AIBU to tell you about the XL Bully I met today?

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I suspect I am BU and that this thread will descend into breed-bashing madness but as an antithesis to all the recent big dog-hating threads I'm going to tell you anyway.

I was walking my Beagle cross and Chihuahua when I noticed it walking with two (stereotypical bull breed owner looking) young men. I pulled my dogs to the side of the path partly because we were being harassed by an offlead obese chocolate lab owned by an old lady who either didn't notice or didn't care that her dog kept getting tangled in my Beagle's lead, and partly because my Beagle is a pup and I like greetings to be controlled as he can get over-excited.

The lads politely asked if the dogs could greet each other and I agreed. The first thing I noticed was how utterly stunning this dog was. It had a gorgeous, shiny blue coat and was clearly very well taken care of.

The next thing I noticed was how impeccably behaved it was. It stood between it's owner's legs as it was told to and politely greeted both my dogs with perfect, relaxed body language and didn't bat an eyelid when the obese lab tried to mount it.

Its behaviour was so calm and confident that my chihuahua, who had so far hidden from all the offlead spaniels, JRTs, and Labs who tried to greet her, ventured out from under the Beagle and said hello to it.

The lads told me it was only 11 months old and they've been socializing and clicker training it every day since it was 12 weeks old and it's just passed its Good Citizen bronze award.

It's the first time I ever met one of these in RL and I am besotted. It made a refreshing change to all the "friendly family" dogs who run at my on-lead dogs without invitation and jump all over us. I would much rather encounter a hundred of these dogs than one more out-of-control, off-lead springer spaniel.

Anecdata, I know, but it does support the theory that it is the owner and not the breed to blame for the recent rise in attacks by these dogs.

I met a couple a few years ago, I didn't actually realise that's what they were at the time . I think I thought they were shorter than they actually are

They were really nice, well trained dogs but bloody huge . I've never seen any others and I live on a council estate where apparently the majority of them live if you listen to mn

The local drug dealers haven't moved on from French bulldogs round here

I also met a beautifully behaved XL bully on a walk with my Weimaraner puppy. The young guy who owned him put him on a lead when he saw us coming along the path they were on. He told the dog to walk to heal, which it did. I was/am in the process of socialising my Weimaraner and asked if his dog would be friendly with my dog. He said he would, so they greeted each other nicely. He told me he had put his dog on the lead because he knows some people would worry otherwise and explained that he was being careful and thorough in training and socialising his dog. Those two with be a lovely little team.

The breed does worry me though because it attracts irresponsible and often aggressive breeders and owners and in the wrong hands they are a deadly weapon. I say this as a former Rottweiler owner. That breed is mostly lovely, but they are also extremely powerful if things go wrong. The common sweeping statement “there are no bad dogs, just bad owners“ is wrong. I bought one of my Rotties from a “top breeder”. Raised and trained him just as I had with my other one and my previous large breeds (I know what I’m doing). Unfortunately, the older he got, the more aggressive he became. By the time he was 15-months-old, he was threatening me if I wanted to do something he preferred me not to do - e.g. wiping his paws. He was not to be trusted around any stranger. I returned him to his breeder with a full account of his training and his temperament, saying that IMO he should sadly be euthanised. I later heard from another breeder that a further 4 from his litter had become aggressive, one bite a judge whilst being shown (they are trained from weeks old to be examined as a judge would).

The same happened to my exfil, he'd always had well behaved well trained Rotties until the last one . It had to be put down

@ItstimeToMoveagain it makes it pretty grating when people churn out the “no bad dogs, just bad owners” trope doesn’t it?

I really winced at your line about these two 'well-behaved' XL bullies making a 'lovely little team' when two of these things mauled a man to death in the street the other week. The attacks that have been taking place - on that poor man, on the girl in Birmingham, on the little boy playing football in his own driveway - are unprecedented. Dogs killing adults and attacking people unprovoked in the street like that is an XL bully trait. They clearly have shitty owners too, but it's a violent and unstable breed that grows too powerful and too dangerous. It's horrifying to read any defence of them.

I said the nice, careful young guy and his dog will make a good team, not two XL Bullies. I also said that the breed still worries me because if they turn, they are extremely dangerous. It looks like our views are not too far apart.

Oh I misinterpreted the team comment, sorry @AnnieSnap - I thought you were responding to the OP. And yes, I meant the rest in agreement with you, disagreement with the first post.

Jesus, who dragged this old thread up? Is someone trawling through old posts looking for threads on XL Bullies so they can add to the fear-mongering?

I started this thread months ago, long before all the recent attacks and the potential ban but, FWIW, I've seen that dog regularly since then and the lads are still doing really well with it. It's doing it's Canine Good Citizen Silver award now.

I started this because it was the first XL bully I had seen in RL and I was pleasently surprised at how well-behaved it was. I've met a couple more since then who were also well-behaved.

I've not seen this one since the ban was announced as I've been off work so I've been walking in different places at different times to usual so I have no idea how the lads feel about it.

Easily done 👍

Lovely. But rare. I will still always cross a road to avoid that breed. No risks = less worries.

I know about 4 XL bullies they are all lovely and stunning. It's the owners my friends treat them like babies and they act like it.

Sorry know this thread is old but I was on another thread and it came up

OP - ever heard of dog fighting? The dogs like pit bull and XL bully are bred for aggression.

I've met several and I'm yet to meet a bad one. Same with staffys though. All have been genuinely lovely dogs, eager to please, friendly and well behaved. The stigma would stop me owning them though.

Nope. It doesn't change the fact that XLs are bred as fighting dogs and have the aggression and bite power of a small shark.

It doesn't matter how well behaved they are one minute, the fact remains they are mostly too strong for the owner to physically control.

If this was a lovely, well behaved dog then great, but it makes no difference to the need to neuter and muzzle these overly-strong dogs when in public.

Some breeders certainly do breed for aggression unfortunately, but it was a nice story about the two lads. These dogs should however be bred out of existence, they are not pets and they are certainly not worth the risk.

I came across one on my morning walk today. The owner warned me off straight away and said "I wish she was like that", my 16 week (but huge!) pup had just had a little play with a frenchie we walked past. He then said "I've got another one at home and she keeps attacking her, so if I can't find someone to take her, she'll have to be put down".... then walked off. I really wanted to explain I hadn't been lucky with my dog, I just hadn't opted for a type known for it's aggression. I didn't though as he looked a bit broken 😔

@Tawlk I wouldn't classify someone who breeds deliberately for aggression as a dog breeder. I thought the rest of my post clarified that. Some idiots do breed for aggression, I agree, but traditionally, responsible breeders, hobby, and backyard breeders, are not deliberately breeding for aggression. The latter two usually do not have enough knowledge of genetics and their own dog's history to breed for health or temperament, but they are not breeding for aggression.

The people who do breed for aggression I classify as pondscum who have no business breeding a goldfish, much less a dog.

I have bumped into these lads since. They are disappointed with the ban, especially since they were daft enough to buy their dog as a money-making scheme. Since my first meeting with them, they have revealed they honestly believed their dog was worth £20/30k . They only part owned him. His original breeder would have owned any litter he sired had and the lads would have first pick of the litter and be "allowed" to sell that one as their "fee" for looking after the stud dog.

Unsurprisingly, the original breeder has kindly gifted them the remainder of the dog and he is now wholly their dog . To their credit, they are keeping him and are keen to keep up with his training as much as possible. He is already muzzled trained and on a waiting list to be neutered.

Sadly, but somewhat unsurprisingly, they are thinking about getting a Mastiff or Cane Corso bitch to breed from instead.

I’d be more impressed if you said the dog was over the age of two.

Pitbulls are very intelligent dogs, they are easy to train when young. Though they are responsible for a higher than average number of deaths in the US, many are actually sweethearts.

The XL bully in this country is a Frankenstein abomination, bred from limited and aggressive stock, mainly by travellers. While pitbull is the main ingredient there are many other breeds mixed in.

And they are bred BADLY.

Because of this, once they fully sexually and physically mature, between 18 months and two years these dogs are more than often prone to sudden and extreme aggression. Very few people in this country would have the space or time needed to care for such a powerful and reactive dog without risking the public.

We’ve seen so many put down or resold on gumtree after this age, and the local vets won’t work with them anymore at all.

@Kitanai I don't necessarily disagree with you. When you look at the number of fatalities these dogs have been responsible for compared to the number of fatalities attributed to traditional pit types, it is clear, that something, somewhere has gone badly wrong, however, a lot of this will be down to the sheer number of XLs in existence in the UK vs traditional pit-types.

But owner negligence/neglect has been a direct contribution to all of the publicised fatalities. If the issue was solely down to breed/breeding and not the way these dogs are being raised we would have an equal number of responsibly owned and trained XLs killing people but we don't.

Why is their next breed of choice a mastiff or cc? Why are they deliberately targeting the giant fighting/guarding dog breeds?
As much as they have a well-trained friendly dog (which is probably more for their own safety than caring about others) they are contributing to the situation of dogs being used as status symbols, threats and weapons.
They are not responsible.

They believe these dogs are worth more money than labs etc. They did mention toy breeds and those ridiculous "designer" mutts but they laughed and said they "wouldn't dare" been seen walking one of those, so status is a factor.

I agree they are adding to the issue. My reason for starting the thread, as I said, was this was the first XL I had met in RL and I found it refreshing that two young lads were paying such attention to training and socialisation. I don't believe they are on their way to being responsible breeders or that they are pinnacle of social responsibility. I do think they should be commended for putting so much effort into raising a well-trained, well-balanced dog. It's more than most "middle-class" owners around here manage.

That said I wouldn't trust them with my dog, nor would I recommend them as breeders to anyone looking for a puppy.