What can we do about dangerous dogs?

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There were 10 fatal dog attacks in the UK last year. A massive number compared to previous years. And, sadly, another already this year.

I have seen 100 suggestions over the years on Mumsnet, but there are always objections to taking any form of action against the dogs.

If it is suggested that more breeds are banned, there are the people who argue that no breed is intrinsically dangerous, and that is the fault of irresponsible owners, attracted to certain breeds, that any dog attacks. But how do we stop this? Irresponsible owners are not going to attend courses on how to be a responsible dog owner.

And then people argue that other dogs can dangerous - the dangerous retriever or poodle or spaniel. But these dogs are never found on the list of dogs causing fatal attacks. They are almost always the bullies, bulldogs, mastiffs, huskies, Rottweilers and Alsatians. You have to go back to 2015 to find an incident that is not one of these dogs. Since 1981 there are four examples which are not these dogs, out of 62. Two of these four are Jack Russells, who I think only don't cause more deaths because of their size.

And I think that's the key, to an extent. A human stands a fighting chance of escaping from many vicious dogs, but they simply cannot beat any of the breeds named above.

I personally do think it's in these dogs' nature to be aggressive. I think it's in their DNA (and I know it is in some other breeds too, but they don't have the strength of those above). But I understand that some people think it's all about the owner and the training. So if we don't ban breeds, so that anyone who notices one being led around their estate can report them, what do we do?

My job involves walking around estates for many hours a week, and I often walk past these dogs, and I think that there is absolutely no way that the owner could prevent the dog attacking. They are just too strong. It is becoming really quite intimidating in ways in which I haven't noticed in previous years.

So rather than a 'should we ban these breeds?' thread I suppose I'm asking what those people who think it's down to to nurture and not nature think would work in protecting the public (and owners' families - and themselves) from dog attacks?

Babies and toddlers should not be left alone with dogs. There should always be an adult there, and that adult can protect a child from small/medium dogs.

In an ideal world yes, but people for some reason have this thought if "it's only a small terrier" it can't kill the baby/toddler and they do leave them alone.

People seem to have a false sense of security about toy/small breeds, which is why in turn they trumpet this idea that anything over 20kg should be banned or have stricter control.

In all my years, I've found on the whole larger/giant breeds to be better trained and socialised than their smaller counterparts. Those of us who own large/giant breed responsibly are very much aware of how they need to be "the perfect canine citizen" but Amanda and her cavapoo/cockerpoo/bichon jumping on everyone is excused as "it won't kill you though".

Honest to god once DDog is no longer here, some small breeds are going to get hoofed in the face by me on walks when they jump on me. I'm going to teach that "small cute teddy bear prick of a dog" why the public don't like it jumping on them to say "hello", I mean it's not like it "can kill me" is it when it's limping away yelping. 🤔🤣

Babies and toddlers should not be left alone with dogs. There should always be an adult there, and that adult can protect a child from small/medium dogs

Yeh. Tell that to my then 6 month old baby who got attacked by a medium sized dog at a play area while he sat in his pram. I was at most 2 metres away with his big brother. The dog tore over to him in seconds and leapt on top of him. I had to wrestle the dog off him. My son was okay but it could have been fatal, despite me not leaving my baby alone with a dog - I was right next to him. I don't think you understand how quickly it can happen. I also witnessed another similar event with a toddler at a forest school as we were all walking near awake together. The toddler's mother, again, was right next to her, but not holding her hand. The dog sprinted over to her and ploughed into the toddler, sending her literally flying, before the mother could do anything. Again - it only took a couple of seconds but that was too long. A parent should be able to take their baby or toddler to a playground or on walk without worrying they might be attacked by a dog any second. So your advice 'there should always be an adult there' is laughable I'm afraid, and is an example of the stupid comments many dog owners come out with - talk about stating the obvious!

@BIahBIahBIah Well humans are capable of killing other humans so are you going to ban or eradicate them? Are you going to eradicate or ban cars?

I currently own a bull terrier (Female) and she is one of the nicest dogs you would meet, I also use to own a male bull terrier and he was so gentle and great around kids.

And ban bully dogs….literally no one ‘needs’ that breed

Ridiculous statement. I need my staffie as much as my neighbour needs his Labrador.

I agre this XL Bully monstrosity that has come about is dangerous. It has no pedigree, no breed standard, nobody know which breeds are in that mix.

But people are confusing them with larger bully breeds, and also to ban "all bully breeds" would see things like

The Staffordshire bull terrier
The Old English Bulldog
Boxers
French Bulldog
American bulldog (the actual breed)
Australian bulldog

To name but a few.

And if you mean any dogs previously bred to herd bulls/cattle a bloody corgi would have to go on the list 🤣

All dogs should be muzzled when out, even if they’re on a lead. In the recent appalling event at least one dog was a dachshund and one was a collie. So ALL dogs should be muzzled.

No dog is ugly. People on the other hand..

Not to be pedantic, but all dogs are capable of killing a human. They’re dogs- predator animals.

You’re right and it’s happening too often… it’s madness that we just accept this because they’re dogs and it’s instinctive. Would we let any other animal walk around the general public with this risk? Time for muzzles on all dogs outside and the population of dogs is now ridiculous.

It is each to their own, I personally find lap dog and toy breed pointless and yappy 🤣 anything smaller than a large corgi is a rat with a false passport and not worthy of the title "dog". I don't want to be able to loose my dog down the back of the sofa 🤣

Can't stand:

Pugs
Toy poodles
Chihuahuas
Yorkshire terriers
Maltese
Pekingnese
Pomeranian
Shih Tzu
Bichon Frise
Papillon
Lhasa Apso
German Spitz
French bulldogs

Every single one of the breeds I've met above, have been awful dogs. Nippy, reactive, temperamental, guarding and growling toys/owners.

But yes I completely fold and agree some people love these types of dogs, so each to their own 🤷🏻‍♀️

You sound unhinged.

Given the recent attack on the dog walker, it’s totally inappropriate to be facetious about the danger posed by any dog in a certain set of circumstances. Some people disgust me.

Obviously dogs, and especially those off a lead, should be absolute nowhere near a child's play area. I would be contacting the Council (if it's a Council park) asking them to put signs up banning dogs from the area. At our parks the play areas are always closed off with railings and self shutting gates to separate the kids' area from dogs.

The dogs should be on leads even outside of the specific play area, but absolute morons use the greens to let their dogs off their leads to chase after balls and seem to think it's fine when their dogs run over to runners/walkers. It's annoying and selfish.

the population of dogs is now ridiculous
agree, way too many
dog=vermin

Oh stop it 🤣

@Scarfweather I am not criticisng you, but being 'terrified' of dogs running up to you, can actually cause a dog to become scared and more likely to attack and this is part of the problem-obviously not the whole part but dogs are definitely more likely to attack while scared. As humans react more when scared/overwhelmed/emotionally overloaded. This is where education comes in. I had a huge escaped Japanese Akita come running past me recently and I called it toward me as I was afraid of it running into the road and being killed and/or causing an accident. I was not scared at all because its body language told me it was not a threat-I do wonder how many attacks could be prevented if others were aware of how dogs operated and what their body language means.
We know a smiling human whose stance is open and who's leaning back with their arms relaxed is (usually) not about to have a problem with us sitting next to them in a pub.
We know the man on the bus who's patting the seat at the side of him and moving his bag, is unlikely to mind us taking the seat next to him.

Why do we not know when a dog running up to us is not a threat, and therefore be able to deal with that situation, instead of being terrified, the dog sensing that and reacting to it. Why can we not tell that a dog licking its lips with its ears back is not happy? Yes It's not the whole problem, but It's relevant.

I could tell that Akita was not going to harm me, no matter how capable it might be. Same as I could tell when I walked home alone the other night that the man walking toward me was too busy on his phone and walking too purposefully to be looking for someone to rape/attack.
This needs to be taught IMO if dogs are to remain a part of society (which they will, at least for a very long time).

@Lonecatwithkitten this is something I am totally in agreement with. The laws are there-they just are not seen as important enough to enforce according to those who are in charge of them. Money goes elsewhere. As I said before, burglary is illegal. Cannabis is illegal, being drunk in public is illegal-but who here has never had it affect them or be part of their lives directly or indirectly?

Yes.

I wouldn’t even bother arguing about the breeds as they are all capable of turning.
The only wonder is that it continues to be such a surprise when they do.

They are all incidents waiting to happen.

You advocate banning all dogs as pets? Really? I sincerely hope this is not serious post and is just phishing for reaction

I am bemused by people saying all dogs must be on leads in public.
Coz a dog on a lead is incapable of biting. I guess.

I don't support muzzling all dogs, either, btw, just thought the faith in leads was amusing.

Coz a dog on a lead is incapable of biting. I guess.

Sure limits the range though. Obviously. 🙄

sounds like you have 'dog brain'
💓💟💘
💖🐕💕
💕💝💞

The fascinating thing for me is that they don't kill people, in general. 10 deaths per year is so tiny, when you compare it to the number of people that people or cars kill every year. Statistically, dogs are surprisingly, startlingly safe.

Dog owners also tend to be healthier and live longer than non dog owners, so I expect that the balance comes out in the dogs' favour.