XL bully dogs and Scotland

[CoatOfArms]

Another blinder by our "wonderful" government. I was not aware that the ban on these awful chav beast dogs only applied in England and Wales. No legislation to ban/restrict them in Scotland.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-67787667

Some dim woman who runs a "bullie rescue" says she has been "inundated". Isn't that just marvellous.

Can you not put up a fence of your own which is more secure. Being an owner of a bully I am obviously of the opinion that the dogs most likely not going to do anything like get to your child in the garden. As I have said though I get the fear from all the publicity and people not knowing which dogs can and can't be trusted so surely the cost of putting a secure barrier up is worth it for your own piece of mind?

@Irvine21 My first ever dog was a Lurcher from RSPCA and back then the Dog warden came out to check before you could adopt the dog.
She said my walled garden wasn’t high enough- so it was upped with 2 metre fencing in that garden which was passed by Dog Warden.

One day I had an irate phone call from an old lady neighbour saying “ you don’t feed your dog! She’s in and out of my garden all the time eating my bird food!”

I said “ Are you sure it’s not a fox?”
The old lady said “ I know a dog when I see one, it’s your dog”

I knew it couldn’t be true.

A few weeks later, she phoned again
” Come and get your dog!”
I said “ My dog is right here, in front of me”

The old lady said “ I don’t believe you!”

I thought she was suffering dementia- so put mine on lead and called on neighbour.

Neighbour was dumbfounded
she said “But whose dog is in my garden?”

I went to look.

Stone the crows
It was the very image of my dog, Same size, broken coated, same age, same colour, but a male.

We took him to dog’s home - I had spare collar and lead luckily which he fitted😂

He was a frequent escapee we later learned.

His owners clearly couldn’t be bothered to make their garden safe for him.

Lurchers jump high - especially in pursuit.

Muzzles at least fit pointy faces well.
Baskerville type could be soaked in boiling water and moulded to fit while still hot.

Saw three Sighthounds today in muzzles.

Sighthound owners tend to take muzzles in their stride.

I think muzzles for dogs who need them are totally a positive tool, same as there are all different harnesses, leads , collars and haltis . They all have a job and are great when you need them. I muzzles my hounds for 10 years after my oldest girl got into trouble for playing a little too rough with a dachshund. Luckily the dog was unharmed and everything was fine but since then they were muzzled . My bully on the other hand doesn't get off lead because he's too trusting lol he would go off with anyone for a biscuit. I have never had to muzzle him even for vets visits when he has horrible painful ear infections he has always been really placid and has never known harm. He's well mannered never hurt another dog or given me any reason to worry he might. He's great with kids although any dog can hurt a small child and cause serious harm so I would never leave any of my dogs unattended with any child not that I would get a chance because the second I move the dogs follow me . It really is horrible to read on here the owners all being branded as "scum" "idiots" and other vile words I would not repeat because I DO NOT use vile language as I have a brain so can find other words in it to use. I will continue to advocate for my dog because I have worked too hard with him to just let it all go to waste. I feel awful for this too but any dogs who snaps at my muzzled defenceless dog will be reported , if I ask nicely that an owner puts their dog on a lead for a few mins so I can get passed and they refuse then I have to report things like that all captured on my body can because I need to keep him safe if he can't protect himself. When my hounds were muzzled if an owner refused I could take their muzzles off and allow them to defend themselves but it's against the law to let my bully do that.

Is it specifically an xl bully you have @Irvine21, I can't remember?

Just as I'm genuinely (I mean that) curious as to why anyone, especially with kids, would proactively choose that breed of dog instead of any number of other breeds. And never get an answer when I've asked.

American bully crossed with a boxer , so it's not only massive XL bullies that are lumped under the description. The government description of what an XL bully type has destroyed a lot of families who have cross breed dogs

@Irvine21 I follow basic 'good manners' on a dog walk...eg, if someone has their dog on a leash, or muzzled, I call mine and put her on a lead and take a wide berth around the leashed dog.

There are so many idiot owners about that allow their dogs to run up to leashed dogs - a dog who is on a leash is on one for a reason.

Recovering from injury or illness

Potentially coming into season or coming out of it { female dogs ideally have a season before spaying }

Or just because they might be old and doddery and be happy on a leash.

What terrified me was when an XLB charged my dog and a friend's that I was walking- It charged from some way away so I was able to leash my two and get behind a gate, but the owner was just screaming - it was the screams that alerted me to the approach- but the dog was so massive it just crashed through the fence at the side of the gate.

I have written on here what happened {mercifully both dogs escaped injury being light, nimble and fast} but I have musculoskeletal injury still being seen by hospital because of trying to hold the dog back while the useless owner just flapped about uselessly at a distance {I was dragged for many metres}

The owner seemed afraid of their own dog.

It has given me nightmares, and generally the owners aren't responsible.

There are definitely irresponsible owners of other dog types, but they are generally not as powerful.

FAR too many irresponsible people have dogs -although locally a large percentage of Romanian dogs has declined sharply - the one who is left has a very dedicated owner who used to keep GSD's so is used to large herding types.

A body camera is a very good idea- Much better than a phone.

I have considered one as there are also problematic ''Professional'' dog walkers locally who have very little control of a milling pack who often challenge individual dogs.

There should be mandatory tests before anyone can buy /adopt a dog.
Knowledge of the breed/type you want to keep, suitability of the type of dog to your circumstances.

No idea how that could be enforceable as even microchipping isn't being done with BYB's, and not enough Dog Wardens either.

Dogs are a huge commitment, and the people I know who keep well mannered dogs put lots of effort in to keeping their dog/s happy , both mentally and physically.

Totally agree, as much as I advocate for the breed I am one of the people who want licenses and strict standards brought in for all breeds of dogs. I work really hard and basically my entire life revolves around the needs of my dogs. There are so many issues with all breeds of dogs because of bad breeding and bad ownership. Examples are , frenchies bred so badly they can hardly breathe and homed with people who cannot afford to pay the surgery costs to correct their breathing. German shepherds are so badly bred now their back ends are ridiculously sloped causing them pain. They are also homed by people who have no experience of a breed and the dogs end up out of control. Chihuahua are homed with people who pick them up and baby them, this causes anxiety and bad reactions in the breed. I spoil my dogs but I certainly don't baby them ! I would be absolutely fine if the government said I had to pay x amount to do a course on each of my chosen dog breeds and they made every dog owner do the same. This would prevent so much bad ownership and would slow down breeding because the byb wouldn't be able to sell them so easily to whoever has the cash. Bsl has never and will never work. The attacks just keep happening because people won't follow the rules meanwhile my dog who is innocent has had his freedom taken away through no fault of his own.

The vet MP/gov is planning new rules/regs to deal with increase in dog issues. Which seems very necessary, in addition to banning dangerous breeds.

whatsitcalledwhen
@Buddybud are you also posting as @Againstbsl24?

Yeah. Mumsnet is being weird

No it's NOT mumnset being weird it's called sock puppeting and not allowed on mumnset. I've reported your posts.

Do you think we're as stupid as you?

@ArabellaScott that would be good but I feel like barely anything is enforced now, in general. Dangerous driving, antisocial behaviour, house breaking.... it all feels practically legalised thanks to I suppose the cuts to police numbers over the years.

Actually i posted something the other day and it came up with an old username so might be something wrong with MN?

If you've namechanged in 'settings' it will default to that. So if you namechange on a thread but then don't rechange every time in the 'posting as' it will post as the username you first used on the thread. It can and does happen when I forget, particularly on an older thread. I may not be explaining that very well. And it may be different on the app.

To be fair, I have had an issue in the past where I've been using both the app and the website and it's failed to sync my username after a change so I think we will have to give the poster the benefit of the doubt.

I'm sure mnhq will be able to confirm though.

@Irvine21 I wish all owners were more like you. Whilst I still wouldn't go near your dog (sorry - they absolutely terrify me) I am heartened that you take safety and welfare of people and dogs so seriously.

I'm feeling quite down about bullies today, but your posts are nice to read.

I get what you mean and understand why people are frightened of the bully breed but in my vast experience with dogs, having volunteered at rescues etc he is pathetically soft , last year I was out at a market with my dog and a dog who belonged to a stall holder ran out from under a table at him he knocked over a table running away from it lol it was a Yorkshire terrier. He certainly doesn't have the dog aggression in him that people speak of , even if he did he isn't big enough that I couldn't over power him but that's what I mean by the XL bully description is ridiculous. The government have the description so so wrong and they are targeting the wrong dogs.

no one has yet explained why they get one of these dogs over a breed that is known to be gentle and playful. The only reason why anyone would get one of these dogs is they like intimidating people. And that makes them idiots.

Well as an owner of a dog that comes under this ban then I will explain my point of view, I have always had large breed dogs that are bred for a purpose . My grandpa hunted and my great aunts and uncles raced greyhounds. When my grandpa died he left behind his last lurcher who lived to a grand old age and never hunted again after my grandpa died as the rest of my family are not that way inclined. I fell head over heels for that big dog that was known to have chased and killed wildlife. He was gentle and so well natured, he even loved cats which is odd for an ex hunting dog. This gave me the knowledge that a dog will be what you make of it. When I got my first home along came my very own lurcher puppy who suffered massive separation anxiety so I rehomed an adult rescue ex hunting dog she was amazing and my lurcher puppy was automatically settled he loved her so much. So my love for large breeds grew. A few years later we were advised to get my asd and cerebral palsy nephew an animal as support physically and mentally so along came the family's first staffy puppy. That dog has stuck by my nephews side for 10 years so far , even taking off socks and shoes when he's struggling so that proves they can be gentle if properly trained. Then I met my husband who had a Labrador so another large breed and at that point my rescue lurcher was very old and I said I would never get another dog once she passed . We looked for another dog to welcome in before she passed , it had to be a puppy, had to be a robust dog as lurchers can be very rough when playing with other dogs and run in to them etc . So we welcomed our bully , he is crossed with a boxer giving him enough height and the bully gives him enough sturdiness to be able to safely interact with my other large dogs. He is trained in the same meticulous way that my nephew's support dog is trained and goes every place with me that animals are allowed. That is until the government decided to ban the pathetic definition of an XL bully type dog which to be quite frank could describe a Labrador, my rescue lurcher who was a bull lurcher , and every staffy cross. I enjoy training my dogs I love it and the intelligence of the bully breeds is unmatched if they are given the right time and respect. I loved my lurchers so much but their focus was rubbish where as my bully has only 1 focus which is me .

Thanks for replying. Interesting perspective!

I have always taken on rescue animals. For me it’s less what the dog can do for me, and more what I can do for the dog type of gig. There are so many healthy balanced XL bully type dogs that really need homes. Rescue golden retrievers and cockapoos are a lot harder to find. I would prefer the breed to eventually die out because of how they have been weaponised by bad people but I don’t believe in euthanising healthy animals. My new dog is doing so well, I am chuffed to pieces with her. She’s went from refusing to wear a muzzle and clawing her face, to wearing the muzzle without any problems and enjoying her walks in just afew days. She’s already doing better with loose lead walking, and I’ve taught her a down. She’s cuddling on the sofa with my older dog as I write this. 😊

If only every dog owner was as dedicated.

Saw an XLB today on a walk- Fortunately the owner had him/her muzzled and leashed- and they were staying away from the path where most of the dog walkers were. {Filthy day , was amazed to see so many people out!}

Far too many people get a dog on whim-or because it's 'fashionable'- or because they see people with the type online.

Interesting programme..Depressing as very poor environments and feckless owners.

In the video above some seized dogs have come from owners who are currently banned and convicted of 'Cruelty to animals' .

Seems there is no way of checking up to see if a new dog is being kept in equally cruel conditions.

This is a shed with a chewed apart mattress where a dog has been kept locked away and never walked.

Dog was terrified as basically this jail was all she knew.
Edit..note empty water bowl.

news.stv.tv/west-central/chihuahua-killed-and-woman-injured-after-attack-by-two-xl-bully-type-dogs-in-glasgow?fbclid=IwAR2s6oof8CMqkUDmyhRHjbemuFNWwJ1zPWsNrMDFh2F2LBY9MnzGX8AXxAk

Another one. Hope the poor girl is okay and that they manage to track the dogs down before another innocent pet is killed and before another person is attacked.

Lovely reporting by STV saying basically that it's Rishi Sunaks fault that Scotland was flooded with these dogs. Obvs not Humza fault for putting the public at risk by deliberately trying to be different.

It's almost like we have an open border or something...

That one is absolutely horrific.If it’s the one I’m thinking about (there have been so many) the owner managed to get her dog away from the killer dogs and then they snatched the poor dog out of the owners arms again.

Now there seems to have been a spaniel killed in Dunblane by two dogs, one was euthanized but the other is still untraced. No details of dog type...

Maybe a description would help the public to help trace it/keep their own pets safe.