XL Bully Around Children

So, you think it is okay for a dog to be mistreated and neglected as long as it is a small dog @hjytrjulykuyh?

Ignoring the ethical issue with this, it's a very short-sighted way of looking it. Breed bans do not work. They have never worked. Fatalities caused by Pitbulls are just as high in the UK as they have ever been and the overall number of fatalities caused by dogs is rising steadily year on year.

We can ban the XL Bully cross, and we can ban the next breed or cross the "bad owners" turn their attention to, and the one after that, and the one after that. Until we start turning our attention to the other end of the lead the number of people being killed by dogs will continue to rise.

We need a bigger focus on education so that the "bad owners" stop being "bad owners". No one wants their dog to maul their family or neighbour to death. It's a lack of understanding. Coupled with tighter regulations on breeding education could finally start to reduce the number of fatalities caused by dogs. Atm, all we are doing is repeating the same mistakes and expecting a different result.

The 'it's the owner not the dog' thing is such a weird response anyway. So what if it is? Even if it is, that means a bad owner has made a dog dangerous. So that doesn't really change the fact that these dogs should be banned, as there will always be bad owners, and nobody's life should be put at risk because they went to the park and a dog mauled them because they were 'raised that way' (even though in many cases they've been raised since puppyhood very well and still follow their base instincts to maul).

A bad owner of a Daschund, not much risk down the line there. Bad owner of an XL bully? Gonna lose your life and limbs.

It's nonsense anyway. These dogs aren't to blame, they're doing what their ancestors were bred to do for many, many, generations. To fight. To kill. It's their basic nature. Owning a bully is like owning a tiger you've raised since birth then being surprised when it mauls you one day.

Yeah, they're usually soft, until they snap.

In many, many cases where children and adults have been killed by these dogs, the children/adults were the dogs owners. Family. Lived together, since puppyhood. That doesn't make you immune to an attack.

Good luck with all that.

I'd not leave a child unsupervised with any breed of dog tbh unless they live together and I know they can be trusted. So visiting any dog I'd be hyperaware of my child and where they are.

That said, I'd judge the dog on personality, not breed. Two of my friends have XL bully's and both of them are soft as muck.

One sleeps under the baby's cot and runs to wake friend just before baby wakes for a feed. Baby doesn't even get to the crying part as dog has prewarned that she's about to wake up. He dotes on that child like an extra parent.

The other flops onto his back for belly scratches the minute he meets someone. You get sniffed, a few licks on the arm then presented with a belly to fuss and occasionally a stuffed toy. They're not dangerous dogs, either of them.

Your sister is an absolute fuck!ng idiot and you are not even a bit unreasonable.

Re: the Kimbo gene pool; I do think breeding plays a part, and we need more regulation around dog breeding in general, not just with "dangerous" breeds but all dogs. We should ensure all breeds are being bred for good health and temperament, as opposed to looks. Like pedigrees are bred with conformity to breed standards as the most important factor, these dogs are bred for size. We need to change that and have more emphasis on temperament and less on the way a dog looks.

However, when you look at all of the attacks there has been an element of owner negligence/error or just straight-out neglect in all of the publicised attacks.

Imo, you can afford to be more negligent (not that we should be negligent with any dog) with a well-bred dog but owner competence plays the biggest part in determining if a dog will go on to attack.

Kimbo is probably genetically linked to hundreds of puppies if not thousands. The vast majority of them will go on to lead peaceful lives.

Should we keep allowing him and his offspring to breed? No.

Are all of his puppies going to suddenly turn without reason? No.

As long as the SIL in question does her homework and properly trains, socialises, exercises, and supervises this dog it is unlikely to go on to seriously harm anyone. Of course, OP is free to keep her children away if she is worried. Only she knows SIL and her ability to properly manage and care for a dog like this.

This is a must-read. In the UK the majority of stud dogs link back to a single stud called Kimbo who was hugely inbred and was massively powerful. His pups have a tendency to be placid and then as young adults flip and attack out of the blue. The US breeders are way ahead on trying to delete his bloodline but in the UK with a much smaller breeding pool almost every stud in linked to this one dog. I wouldn't be surprised if the story above of a 6 year old being attacked by a previously placid dog is a Kimbo bloodline dog.

Basically, in the UK these dogs are a liability, and yes that is compounded by poor training, but everyone saying "it's not the dog, it's the owner" - you are wrong. It's the breeders.

https://bullywatch.link/2023/08/01/finding-kimbo/

Nice to see some commonsense on Bully threads for a change.

Wouldn't be taking my child anywhere near that dog for as long as it lives.

If we're in a park and one appears, my son goes on one of our shoulders immediately and we exit. Will take the long way around to avoid going past one.

Anyone who puts their child in harm's way by taking them around these dogs is being neglectful as a parent, reckless. It's not like anyone can claim ignorance now of what they're capable of.

A relative works with various farmers and landowners. He came home once and said X has an X-L bully who they’re going to breed from, we’re first in line for a puppy! A while ago before ban.

His partner said oh no we’re not, and that was that.

A couple of weeks later the XL Bully was shot on the farm because out of the blue it attacked another of the landowners dogs, and the (frankly stupid) wife of the estate owner tried to separate them. She lost three fingers and serious arm injuries, and someone had to get the gamekeeper to shoot the dog to get it to stop.

This is an estate where dogs are kept and trained for shooting and hunting. They are very experienced owners, and know how to train a dog. Didn’t stop tragedy happening.

@HerMammy that is a little pedantic. Of course they don’t anatomically lock their jaws the same way a horse can lock their knees to stay standing while asleep or a snake can unhinge their jaws, but they’ve evolved/been bred to have a strong reflex of hanging on to their prey and using all the strength and pressure of those massive jaws to hang on to something even if it’s a huge bull. Given that a bull terrier, 10% of the weight of a bull, has a realistic chance of bringing that bull down, imagine what it could do to a child half its weight that antagonised it. Even a gentle dog like a Labrador can hurt a child by accident through exuberance (eg knocking over or dragging around if they’re on the lead) and a good natured but large dog can cause serious damage in the same way without intending to.

My DC will never go to a home where one of those dogs is present (and that was my opinion well before the ban).

@MotherEarthisaTerf
As above - a bite from a bully breed (Staffordshire bull terrier) is dangerous because they are genetically designed to lock their jaws and not let go -
completely untrue, no dog can lock their jaw, don't post crap as fact

My cousin still has her DS living at home with her and he got an XLB.

I'm estranged from my cousin and her mother but try to arrange for my DC to visit when we are back in my hometown and when I said that under no circumstances were my DC to be taken anywhere near the dog I was made out to be neurotic and unreasonable.
Couldn't give a shiny shite for their opinion.
My children are my priority and my responsibility and I know what's best for them and you knpw what's best for yours @Popcornlassie28 Don't let anyone try and make you think differently.

As above - a bite from a bully breed (Staffordshire bull terrier) is dangerous because they are genetically designed to lock their jaws and not let go - this can be v v damaging. More so than other large dogs even if they’re as aggressive.

i would be very wary of any dog who growled at me, but more so of a bully breed.

it’s still an XL bully even if she tries to argue it’s not.

That's so young :( Because she's motivated by this puppy being a bargain can you tell her what a PP said about insurance being 300 quid a month ? That might help convince her it's a bad idea.

She sounds a bit hard of thinking

My friend got one a while ago and l haven't been round since. And l won't be going there until the dog is gone.

The SIL has to be thick as pigshit.
I suppose she has no plans to try to have it trained or anything either.

It'll end up being another neglected animal that lives in their back garden that is fed and occasionally patted but that's about it.

I met a one-year-old labrador guide dog in training today

(After asking the trainer) I had a fuss, she gave me lots of kisses, bounced around, waggy tail, had a belly scratch, and then trotted off to play again

That's a dog. I still wouldn't leave a child alone with it

Your SIL is a moron

Absolutely no way, f*ck that!! Is she insane bringing that home with a young child of her own??

Is your SIL very stupid? It baffles me why anyone would get one of these dogs, let alone someone with a young child.

Doio, a bully that gives a growl is saying ‘I am not comfortable with this’ , A SBTx who gives a verbal warning is far safer than one who gives no such warning as they are the ones that go straight from nothing to snapping or even biting with no warning. The first kind of dog I will happily consider taking on the second is a nope.

I love dogs, my current dog is 11stone, I wouldn’t let my older teenage children (who have grown up with big dogs) round a house with a bully. It really is not worth the risk esp with an owner who doesn’t see there is a risk.

Yes, I would definitely keep away from it. My brother had a staffie mix, that was aggresive with other dogs, but not humans and I refused to have it anywhere near my DCs. Any show of aggression from a dog is enough to keep my kids away (and me!)