To blow into my Rottweilers face and record his vicious reaction for a laugh?

[VirginiaCreek]

Bloody idiots everywhere! I joined TikTok to watch dog videos (as in dog training etc) and I’ve noticed a new “trend” which always seems to involve winding up Rottweilers/pitbulls etc just to see their reaction. I always scroll past as soon as they start but one yesterday had me absolutely gobsmacked.

A small baby crawling towards a Rottweiler. Rottweiler growls - humans tell the dog off and instruct dog to go and “kiss” baby. Dog clearly uncomfortable around baby but does as he’s told, reluctantly.

There have been so many dog attacks in the news lately, why are people still doing shit like this??

AIBU to think every single person in the UK should be required to have a license to own a dog … and to get that licence you should be made to attend a training course and pass an exam? I’m sick of absolute idiot dog owners. Don’t even get me started on the off-lead “don’t worry, my dog is friendly!” types.

BTW - I’m a dog lover.

I'm nearly always tense watching animal or like 'funny' family videos. I mostly don't bother now, especially with compilations. One minute you're saying aww so cute, next minute you're like okay, I'm traumatised.

Yesterday as I was arriving home with milk at 1pm.the hottest part of the day I saw my dimwit neighbour leaving her house with her dog. The pavement was so hot and tarmac. I saw the dog almost jumping up and down and said to her it is too hot for walking your dog now, feel the pavement. She glared at me but felt the pavement then said oh she had not thought it would be that hot. In a bloody heat wave not realising a tarmac pavement would be hot. She did turn around and take dog in but I noticed a few other dimwits walking dog a bit later in afternoon. It is so bloody irresponsible and cruel. When another dog goes past my dogs bark so I notice.

It makes me feel so uneasy that these weirdos who wind up their pets are walking them in public. Imagine living with someone who winds you up all the time. Stressed badly behaved dogs due to these idiots. Those dogs become a danger to everyone because of these people.

They should all be licensed / chipped or immediately seized and threatened with destruction or rehoming. As in police checking random microchips on dogs in public spaces

Exactly this. NI still has dog licences but they're a useless bit of paper that just makes money for the councils. They're pointless unless someone is going around checking them. There needs to not only be more laws around dog ownership, but they also need to be enforcible and include the possibility of losing your pet rather than just a fine

When I got my first dog, more than thirty years ago now, the local training course ran three afternoons/evenings a week with four levels of obedience in each session, so twelve hours of different training, plus ringcraft on a separate evening. Roughly ten dogs and handlers in each training group. Then flyball on summer evenings. Second dog, sixteen years ago, plenty of people in the lowest two groups, then the top two advanced groups had to be combined. Ringcraft still running. No flyball. Dog number three, eight years ago, only three of us progressed beyond the beginners group. No ringcraft. Dog number four, in progress, nothing beyond two early groups. No demand except from me. Yet behaviourists are rushed off their feet. So people don't bother training their dogs but if the dog is lucky someone helps later on. If not, bites happen and the dog is PTS or rehomed to some unsuspecting person.

People wonder why dog attacks are going up.

This is why. Dogs are given the proper respect anymore and treated like a toy.

My children aren’t allowed to go near my dogs when the dogs are eating, drinking or sleeping.

In fact, the only time, is when the dogs go to them.

Drives me nuts when people don't respect dogs. Dogs are the most beautiful creatures if they are trained properly. Sadly too many people get dogs and think it's great fun to wind them up, and then get surprised when a dog bites or attacks.
My dogs are great with kids, but when my grandchildren come over, they are still never left unsupervised with my dogs. It's common frickin sense.

I’m thinking of getting a Dobermann and the only classes I can find in this city are “basic obedience” and “trick training”.

I’ve found ringcraft, watersports, agility and advanced obedience further afield and will travel but it shows that these types of classes are not in demand.

I saw that same baby and rottie video, and was similarly horrified. Poor dog, poor baby.

YANBU.
& don't get me started on the idiots who think it's funny to tease a dog with food, record it, & display their idiocy on SM to boost their sad egos.

You wait til I'm Empress. Humans will be sterilised at birth, & only allowed to reverse it once they've proved they are fit for parenthood.
Draconian? - how very dare you! It will be a benevolent dictatorship ...

Joking aside though I honestly don’t think it’s a bad idea!

One of my relatives has a very large 1 year old staffie who is friendly but because he’s still only a baby is very playful and bounds up to people. I visited them recently and one of my children were terrified.

I had a staffie. He was a beautiful, beautiful dog. But he looked a bit scary and kids would be a bit hesitant around him. He was really well trained and had heaps of tricks, so when kids were scared of him we'd run through his trick repertoire which finished with you shooting him with your fingers and him rolling over dead. That would clench it for the kids and they'd love to play with him. He was a dear dog and was never unsupervised with kids because I valued him too much. I would never put him in a situation that would see him as an aggressor. Due to breed, he'd stand no chance.

I hate the online pet videos. People too ignorant to understand that the dogs are giving them warnings. The warnings will continue to get louder and will continue to be ignored, then they'll be screaming the dog bite came from nowhere.

My thoughts re chipping etc is to make it compulsory for vets to scan at each visit. No chip, chipped on the spot. Would also help to locate stolen dogs.

Where I live, there are now supplier numbers required for all dog sales even if you are giving dogs away. It's going to be interesting to see the source of surrendered dogs in a few years. The actual statistics will be really informative and should help shape policies - hopefully.

My toy cockapoo bit me when we were play fighting the other day. It bloody hurt and left my hand badly bruised for a week. I couldn’t shout at him as we were playing a game that I instigated and he just got over excited.

I wouldn’t even want to think what damage he could do if he really had it on him and I’m not stupid enough to tease him to that extent.

People who tease and purposely bait dangerous, untrained dogs have no one to blame but themselves when they snap. You just have to pray that no one innocent comes to harm from their stupidity and incompetence ☹️

Yep, lots of play and trick training, trainers charging an absolute fortune, but advanced classical obedience? None. My seven month old will drop on recall, but I taught him that this week. And it had to be used with my first dog. It's bloody annoying.

I’m glad you reported the Rottweiler and baby video @VirginiaCreek.

I agree with you and if some animals require a license to be able to keep them then I don’t see why we can’t extend that to all animals. It is cruel to sell any living creatures to the type of people who treat them badly putting the animals at risk, putting other people at risk.

There is a phone number to report animal cruelty on this link (though I’m not sure if they have the resources to investigate the people posting videos online. It would be good if they can).

www.gov.uk/caring-for-pets

When I had Rotties I'd often get chatting to other dog walkers or fans. Some of these knuckle dragging, mouth-breathing, blokes people were absolute idiots, spouting "Aw, love Rotties. I had one and my kids could do anything with him, jump all over him..." etc, and I'd inwardly cringe. No dog should have to put up with being pulled around, hugged, and generally man-handled by people, especially children 🙄Absolutely zero recognition of the stress signals these poor animals are showing. Thank god they have long fuses, but you can see how these dog attacks happen 😞

Goading an animal in any way for entertainment is cruel and unacceptable

wait so when lady gets her 'liscence' in lady and the tramp? that's not just a fancy word for a collar with a tag?

Eugenics...?

Just seeing tiny newborns being placed on or next to dogs online gives me massive anxiety

When I was a kid there always seemed to be campaigns against cruelty to animals, especially in the name of entertainment (e.g. wild animals in circuses), and films started to say at the end "No animals were harmed in the making of this film," (and I think they also had to name what animal welfare organisations they had been advised by as well? I could be wrong on this detail). It felt like things were moving in the right direction. Now any idiot can wind up an animal for entertainment and film it to get their 15 seconds of fame and there is nothing to stop them! 😔

I do get what you're saying ... to an extent. But I'd rather put my toddler in a room with a Hamster than a Rottweiler.