To be concerned at the rise in number of dogs being used as a status symbol?

[AMAZINWOMAN]

Lately, I have seen more and more teenagers walking around with pitbulls and rottweilers. In shopping centres, on trains and just in streets and parks.

I know most dogs are nice and that it is the way the owners train them that cause them to be destructive and dangerous. However, some of the owners look rough!

Last night a pitbull was sniffing around me and started jumping on my friend and the owner was just saying "No" and "get down". The dog wasn't taking any notice of its owner and carried on.

Luckily my friend isn't scared of dogs but I am. If I was alone then I would have been terrified.

I just seem to be seeing more and more of these "accessory" dogs as a status symbol of being tough. I'm getting concerned about it.

I probably phrased that badly.
Let me try again.
What I mean is, the types of dogs I see, are the ones with the reputation of being 'bad'. Now I know this is not the case with a well trained dog, but these are never going to be well trained, that's not why they are acquired, they are acquired to look and be scary, and so the owner can look, 'hard'.

The dogs are got rid of, rehomed, put down, when they snap at children, or are too much work.

The family pets we had had may not have been rescues, but were bought because out family was ready for them, and to take them on with all the work that comes with them.

Only one left now, an 11 yr old CKC with one eye, but he's lovely and my Dad's best friend.

exexpat, Charlie had a lucky escape, didn't he? But even then, see the inaccurate, headline-grabbing press reporting.... "Pitbull saved from legal 'destruction'".

Charlie is NOT a Pit Bull. He is, according to his owner, an Ambull X English Bull Terrier X Labrador. Legally therefore the most he can be accused of is being an American Pit Bull Terrier "type", yet that clearly isn't exciting enough for the Bristol press who continue to refer to him as a Pit. It's a pity (forgive the pun) that there's no photo to accompany the article.

There's the tale of a Pit who was at risk of being PTS just for existing here.

But Valhalla surely you would agree that it's wrong to get any kind of dog as a status symbol / penis extension?

I too think you were unnecessarily rude to the OP. You're not the only person who cares very deeply for dogs.

Why are they a status symbol? I'd love a Stafford because they have great personalities, they are renouned for being great with children and have a grin that could melt any heart. I'd love a doberman because of the one I grew up with. I don't want them to make me look 'hard'.

As I said I walked our Doberman as a not so nice teen. I am sure to many she looked like a status dog, but she wasn't.

People get different breeds of dogs for many reasons. Just because they have bull terrier type dog does not mean they have bought them merely for status.

I had a six year old threaten (in a "no word" induced strop) that "I'll set my dog on you" yesterday.

Deed not breed... I adore, have a mahoosive soft spot for German Shepherds so am often found drooling over them in the park - one poor/lucky cos she's got two fab boys owner is so used to people looking on in terror that she was amazed I was just looking at them in a "what stunning dogs" way (I'd love one, hubby says the house isn't big enough and I can't get away with rehoming him to free up space).

And the average punter is shite at identifying dog breed - my dog's been accused of being a "fooking huge Rottweiler" (Rotties are fab too... and Dobermans - I know one absolutely amazingly behaved Dobe)... he's nowt of the sort! (We think he's a collie/GS/terrier mix but he's a true Heinz57 varieties in the local rescue dog). The ones that ARE a fucking pain in the arse around here are invariably small, yappy, completely bonkers and not in a good way and totally uncontrolled.

Of course it doesn't mean they have got them to be a status symbol, but that doesn't change the fact that many people do.

You go to your nearest estate.
How many dogs live with owners for more than a few months, how many are staffy/bull terrier/rottie types, how many are snarling and on choke chains?

It happens. like it or not, it does.

Valhalla, I respect what you do, and where you come from, you obviously do care, yet I can't help but find you very overnearing.

As I have said, I grew up with dogs-pedigrees, bought from responsible breeders, but when I read some of your posts, I know you'd have been quite rude about the way our dogs were fed, or walked, or treated.
It's overbearing as they have all been the most indulged, and well looked after dogs I've ever known, the last one living still is, though you wouldn't agree with his diet or walk schedule.

It's great that you care, no one could argue with that, but it is off putting, and I'd be reluctant to ask you for advice, for sake of being called a bad owner (in a mad, hysterical manner) if I'd got it slightly wrong.

i have a staffy cross,he is soooo stoopid!we got him as a 11 week old pup,he is so good and a hansom little fella,very friendly but i do understand that others dont like dogs and would never force him on anyone,my bils dd`s dont like dogs much as they have never been around them much,when we 1st got buster he demanded we shut him out in the garden,i said no he was a pup and it was freezing out there,i did leave him in the kitchen as as time has gone on he doesnt go near the girls unless they go to him,dogs do learn,bad owners not dogs.

There's too many morons who don't look after their dogs properly. Sometimes they get breeds "known" to be ferocious. Sometimes they get smaller, "cute" things. If when their cack-handed incompetence results in the dog biting, then the dog may get put down. Generally, this is what happens to the bigger breeds of dog, while people tolerate tiny vicious things. It is absolutely Effing Unfair on the dogs in the first place.

Incidentally, I once tried an online test to see whether I can distinguish pit-balls, staffordshires, Jack Russells, Marema Sheepdogs, etc. I did better than average, apparently, but couldn't distinguish between most of the breeds that commonly get mistaken for pits.

I have a 'pedigree softy'.

She is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier named Lola, and an absolute sweetheart.

While there are obviously people on here who want to distance their dogs from their pit fighting ancestry, there are twits out there who are attracted to them because of it.

And in terms of actuarial risk, APBT and rottweilers are indeed the highest risk dogs. Risk in the real definition of the word is likelihood x impact. So the dog most likely to be aggressive is the dachshund but the impact is very small! However if an APBT or rottweiler is aggressive, the impact is huge.

This is real, actuarial based figures this comes from. Of course it's not the dog's fault as they have been bred or trained like that. But that doesn't change the outcome.

My mum calls these status dogs 'handbags'.

I agree with you house..a lot people went through a stage of owning staffies and breeding them on demand where i am. Ive lost count of the number of people who have asked to be a stud for my staffie bitch. Fortunately she is not in a positon to have puppies. You would see them in pathetic harnesses etc. Now terriers seem to be all the rage.

when i walk my Staffie people i dont know avoid me. She is a big 4 stone lump of soppiness and wouldnt harm another person or dog.

Rhinestone Oh, I completely agree about a biting rottweiler-sized dog is generally more dangerous (to an adult) than anything of erm, kick-able size.

What bothers me is that people don't seem to recognise poor training in their dachshunds, and then are surprised that neglecting a larger dog results in poor behaviour that can't/won't be ignored. And then a dog has to be put down, for the safety of the public. I know I certainly don't want to be bitten due to a moron's laxness. But it makes me angry that things ever get to that point.

izzybiz. ive got a pattrdale x called lola and a staffie called Fifi which always raises an eyebrow when i shout of her

Funny 'cos you often find that Staffies/Staffie crosses/insert "hard" breed as owned by "chavs"/whatever are among the best socialised and least likely to attack a random human.

Yes, their owners often dress them up in studded harnesses etc. Yes, they often seem to feel that leads are for pansies. Well, that seems to be the case round here, anyway.

But IME, the dogs themselves are charming with people, don't turn a hair at anything and are as well socialised as any Guide Dog in training.

I'd rather take my chances with the average Hoodie's Staffie than with the under socialised, under exercised Pom of a little old lady any day.

I don't have anything against Poms, btw.

... or little old ladies.

yes and those who thinks it cute when thier litte rat on a rope as my dh calls them nips and yaps

we had a JR living next door to us growing up,was a horrid little thing,bit me when i was about 4 still have scars on my hand now,attacked our neighbours boy when i got out,cut all his back up,but the owners never stopped him so cant blame the dog.

the most vicious dog breed i've ever encountered consistently was the jack russell terrior. if they came in a bigger size, i am pretty sure they'd be in the same listing for "dangerous dog" as a pitbull. in the usa, we have SO many pitbulls (APBT) in shelters that it is heartbreaking. before i moved over here and saw all these dogs, i thought the pitbull was much much smaller - a staffie size actually - but now i know better...they really look nothing like staffies! i have a french bulldog (i love her but will admit she is one of the dumbest around and could kill you with her softness) - and people routinely ask me if she is a pitbull. sigh. watch cesar millan - for nothing else, he is a wonderful advocate of the APBT...it's about the owner more than the dog. the saddest part of all of this is that it is the dog that suffers - from bad training, bad treatment (being raised to attack/fight), and then being abandoned. i will consider a shelter APBT as my next dog.

I'm afraid I think Cesar Milan is an idiot.

I would share the concern of the OP, to be honest. I love dogs, think kids should grow up with them, grew up with them myself and am now loving watching my own dd and my dog interact and be part of each other's lives. But, I also have a cousin who has a scar on his stomach and arm because a staffie (NOT a pit bull, but a staffie) who was being 'walked', on a London street by a (young) teenager, objected to my cousin (then age 10) as he ran past in the opposite direction and took a chunk out of him, with his owner on the end of a lead unable to control him. It required stitches and the police investigated, but my aunt went to see the owners, met the dog and said that she had no wish to have a healthy pet destroyed although the police offered that option. The problem is that the teenager had indeed asked for the dog as a status symbol and didn't really know what he was doing, couldn't control it, and my cousin ended up with the result. (Think the agreed action was a compulsory attendance at training classes with the threat of the olice seizing the dog if trainer was unhappy about attendance/progress). Fortunately, we are a dog-loving family and although he was scared of the breed or anything similar looking for quite a while, it did not put him off dogs in general. People who buy poodles as a status symbol to tuck in their handbags may have a badly behaved dog but it won't generally impact on others in quite this way. Someone who gets a status symbol because it adds to a macho image is likely to get a dog which was bred to do damage. That is by no means saying that all of them can or will choose to do damage (I have met gorgeously soppy staffies), or that there are no responsible owners out there - clearly there are loads of great staffie owners and there would probable also be fantastic pitbull owners around if it were legal! But surely it's burying heads in sand a little bit if we don't acknowledge that there are people who don't see dog ownership in quite such a responsible light, and that some of these folks will be attracted to certain breeds, and that putting these things together is not a good combination (as my cousin found out the hard way - and try telling him even now that staffies are simply demonised and not nasty dogs) and that someone who is already nervous of dogs is going to be a bit more nervy about walking past them?
(FWIW - my personal bette noire is the Jack Russell -I got bitten by one of those as a kid but it just didn't cause the damage, or anything like, that the staffie did to my cousin). Met nice ones since but still, have never really warmed to the breed.

I detest Golden Laboradors. Nothing to do with any innate quality of the breed. Just that almost every one of the ones I've met has been owed by an ineffectual, oh-I-love-dogs-I-do owner who only partially trained the dog, and who says things "he wouldn't hurt a fly" in an offended tone as you comfort your toddler who tthe dog just knocked over, in his attempt to say hello. Labs have a reputation for being a good family dog, and so some people interpret that to mean "doesn't need training- just depend on the dog's good nature".

As usual, it's really the human who is the problem.

Yeah those middle class people with their status symbol labradors really piss me off. My mum has a lab and wouldn't be seen dead with a staffe however well trained and soppy. She's a dog snob.

My nan has a fluffy little lap dog that's spoilt rotten. It is yappy and nasty, I won't let it near my kids.

One of the mums at my dd's school (who a lot of people would take one look at and think chav)has a lovely well trained and friendly staff. She always keeps it on a lead near the kids and is a responsible owner.

Who cares whether it's a bloodline Pitbull or a x breed? It is obvious the the OP is talking about the rising number of chavs and subhumans who walk around with untrained dogs, whether a GSD, Lab or Staffie. It is also obvious that there are not many of said twats who walk around with a bouncy family border collie or Bassett hound. Shoot the owners, spare the dogs in my opinion.