XL Bully Around Children

[Popcornlassie28]

Hi,

My SIL has decided to buy a XL bully dog (yes I know they are in the process of being banned by the government).

I was bitten by a bully type dog as a child when I was round a friend’s house having a play date so I’m naturally on edge about this.

I have two small children (and she has an older school age child) and I’ve expressed I’m not comfortable with the children visiting the house with the dog there but she is welcome to visit us here.

They think I’m being OTT and said that the dog is fine and not all are aggressive. She is refusing to muzzle or put the dog away as she said it’s a pet that needs to be socialised with people and putting the dog away will add to the issue.

Seeing all the news about these dogs at the moment makes me think I’m being responsible as one bite can kill and be devastating.

I know it’s a nature verses nurture debate and people think it’s how they are raised and not their breed but I don’t know enough about this breed to comment.

Am I being unreasonable to not allow the children over?

@Doio

keep well clear.

To answer your question I would not be going near that dog, nor would my DC.

YANBU - you can't help it that SIL/partner/friends etc are stupid. Of all the things 'they' could take some sort of stand on, she's gone for the XL Bully option.

Stupid is as stupid does.

Thank you, I haven’t got Dc yet just trying but I was wondering since it’s not actually an XL bully if it’s wrong to still not be comfortable with it. I’ve never fully relaxed around it!

Better safe than devastatingly sorry, OP

This with bells on.

I wouldn't let any of my dc through the door of a house with an XL Bully in. Not even the 15 year old.

Not even when it's a tiny cute puppy that clearly can't do much harm. Because it will obviously be fine at 8 weeks. 10 weeks. Probably 14 weeks and 16 weeks. But then you'll get complacent, being around the dog will be the norm and it will be awkward and difficult knowing at what age to draw the line.

I determine which dogs I'm happy to spend time with by thinking about how possible it would be for me to get it off me if it attacked me. If i think the dog would be able to overpower me then I stay away. Go with your gut instinct too.

It can jump really high and has jumped up at me before and reached my shoulders, I’m not that short! When I flinched they laughed at me like I was being unreasonable for being a bit apprehensive

My dog weighs 10lbs. I can pick her up in one hand.

She is great with children. She loves them, they love her. And I never leave her alone with them because she's a dog.

An XL bully? Hell no.

Quite frankly, your SIL sounds like an irresponsible nut job, buying a dog breed that is in the process of being banned because its dangerous! And she has a school aged child too.
She's a prick for taking that gamble. Stick to your guns and keep your child away from it.

My Sil and brother have a very large staffy. He’s a nice dog but pure muscle and very boisterous. He jumps up at my two small children, has bruised my leg with his claw accidentally when he jumped at me. When we have been round there previously at family events my mum even tried to encourage my young daughter to give this dog a kiss. She thinks my sil is amaaaazing will do anything to make her like her, even if it means risking my daughter getting her face ripped off 😳The last straw came when we went round for a bbq and my son was in the garden and he ran up behind him and jump up against my son’s back. I don’t take them round there anymore.

Any normal person would be nervous of a dog like that. Ignore them and keep yourself safe. You have nothing to prove to them.

Yes, I would definitely keep away from it. My brother had a staffie mix, that was aggresive with other dogs, but not humans and I refused to have it anywhere near my DCs. Any show of aggression from a dog is enough to keep my kids away (and me!)

I love dogs, my current dog is 11stone, I wouldn’t let my older teenage children (who have grown up with big dogs) round a house with a bully. It really is not worth the risk esp with an owner who doesn’t see there is a risk.

Doio, a bully that gives a growl is saying ‘I am not comfortable with this’ , A SBTx who gives a verbal warning is far safer than one who gives no such warning as they are the ones that go straight from nothing to snapping or even biting with no warning. The first kind of dog I will happily consider taking on the second is a nope.

Is your SIL very stupid? It baffles me why anyone would get one of these dogs, let alone someone with a young child.

Absolutely no way, f*ck that!! Is she insane bringing that home with a young child of her own??

I met a one-year-old labrador guide dog in training today

(After asking the trainer) I had a fuss, she gave me lots of kisses, bounced around, waggy tail, had a belly scratch, and then trotted off to play again

That's a dog. I still wouldn't leave a child alone with it

Your SIL is a moron

The SIL has to be thick as pigshit.
I suppose she has no plans to try to have it trained or anything either.

It'll end up being another neglected animal that lives in their back garden that is fed and occasionally patted but that's about it.

My friend got one a while ago and l haven't been round since. And l won't be going there until the dog is gone.

She sounds a bit hard of thinking

That's so young :( Because she's motivated by this puppy being a bargain can you tell her what a PP said about insurance being 300 quid a month ? That might help convince her it's a bad idea.

As above - a bite from a bully breed (Staffordshire bull terrier) is dangerous because they are genetically designed to lock their jaws and not let go - this can be v v damaging. More so than other large dogs even if they’re as aggressive.

i would be very wary of any dog who growled at me, but more so of a bully breed.

it’s still an XL bully even if she tries to argue it’s not.

My cousin still has her DS living at home with her and he got an XLB.

I'm estranged from my cousin and her mother but try to arrange for my DC to visit when we are back in my hometown and when I said that under no circumstances were my DC to be taken anywhere near the dog I was made out to be neurotic and unreasonable.
Couldn't give a shiny shite for their opinion.
My children are my priority and my responsibility and I know what's best for them and you knpw what's best for yours @Popcornlassie28 Don't let anyone try and make you think differently.

@MotherEarthisaTerf
As above - a bite from a bully breed (Staffordshire bull terrier) is dangerous because they are genetically designed to lock their jaws and not let go -
completely untrue, no dog can lock their jaw, don't post crap as fact

My DC will never go to a home where one of those dogs is present (and that was my opinion well before the ban).