Xl bullies

[StrangerThings1992]

Let me start by saying I don't think all these type of dogs are bad but I do have massive anxiety over them, especially when a fatal attack is in the news. I was diagnosed with OCD and GAD so I do tend to obsess over things and catastrophise everything but, everytime I'm out lately I seem to be on the alert thinking an off leash one is going to come and maul my kids and how powerless I would be to stop it.
I like dogs in general but I just feel so uneasy if I ever see one out and I'm with my kids. Even if it's on a lead it still makes me feel sick. I realise this may be an over reaction but I can't help it.
I even stopped my 9 year old going to her best friends house because they got one of these dogs. She works all the time so it's left alone most the day and I felt like she wasn't safe so she's no longer allowed there.

If there's any dog experts here, what would be the best way to protect yourself and your child if this situation did happen?

I am a "dog person", grew up with land and lots of rescue dogs, have a dog of my own but there is no chance in hell my DD would enter a house with an XL bully.

Indeed and I doubt she's declaring her income. I would be reporting her to HMRC.

I'll never understand the appeal these breeds seem to hold for some people
I think much of it is to do with the sense of power and control that they have because they feel as if they are in command of this powerful and dangerous animal.
When they are out from with the dog other people are obviously afraid and this feels like respect and deference to the dog owner so the dog owner feels a sense of power over other people.
I think that's part of what's driving it.

Yes I'd gladly support this too.

People don't realise. All dogs have the potential to react unpredictably and attack humans (its why I won't have ones as a pet). The massive risk with XL bullies & other pitbull breeds is their muscularity/strength and particularly their tendency to hold on (and shake etc) when biting.

I wouldn't go near one or let my children near them.

I agree and I already have a rough idea of how many are in my local area and where they live.
There will be lots of people reporting sightings to the authorities and so there must be enough information available to fill out a register.

Also? Dogs tend towards the behaviour they were bred for. Pitbull breeds were bred to fight, show aggression. They have high prey drive.

They won't be deterred by resistance/a child fighting back because they've been bred to keep fighting even when wounded etc.

We've actually had three dog attacks over here lately, "only" one fatal, XL Bully, but two others in recent weeks & yesterday I think? One was a terrier & the little boy need 30 stitches to his face...

I love dogs, my Auntie used to mind my son & at the time she had a Lab (Sam) & Tadhg & he were thick as thieves, they had a "one for you, one for me" agreement when it came to food &/or getting it from presses or the fridge, best of pals

However his other nana had a collie cross & while never aggressive or cranky he always seemed like one pull on his tail or ear (I'm not saying that's cool, but that's toddlers) & I reckon he'd have no bother snapping & he'd have destroyed my sons (or whoevers) face or body so despite walking & spending time with their family dog by myself prior to being a mammy I never trusted him around my child unsupervised & even then I'd almost be between them, all it takes is one snap

Well you can’t say it’s total bullshit as there is no full record either way of exactly how many are related to that one dog.
And there is nothing to say that the case may be that there are many previously bred XL’s that are the problem as well as Kimbo.
Either way many in the Uk are very inbred with a small gene pool.

I think by law they have to be registered now anyway. So would just be a case of giving people access to that – or even figures to a given street.

Things would get ugly if that information got out.

And this is the advert of the breeder of Cookie Doe that killed the father in law of the breeder.
Related back to Kimbo.

Yeah that’s why I mentioned about maybe keeping it to street names rather than names and house numbers.

The point is people could be just as nervous about Great danes, or even more nervous due to their sheer size or maybe they might have had a bad experience with one.

Now that XL bullies are banned it seems rottweilers and cane corsos are the popular ones. I'm sure in time they'll end up banned too due to ending up with the wrong owners and ending up causing the next spate of fatalities.
Then something else will be the popular choice, maybe eventually it will be the great dane and again the same thing will end up happening.

I'm sure in time they'll end up banned too due to ending up with the wrong owners and ending up causing the next spate of fatalities.

I doubt it, the ban has come about because there is something in the breed that is inherently wired wrong, the aggression levels and the power, they are not just not meant for family life.

I do think the owners play a large part as to how a dog behaves, but these dogs just have that killing/maiming instinct bred into them and can snap at any time.. THAT is the problem.. I'm sure that 23 year old girl who had her arm ripped off by her pet dog, didn't 'train' her dogs to be aggressive, yet he didn't stop attacking her until she was dead.

I don't think it's necessarily true that they're 'wired wrong'. The issue is their power.

They're not necessarily more aggressive than other dogs either, some small dogs can be far far more aggressive, they just don't have the power to cause serious damage....so would you say that those dogs are 'wired wrong?'.

Any dog can snap at any time. I had a small dog when I was a kid who went for me when I wore a hat one day.

The day we got him a labrador viciously attacked him. His owner was in tears and absolutely devastated and said her dog had never once shown any aggression or done anything like that.

but if an XL snaps then people say it's because they've been bred with the instinct to kill?

We'll see in the next few years when people are breeding the biggest cane corsos etc possible but I'm sure that there's still going to be fatalities.

I'm sure that girl didn't train her dogs to be aggressive either and apparently she babied them, but they're not supposed to be babied either. Of course an owner should love them and be kind but they also have to show them who the leader is.

I'd never get a big breed which could weigh more than me because I know I'd probably be the same as that girl and baby the dog but that would make me a soft and weak owner for the dog and that's not what they need.

Obviously a kind soft owner is better than an owner who teaches them to be aggressive, but that's still not the best kind of owner or the owner that those dogs need.

My daughter is a lot more firm with our dog than I am and he seems to love us both just as much but without a doubt he respects her more and listens to her more.

I have a 13 year old. I tell her if any of your friends have a xl you calmly leave without saying why and you phone me. I don’t think that you are bu I think that you are responding sensibly to a danger.
they are beautiful dogs, they are animals and living beings however you would have a lion or a gorilla in your home or round your child would you? As beautiful and lovely as they are

Some people are nervous of him, because of his size. But I'm hyper aware of that and as I have said, he is well trained, on lead in busy places or if people approach us when off lead and wears a head collar which I think is essential for control a large and heavy breed. My earlier point is that we often encounter bully/mastiff types that are not in control, are clearly not well trained and are often just on a neck collar and lead (not good enough to control a strong dog), owners are often struggling with the dogs and I do find it very scary. I note your remark that great danes have been responsible for a couple of bites and even some deaths (true of many breeds) but this is extremely rare absolutely not typical of the breed on the whole. You catatonically cannot say the same about bullies. This notion that their popularity is the problem can be proven wrong because staffies and huskies have both been very popular chav dogs in the past and there was nothing like the meteoric rise in attacks/deaths when those dogs were about in large numbers. Sadly this is a toxic mix of poor owners AND a powerful and aggression prone breed.

My friend left a party a couple of weeks ago because people were drunk and dancing and being loud (which was fine) but somebody turned up with an XL and it did not like what was going on. It has an owner who goes on about it being a "big softy". Friend had her two kids with her, one who is small so she upped and left rather than take the risk. I would have done the same.

Sadly this is a toxic mix of poor owners AND a powerful and aggression prone breed
I don't disagree that there are bad owners. I don't disagree that bad owners are a big problem.
But even with a good owner these dogs, these pit bull type dogs should not be kept as pets.

Yes, I think I meant what you said.

But if the country was flooded with them and a lot of them were being raised by those poor owners then attacks and fatalities would increase.

I'm not just putting this down to their popularity.
Staffies are tiny compared to XLs. Huskies also only weigh half the amount too. XLs can be more than 60kg. There was a vet in Ireland who said they had an 11 stone XL in there one day....almost 70kg......I don't know what it was crossed with or if he just happened to be huge or if he was obese or what but that is crazy!

If there was XL staffies who weighed 50 or 60kg+ or huskies who weighed the same then I'm sure during their popular phase with chavs that fatalities would have increased.

Very true.
It’s Squirrel season and the dogs with squirrels in their mouths are the small Lurchery types.

Hardwired to hunt small vermin.

Even ones reared as pets not working dogs have this innate drive.

Much as Collies herd, and Spaniels are on the go all the time.
The squirrel in pic escaped- but shows that genetic drive 🧬 is hardwired

Even a woman’s gentle little poodle xBedlington caught one, much to her sadness.