rottweilers - time to ban them?

[tatt]

Another child savaged www.newsletter.co.uk/news/Girl-six-is-mauled-by.3140748.jp

to add to one killed last year

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5377262.stm

i am a nanny and i work with 3 HUGE rotties, they look scary but they are fine,though they do like to nuzzle at the baby's hands

Kerala, the only way is to bring in licensing laws for all dogs which should include the nessessity to train them throughout their lives. I think people should also have some type of training before having a dog.
It would mean more training centres would have to opened and owners would need to be able to afford to get their dog licensed, microchipped and trained.

I agree with magnolia.

Sadly, alot of the irresponsible owners tend to be on benifit, the question i have to ask is how the hell can they afford these bloody great dogs, we paid £400 for our first rottie and that was £15 years ago, then you have the vets bills, and the food, those dogs can EAT!!

this is how the dogs are described by one of the owners groups

"When mature, the Rottweiler is a strong, somewhat arrogant animal, with a highly developed guarding instinct. It is essential that 100 lbs. plus of muscle and sinew has been trained, from an early age, to be under control. "

These are dogs bred to guard and if they attack even an adult kicking them will not get them off. The dogs were supposed to have been tied up this week because the mother of the injured child was unhappy about staying on the farm with the dogs not tied up.

These dogs are often rehomed when they get to be too much for the owner, so they can end up anywhere.

Time to announce a ban on breeding them - to be followed in a few years by a ban on owning them. If that leads to other large breeds becoming a problem then ban those too.

It is essential that 100 lbs. plus of muscle and sinew has been trained, from an early age, to be under control. "

If this happened, there would be no need to ban them at all! The problesm arrise when they are not trained and have ignorant owners. Bloody ban them from breeding and keeping them!

This is why strict licensing and breeding laws have to be put in place. It should not be possibel for just anyone to go and but a dog without having any training themselves and then without the decency to get and keep their dog trained throughout it's life.

Their should be licenced breeders only and yes this will really put the price of dogs up but so what. Only people who are willing to pay for their dog, have training themselves, go to and keep going to training with their dog should be allowed to own a dog in the 1st place.
Maybe then people wouldn't breed their dogs just for a few extra quid and sell them on to god knows who!

Has this thing kicked off yet?

Seriously, I don?t think that banning this breed and that breed is really the answer. The idiots that own the types of dogs we?re referring to will get hold of them regardless of whether they?re banned. There are still pitbulls around, and they?re supposed to be banned, so if you ban rotweilers the same will happen, and those who don?t want to break the law like that will just harden up another breed, a mastiff/gsd/staffy. So what then, ban those as well?

Whatever the breed there will be people that are for/against them. I don?t like staffies for instance. My guide dog was attacked by one and since then I have encountered many of them that hate other dogs and seem very aggressive. I would never own one and I would never let one near my child. And yet there are people on here who will defend the reputation of the staff almost to the death, saying that they?re ?the nanny dog? etc. Similarly there are people who think rotweilers are great dogs and those who hate them based on (two in the past year is it?) attacks on children.

If you ban these dogs you will send the whole industry underground. What is needed is legislation. Dogs, all dogs, should be licenced. As part of your licence you should have to have it microchipped, it should wear a collar, with a tag, at all times so that it is immediately identifiable. Breeders should be licenced, and if you are not a licenced breeder then your dog should have to be newtered at 6 months. This would also prevent some of the millions of unwanted puppies born each year.

It would drive the price of dogs up but then only those dedicated to owning a dog would buy them.

The penalties for owning an unlicenced dog should be harsh. £5000 fine and docking of benefits/community service.

i think that all breeds of dog have the potential to attack adults and children, i was bitten twice as a little girl both times by a jack russell it was a bad bite and i still have a scar, but a story in the news about young girl bitten by a jack russel does not make news, people would laugh, its almost like man beats his wiife makes headlines but a women who beats her husband is ridiculed.

I have two friends who have rottweilers one of my friends had to put him down because he became aggressive in his old age and she didnt want to take the risk (this is sensible precaution and should be the case for any breed of dog) and my other friend says her rotty is as gentle as a baby...true this dog is, but i still wouldnt take the risk...just like any dof, all dogs it musnt be forgot are dogs and they are all unpredictable

It isnt the dogs fault it is owners/breeders of the dogs

Dogs can be bred to bring out fighing potential this should be stopped anyone wishing to bred a dog should hve a licence and I also believe we should reinstate dog licenses where you have to take certain dogs for training

I have labrdors well known for being soft but they still need training and familorization {sp} as young puppies

God this makes me so cross.

The bottom line of the matter is as others have said, licensing laws and training.

Any dog has the potential to attack depending on its living enviroment and what training or lack of traning it has been given.

My in laws have a 13 stone Rottweiller and he is nearly the size of a Donkey. If you dont know him, he would be very frightning to see I would imagine.

However, he lives in a good home with owners that love him, spend time with him, provide what he needs and above all have trained him from an early age.
My dd who will be 4 in October can walk him on the lead with no problems (she does get a few open jawwed looks mind )

I agree that dog licenses requiring training should be introduced, and they should have to be renewed each year.

Having said that, everyone else at the puppy training class we took our pomeranian to struggled to keep a straight face: one tiny fuzzball looks so out of place amongst a collection of labs, spaniels, alsatians and a boxer .

I have the opposite problem to a scary dog: our pom is a small child magnetic. If I had a £1 for every time I've had to stop a small (or not so small) child just coming up to him and trying to touch him, I'd be wealthy. It terrifies me that so many children do not know to ask before approaching an unknown dog. Although, as a number of adults do it too, I guess it should not be a surprise.

At home, I never leave dog and dd together unsupervised, because she is quite capable of grabbing a handful of his fur, and he will nip if startled or hurt, although so far he has been very restrained with her.

ngb about your rottie, you must post some piccies of him.

Tatt, you clearly do not know this breed, if you had researched a little more thoroughly you would have realised that these dogs were originally bred as hearding dogs in germany. They were used to take cattle to market and the "purse" with the earnings tied around their necks for the return journey - lets face it, you'd not be stealing it would you They were not originally bred as gaurd dogs and are only really used as such because they are relatively easy to handle and they look the part. Id much rather tangle with a rottie than a GSD any day of the week.

As i have said, i have owned two lovely rotties and they are my absolute favourite breed of dog. A well trained rotweiller is, self assured, protective (but not over protective like a GSD), VERY laid back and quite frankly lazy dog, acutely intelligent and easy to train by a kind, assertive and understanding owner. HOWEVER, i would reluctantly support a ban, simply to prevent the breed being subject to further abuse and the potential risk to the public, BUT then it will just move on to the next fashionable dog etc etc.

Yes, rotweillers bite (they actually make lousy guard dogs imo opinion because they seldom give a warning bark, just go for the bite) if provoked the same as any other dogs. I have worked as a vet nurse and have often been apprehensive, if not a little scared of some of the dogs ive dealt with, and none of them been rotties. HAve met a few poorly bred, poorly trained labardors who would be just as dangerous as any rottie, but of course everyone thinks of them as big furry teddy bears.

lucyellensmum, Its my PIL's dog but next time I see him I'll get some pictures.

bit more than 2 in the last year - e.g. news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,70131-13544674,00.html?f=rss

that dog had to be hit with a hammer to get it off

or this one on a 9 year old boy

news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1500&id=90272007

Of course only the most serious attacks get reported.

Other dogs can be aggressive but maybe labradors aren't as hard to fight off - haven't heard of them killing any children recently.

Can I just say, PLEASE ban the DEED not the BREED.

I HATE the way people automatically assume all rotts/pits/whatevers are dangerous, often without ever meeting one.
Call this a knee jerk reaction, but in my eyes blaming one breed for the actions of a few dogs, is akin to blanket racism where all x race are responsible for/only fit for/etc y

I forgot to add rotts etc aren't any more dangerous then other breeds, but at the end of the day the press loves sensationalism, and a headline of killer rott mauls another baby is a lot more powerful then labrador harms baby. So just cause we hear about more rott attacks, doesn't mean they attack more

Um, rottweilers and pit bulls are inherently more dangerous than other breeds. Because they are so strong and powerful. Just as Mike Tyson is inherently more dangerous than that weedy guy who advertises Mr Muscle. Pit bulls were bred for fighting and rottweilers as guard dogs, strength and aggression are part of the breed.

Your rottweiler may be a loving family pet but it may have an off day. And if I see it coming without a muzzle, I reserve the right to be worried, frankly.

They are more dangerous, agreed, but that doesn't mean ALL rotts are killers. Which is what many people are taking to be the truth - oh its a rott, omg i must panic.

I fully understand being scared of dogs, I used to be for many years, but I think people need to step back a bit and assess the dog they are meeting, not automatically assuming based on its breed and reputation. So yeah, be afraid of the strange dog coming up to you, but PLEASE don't be scared automatically because its a rott. Does that make a bit more sense? Judge the individual dog, not a stereotype

I think its a lot to do with how the animal is brought up. In saying that i dont think kids should be left alone with any breed of dog. Im just glad the litlle girl is ok.

I think we should ban ALL dogs, filthy smelly flea-ridden child-blinding slobbery moulty ugly shit-machines.

Thats a bit harsh greensleeves. If pets are looked after properly and regularly wormed and deflead theyre not going to be as you have described them as. its up to the owners to do these things.

But I can't judge an individual dog I've never bloody well met before, that's plain daft! All I know about dog x walking towards is that it's a Rottweiler and they are potentially bloody dangerous. And some owners are thickos who keep them because they want to look hard and don't have the dogs under control.

It's not my job to do an intensive home study of every dog that happens to cross my path. I have to go on limited prior knowledge. Spaniel - likely to be jump and excitable. Greyhound - likely to be highly strung and inclined to chase anything small and fluffy. Yorkshire terrier - yappy nuisances. Dandy Dinmont - harmless, probably. Rottweiler - be on your guard.