us.
When my daughter , Robin, was around 9-10, we got her a dog from the dog pound that was the best dog in the world, and she lived with that dog, night and day. Casey was part Samoyed, and part Blue Heeler, or perhaps Australian Shepard. He had the Blue Heeler look in his head, and the fluffy coat of the Samoyed , and the Merle spots of an Aussie. He would walk her to the school bus every morning, and be right there waiting when the school bus came in the afternoon. When she was out riding on her pony, Casey was right there protecting her, and he slept beside her bed at night.
We could not have asked for a better dog, and I know he would have given his life to protect her, had the situation arose.
I think it is sad that so many dogs now are simply raised to be fighters, and that is all they learn, and never have the chance to become someone's beloved companion. I think that some of these dogs that have attacked people might have been different with a better life.
 
I was bitten on my face when only very young by my aunties Red Setter, she always said to me don't kiss him, but being a kid i did and he attacked me which shocked my aunty, he had to be muzzled after that as he turned nasty.
I lived opposite a park a few years back and was so scared of all the dogs being allowed to run free while the owners gossiped together, they had no idea what their dogs were doing and there were lots of small children in the park, i feel that was very irresponsible of the dog owners.
Another time i was walking in the park with a friend when a woman with Five dogs approached , they were all off their leads and came at us and circled around us growling and snarling, i told the woman to get her dogs away from me as i was terrified, she came back saying "Oh don't worry they won't bite you" i retaliated by saying "And how do you know that , could you guarantee that they wouldn't bite me and besides i have no idea what your dog is capable of doing i suggest you put them back on their leads" she treated it as a joke which made me very angry, no-one understands the terror a person who has been bitten by a dog feels when a dog who isn't on a lead confronts them, i couldn't walk my little Maltese for fear that i would be attacked or he would be.
I feel it should be mandatory for all dog owners to take their dogs to a recognised Dog training school like i did with my German Shepherd so that they have control of their dogs, and if they aren't registered breeders all dogs by law should be desexed. Then maybe we may not have so many dogs roaming the streets and being euthanised by the RSPCA or the dog and cat protection society in your country
 

Jillaroo..I00% agree that all dogs and cats should be altered, and I will go one step further and and say that licensed breeders should have their kennels randomly inspected once a year at their expense to knock out puppy mill breeders and insure that the breeding animals are humanely cared for.

A trip to a kill shelter, with all those hopeful eyes looking at you, should convince anyone.

As for people taking their dogs out in public, this is the quickest way to separate the responsible owners from the true a-holes. This was very much evidenced when they built a nice new dog park near my home in Texas. They had the foresight to build two separate areas, one for small to medium dogs and another for large dogs. Now, clearly not every dog is a candidate for off leash socializing in a dog park
But some owners of these dogs have the misguided notion that they have a right to be there, never mind that their dog is a bully, doesn't play well with others, or is downright aggressive. This mostly happened in the large dog area, with many fights breaking out and even people getting bit, or worse into fights themselves. A lot of this happened because owners are busy socializing with other owners and instead of paying attention to their dog and making necessary corrections for bad behavior.

The other major problem, and the reason I quit going there is because some large dog owners were afraid to take their dog to the appropriate large dog area, either because they were afraid themselves of the dogs or because they had both large and small dogs, so opted to bring the big dog into the small side. More than one big argument arose between the small dog owners and the large dog owners.

Large dog owners would always maintain their dog was not mean and would not hurt any other dog. As I tried to explain to one lady after a loud argument broke out between her and several other small dog owners regarding her Dobie being in with small dogs, it was not so much the fact her dog might attack a small dog, but that by the sheer size of her dog, simply jumping on and playing with a small fragile breed such as a yorkie, maltese or such, could accidentally seriously injure it..she was buying none of it and insisted she had the right to be there if she wanted to, and plopped her butt down on the ground as if she were in protest mode..

I went there to enjoy nice weather in a place where my dogs could run, sniff, mark territory and socialize, but after several of these types of incidents, it was more stressful than fun and we quit going.

The last few years that I lived in the neighborhood, I would not even take my dogs for a walk around the block on leash for fear of being attacked by loose dogs.

I have so many freakin' dog stories, I should just write a book and get it over with!:rolleyes:

I read that story about the python killing the two little boys...it was a horrific, negligent situation and the sanke owner's head should roll for that one. I'm sorry, but reptiles and exotic animals are NOT pets. Pets are animals that have been domesticated for centuries to depend on humans for food and shelter and serve as companions.
 
With you there, if can't talk to them and get a response then they're not pets.
I'm not capable of taking poor Belle for long walks now so she was very restricted for exercise until I moved here. Now I take her over to the beach in the car when I can and turn her loose. The seagulls exercise her if there's no other dogs over there and when they are, they all get along fine because it's neutral ground.
I think she was in love with a whopping great clumsy Doberman cross horse there for a while, thought she was going home with him. She only came up to his knees!

It's a fairly deserted, isolated beach and Council approved leash free. Bliss. A friend used to meet me there with her small terrier cross about Belle's size and weight and it and Belle would romp together as long a we let them. But when she brought poor Missy to my place Belle absolutely monstered her. It was hackles up the whole time. Although she didn't attack her, she made it plain she wasn't welcome, and where ever Missy sat down Belle moved her on.

Belle is a small JRXMini Foxy with a big alpha ego and brooks no other dogs on her patch. She's a downright embarrassment really. Neutral ground is the only answer for her. She won't even tolerate birds landing in 'her' yard. Except people are okay, she just gets excited and welcomes all comers which isn't much use if it's a mugger coming in. She's only ever growled at one person in her life and that was a shifty looking door to door bloke who I felt like growling at too.

She was the product of a puppy farm and bought from a pet shop then proved too much of an energy bomb for their toddlers to cope with, so I inherited/rescued her. She'll never win a prize for looks and especially not for obedience, but she's a close and reliable friend so who cares?

[story alert]
An elderly (80s) friend lost her little silky terrier to the tyranny of old age and was desperate to get another dog for company but didn't want to train a pup.
So, off she went with her niece to the pound to pick a new friend. Found one on the first visit. Nice quiet little fluffy thing? Noooooo. The dog she picked was a crossbred blue cattle dog with a brown head that would have suited a pig dog! It was possibly one of the uglier dogs I've ever seen. It was about 5 or 6 years old and anything but friendly. It was coldly tolerant, but never friendly. None of us could work out what she saw in that awful dog. We thought she'd gone dotty and were a little fearful for her as it came with no history at all, just picked up as a stray and on death row.

But that dog absolutely adored her to exclusion of all else. It let no one near her until he'd checked them out with a good sniffing and if he approved he'd move to the side and watch.
If not then he'd sit between between them and fix the visitor with a steely eye. It slept in the hall across her doorway on the bare boards until she eventually gave up and brought his bed in from the laundry and put it just inside the bedroom door.

She lived just two houses up from the local post office and shops and one day we had a robbery. Big excitement, cops, sirens, the whole bit as these idiots were on foot.
The cops were searching along the back lane behind her house and looking in all the yards for the purps. Mary came to the back door to see what the ruckus was in time to see Bill launching himself at the face of a cop who was looking over the fence. She told us she heard "Shiiiiiiit!" and then "Well they're not in that f*****g yard!"

Seems she'd picked the right dog after all. She obviously saw something in him that we'd all missed.

[/end story]
 
Ozarkgal said:
... I'm sorry, but reptiles and exotic animals are NOT pets. Pets are animals that have been domesticated for centuries to depend on humans for food and shelter and serve as companions.
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Doesn't that leave out a major portion of today's pet market, though? Canaries and parakeets, finches, parrots, fish both fresh- and salt-water, turtles, mice, rats, Guinea pigs, gerbils ... none of those are truly domesticated.

What you're proposing is the bankruptcy of the international pet supply business, and I plan on informing PetCo and all the other major retailers of this incident. :concern:
 
Soon, I'm hoping to obtain a domesticated cross-bred SifuPhil. I think I'll name it . . . That One. I hear they're illegal to own, though...
 
The snake incident happened in New Brunswick and I am in the neighboring province so it is all over our news. Truly horrific and not your run of the mill incident. They'll be a huge investigation and hopefully this will never happen again. From what I've seen on the news, this is not the norm at all - one snake constricting two children? I can't help but wonder if there is something else going on with this story that just hasn't come out yet.

But back to dogs! I've always had pound puppies and have had many conversations with breeders who feel that when you buy a purebred dog, you have a better idea what the temperament and general personality traits of the dog will be and I do agree that has merit. When you buy a rescue, you don't know what you are getting - and I agree with that as well. Either way, if a person has a dog who hasn't been around other animals or small children, then don't think that everything will be rosy when they do. I had my snuggle bug Sam for 15 years and she never had any kind of aggression issues, but if someone came to visit with small children, I watched her like a hawk. Not that I thought she would do anything, but holy moly - I didn't want to take any chances. I do the same with the two I have now. I love my dogs and don't ever want to be in a position where I'd have to put them down because they did something that is not acceptable, and I certainly wouldn't want anyone or anything harmed by them either. As for various breeds, I'd like to see specific mandatory training for people who breed or adopt aggressive breeds and that could include poodles as well. We have a license to drive a car or boat yet anyone can have a dog. Just doesn't make sense to me.

I'm agreeing with That Guy - I too have met a number of pit bulls and have yet to encounter a mean one, most of them would lick you to death though.... I'm sure any dog has the potential to bite if intimidated so dog owners just need to really know their pet and take necessary precautions.
 
TICA said:
I'm agreeing with That Guy - I too have met a number of pit bulls and have yet to encounter a mean one, most of them would lick you to death though....
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Oh, I have. There's a reason that pit bulls are the most-used breed in American dog fighting.

I've encountered several owners that capitalized on the pit bull's breeding as a fighting dog. You couldn't get near those dogs unless they already knew you, and the owners wanted it that way. They'd go for a stroll down the street and everyone had to cross to the other side, just because those dogs were trained to be so vicious.

I know there are breed lovers that argue for their docility and loving qualities, but that doesn't get rid of all the many true-life stories of attacks. Whether it's due to nature or nurture the fact remains that they're one of the most dangerous breeds around.
 
It's not only the breeding or even the nature of the dogs that should be considered, it's their capacity to inflict damage. Pit bulls have far higher jaw strength than most other breeds, they also have a 'hang on' instinct that others lack.

I might compare it to vehicles. We all have cars, some like big bossy looking vehicles for whatever reason,be it personal feelings of inadequacy or for pure practicality, duzzen madder, but those of us who feel the need to drive to work in fully functioning army tanks are prevented from being legally able to do so.
(Damn!)
Same with dogs. If they come 'armed for combat' then they need to be strictly licenced to only those fully qualified to handle their operating procedures and security.
 
Di, what you are suggesting makes absolutely perfect sense, and if only the people who were legally licensed for defense dogs, were allowed to have any of the dangerous breeds, there would be none of the druggies strutting them down the streets, or the breeders that fight them using the dogs for that, and the whole situation would be much better.

Sadly, laws enforcing those kinds of rules would not work any better than prohibition did for alcohol, or than the gun laws would to stop criminals from getting assault rifles. Dogs would simply become another black market item like guns and drugs.

Even the authorities do not always want to be involved. We lived in a bad neighborhood in Spokane (WA), and the druggies and motorcycle gangs were in that area, and of course, their Pitts, Rotties, and Dobies ; which they sometimes kept tied up out back, and starved if they were on a bike run. If one of the dogs got loose, there was a huge dog fight, and the animal control people would not even try to help, or to pick up the dogs.

We talked the bikers next door into letting us have a little skinny Dobie , and you could not keep food in front of that little dog. She knew that if it was not immediately gobbled down, some bigger dog would get it, and who knew when more might appear. That dog literally ate until she looked very pregnant, so I stopped putting food down, and just kept her fed enough that she knew food would always be coming.
I milked the goat, and added that to her food, and she was soon fat and happy, but still terrified of fast movements or loud noises. She loved her new home and was devoted to us, and we had her a long time after that, with no problems ever.
 
TICA said:
From what I've seen on the news, this is not the norm at all - one snake constricting two children? I can't help but wonder if there is something else going on with this story that just hasn't come out yet.
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This had me wondering too. One I can understand but why the second child wasn't heard screaming his lungs out beats me.
 
That was the first thing that I was thinking also, why wasn't at least one of the kids screaming, and trying to get away.neing attacked by a constrictor would not be a fast way to die, and if the snake wrapped around the first child, you would ave thought that he would be screaming, unless the snake had his whole head in its mouth, and even so, the second child should have awakened and sounded an alarm. So there has to be a whole lot more to the tragedy than they are letting out at this time.
I wondered if maybe no one else was home, for some reason, so there was no one to hear the children.
And it seems really strange if they had kept the snake there for a long time that it would suddenly escape. This is just a really weird story, I agree.
 
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Diwundrin said:
TWH, I'm pretty sure the Australian Shepherd is a very different dog from the Blue Heeler. Actually the A.Shep is an American breed from memory. The name is a misnomer.


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Yes and yes.

The name comes from the fact that they were used to heard sheep that were imported from Australia.

After my first one, they're the only dog I'll own. On my third one.
 
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