to stop DD going to this house because of the dog?

[gonaenodaethat]

My DD is 5 and in reception. She is very fond of another little girl who has been to play at our house several times.
When her daddy came to pick her up last time he said 'We'll arrange for you to come to ours soon' to DD.
However I know that they have one of those Staffordshire Bull Terrier type dogs and I'm just not happy to take the chance of DD being around it.
So, do I make an excuse when they ask and not let her go or should I broach the subject with the parents and ask them to keep her away from it?
Or am I just being precious and slightly ignorant?

Yes I think the responses to OPs scenario have been pretty sensible.

But I was catching up on the thread and got to a section that was very shouty and militant. It was that that made me reassess my blanket fondness of Dog People.

I have two dogs and two cats. guess there's no hope for me then. .

2shoes I do think my experience of staffies has coloured my judgement of them. the one that went for my dog was nasty, and there's no way I could have got it off. in fact dh struggled.

Fio?
Are you my sister?

I also find it sad how people, although they have good intentions, make a point of saying staffies aren't like pit bulls, they aren't like them, they are a different breed, but it's like saying staffies-aren't-vicious-but-pit-bulls-are-so-my-dog-isn't-like-a-pit-bull

some good websites highlighting the truth about pit bulls.....

www.austinlostpets.com/kidskorner/2October/pitbull.htm

this is such a cute video of a ''vicious pit bull'' and oh dear, there's a savage rottie in there too.....

and here's a pittie 'mauling' a little girl!

I think the dog in this video is just adorable, he reminds me a bit of my own dog although he's a staffie mix.

I really want one now after watching those videos! Thank god they haven't banned them here.

God yes, poor Pit Bulls having their reputations besmirched

They are actually, for no good reason and lack of facts.

maenie waht a cute little dog.(on your profile)

I have a nervous rescue with a fear aggression difficulty. I have a delightful DS of 22mths. We have people over.

The dog goes in the kitchen/garden while people are over. Who knows what a child might do to upset a dog. Even the best dog will only tolerate so much. Children are not always able to understand/appreciate this.

I wouldn't be offended if someone asked me about the dog before they came over with their children.

Toddlers are scary!

I wouldn't let my child go to someones house with a dog I wasn't sure of, I would have to check out the dog/home situation first.

My sons BF has a dog but he she is put in a cage when my DS is there as he is frightened of it. I know my DSs friends Mum is really responsible about it. Other friends I know with dogs, shut them in the garden when we visit.

When I was at school I worked at a vets on the weekends. We usually found that the so called 'dangerous dogs' such as pit bulls, rotties, dobermans etc were far better behaved than the smaller breeds of terriers. Mainly because most people know what can happen when dogs of this size and breed can do if not under control. The terriers tended to get petted and were treated like babies rather than pets IYSWIM, dominating their environments.
I will never forget a doberman bitch being sutured with minimal anaesthetic on the table after she had chewed her stitches out. She was absolutely placid and co-operative, not so much as a curled lip.

On the other hand we had an English Terrier (with the concave face) that was very nasty.
I had a springer spaniel that I wouldn't have trusted with me in the wrong mood but she was fantastic with kittens! .
A collie cross ? Doberman/ Rottie I had was very good with people, however, it attacked the rottie next door.

Sorry its rambling, but the point is that nobody knows what their dog is truly capable of, only the dog can know. IME leaving children unattended around dogs or indeed animals generally is asking for an accident.

Dobies have a lovely temperament, don't they? Giant puppies really, so playful and sweet.

dobermans are gorgeous, i rescued one from a warehouse, he was tied up with the type of chain you tow a lorry with, virtually starved to death and covered in sores. i took him into our warehouse, fed him up, took him out 3 times a day and he always had company from warehouse staff, he was gentile and adorable and lived for years afterwards. on the other hand now we have the cutest, littlest terrier cross who would rip your throat out rather than look at you if the mood takes her, good rabbiter though! we also have 2 bearded collies, two cats and a guinea. guess that makes me a total fruit loop with no hope? just the way i like it..... considering getting a rescue armadillo as well

aww, poor thing. my family have had dobies & gsd's for years and the only nasty ones are the terriers!

It's true that terriers are little devils compared with dobermans. I often meet a huge doberman out on my walks with my terrier. The doberman is immaculately behaved but his size means that my chippy little dog would like to prove a point with him.

So I keep my dog away, not because I'm afraid of what the doberman would do but because I don't want my little dog to force a gentle doberman to even start thinking about having to show any agression.

Bravo Threadworm
I wish more people were like you...I used to have Dobies, 4 of them in fact, and the number of times I had to rescue one or another of them from a local Yorkshire Terrorist that liked to swing off their ears I couldnt count!!
I thought getting a fluffy Bouvier would mean an end to such attacks but no; to little teriers the bigger they are the better the target and if the big dog answers back who gets the blame?
Thank you on behalf of your local Dobe for your consideration.
And Bravo too to Callan for rescuing one...I really think Herr Dobermann got something wrong in the genetic mix when he created the breed...they are not natural guard dogs in the traditional sense of the word...ours only guarded when strangers were in the house and even then you wouldnt have noticed unless the stranger tried to leave without one o us seeing them to the door...they are reknown for letting anyone in, they just dont let them go without permission...and the number that have been abused because no one understood the distinction is frightening.

i hate little dogs i'm afraid. one attacked my ds without any provocation, and a jack russell bit me as a child. Aggressive little buggers [on the whole]. I think the thing is as tori says that the big dogs bred for aggression can do so much more damage if they do turn, and therefore it is best not to assume anything about them.

Yes. Little dogs, on the whole, are more likely to be aggressive. Luckily mine is only chippy with other dogs, not with people. But he doesn't really like people outside of the family, and I think he is a bit nervous of children. So I shut him away in his crate when we have children round to play.

He is obedient though, not a nuisance to anyone out on his walks.

I think small dogs envisage themselves as Great Dane size things! my aunt has a small terrier, she used to swing of the neck of her GSD and now she is always after her rescued Springer Spaniel! Large dogs tend to be dopey and friendly but I think that's because they don't have as much of the instinct for being alert and in hunting mode as terriers do lol.

You are not being unreasonable. I come from a massively dog loving family but our dog was extremely well trained from a young age.
My experiece of dogs in this country are that they are rarely well trained. Some of these tough breeds of dogs often seem to pull the owners on walks and not come to heel at roads etc. These are the signs of a well trained dog.
I think to have the kind of dog which is one of those breeds traditionally bred for hunting or fighting and to not train it is totally bizarre.
But I think a significant proportion of British dog owners think that their dogs are their babies and this psychological fudge means they do not train them!
I would not leave a small child in a house with a staff - I don't care how irrational that is, dogs who think they are babies are unpredictable. Dogs who know their place are less so but who wants to take the risk? And why do people have this dogs? Why not choose a breed with a gentler history?

sorry obviously 'these are the signs of an untrained dog"

Staffies are the most gentle, affectionate, friendly breed, I don't understand why people seem to think they are vicious?!

The Kennel Clubs recommend them as the ideal breed to have around children.

Just because a dog pulls on the lead doesn't mean it is vicious!

But staffies were bred to kill rodents. Surely a breed of dog that wasn't orginally bred to kill anything would be the optimum breed to be around children?

Of course loads of these terriers are lovely but you can't not consider their breeding history - can you?

I'm thinking of dogs bred for herding sheep for example. We had a german shepherd who was trained excellently from early puppyhood and was very protective of us 4 children and a great guard dog in terms of excellent hearing etc. But she wasn't bred to kill her sheep. I just feel so aware of what some of these dogs were bred for originally, that must still be in them somehow don't you think?

Message withdrawn

That's true Chequers and my father always says it's the owners that are responsible for out of control dogs "It's not the dog's fault!" (He always says as if I'm suggesting torturing puppies!)

BUT breeding over many centuries has consequences, otherwise no one would have bothered to do it would they? You have to agree that dog breeders over the ages chose to specialize traits in certain breeds? How else would all these working dogs been of any use to anyone?

My impression is that some breeds are more docile overall than others.

This debate is always dominated by hugely defensive positions, I don't want to attack anyone's darling pooch. I just think dog owners are often irrational about their darlings! As are parents - rarely objective.

My father and his wife kept a dog (a Westie) after it had bitten his step daughter (5) on the face! They said it wasn't the poor dog's fault, the child had 'surprised' the dog.

My sister and I were horrified at how irrational they were. But those dogs are my dad's babies - they can do no wrong.

I think people who have working dogs are often more rational about them. They have a job to do, rather than being emotional bags for our odd longings!

No disrespect intended but I'm so sick of walking in dog poo that I've stopped loving dogs. And I don't care what anyone says, even the best dog owners can't pick up every poo if the dog is off the lead and far away. And no dog owner picks up a runny poo - it's not possible.

I think dogs belong on people who have the land for them!! Sorry!