to not understand why people have these types of dogs in their homes

[FunnysInLaJardin]

I've heard the arguments for and against keeping pit bull/mastiff type dogs and just don't understand at all why anyone would keep a powerful muscular dog as a pet in a family home. Yet another sad news story today in a village just down the road from my home village.

This isn't a AIBU really, just a 'why do they do it'. Is a pet really worth the risk? There are so many other dog types to chose from. I don't understand at all.

is it even possible to distinguish dog breeds by DNA quite that precisely ?

This is so rare and we have no idea of the details of what has happened so really there is s a lot of anger and upset but pointless really to judge without facts. No need to have knee jerk reactions against all dogs and dog owners because to be fair these dogs are far more in danger from humans that we ever will be from them. That said it is not news that some people are very irresponsible with their dogs and put their children at risk.

Maybe we need more public awareness of the possible risks of owning certain types of dog breeds when you also have young children?

Then no one can say, 'oh but the dog pound/dog rescue said the dog was fine'

This is surely always going to be a difficult one because people form emotional attachments to their pets so it can be hard to properly weigh up the risks.

Looks like a staffie cross boxer to me.

I would rather be attacked by a Jack Russell than a Bulldog. Or a Lab rather than a Staffie (even tho Lab is bigger).

To me, it's all about the bite and hold on that does the major damage, and the size of the mouth doing the biting.

This dog was a Bulldog 8 yo, a breed known for their tenacity in hanging on.

My heart goes out to the poor child and her Mother, who stabbed the dog in her attempts to stop the attack, but she chose the wrong type of dog I'm afraid.

Terribly sad and horrific.

TBH I don;t know what the answer is.

YY to Were and LtEve.

I know someone who got a labrador pup earlier this year, gave it a 'witty' name, splashed it all over Facebook how cute and wonderful it was, then went very quiet when reality kicked in.

She gave up on walking it, her son was kicking it around (not badly, from what I gather, but still, why did his Mum allow that?), her partner refused to have anything to do with it because he never wanted the dog in the first place, then they suddenly got rid as she'd 'realised she wasn't a dog person after all' .

I wonder what those long-term effect those formative weeks will have on that pups development.

Wrt rescue centres, I'm originally from Birmingham and we looked into getting a rescue dog about a year ago but when we looked at the local dogs homes they were all staffies and pitbull types or German Shepherds. Can't remember that any were suitable for homes with children. Sad state of affairs.

Whatever you say, some breeds have it in them to hunt, to pounce to kill and maime.

I would probably only ever totally trust one of the larger jawed dogs that had proper proffesional training.

i think anyone owning one of these dogs either has to have it professionally trained or keep it muzzled.

Its not the dog, its the owner.

Right, but you do not hear of " Child killed in bichon friese fenzy" do you?

Man savaged by Tea Cup, Yorkie....

These dogs do bite,most dogs will bite in the wrong circumstances but some dogs have the power to do lasting damage or KILL.

When we rescued MuttDog we had to have a home check 2 weeks before we were even considered for a dog. The home checker bought a dog with her to judge how we acted (and especially how DD acted) around a dog.

When we passed the homecheck We then had to take every member of the family (even the hamsters) to meet the dog we wanted.

We had wanted to take on two dogs (brother and sister) but the rescue wouldn't let us because 'we weren't experienced enough to understand the difficulties in training sibling puppies together'. We accepted this.

Finally we were told that we could have Mutt, but that if we went to collect her, and her Foster Mum didn't feel comfortable with us, then at that final stage we wouldn't be able to have her.

Oh and we signed a contract saying that we could ONLY rehome her back to the rescue - for her lifetime, that her 'chip' had to remain in the rescues name for a year and that we HAD to have her spayed at 6 months, unless we could provide written reasons, supported by a vet, as to why we didn't.

Even when we took on RottDog we had to go through a similar rigmarole, even though I was a volunteer at the Rescue and had known the owner for 2 years!

THAT is what a RESCUE does. Pounds just do it for the cash (and destroy dogs after a week if they can't rehome them).

This family was let down by a pound and they all paid the ultimate price

News just said it was a boxer, not a breed associated with viciousness but big and bouncy. I thought rescue places would not rehome dogs with small children.
Poor poor mother.

we rescued a dog and we took her away there and then, no home checks nothing.,
however, I also have DC and I did months of research on breeds most suitable for childen and also most suited to our life style.

Guess what, no bull dogs, or staffies or any dogs like that were suitable.

I am more and more astounded that a rescue centre would have given a large, powerful dog with an unkown history, only recently picked up as a stray in a park (in August) to a family with a tiny 4 year old goril in it, living in a 1 bed flat! The RSPCA and Cats Protection League wouldn't let me adopt 2 kittens because I had children under 5. How!!

They must have got the dog indirectly surely? Even then, what the hell were the rescue centre doing handing out a dog like this that they had only observed for less than a month! It could have come staright from a dog fight surely?

Absolutely Weretricks. It is expensive and time consuming to keep a dog, so the process of getting one shouldn't be easy.

The only thing I can say on this is the dog that killed this poor child was not a "Bulldog" it was either a cross breed (boxer/staffie/mastif) or an American Bulldog.
I also would never leave my child alone with a dog that was a rescue dog as you can never be sure of their past. Therefore in this case the mother must take some blame. One reason I would never have a rescue dog while my child is young.

The parents are responsible for their daughter's safety, not the pound.