Why do people continue to get get certain breed of dogs?

[Zeelove]

We all know that certain breeds have a really bad reputation. Why do dog owners continue to get them? For the record I've never witnessed any of these dogs act in a bad way, but still. Surely if your going to get judged for keeping them, why would you do it? Is it a status thing?

I also thought this would be a Pug thread and was all set to agree.

I never would have guessed Staff as 'the dog that shall not be named' that's so 2005, the evil dog du jour is the pit bull or American bully surely?

Anyway I have an Am Bull cross and a rottie crossed belgian Mal. Both soft and loving.

Would I leave them alone with kids? No, I wouldn't leave ANY dog alone with kids.

I must say, I am glad I clicked this thread, so many beautiful dogs on it.

The most vicious dog I've ever come across was my friends miniature dachshund.

@picklemepopcorn we had no idea our GSD is x Akita till we went to see him and then of course we couldn't say no to that little face, although we were a tiny bit nervous about it.
He is nearly 5 now - he is indeed very protective but in a lovely, gentle way, extremely intelligent and fantastic with kids. Not all akitas are the same and certainly not all are "status dogs".

Akitas and crosses there of are the new staffy in some areas and the dog of choice for fuckwits.

I wonder if Pickles lives near me? There has been a spate of Akita attacks recently. It actually scares me and I'm pretty dog savvy and not prone to hysterics. There are places I now won't take my small terrier mix and I do panic if I see an Akita walking a fuckwit.

That said, I don't blame the breed. I've owned Akitas in the past and would do so again, they are beautiful dogs, very loyal and have a beautiful temperament when they are raised right.

This is our Akita. Such a sweet and loving boy. Our first Akita was a gorgeous and loving girl. Neither of them are/were good with other dogs. But wonderful with humans. A close relative had a Staffie and she was such a gentle soul. That said, any dog has the potential to cause a lot of damage. Even the most placid and good natured.

They have the "bad rep" from people using them as status symbol and for fighting, the only reason they are dangerous is because once they grab hold of something their jaws lock and are impossible to get off, their actual nature though is incredibly soft and looked treated properly they are one of the best family dogs you can have. It is the same with any dog, bad owner, bad dog.

& this was my Akita, much loved & so missed-she really was a beauty

What a beautiful girl! As you can tell from my user name, Akitas are my favourite breed.

Likewise 2 clearly yours is also a cuddler 🤣😙

Slightly off topic but for those of you who have dogs that don't socialise well I would like to recommend the Yellow Dog charity. You can get sort of jackets for your dog, which says something like I don't play well with other dogs so keep your distance. I saw a dog near me with one on and thought it was a brilliant idea

I had a rescue JRT and he was 80% a delight but had behavioural issues from his previous life (mainly around food). Unfortunately the training we took him to was not good but we were trying to do the right thing. He was certainly not yappy though, had a lovely big woof.

I guess the thing with smaller dogs is that if we had an issue that I couldn't resolve then at least I could physically remove him from the situation as a last resort. He nipped me a few times but if he had been a bigger dog then he could have caused more damage. So I do see why people feel more nervous about the types of dogs with big strong jaws. I guess it's the equivalent of being scared of flying even though a car accident is more likely.

I met the loveliest rottweiler yesterday on a walk. His (quite small, female) owner says she has him for protection as she's been a victim of crime before and feels safe having him at her gate. I have a small terrier who has bit me twice when the red mist has descended but is generally a very sweet dog. I will say though I did always want to get a really hard looking staffy and call it "cuddles" or something, but when my husband used to walk our neighbour's staffy/boxer cross people used to avoid him in the street because he's 6'3"and built like a brick shithouse with a dog that looks really hard. What must people didn't know was the fact that the dog was more likely to lick you to death than bite you and my husband just like like he wants a fight because he's a geordie from a council estate and that's basically how they roll.

I do panic if I see an Akita walking a fuckwit.

Love the way you phrased this Frequency

when these owners realise the dog isn't for them it ends up in a dog shelter which is why its the most common breed to end up there and shelters are overrun with these dogs

Important point Praisebe and another reason why I wish dog ownership laws were tightened up. I read last year that shelters used to be rammed with whippets and lurchers but now there are 9 bull-breeds to anything else. And now they are seeing a rise in abandoned akitas. And these aren't dogs that people want to take on second-hand. Too much of a risk. Very sad cycle of shit there.

@angryburd

The word cockapoo, however, still makes my blood run cold.

How so?!

It's not about the breed it's down to irresponsible breeding and bad ownership. If a person is stupid enough to get their puppy off the internet ie Gumtree, rather than an accredited breeder who will socialise them properly don't be surprised when they turn into a nightmare. It's also important that as an owner you socialise and train them yourself.

Otherwise you can end up with an unbalanced and badly behaved dog, even the softest of Golden Retrievers with poor breeding and poor ownership can be aggressive.

I love staffys and Jack russells. As a dog lover there are very few dogs that I cannot see the attraction to. I have owned a Boxer, staffy and currently a jack Russell. If I had to pick the warmest most attentive and gentle out of them all , the staffy would win no question. This would be my reasoning in choosing this breed if I were to home another dog. Interestingly Staffordshire bull terriers were historically known as being ‘nanny dogs’ because of their affection and commitment to their family especially the children. I am in no way naive enough to leave any breed of dog alone with a child as any dog is capable of causing injury or death and obviously the bigger the dog the bigger the jaw. Interestingly I have heard of more nips from smaller dogs which do not result in significant injury so therefore do not make headlines.All dog owners need to be responsible and understand that a dog is a dog- not a human and dog behaviour is a whole other language.

It is about the breed though the OP never said anything about them been vicious or anything but what she was getting at is they are the most irresponsibly bred readily available cheap dogs you can get and 90% of the time they are owned by fuckwits who abuse them and throw them away on gumtree etc like a used tissue. I rarely see one that's owned by a loving family it's always some yob been dragged down the street by one

Mine is a vicious hound alright!!!

You can just see here that he's seconds away from devouring an innocent child 😂

Here's the evil devil dog cuddled up in bed with his teddy. He hasn't even attacked that after 8 years and that's why I bought it him, never mind anyone else!

marymoo, there is no such thing as a 'locking jaw', yes SBT's have powerful jaws and are tenacious but the physiology is exactly the same as any other dog.

People dissing doggos makes my doggo feel uncomfortable

I really don't like small dogs that people don't train and carry everywhere. Why? They terrify my gorgeous rescue mutt and think nothing of biting, and are all attack no good behaviour. Horrible things.