To think bull terriers and other dangerous dogs should be banned from parks

[Gangle]

I know they have to be walked somewhere but sick of seeing horrible savage dogs on the loose just looking like they're ready to maul a child. I stick to the dog free areas with DS but you occasionally get dogs in there and usually with owners too scary looking to question. And why of why do people let their kids near them or even thinking about having those types of dogs if you have young children?

[sowhatis]

vengeful, have added a pic.

for the person that asked, the fact that so many dogs owners responded must show that we are responsible owners, who dont have a dog as a status symbol and for bad reasons. and no, my dogs are NOT kc registered, not that it makes ANY difference.

i personally love my FAMILY pets, and yes they are well mannered and behaved, but you only ever trust a dog 99%.

[fledtoscotland]

In areas specified "dog free" i would never dream of taking my two very harmless mutts. we do go to parks with my DC but the dogs are tied up if there are other children around. They love all children and we have had quite a few local mums use our eldest dog to help their frightened child touch a dog that just lies there loving the attention.

fwiw both my mutts are medium sized collie alsation crossbreeds. they are not dangerous dogs.

If you want to stay well away from any animal (I say animal as Cats are far more vicious & unpredictable than dogs) try to stick to Softplay

[TrickOrNinks]

You can trust a Guinea Pig 99% I reckon.

I wouldn't say that my GPs would never try to kill, they might well do if circumstances were unfavourable enough. Who they might rip to pieces is another matter. Igglepiggle is a natural target IMO.

This thread has made me think again about dogs, although I would never own one. I am certainly convinced that people who own "dangerous dogs" of uncertain provenance should be more controlled by law and only let out to sign on for JSA or to get neck tattoos or to buy extra-strong cider.

They do have a habit of rutting with indiscriminate females and I feel very sorry for the whelps which are born as a result. These breeds are also to be found talking about voting BNP wrt British Jobs for British Workers.

These cases are severe incidences of hypocrisy and should be dealt with humanely by means of giving the feckless white British male a choice of a job in Asda, or imprisonment.

[fledtoscotland]

trickorninks - my GP used to bite on a daily basis. neither of my dogs have ever bitten anything but their food.

however I do think that Asda is too lenient a punishment and scrubbing graffiti with their own toothbrushes would be more appropriate

[TrickOrNinks]

fled I do understand. I owned a teeny Russian Dwarf Hamster pre-children which tried to kill me several times but was a huge sweetie, (to my mind) and let me stroke him while he lost consciousness and died.

He'd chew the flesh off of the bones of a child's finger though, tiny as he was.

fled, scrubbing graffiti with their own toothbrushes has an inherent problem. I know the underclass me, they don't believe in them you know.

My BIL thinks that his lost adult teeth will grow back.

[Vallhala]

www.staffycampaign.org.uk/

Enough said.

[fledtoscotland]

Trick - thanks for making me laugh!

[TrickOrNinks]

Vallhala you know I will probably get a rescued Staffie one day don't you?

[Vallhala]

Ninks.... I'm a GSD fan and currently the owner of one plus a Lab x, but you do know I will probably do the same don't you?

[TrickOrNinks]

Val

[bubbles4]

from a bbc report,
hey're being dumped in record numbers and branded a "yob dog", yet Staffordshire bull terriers are ideal family pets, say experts. So why is this nation of dog lovers turning against them?

Extremely reliable, highly intelligent and affectionate, especially with children. It's not a description most of us would associate with Staffordshire bull terriers, but it's how the UK Kennel Club sums them up.

Some people think they've got themselves a fierce dog and in fact they'd far rather be in front of the fire having their tummy tickled
Breeder Veronica Brown

In fact, the breed is one of only two from over 190 it recommends as suitable with children, the other being a Chesapeake Bay retriever.
the full article can be seen at
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7239464.stm

[4GHASTLYGHOULSandnotout]

This is my Ruby, in full on scary smily mode

[girlsyearapart]

She's lovely. Staffies have got the best smiles!

[mehdismummy]

lol @ ruby!! my sister had a beautiful staff called saffie and she was excellent with dc, they r getting a 9 mth from a staff home next week. its not the dogs that are bad its when you get some stupid inbred twat walking around with them because they think they look hard, these type of people should be banned from dogs, a well looked after staff is loving and loyal

[RainRainGoAway]

Going to reiterate this as dont want to come accross as a dog hater, but IME working in A&E very very few of the dog bites I had to work on were caused by random, 'hard nut' dogs. In fact, I don't think I have come accross a dog bite which was carried out by a rampaging rabid pitbull. I get a bit worried that this seems to be the fallback for many dog owners that it is only about how well the dog is cared for and trained.

All were caused by beloved family pets. I think people forget that dogs are not always of sweet temper all the time. Our Golden retriever suddenly started snapping sometimes when stroked. We only worked out finally that if you touched her left hip, which was arthritic, it would cause her pain - so she would respond in a normal fashion, to snap. Not her fault, but dangerous if someone who didn't know her went up and stroked her. Just an illustration of how lovely family pets can be a danger.

[mehdismummy]

so lets all be careful or shall we do as in my exh country just not have dogs as pets!

[RainRainGoAway]

Think I would agree with just being really careful!

Dogs are fab, but I wouldn't trust any one unsupervised around children. The results of a tail pull too hard is just terrible. I once had to sew up a toddlers ear (entire lower lobe gone - awful looking injury) from a staffie who just snapped for no apparent reason and the parents said there was absolutely no history of violence with the dog.
It was also awful for the department I was working on, half of the dept thought the dog should be put down, half didn't (including a staffie owner). It lead to a strange rift for several months.

[Vallhala]

To put this into context RainRainGoAway, how many children (or adults for that matter) did you see coming into A&E as a result of injuries caused by dogs and how many did you see who were injured by other humans?

Having a guess at the kind of ratios we're talking of, I'll live with dogs rather than human's any day.

[RainRainGoAway]

I can't say Valhalla as I was only called to the facial injuries. It was probably a monthly occurance but devastating when it did happen.
I went in with a 'bad dogs from bad owners' attitude and came out with a deep wariness at the other end. I could rattle off a few other things we had to take to theatre, a chap whose collie jumped up in exciteemtn and bit the end off his nose, a puppy who was play wrestling with a baby and inadvertantly ripped her top lip, the list goes on, unfortunately. As I said, I only got to see the worst of the facial injuries so I can't account for the other bodily injuries that came through A&E.

I agree with the part about humans, it was amazing to see what damage they could cause as well. A pint glass is a really effective weapon on a weekend.

[Vallhala]

Ugh! Rain, you're braver than I.

I'm afraid I'm too squeamish and too unsympathetic (when it comes to the Saturday night, injured due to a fight types) to do your job... but all credit to you, thank goodness not everyone feels as I do.

[VengefulSinner]

Aha! Have a link to a pic of my mutt (mother boxer x staff and father Irish staff) see what I mean about the stomach and being leaner

[smellybulldog]

YABU, you clearly don't know anything about dogs.

[RainRainGoAway]

Having said that Valhalla - its not just dogs that working where I did made me wary about. The list is endless:

Yeovil on a weekend night
Horseriding
Being drunk generally
Driving yourself
Other people driving
Being a pedestrian...

[brightongirldownunder]

I got a dirty look off a pug the other day. I was devastated...

DD got jumped on by a boxer last week who proceeded to lick her to pieces, which she found hilarious. However, my heart nearly stopped for a minute when his mouth was stretched over DD's beautiful face. He came out of nowhere and she was on the swings. I couldn't have done anything about it.

saying that because DD has been brought up with them, I will always go and ask the owner if we can BOTH stroke their dog, before DD launches herself onto it!