To think ALL aggressive dogs should be PTS

[JaffaMyCake]

This isn't a thread about a thread.

AIBU to think that dogs that repeatedly display signs of aggression towards humans and/or other dogs should be PTS?

I'm not talking about the odd growl here or there, but I mean dogs where the owners know that the dog can be aggressive.

As someone who has previously been bitten by a dog who the owners knew to be aggressive, but assured me was under control, I don't give two shiny shots whether you think you can control your dog, if it repeatedly behaves aggressively then it should be PTS, regardless of the circumstances in which the aggression occurs. (Obviously discounting being deliberately tormented or scared).

And before I get flamed, I love dogs and have one myself, but I know that if my dog was aggressive I wouldn't hesitate in having him PTS.

I know dogs are often "part of the family", but really, it would be far more sensible if people were stringent about this and no doubt it would prevent a lot of accidents/deaths!

dons flameproof suit

SelectAUserName hits it on the head really.

One of my dogs is terrified of other dogs and this comes out as a growl when he's scared. He's telling the other dog to back the fuck off. Unfortunately, because of this fear his body language around other dogs is dodgy and he ended up being horrifically attacked last Feb by an off lead dog (he was on the lead at the time).

He's soppy, loving and friendly around nearly all people though. Except some men he doesn't know and those with walking sticks (of which he is also terrified - he's a rescue, an ex racer, go figure). When he meets those he's not sure about he just cowers, which is heartbreaking to see.

He's well managed, well exercised and well fed. He has a warm, firm and loving home now and he's blossoming. My (young) DSs adore him, much more than our other, confident dog because he's so calm and sweet with them. I find both of them curled up with him, face in his fur when they've had a bad day. He hops up onto the sofa when he hears the opening chords of the Fox Studios theme tune that start films. Walking with him helped pull me out of depression two years ago.

The thought that someone might meet him and think he wasn't worth keeping alive just galls me.

Also what selectausername said. I have one very, very similar. He snarls, lunges, howls and growls towards some dogs - even after all this time I cannot predict which ones, some provoke no reaction at all. If ever allowed to actually come face to face with them he shrinks back, dithers behind my legs (and on more than one occasion has pissed himself with fear).

He has never bitten or otherwise attacked another dog. He looks and sounds like a dog aggressive dog but is actually scared witless and having not been socialised at all in his previous home he just had no idea about normal interaction with other dogs.

Lunging and screaming at them usually results in the other owner dragging them away = yay, I don't have to deal with this scary unknown thing any more, I'll try that again next time.

He is the most affectionate and loving pet, is fond of and endlessly patient with children and has made a brilliant working dog. The fault lies with the numpties who made him the way he is, not him.

And FWIW, I don't bear any grudge towards the dog that attacked him. It was the owner that was a total tosser, knowingly letting such an edgy and untrained dog off lead to run without recall; the dog was acting on instinct alone.

YABU in some respects, I had a border collie called 'Craig' when I was a kid (5 years old), he was brought up badly by his previous owner and we bought him as a pup. He bit me twice, quite seriously by the time I was nine, hospital etc. Funnily enough he bit me as he got a bit confused when trying to protect me. My mum didn't even consider having him PTS as she knew how traumatic it would have been for me. (I still adored him :)

of course YANBU but the animal rights crew will be out in force

YANBU.

I think some dogs are so very aggressive (for whatever reason) that they should be PTS.

I think some dogs have such a bad past that they over defend on occasion, and therefore should be muzzled in public. If not, then PTS.

Some dogs can be retrained and resocialised with other dogs.

It has to be on a case by case basis, having been bitten myself when my leashed dog was attacked for no reason by an unleashed far bigger dog. Of course I intervened to stop my beloved dog from being torn apart!!
However, I have no wish for the attacking dog to be PTS because there are steps that can yet be taken to avoid that final act (leash or muzzle).

I'm afraid that if it happens again with the dog unleashed or unmuzzled I will request rehome to owners that will, or PTS.

YANBU. There are a couple of dogs which always go beserk when they see my son on the trip to school or the shops. They are both American pitbulls. I live in fearof the day one of the owners forgets to shut the gate/door. I do try to avoid going those ways but it makes the trip longer.

It depends on the level of aggression and the owner, surely? My spaniel is fear aggressive. If approached head on by a bouncy, big dog he will jump up and make a blood curdling amount of noise to make it fuck off. He has never bitten, but was attacked as a young puppy by a dog with dementia. He will always be reactive to some extent, and I will always have to base our walks around avoiding other dogs which stresses him out and sets our training back. He has never, ever shown anything but tail wagging joy towards humans. Strangely, he is also wonderful with the puppy we brought home 3 months ago. He doesn't deserve to be PTS. He has a good quality of life, with a family that love him, and he hasn't done anything apart from be an anti social bugger in the dog field. Most owners are sensible and manage the dog they have appropriately. The dogs which end up biting and causing real harm usually have a total twat on the other end of the lead with no idea how to appropriately train their animal. That said, if either of my dogs attacked a person (and I put that in italics on purpose, to me an attack is a different thing to a warning bite) I would PTS. It would break my heart, but I would assume some kind of neurological disease or illness.

Echo select a user name, would have written identical for my dog. He's dog-aggressive, unpredictably so, but well-managed by ourselves. I remain astounded at the number of ignorant dog owners with off-lead dogs, even in areas where there are numerous signs stating 'dogs to be kept on a lead at all times'!
In response to the OP, I think YABU; that the vast majority of bite incidents are grounded in incompetent management by humans.

OP, YADNBU.

Dog owners are a funny bunch,though, and constantly equate dogs with people -see plinkyplonks post upthread.

They just don't get it.

It DOES depend on the dog. My 81 year old nanna has a very strong and often depicted as aggressive dog in the media. She has had her for years. Lovely lovely temperament. Didn't even curl a lip when a random jack Russell came pegging it in the kitchen, gobbled her food down and legged it back out! Just stood the gob smacked watching it escape through the bushes!

Yet there is a dog near my work and if I forget some times and walk near its side of the fence, it attacks it with such ferocity I offen wonder what it woul do it it got out. It's a large dog you can tell it is. It makes me feel sad that this fog has been allowed to get in this state of aggression.
Bloody arse hole owners

YANBU

If a dog attacks a human in the circs you describe [not when being attacked by a human etc] then yes, it should be PTS.

I don't understand dog owners that keep a dog that has bitten their or someone elses child, they must be a sandwich short.

AmberLeaf - I don't understand dog owners that keep a dog that has bitten their or someone elses child, they must be a sandwich short.

Surely it would depend on what the child did or didn't do to the dog prior to the bite.

If the child goaded, hit, or did something they'd been told not to do to that specific dog (take food from a food aggressive dog for example - which I did as a child) etc then I wouldn't bother euthanizing.

If the dog bite with absolutely no provocation, something that very rarely happens (you just won't have read the signs), then I would consider pts as an option if I couldn't minimise any further risks to child and dog.

With rescue dogs some aren't to be rehomed with children, other dogs, cats etc should those less than 'perfect' dogs be pts just because they may or may not have issues surrounding them? I see little point in destroying a dog just because some worthless 'human' has fucked it up. If the dog can be trained and trust regained then that dog deserves a chance

Yabu. Its not as simple as that.There are many reasons a dog can show aggression, illness abuse etc. a dog that has been horribly abused should be pts? Dogs can be retrained. Not the dogs fault. We dont give up on abused and violent kids/adults why cant we show the same sympathy towards animals?
If a dog was aggressive towards people and couldnt be contolled/retrained,not sick then i would think pts, but not simply, that dog seems aggressive, kill it.

Lacking agree with you there to, forgot that point. When i was younger ( def not proud and am still ashamed)i pushed the family dog off bed. He was hurt and bit me. Def my fault. I deserved it. ( dog was fine after few days of tlc, mainly by me).

The idea of a child not being able to be a child in its own home because of an animal taking priority is to me mindboggling.

I have heard/read dog owners say that they wouldn't leave their child alone with their dog, this is of course sensible, but again the idea that my children couldn't be in a room in our house without me there is mindboggling.

My home is a safe place for my children, I couldn't have anyone or anything in my life that would jeapordise that safety.

"I have heard/read dog owners say that they wouldn't leave their child alone with their dog, this is of course sensible, but again the idea that my children couldn't be in a room in our house without me there is mindboggling."

Not the child - the dog, you let the child do what children do and prevent the dog from moving freely round the house.

But then there are places in the house that are out of bounds to the child in case it gets /attacked/injured?

Not how I would want my children to live at all.

YABU to want a blanket ruling.

Each case should be taken on it's own merit.

"But then there are places in the house that are out of bounds to the child in case it gets /attacked/injured?"

No..I haven't had an aggressive dog living with my DC, but, when they were younger (they're teenagers now) I didn't ever let them be alone with the dog...the dog stayed with me if I was in a different room.

There is no part of "just being a child" that should incorporate being allowed to tease, goad or hurt a living animal. If you're not prepared to follow some common sense rules about children-animal interaction, or to teach your child appropriate behaviour around an animal from an early age, that's fine - don't have a dog. No one is forcing you to do so.

Dog owners are a funny bunch,though, and constantly equate dogs with people - see plinkyplonks post upthread.

They just don't get it.

No. Some owners are a funny bunch and don't get it . Not all. There are things that some dog owners do that make me cringe, and I've had dogs all my life.

I don't have dogs to be furry human/children substitutes, I have them because I like dogs. They don't sleep on my bed, lick my face, eat off my plates or any of the other things that make me shudder. They also don't, as explained above, run around out-of-control or are allowed to be nuisances to other people or dogs.

Trust me; irresponsible, thoughtless careless, lazy or downright weird dog owners annoy me, as a dog-owner, even more than they annoy non-dog-lovers, because they are the ones who get the responsible owners like me, and some of the other people on this thread, tarred with the same brush. Exactly as some of you have done despite evidence to the contrary.

Amberleaf, even if I didn't own dogs, there would be places in my house that would be out on bounds without my supervision because of the risk of injury. Our dogs stay in the (large!) utility room or garden during the day, but the DC wouldn't be able to go in there without me anyway as they'd need to go through the kitchen, where they aren't allowed without supervision.