yes, my dog is very large but he is not vicious....

[nothercules]

Only had my dog for nearly 3 months and getting fed up of people accusing me of having a vicious dog. He's still a puppy and has never hurt anyone or attempted to. He is always on the lead in any areas where there are lots of kids and minds his own business on walks.

Why do people assume because he is large he must be vicious?
Actually I worry about him as he's already been bitten by a couple of small dogs.

I don't trust dogs. Full stop.

As a veterinary nurse I'm sure you'll have had experience of owners having to have their 'trusted' dog put down because it's bitten someone. They probably thought it never would....

I know some dogs can bite but people seem to forget that some dogs dont! Its good to be warey of dogs you dont know, but be open to the fact that like people all dogs have different personalities!

Spook chewed everything in sight when we first had him Buffy- and we still have to watch our shoes :)
But He's a huge softie as well, lets dd walk all over him (sometimes litteraly!)

diesel wouldnt bite any of my kids,hes really protective of them.but hes really over protective if any strangers come to the house.i dont think hed bite them unless he felt threatened,as with most dogs,they protect their territory.i do trust diesel,its the kids i dont trust!im always worried if one of them hurt him,he might go for them.i dont think he would,because like i say,hes so dopey,but you never know.i dont leave dd in the room on her own with him,just incase she hurt him!

It's not that they don't bite it's that they never have.......yet. It's not the same thing.

Saggar...
Well lets say Ive had stupid owners in, in that situation. i.e when a child threw a brick at a staffie it bit back! If a dog is treated crawley they will retaliate unfortunatly. But my dog is treated properly therefore he can be trusted!!

I don't know much about dogs but remember reading a while ago about a man who had an epileptic fit and because of the hormones he released his dog reacted and attacked him - I guess he was programmed to instinctively do this. Agree with those who say dogs can't be 100% trusted, they may have a lovely personality etc but I just can't believe there is a 100% guarantee of these things.

If you have had a bad experience then I understand why someone wouldnt trust dogs. Im just a doggie person, I have been bitten on my back side when Iwas a kid but it never changed my view. However, my dog is 4 years old, He has never even growled at anyone. So inmy personal opinion, my dog can be trusted, especially with my child. I know my dog!

I'm sure you'll understand my cynicism - I hardly mistreated the dog that bit me, just walked past his gate.

I understand everyone has a different point of view, I just dont like being told 'Im mad!' just because I trust my dog that I have had for 4 years and have plenty of experience when it cimes to dogs.

I really don't think you can generalize, if, for instance, you were attacked by a man wearing a baseball cap would you then say that all men wearing baseball caps had the tendency to attack? I think that people who know their animals know what they are and aren't capable of. I would absolutely trust my dog implicitly not to bite my ds, but I also would not have left them alone until ds was about 3 because I couldn't have trusted him not to hurt her, even unwittingly. I'm getting a new dog on Friday and although I'm sure he won't bite, I won't leave them alone for a while because he doesn't know my ds and my ds doesn't know him - it will take time to develop a relationship.

For the record, I was bitten by a mastif when I was 3, luckily for me the dog was on a chain and knocked me out of the way as it went for my throat, and afterwards the man said "oh, the owners gave it to us because it bit a little boy", but I do not have a fear of dogs, I have a healthy respect for them. dogs can actually sense fear, and this can fuel agression.

Lol scratch mad then and insert misguided

Hmm, sorry have to put my twopenneth in here - I too am a vet nurse, a proud dog owner, a complete dog lover and yet I would never ever trust any dog 100%. My dog is such a softie, he has never so much as growled at anyone and didn't make a murmur when my nephew stepped on him whilst getting off the sofa, however, he will always have the potential to bite and with gnashers like his he would do some serious damage and I could never live with myself if he did do anything like that. It's up to you whether you completely trust your dog but I think that all dog owners should be aware that all dogs have the potential to bite.

I agree. People that trust their dogs are not "mad" just as you are not "mad" saggar, for not trusting them.

saadia some dogs are actually trained as ceasure alert dogs, they are trained to let their owner know when they sense what ver chemicals it is that are produced before a ceasure happens, must be a lifesaver for someone who suffers from severe ceasures.

I don't automatically trust people I don't know, so I don't think a healthy caution towards dogs is misguided either. A dog may have a health problem which makes it aggressive for example, or be pregnant. Any animal can be unpredictable and there's no harm in acknowledging that.

I often cross the street if I don't want to encounter a dog and I do the same with people I don't trust too!

Sorry, I do not agree with you saggar.... My original comment was about MY dog and how HE can be trusted. So no Im not mad or misguided, I just trust my dog, Why this has caused such discussion about me trusting MY dog is beyond me!

agree with Chloe - my cousin bred dogs for yrs and would agree with you too

I think though that everyone is different, and everyone is capable of making their own informed judgment. it's one thing to say that "I would never trust a dog 100%", but another to say "you should never trust a dog 100%", because that implies that your pov is superior?

You don't have to agree with me dionne - we are both entitled to our opinion.

Thats just what I said Saggar..... My opinion is about My dog only.

a few years ago when i was closing up the shop i worked in then,i had to take the takings round to the man that lived behind the garage i worked in.he has a german shepherd,and it use dto scare the crap out of me whe i had to go in their garden to get to the shed where the stock was!anyway,the dog was used to me so this night i just walked into the garden.i shouted,as i did everytime i went in there,to the dog,but because it didnt come bounding up the garden barking,i thought it was locked in the house.i went up to the house and whe i got to the door,i saw the dog in the living room.i tapped on the window,the dog saw me,barked and ran through the patio doors!!well,i stood there screaming my head off waving the carrier bag of takings in the air!!!holly (the dog) ran up to me,i turned and she sunk her knashers into my bum!!holllys owner came out and called her back.i was shaking like mad!i had a nice set of teeth marks in my bum!!and the thing was holly knew me!