I think it is time there was a proper grown up discussion about dog behavior and huge dog behavior awareness campaign, perhaps in line with all dogs having a licence. I do think the licence should be for the owner not the dog. The owner (and I would push this further for all adults in the dog's household) should be made to attend sessions on good ownership behaviour, what an in control and well trained dog acts like, when to seek help for your dog - including spotting signs of pain/ doggy dementia, the warning signs dogs give off before they bite (very few dogs bite out of no-where, they almost always show other warning behaviour before a bite occurs). As well as a huge push on responsible ownership when there are children in the home.
I absolutely hate the insta/ tiktok influencers who tease their dogs for likes - withholding food/ toys or taking things off the dog, for the dogs reaction (then leads to resource guarding), wind their dogs up for laughs, film and laugh at the dog when it is displaying warning behaviour and going "your so silly fido hahaha". Dressing their dogs up or putting things on the dog, whilst the dog very clearly shows it dislikes what is happening whilst the owner laughs and claims the dog looks cute. It's cruel to the dog and poor ownership.
I would also like to see some proper education on responsibility when there are children in the house. There are far too many people who allow their children to climb/ pull/ poke/ prod at their dog. I've seen people allowing their toddlers to "ride" the dog like a horse or stick stickers all over the dog and paint their nails all whilst the dog is clearly uncomfortable. Parents not explaining or recognizing that the dog also needs space and when the dog moves away or goes to their bed then the children should not continue bothering the dog. In some cases not creating a space for the dog to go to to signal it has had enough. Education on keeping both children and dogs safe, again influencer trends of dogs "nannying" young babies and toddlers in the night, sleeping next to cots/ toddler beds with no adult supervision as adults are asleep. Dogs "babysitting" young babies and toddlers -aww they are sharing their toys, aww fido constantly hovers over little Timmy. Not addressing jealousy behavior that some dogs have when new babies come home. Also guidelines for responsible dog walking with children. I've seen far too many children pulled along by the arm by large dogs. Dogs walking children. Children should not be in charge of a dog when walking, they are not physically strong enough or mentally mature enough to know what to do if an incident occurs. It is not fair to the child or the dog.
There are far too many owners who (unknowingly) are poor owners. There needs to be behaviourists and trainers having high social media and media presence really reinforcing the message that certain (very commonly observed) behavior is not good dog behavior and needs addressing. There also needs to be a requirement that dogs undergo proper training classes with a reputable dog trainer/ behaviourist and that poor socialisation behaviours are addressed - this could all be addressed with licencing.
Some Examples of poor dog behavior and poor owner knowledge of poor behavior that is regularly seen in public places includes: a dog approaching other dogs and humans uninvited (with owner simping "they are friendly/social"), a dog barking at another dog or human (who is passing them and non threatening), a dog jumping up at another dog or human (usually in greeting), putting paws on furniture, pulling at the lead, begging for food at the table.
On the XL bully front, it really does need putting about that most dogs that fit this category come from a very narrow bloodline of Killer Kimbo. A huge percentage have this family of dogs in their bloodline and Killer Kimbo was bread to be aggressive and to be an excellent fighter. The US have banned use of this bloodline but it's all over England and Europe.
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