to be scared of two rottweilers unleashed by my local lake?

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No, I havent either but I think one can safetly assume that such a ridiculous thing hasn't happened. Not really the same as a dog killing someone though.

I knew you'd get het up at that. i believe though you said earlier no other dog has killed apart from rottweilers - cant be bothered to go back.

jack russell kills a child

I am sad tiny dog kills baby

I'm sure some people would try to argue that white is black when discussing this hercules - it is almost pointless to try to have a totally rational discussion because it is so emotive/hyped up from the media etc

pensioner killed by own rottweiler on the news.

perhaps the posting suggesting all owners have to take tests for xample the good citizen awards would beaway forward and only dogs who pass be allowed to walk off leash in public spaces without a muzzle.
in prague we noticed all dogs were muzzled out doors???????????

we have two dogs a small one and a large and we live in a very quiet road and wanted a good house dog to alert us when people enter our boundaries however he is trained to greet people after we have let them enter and everyone comments on our super dog.

as a dog lover i find it hard to moan about the occasional cheeky dog who runs to greet people when we are out but agree all dogs should not be allowed to do this.
and i too am very wary of rotties my only scary moment to date involved a rottie attacking my pup apparently he d never done it before?????
we have to accept some breeds have certain negative traits.

I can't understand why this thread has got so aggresive and personal.

I am deeply saddened by the pensioner being killed by his own dog, how positively awful. I havent been able to find anything that comes up with a reason for the dog flipping out, was it an otherwise good tempered animal? It may well have had some sort of neurological problem, but who knows.

The OP raised the Q about dogs off leads in public places, and freely admitted that it is the image of the rottie that scared her. I have to say, to be fair, that actually, rotties ARE quite scary, irrelevant of the hysteria of late. They just have such a penetrating "stare" and trust me, if a rottie is staring at you, its not a good thing. My rescue rotweiller used to do this, he would fix his eyes on someone if they stared at him, it was was quite unnerving.

Really it is a matter of common sense, if you have a big boisterous dog, keep it on a lead. If you have a quiet obedient dog, regardless of size, let it off the lead where appropriate IE: quiet beach, woods, fields. I dont think it is appropriate for dogs to be off lead in public parks where young children are playing, regardless of size or breed.

The man who was killed by his dog had collapsed while walking it - the dog was anxious and started nudging and licking him and when he didn't respond it got more anxious and started biting and went on from there. It didn't attack and kill him, it was trying to wake him up.

That's what happened to the French woman who had the face transplant IIRC - and I think her dog was a Lab?

i do also think, and other rottie owners might agree with me, that the rottie, is quite a specific breed and has many breed specific traits that require experienced handling. So much so, that when DP was trying to persuade me to get a GSD (which i vitoed due to DD) i said to him - they are not like rotties you know! I have had dogs ALL my life, and worked with dogs for a while and do think they are a breed apart, but for me, in a good way, i love them. But i am not niave, in the wrong hands (for whatever reason, you have to be a very confident dominant owner, they do not respond well to namby pamby training anymore than they do harsh training) they are a time bomb sadly

The Frenchwoman woke up. If the London one had woken up maybe he would have survived too. If she hadn't, maybe she would have died.

(As he didn't wake up - maybe he was already dead...?)

Wendy, thats so terrible poor guy, poor dog.

dittany, i am wary of rotweillers, but if i were there, i would have intervened. I think people did try.

SAdly i think the next breed to have a problem is going to be the staffy, they seem to be the breed of choice for the thugs. Another lovely breed of dog with the strength to be a problem in the wrong hands.

the trouble is with news reports is that they exaggerate. If a person was being attacked by a dog on the street, wouldnt the sensible thing to do be to grab its collar and pull it off?? Just a thought well maybe not, not think, oh hang on, i'll just go and get my baseball bat, it must have been a street full of baseball players!

You DO make a very good point though, the rotweiller IS much stronger than a labrador and heavier. Although labradors can be pretty big too - i know 35kg labs, my rottie was only 40kg (only! bless him!). I dont think the rotweiller is naturally more aggressive than the lab, although incompetent breeding may encourage an aggresive trait. I have encountered some pretty nasty labs actually, been bitten by one too. I would go as far to say that it would be almost as hard to stop a determined labrador from doing what this dog did. Just terrible what happened to that poor man.

dittany, the lab was trying to wake the unconscious woman up (from a drugs overdose?) - she woke up, the dog stopped trying (after having removed most of her face).

The rottie was trying to wake up its unconscious owner from who knows what - heart attack? stroke? - if the owner had woken, I'm assuming that dog would also have stopped trying.

(As far as the baseball bats were concerned, maybe it thought it was defending its owner against them. You don't know, any more than I do.)

Dittany - no response then to my link to other dogs killing people? You did say I had to prove it..
Yes, I remember the women who woke up whilst her lab was chewing her face. If she hadnt have woken up I guess it would have been the same scenario.
SOunds like this rottweiler then from hearing the news was not attacking his owner then but got incredibly stressed when his owner wouldnt wake up after collapsing. Puts a very different take on the dog attacking the awake owner for no reason.
You could argue that he shouldn't have had the dog because of this eventuality happening and that noone should have dogs because this could happen to someone else.
Well, as I said you could do a mass culling or perhaps let people make that choice for themselves whether they have a dog or not.

Personally I'd rather have my dogs (oh and dittany, just for the record that's not the same as me being proud to have animals who could kill me).

i wasbitten by a rottiewhen i was little-hate them and also why would you want to own one? they are ugly (IMO)

I don't think that many people on this thread would want to own one. A couple of people here have in the past I think. It's been pretty much acknowledged they need an experienced handler. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I've seen some pretty ugly men who are married.

Actually I've always wondered why people find gsds beautiful. I find them very ugly and wouldn't want.

Some GSDs are quite handsome, but i am not keen (sorry GSD owners), i don't actually think i would get on with training one well, and i have had two rotweillers, one with "issues".

I totally understand why you dont like rotties sparkly, and i am sorry you were bitten.

IMO i think they are bloody gorgeous dogs. I am not going to pretend i like them because they are "big soft teddy bears" as some people say . When my Tiny (55kg!) was sitting up and alert i just about thought he was the most handsome, impressive animal alive, i admired his obvious strength and power. I have some pictures of him somewhere, i will try and put them on my profile (of him in the garden playing with the rabbit). I liked the fact that he looked so muscular and powerful, beautiful shiny coat, intelligent eyes, CALM and STEADY temprement with a sense of humour too. I did not ever think phwoooaar, he could kill someone if he wanted to . I knew i could go anywhere even late at night with Tiny, i could walk alone in the wooeds with him, simply because his appearance would be enough to deter the real dangers in the world (people!). I now have a Jack russel, who i think is gorgeous for other reasons, but i only ever walk him in public areas, as he is not going to look out for me in the same way Tiny did. I loved that dog as i would a person, and everyone who knew him loved him too. The whole practice was in tears when we had to put him to sleep. My Dad used to walk him for me when i was working. Sadly my dad got alzheimers, and i swear he got worse when Tiny died. Tiny was my best friend and i will never forget him. THAT is why i wanted to own a rottweiller.