Met an XL Bully today for the first time

[Woahyeahyeahyeah]

Was out for a Family walk earlier today at a NT site and met an XL bully for the first time, he was 9 months old and 8 stone! Although I've seen pictures and obviously the news reports, but to meet one in person I was absolutely astounded at the sheer size and power behind him. The strength and muscles! Wow! My Young DC said he was more like a Lion than a Dog.
Don't get me wrong, he was beautiful, friendly and had the character of just a normal over excited Pup - we also have a puppy and they played for a few minutes. His Family were really nice people with young children, they spoke of how sad they feel about the muzzle enforcement in the New Year. Not sure where I'm going with this post but wondered, does the Law also include at Home? Or is it just in public places?

Lead and muzzle in public.. One goes to ds's football training.. Impeccably trained... Very sad situation for the ddogs of decent owners.. Sadly I also know of one that spends way too much time crated.. A bubbling pot imo. We had a rottweiler back in the day they were known as Devil Dogs. Could have easily been that breed banned back then...

Wow! Our 11 month male retriever pup is 5 stone and if he decides to pull or lunge at another dog to play, it's quite difficult to hold him back. I can't imagine 8 stone!!

I've also never seen an XL Bully in real life!

I know, 8 stone! We had a 4 stone bull breed before and I found her so difficult to walk when she was pulling, think I would be dragged along the street by the dog I met today! The whole situation is very sad but also I do understand, surely a law to vet owners alongside the Muzzle should also be considered 😕

Owners should be vetted and monitored for dogs that are so large and powerful IMO. You ought to have a licence, insurance, home visits and everything.

In an ideal world, all owners would be vetted and licensed but that's never going to happen. I feel sorry for all the well-behaved, well socialised XL's who will be negatively impacted by this shitshow.

It's really not a sad situation. It's completely necessary.

Sure it might be cute at 8months but give it time....

Anyone who has gone through a deliberate process to choose a dog breed called XL Bully is already a bad owner imo. But dogs are to the UK what guns are to the US I suppose.

Sadly a great deal of the rough sleepers in our town centre have these dogs. No idea what will happen when the new law comes in.

You know ‘Bully’ is short for Bull Terrier, don’t you?

@greentreez23 Oh wow, i wonder what will happen 😕 I didn't realise they were so popular! I'm in Surrey and today was the first I've ever seen.

I have to say I agree with this.

This hugely problematic breed does not need to exist, and continuing the breed through purchasing the dogs is not responsible.

Extra Large Bull Terrier does not say ' Safe breed, great choice' to me. I'm surprised it would to anyone.

I saw an XXL ( ehat the owner told me ) once and it was horrific, stopped me in my tracks. They needed a van to cart it about in.
Smart, responsible dog owners do not choose these types of dogs, they're an abomination and the people that started breeding them are even worse.

I saw two, walked by very responsible strong young men. It was all fine, they were stepped off the path to leave room for us.

The size and power was alarming even when they were calm. The skin and muscles looked like race horses.
They were ridiculous beasts.

The XL was only defined in November this year.
I have a 20”, 28kg American bulldog cross. Rescue. I’ve had to get an exemption certificate for him, he’s now muzzled outdoors and in the car (as that counts as a public space), I can no longer insure him other than third party, he can no longer see his trainer and he can no longer be exercised in the secure field we’ve used for 18 months … because he meets some of the stats listed under the government’s recent definition.

I was just checking. I overheard someone talking the other day. They took the word bully quite literally.

I think all exemption certificates should require an obedience assessment and I think this breed dying out in the UK is ultimately a good thing, even if I feel sorry for those people who have worked hard to train theirs. I feel very much like I do about hand guns, they are lethal in the wrong hands and need strict controls for the good of wider society, even if the vast majority of owners are responsible. I get wanting a dog, why it needs to be a weapon breed I don’t know, buy a Labrador!

Don’t feel sad for the owners, you choose to own something so powerful there are rules. No difference to choosing to own a car and having to mot and insure it, to have to put a seat belt on despite being a “safe driver”.

Why would a family with young children get one :/ a dog that if it attacked a child (from being woken up, a brain tumour, poked in the eye, genetic instability etc) would continue to do so even when beaten with a baseball bat.

I'm aware that the media has made attacks seem more likely than they actually are, but almost all other dogs are less of a risk to life. Xl bully + young children is a choice I just cannot understand.

I personally wouldn’t want to go near any animal that had the capacity to kill me and I couldn’t fight off. No matter how well trained, it’s still an animal with potential to kill grown adults.

people always say “it’s the owner, not the dog” but… have you SEEN people? People are largely terrible as a species too and I have no idea if the person walking their eight stone dog was good or bad.

Comparing an XL Bully to a lion says it all really.

I don't know why we would tolerate any animal being loose on the streets with the capability to kill a human being.

All 10 million dogs in the UK should be mandatory insured and licensed as an animal protection measure. It would also raise enough money to police dog ownership properly.

Please don't say this. My friend adopted a rescue XXL Bully cross recently, because she knows that it's very likely the dog would otherwise be destroyed. She is busy training her dog to get used to a muzzle at the moment. She's an experience dog owner and chose a dog that might otherwise not be picked from a rescue.

There will be many people who would rather adopt a dog than see it put down. That doesn't mean they would have chosen to see that type of dog bred.

SIL has an XL bully. It's an absolutely enormous powerful thing. The family is very wary of it. They let their 16 year old son walk him, he's a really strong lad but my god that dog would have him pinned in a minute.

Agreed

Beautiful? 🤢