Your dog is not your babies 'brother'

[Thisandthatandthensome]

Watching ITV news tonight about XL bullies. The amount of money it's costing to Kennel prior to pts, £1000 per dog per month! Huge amount.

Anyway, this delusional owner has one with her 5 month old baby girl. She reckons she knows the dog so well that she knows he wouldn't hurt his 'sister' and that he knows he's her babies big brother.

I mean I like some dogs but aibu to think you're a big delusional if you call them brothers or sisters to your actual children.

Aibu? ynbu no they are like brother and sister

Yanbu these folk are out of touch they are dogs

You can't have been on MN for long if an obvious joke is one of the most unhinged things you've ever seen on here.

I’m sure that’s true, and it is awful when a beloved pet dies. But it is not anything like the grief of losing a child. Not in the same universe. And when we constantly make the comparison, half-joking or not, it diminishes the actual children. They are not just pets and pets are not children.

I very lightheartedly sometimes refer to DC as my dog’s ‘litter mates’
Jokingly
I’m well aware they’re not siblings- a dog is a dog however well loved
But I take a very dim view of people who want these massive dangerous breeds. It’s not the dog’s fault - there are some deluded owners who are not very bright. Or just don’t care.
An XL bully and a 5 month old baby? No way.

Stop with the grief Top Trumps. No need to mention about people losing children and it not being the same at all. The only person comparing them here is you.

Sorry for your loss @FoolishHips

You understand that was a joke.... right?

One of them repeatedly pushed me, tipped me head first into a sleeping bag and shoved me in a cupboard so I was half dead from positional asphyxia by the time I was found and set fire to me once when 'just' trying to show me that fire was dangerous by spraying lighter fluid around me and across my feet before taking a lighter to it. Another one belted me so hard when I kicked him because he was bending my head back so far I could feel my neck creaking that I had concussion. And of course, there was the constant name calling.

The worst any animal did was scratch me when playing and getting a bit overexcited. Oh, and I sliced my finger open when washing up a glass bowl and the dog made the cat jump, so I walloped the bowl against the tap.

I definitely felt like the animals were more my siblings - and infinitely more trustworthy - than the humans.

Well it’s not babies brother, it’s baby’s brother.

I don't think ANY of these big dogs that are capable of killing us, should be allowed. There is absolutely no need for them whatsoever.

Where do you draw the line? What do you class as a 'big dog'? We had an Old English Sheepdog, he wouldn't have hurt a fly, but he was pretty big. Mum had a Labrador cross Rottweiler, sounds scary but the biggest wuss you've ever met - she tried to sit on Mum's lap. Shouldn't we have been allowed to have them?

That's the difficulty though isn't it, where do you draw the line?
St Bernards are huge, and often used to rescue people from remote mountain areas, Newfoundlands are used in water rescues, both breeds renowned for a calm demeanor and good nature, but they've had traits that make them calm and good natured bred in, whereas 'Bully' breeds have had the aggression and ability to kill well, bulls, bred into them.
That's then been capitalised on by unscrupulous breeders and owners who have encouraged those traits and effectively use the dog as a weapon.
People say 'deed not breed' but you can't get away from the fact all breeds have different drives and instincts, and those who have been specifically bred to be aggressive are going to be more dangerous than those that haven't.
All dogs could be dangerous in the right (wrong?) circumstances, but some are far more likely to be due to their breed.