Dog attacks boy

[GhoulsAreLoud]

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/8386023.stm

Sorry, this is a disturbing story. As a parent and dog owner is absolutely chills me.

I wonder what more can be done to prevent these kind of incidents?

If I wanted an attack dog/to look hard I'd get one of these. But then I am not an idiot and I know that the SBT is not a natural attack dog, and is known for being people friendly.

I don't live in a city, or anywhere near one. Our chavs tend to have Bull Mastiffs or Rotties. But that doesn't mean that they are bad breeds imo. Just that their appearance attracts certain kinds of people. Our drug dealers tend not have dogs. They can't be bothered to look after them I suppose.

A badly trained Chocolate Labs is probably more likely to bit than a Bull Terrier btw.

I'm not surprised it's Merseyside, we live over the water and have to go into Liverpool city centre at the weekend and the place terrifies me, I have no doubt as the recession takes hold the criminal activity will go through the roof and we'll all need a pitbull terrier.

Are we really talking about staffies though ?
My nan had a staff cross who was frightened off her own shadow.
I think it's the PBT's people take issue with.

It's illegal to own a pit bull terrier (although as we say from the attack this week, many do and get away with it) so people have to choose the next best thing which is the staffordshire bull terrier which is not on the UK dangerous dog list - although, I understand, it is in other European countries.

I don't disagree with you shineyandnew, I would keep my kids out of the way of any dogs.

It's my call that my DS and my Ddog spend hours playing together, crawling over each other, but I think it's a dogs right NOT to have some unknown child trying to gouge it's eye out petting it.

i think it's also fair to say that random attacks (I mean, genuine random attacks) are extremely rare. These cases, sad as they are, are usually involving a dog known to the child.

I think this qoute sums it up in a nutshell
RSPCA chief vet Mark Evans said: "Staffies have had a terrible press, but this is not of their own making - in fact they're wonderful dogs. If people think that Staffies have problems, they're looking at the wrong end of the dog lead! When well cared for and properly trained they can make brilliant companions. Our experience suggests that problems occur when bad owners exploit the Staffie's desire to please by training them to show aggression"

Why poor dog Bronze? Did I miss something (I might have as I just heard the story on the news a few days ago but did not read the links , I find these stories too upsetting) or that dog was clearly dangerous and needed to be put down?

I think what Bronze meant was that there were no winners here.. and that an animal like that should not have been put in the position where it would ultimately get shot in the head?? Which is fair enough if so but not really what any parent wants to hear after talking about the tragic death of a child.

As (according to hearsay, admittedly) it was a trophy dog, known around the neighbourhood for growling and straining on it's lead at folk, which apparently the child's uncle rather enjoyed.. it doesn't take a genius to work out that a child it wasn't used to (or any child really, could easily be seen as a competitor for attention etc.

The dog shouldn't have been near the child. The child should have been in bed at that time, in a house NOT containing a dangerous animal that could easily overpower him. The police should have acted when previously informed by neighbours that the uncle or gran were breeding pitbull or mastiff types.

It's all so sad and makes me so fucking angry. When will people bloody learn.

"poor family, poor boy and poor dog"

yup no winners

it should not have been kept as a pet just like you wouldn't keep a polar bear as a pet

am finding the assumptions about staffie owners very amusing.

i am a social worker so well used to people's misconceptions about me as well as my dog. i have to say, it makes me feel doubly popular on mn........a social worker AND a sbt owner. i can almost guarantee that on any given day there will be at least one active thread bemoaning the evils of social workers or staffies!!

truthfully, when i see someone with a staffie, my chav alert goes off.

they may not in fact be chavs, and i leave myself to the possibility that they are not in fact chavs.

but just by owning a staffie they show themselves to have chav tendencies.

just my opinion.

I'm sorry, but I'm with Expat.

I'm more than happy to be proven wrong, but first instincts.... AVOID STAFFIES / SBTs / PBTs

As I said on this thread, I did (only today) go out of my way to avoid a bichon frise. I don't (at 18mo) want my DS in any dog's face when I know he doesn't have the social or emotional skills to deal with them.

But, I'm STILL with expat.

A small dog or a lab might nip, but a SBT / PBT (If they choose to, which I'm happy to agree is rare) will do MUCH worse.

ALWAYS ALWAYS err on the side of caution with powerful breeds.

expat - thanks for being truthful.

we all have prejudices, it's part of the human condition. it is nice that some people are able to be honest about this - i think that is the first step in overcoming prejudice.

i'm now giggling at the image of me you are conjuring up!

A lab might nip???? I guess my mums was just nipping when she ate the breakfast stool in a night then? Or when she virtually swallowed my dad's prized pigeon whole in seconds?

Labs are powerfull. They are hunting dogs. They were bred to be powerfull.

To set Shinys mind at ease
our dog is Rhodesian ridgeback aged 11 mths
she is a successful show dog and pet ( more importantly)
she gets frequent short exercise and attends dog training and ringcraft
she was endorsed by her breeder and thee will not be lifted until she is tested for hip and elbow dysplasia.
I take her health and puppies future health seriously and will not breed her until at least age 3. Carefully chosen mate and using experts to help me.
I intend to keep one her puppies and then have her spayed.
I am a keen shower and admirer of the breed as well

harimo - my aunt has a small terrier who cannot be trusted around children or other dogs. lovely dog with people she knows but could do real damage to a child.

my staffie on the other hand has never shown ANY aggression in all his 10 years. i trust him around children, he loves them and they love him. of course i always supervise, but tbh this is more to prevent children from torturing the dog than anything else (remembers poor long-suffering dog being dressed up....).

and once again - my aunt was recently badly bitten by a labrador, i have posted about this earlier in the thread.

blame the deed not the breed.

harimo - missed where you said a lab 'might nip'. i can assure you my aunt was NOT nipped, she was bitten and was left very shaken and needing a lot of stitches. if she had been a small child it would have been much, much worse. perhaps even fatal.

. I wasn't have a go btw, it just irks me when people irresponsibly breed their dog just to see the lubbly lickle puppies and help pay for their next holiday.

They then go on and sell them to anyone and everyone willing to pay for them, because by the time they have reached the age they can leave the mother, they are sick of them.

Plus there are so many unwanted dogs, dying in pounds, I don't think anyone should be thinking about getting puppies, when there are plenty of lovely dogs already here that need loving homes.

Did anyone else see that Wonderland programme about Staffies on BBC2 a few weeks back?

Its here on iPlayer. Well worth a watch.

Illustrates loads of the issues this raises - people breeding dogs for money, people getting dogs (esp. Staffies) for the wrong reasons, not knowing how to train them or look after them, and weapon dogs. One of the women in the programme has a dog she imported fom Italy, used as a guard dog for the mafia, and she says quite calmly that 'he'll go for an adult, he'll go for a child'.

you have a point there, ceres.

my ILs have two mongrels - with many breeds mixed in - and they are ill-behaved and ill-mannered (jump on people, lick people, get on the seats the second a person vacates it, scratch doors, etc) i don't trust alone around my kids at all.

There is a difference, though...

my choc lab is (at times) very badly behaved - he will lick, he will jump, he will sit on chairs - he DOES have to be watched / managed or he will be a real PITA... but (when considering my own kids) I know he would never intentionally hurt them.

I wouldn't leave them because I could imagine all sorts of capers DS and Ddog would get up to... but DDog would put his life before hurting DS or DD.

I know, within my pack, Ddog knows his place.

He's still an eejit though!!!

A SBT would be the same though, if they were raised with children and reared correctly. In fact, I would say there is probably more chance of a lab than turning than a Staffie, as the satffie has more patience and tolerance by nature than the lab does.

They were specifically bred to be very people friendly. Whereas the Lab was bred to hunt and retrieve, as working dogs, rather than pets.

Both are good dogs, but I would trust a Staffy over a Lab any day.

Yep...Shiney I think I agree with you.

I trust my choco but wouldn't trust my black (x) lab.

But, just to clarify, my lab could no more hunt and retrieve than he could fly upside down.

Of course, you are right - it depends on the circs and the way they were reared.

For me, my Ddog has been around my DC since day 1 and, if anything, he takes more of a psating from DS than the other way around.

I do agree, though, my Doula has 2 staffies and they are the nicest, happiest, friendli-est dogs ever.

but,then, I suppose we aren't talking about dogs who have been reared correctly, are we?

And, I suppose, my gut feeling is labs are more likely to be able to cope with less than perfect rearing.

maybe Staffies are too? But, it's those sorts of breeds I tend to think of when I'm thinking of a 'dangerous' breed.

But, like most things, it's the 'adults' who rear them that should take most responsiblity.

harimo - my staffie could no more bait bulls or fight in a pit then he could fly upside down.

he is snoring on the sofa as i type. he is a big softie, loves his cuddles and cries if he is ignored for very long.....he is, in fact, typical of his breed. it breaks my heart to think of all the poor staffies who are out there being badly treated because people have bought them expecting them to be 'hard' and abuse them or ditch them when they do not live up to the 'hard' image.

it'd warm your heart to see my very genteel mother and grandmother snuggling up to this 'devil dog'!!