Dogs… To think it doesn’t matter whether it’s a legal breed or not?!

[MsWalterMitty]

Just read about the recent child death in St Helen’s. It’s so awful!

The breed of dog has been released and it turns out it’s not an illegal breed. It’s called an American Bully XL, never heard of it so I googled it, even though I had an idea what it might look like due to its name.

Surely, whether it’s legal or not, this dog seems like a really stupid choice for a family!

@RobertaFirmino

Well Jack Russells are nasty, yappy little fuckers but *@Justgorgeous* was asking about Labradors - who seem to be very placid.

FWIW, the parents really do not need all the finger pointing. They found out the hard way.

Not all jack's are nasty or yappy. I've met some vile labs. My friend had to re-home hers due to how nasty it was. Couldn't trust it at all.

@Prescottdanni123

This whole story just demonstrates that these so called adults were never fit to own a dog in the first place. In an ideal world, they wouldn't have been entrusted with a family of sea monkeys, let alone a dog.

Who buys a dog with unknown history, especially a breed like that, and brings it into the house with a toddler? Did they not stop to wonder why it's previous owners were trying to sell it? And they just assumed that it would be OK with children? It beggars belief.

Tragically, it is that poor little girl that has paid the ultimate price.

They have too though. I’m certain they didn’t want their daughter to die like that. It’s a horrible story all round, they deserve sympathy too.

It's all to do with fucking idiotic adults leaving babies alone with dogs

Where did you read that the parents had left the baby alone with the dog?

XL bully's are very scary looking and often poorly bred but I have met some lovely well trained ones. As always it's the owner usually.

But, they are massive especially their jaw and they are muscular and bred to be 'status' dogs more often than not. I'm not a fan personally.

The pretty grim stats on what breeds kill in the UK can be found here. It really is shocking to see the number that have been killed within the last 2 years by these breeds.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_dog_attacks_in_the_United_Kingdom

They can be super family dogs in the same way that any other breed can be. However, like every other breed, they need training and socialising (particularly when they are young).

It's not the dogs that are the issue, it's the owners! Sadly, most large and trainable breeds are at higher risk of being used as a status symbol and this is what is happening with bullies and similar.

I have a part bred xl Bully, he also has neo, cane corso and alapaha in him. He's an utter lummox. We made sure, from the moment we got him at 12 weeks, that he was trained and that he was well socialised. We also had firm ground rules with our child in terms of how you behave around a dog. I think this is often forgotten.

@Justgorgeous

When has a lab killed a child ?

www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8479029/amp/Jealous-Labrador-mauls-two-newborn-twins-death-Brazil.html

www.nydailynews.com/news/national/dog-killed-2-month-old-baby-ripped-child-legs-father-slept-room-police-article-1.1065711

The OP is taking about another child death in America. Dog belonged to the landlord where the grandmother lived, she was baby sitting the child.
Dog was an Am Bull x Pyrenees apparently.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_dog_attacks_in_the_United_Kingdom

Fatal dog attacks by breed since the mid 80s. No Labradors. With a few exceptions it's the same breeds again and again, which is unsurprising given that these are the breeds you couldn't fight off.

In the UK, I should add.

I had a staffy all my childhood most beautiful and caring dog you could of imagined never ever would of imagined her on a banned list, a family however was almost killed and has life changing injuries by a supposedly trained family dog which was a German shepherd.
It's most definitely the way the dog is raised.
Any dog can turn, safety with animals around children is paramount.
I have refused to own a dog sadly as I do love them but once you've seen a dog attack you can't I see the damage they can cause.

@Justgorgeous

When has a lab killed a child ?

Google it

Peter Frans, Auden McGrew

Aiden*

They're a very popular Instagram dog, owners have replaced handbag dogs for massive dogs with ears clipped

They're a very strong breed that requires intense training however if untrained the size creates a huge problem, there is around 20 of them in the apartments next to me, all young party people type accommodation.

The problem is young people are buying them because they look cute as puppies and not training them.

One neighbour with a 2 year old bought two they're puppies but really strong already, they've knocked the toddler over many times already.

They're a lovely loyal dog with the best training.

It was an American Bully XL. So sad that this would be considered ok with a toddler.

@00100001 Thank you, this was a case in Brazil by a cross American Foxhound/Lab

@MillenialInDenial

I had a staffy all my childhood most beautiful and caring dog you could of imagined never ever would of imagined her on a banned list, a family however was almost killed and has life changing injuries by a supposedly trained family dog which was a German shepherd. It's most definitely the way the dog is raised. Any dog can turn, safety with animals around children is paramount. I have refused to own a dog sadly as I do love them but once you've seen a dog attack you can't I see the damage they can cause.

Staffs and XL bullies have a few differences. I've only known lovely staffs. XL bullies are much bigger and stronger.

@A580Hojas

I agree op and am sick to my back teeth of the dog lovers trilling about "there are no bad dogs only bad owners". This bullshit doesn't help the people mauled to death (let alone other animals) in any way does it?

I'd be willing to bet more people have been killed by dogs in the UK in the last 5 years than people killed by sharks in Australia in the same time.

@A580Hojas Yes but dogs are a lot more widespread and come into contact with people a lot more than sharks. If there a shark swimming around every other house, I think the number of attacks would go up quite significantly.

There is no bad dog. These aggressive breeds are aggressive purely because aggression was bred into them. It became genetic. And who did that? Humans.

There is no bad dog. Saying that doesn't help on it's own, but taking action does. Harsher penalties for people selling banned breeds, more awareness campaigns to stop people buying dogs off gumtree, bringing in dog licences, cracking down on people breeding dogs to be aggressive etc. You stop the bad owners, you don't have dogs that have been ruined through no fault of their own doing bad things, you have less and less dog attacks happening, you stop people losing their lives.

@Unsurprised456

It’s the upbringing not the breed

I agree no dog regardless of breed should be left around a child but there are dogs that if they bit me I could kick them off me and there’s ones that are just too strong to fend off

It makes me sick reading these reports of children being horribly injured or killed, and then the family being quoted talking about their little angel and how devastated they are, when they themselves exposed the child to the danger.

I’m inclined to think any adult dog being introduced into a family with small children, regardless of breed, is a bad idea, whether it’s a Labrador or a pitbull. Obviously it’s even more dangerous if it’s a big, powerful one with massive strong jaws that’s been implicated in other similar cases I can’t imagine what they were thinking. That poor baby.

@Nobodycarestakeitelsewhere

American bullies and xl bullies should be banned. They've been the culprits in every recent high profile attack on children. They're poorly bred, and the focus is absolutely not on temperament, just on breeding them bigger and stronger. Invariably they have names like Tank, Beast, Machete, Monster and Demon. One dog that killed a child recently had been bred from and had at least 10 puppies out there, passing on its genetics. They're the canine personification of toxic masculinity. They serve no real purpose apart from a status dog, they're not safe to be in society and should be banned.

I agree with this 100%….

What worries me also is that these owners or recent buyers, with children must know that they are high profile for the wrong reasons, yet still force their kids to be around them.

@Prescottdanni123 well said!

@Calandor completely agree in terms of weight an XL bully compared to an 18mo old child doesn't bare thinking about.