Neighbours have an XL Bully dog

[Mayxo]

Hello there,

I wanted some advice as I have a little concern.

My husband, our two children, and I are moving to our new home within two months. We went over to view it and we bumped into our soon-to-be next-door neighbors. They were very kind, told us about the street, parking and things but they did say they have an XL Bully. They said she's lovely and would lick you all over, etc.

Now, I am a strong believer that owners are the reason for badly behaved dogs. Judging by how they were with us, they seemed so lovely that I doubt they would treat their dog badly. But I can't help but worry about my children playing in the garden. What if she digs under or jumps over the fence? Not to mention we have a rescue cat. He's only two years old, so I fear he will jump over and get hurt or worse.

I know I may seem like I'm overreacting. It's just that you hear so many stories; it worries me.

Is there any way I can make my garden safer on a very low budget? It would be much appreciated if someone could help me and give me some ideas xx

I thought many xl dogs where linked to some vicious dog in the states that's inbred.

Good idea to raise this with ha.

What are the rules I think they were "friendly" to try and win you over about the the dog.

Good idea to chat to other neighbours.
It's awful that their determination to keep such a dog should have this effect and worry on other people.

Exactly. People always say its down to the owners. Any dog can turn at any time.

@Mayxo

im sorry to hear about your business & home.

i love dogs & I love big breeds and the more muscle dogs.

Hoeever, I'd be worried moving next door to an XL too.

i don't know much about Social Housing (SH) but isn't there anyone there you can talk to, to retain your position on the list? (If you turn it down).

I suspect that's the reason it's available to someone in your position on the list, that those higher up have turned it down.

if you took it, would you be able to go for a swap?

best of Kuck!

I didn't know that. If that's the case then how can people possibly say "it's in the dna"?

Could a large French Bulldog, or a Frenchie crossed with a bigger breed fall into this category? Because they're not exactly known for their aggression are they?

Honestly every thread with the words XL Bully in the title attracks these hysterical posters. I cannot believe people are genuinely suggesting homelessness would be preferable to living next door to a fucking dog. That's a spectacular level of stupidity. I'm not surprised OP hasn't been back to the thread with this level of hysteria. I wonder what mumsnet would have been like when pitbulls were banned?

@SpringSprungALeak
Thank you. It has not been an easy two years, that's for sure.

I am going to call Fairhive on Monday and ask them some questions. The neighbors with the XL bully said they spoke to the previous people who accepted the house before us and told them they had an XXL bully. They then turned it down, and then we were offered the house.

I know we could swap, but this house is just around the corner from my husband's work, so it's kind of perfect. Then I feel obligated to let the people know there is an XL next door. I don't think people would exchange honestly.

The previous people that lived at this house exchanged houses with someone else. The house was so run down, it was bad. They are currently renovating the whole entire house, that's why we are waiting.

Apparently, when you exchange, you have to do maintenance on the house yourself, not the HA. God knows why. That's another reason why we can't exchange. We just can't afford it, if we have to sort something major thats expensive we can't. That's kind of why we were happy we were getting this house so we don't have to do too much but move our stuff in and put our decor up.

It's honestly worried me. I've struggled to sleep. I've been thinking about it all night. I worry about my cat. I think the kids will be fine. We're going to put up trellises and things to make it safer. My father-in-law is a carpenter and loves gardening. He said he'll do whatever we want done to the garden for us. He wants to put laurel trees up all around the garden. 🤔 That might help? Not sure. I just don't think there's much we can do. I'm always out with the kids in the garden anyway. They have large sheds and brick sheds against our fence, so that kind of helps, but I can imagine our cat, Sunny. He'll just sit on top of their shed staring at the dog. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Sorry, XL not XXL. 😬 We are still going to move there, just our cat is more of a concern, we reckon. We are going to make it safer. My husband has been reassuring me everything will be fine 🙂 thank you for the ideas on the fence on what to do, much appreciated.

I mean they’d have to be crossed with a real big breed, but theoretically yes.

lab x mastiff easily would be XL bully type.

This is exactly what I thought.
Why would a new neighbour even mention that they have a dog unless the dog has been a problem in the past?
When I had new neighbours, they didn’t need to know we had two dogs, as ours were quiet and not going to be a threat or annoyance to neighbours with kids or cats ( very high secure fences)
neighbour’s cats were never bothered, and would leave garden when I let dogs out.

Why do people get these bloody dogs? There something wrong with them. They may smile inanely (thick as mince) but they’re selfish duckers, only thinking about what they want.

All these dangerous dogs ie. dogs bred for aggression should have been banned years ago. They don’t belong in a civilised society. The writing on the wall was clear to anyone who didn’t live in an ivory tower. When my child was a toddler I go tired of being on red alert every time we were out where I live because of the aggressive-breed dogs.

This country used to breed working dogs in the main - labradors, collies, etc with a sprinkling of toy dogs. And though one should of course be careful with all dogs the chances of my child being murdered by a poodle or a cocker spaniel is non-existent.

Not being remotely hysterical @Mayxo
I see now why you can’t pull out of sale—
If the XL is remotely threatening to anyone- Eg when unmuzzled in garden and a risk of it getting into your garden, report it.

People do many selfish things - they drink drive, they fly tip, they do all sorts of things. These animals have done nothing wrong and the whole situation is appalling.

Your logic and examples make no sense. Well fly tipping is illegal. Drink driving is illegal. Just because there are lots ignorant selfish people, doesn’t mean you give them a free pass!!! This woolly thinking is responsible for this mess.

Where did I blame the dogs themselves? They should be banned as a breed in this country and should have been from the get-go. Same with other dangerous dog breeds.

Maybe all the fanatical dog lovers might protest when their own dogs are killed and maimed by these unfortunate animals. Would you let people import tigers to keep as pets? I’m guessing not. Same principle.

"Why would a new neighbour even mention that they have a dog unless the dog has been a problem in the past?"

Not necessarily. As shown by threads on MN anyone with an XL is written off as the worst of humanity and risk their dog getting reported to their HA before it's even farted in ops general direction.

I'm not surprised anyone decent in this situation with an XL might want to bring the topic up to preempt anything, maybe to suss out if op bursts into tears and cries/shakes, gets mouthy about it,or is fine, so they can work out where they stand.

Tbf id expect an idiot with a problem dog to not even acknowledge op or the dogs existence. Why would they if they are a dick?

A bully dog is BRED for aggression. It’s not simply a case of being well brought up and having been to finishing school. ALL dogs can be nice till they’re not, either their prey instinct is activated or some defensive instinct; the difference is that a bully dog, because of its power and genetic aggression, can inflict ALOT more damage.

The naivety and irresponsibility of these dog lovers (and I’m looking at you Kennel Club who also defend allowing these aggressive breeds in our society) is astonishing.

Did you mean to quote me? You reply has nothing whatsoever to do with my post.

I’ve never read such nonsense. Can you please please stop spreading rubbish. It’s really not fair because it’s not based on anything but your innate biases. Bull breeds were bred to bait bulls and sometimes bears... clues in the name. This became illegal so they become prominent in the world of dog fighting. They have never been bred to be aggressive to people and often make great family companions.

The fact that they were bred to bait bulls makes them no more aggressive than dogs bred to hunt foxes or rabbits. It does make them more powerful, more game, etc. But there are other powerful dogs out there. Alsatians and rotties were the fashionable dog to hate twenty years ago. And yes, they have been responsible for fatalities. So you can either ban every powerful dog or focus on the actual problem, it ain’t the dogs.

Yes I thought bull breeds were desired for that 'sport' because they weren't human aggressive I.e. they were biddable?

Which does make sense in that if people have these dogs and don't know what they ate doing they can train (either intentionally or not) negative behaviour into them.

Well yes, but I’m pretty sure I could train any dog to be aggressive if I were to beat seven bells out of them. The hatred some of the people have on this thread for a breed of dog is awful.

@DippyDipped if my logic makes no sense, God knows why you are talking about owning a tiger 😂😂

I just wanted to add that I think it's a good thing he told us he has an XL bully. If he hadn't and was closed off with us, we would find that worrying. The surprise of seeing it once we moved in would be far worse.

I usually get a bad vibe from someone, and they honestly came across as down-to-earth, which is why we are still moving in. We could stop moving in, wait for another year, and then be housed next to unsociable people with XL bullies again. There's no point in that just thought I'd say.

XL dogs are dangerous even if their owners are not. Keep your children away.

I tend to assume the more extreme posters are the same people who also bang on about "broken Britain", benefits cheats, stopping the boats and demonstrate outside asylum centres. It's like reading the Daily Mail comments section to be honest!

@Mayxo I think you're doing the right thing. It sounds like the house is going to be lovely when it's been refurbished, you can make the garden nice and private, and you'll eventually have a secure tenancy. You could move anywhere and end up next to a neighbour from hell at anytime, unless you buy in the middle of nowhere.

XL's are bred from fighting Pitbulls.

The innate aggression is hardwired in them.

Especially comes out as they get older {usually two plus} -
Border collies herd.
Retrievers retrieve,
Greyhounds chase small game.
Pitbulls fight. they are naturally inclined that way.