to feel threatened by ALL dog owners...

[StartingAfresh]

because you can't tell until the damage has been done, which ones are good (And yes, I do know many of them are very responsible)

However, even 'some' good dog owners with friendly dogs with exceptional behaviour could kill my nephew.

He has an allergy to dogs which is potentially fatal. He has been hospitalised a couple of time due to his reaction (inability to breath).

Why can't ALL dog owners, even the good ones keep their dogs away from other people as a default?

I often think about how much the anti-dog rhetoric often sounds like proper old-fashioned racism ('they're dirty, unhygienic, smell bad, dangerous, naturally aggressive, can't trust them, never know when they might just turn, wouldn't want them near my children, maybe some of them are ok but how am I to know when I see one walking down the street?').

Not saying it's the same thing but the parallels are quite startling, and I'd like to think that somewhere down the line the dog haters will find themselves on the wrong side of history.

Dogs are part of society too, get used to it. They should have rights (not the same as humans, because they're not the same in terms of their nature and abilities etc, just as children don't have exactly the same rights as adults) because they're intelligent creatures with personalities and feelings and thoughts and emotions of their own, and because we as humans have essentially created them through directed evolution to live with and depend on us, them so now we bear some responsibility for their wellbeing.

However now, people don't want family dogs

oh. I guess most dog-owning MNers aren't people then

Put that tar brush away please!

I haven't come across all these dogs off leads, where are they? Only place I've seen them is at the rec ground designed for that purpose.

Absolutely, Grimma - when we got our chocolate lab, having a guard dog was the last thing on our mind. She is a family pet, and a huge pleasure to have around.

At the moment, she knows that I am ill (dh has given me a nasty cold), and she is coming and curling up on my feet to keep me warm. When dh comes home with a headache and lies down on the couch, she licks his forehead.

If we were burgled, she'd probably lick the burglars too - and show them where the dog food was kept in hopes that they'd feed her.

BeerTricks..my word, you must have been on a long lead!!!

I think most dogs are 'guard dogs' whether you want thme to be or not. They are pack animals, and placed within a family they may well feel threatened by a knock att he door or a stranger entering the house. Their sense of protection has not disappeared from their evolution.

Sorry those typos are atrocious. I blame the Dorkie on my lap :)

Funny that ninky, neither have I!!

'I think most dogs are 'guard dogs' whether you want thme to be or not' my mums old doby must have missed that memo. She happily laid by the freezer while they fed her the ferrets steak and robbed all the valuables from my mum's house

Staffords are not natural guard dogs because by their very nature they are far too trusting and loving.

I can't boast the same about my own Labrador, SDTG. Woe betide the burglar who tried to get past him! My younger German Shepherd, on the other hand, would greet any burglar with a tug and a wagging tail and lead him to the antiques cabinet.

Yet shouldn't it be the other way round?

But that's not what the dog-haters want to hear, is it?

Ah there you are BeerTricks. It's cold and dark, time to come in from the field now.

No, I have weather induced asthma. Basically, when it's cold, very cold,or damp, or cold and damp, my airways go 'shooooooooop' and close shop. Sometimes. It's erratic so I never know when it's going to happen. Bit of a PITA really tbh.

LOL DooinMeCleanin..I get your point my friends Doberman was the same..soppy!

I was being general in that not all dogs that are considered 'guard dogs' are actually fierce..and some small dogs are as wicked as they come when it boils down to protection. I call it 'small dog syndrome' they want to look big so make as much fuss as possible.

My sisters staffie was attacked at the park by a poodle. A TOY poodle. He just lay down and took it.

Go figure..

But why are you always planning your way out, will I get to hospital in time senario if he lives o far away?

Quite an emotive issue by the looks of things!

I dislike dogs, but I'm trying very hard not to pass this dislike on to my son, as it's not fair. We do visit friends with dogs so he gets a chance to interact and play with them. I just stay out of the way!

It's not that I fear them, I just can't abide having them around me.

Because the OP's DN is fictional fatally allergic from 300 miles away?

I just spat out my tea SSB

Sorry Deciduous

Rev084, your attitude is moronic. Are you seriously so stupid to think that just because a dog is of a particular breed it is likely to rip your child's face off? You think a King Charles Spaniel is less likely to bite a child than a Stafford? Ask my old next door neighbour whether this is the case then, because her 18 month old DD was bitten by their family KC Spaniel. This was after she had spent many hours in the company of my two gentle (as they tend to be with children, as a BREED) staffies, which was actually the reason they got their KC Spaniel in the first place - because they saw how good my dogs were with their DD and wanted her to experience the benefit of growing up with dogs! Unfortunately it didn't work out for them.

Not only are you laughably misinformed, this thread is not about whether you think particular breeds of dog in rescue are ugly, it is about the fact that the OP feels irrationally threatened by all dog owners.

Your comments are unnecessary and completely ignorant.

I am sure there are people that would call your DD an "ugly beast" - not all people like children either - but then again not all people are as rude and idiotic as you so keep their mindless comments to themselves.

interesting post MillyR I didn't know that about allergies, thanks

have only read the first few pages, but I would like to ask everybody that suggests a dog be on a short lead until it has perfect recall, how would you go about training recall in a puppy if it were only ever allowed on a short lead. I have trained my pup recall, I would take her to the park wait till there is nobody around and let her off to train, if I saw somebody I would out her on the lead again, she was however off lead without a good recall.

One of my dogs (beautiful rescue Collie/Staffie cross) has 99.9% perfect recall, the other (a little Westie boy) only about 75%. But he will follow the other anywhere, so put them together and you're back up near 99.9% again! Unless having a throw around at the rec I will lead them when other dogs appear, if in the Forest will call them to heel and see what the other owner does. Would always lead them if people walked past minus dog, or at least keep them to heel while they passed, even though they more than likely wouldn't be interested.

Anyway, glad it isn't just me that has never seen, let alone been accosted by an un led, out of control dog. Some poor MNers just have bad luck it appears!