Just listened to a report that said a Bulldog had bitten a child's face, the Bulldog was a family pet, the father was also biten by the Bulldog - at this stage I said to my OH "a Bulldog"? then the final sentence of the report said the American Bulldog will be put down.

Wonder how many people now think the Bulldog is a dangerous dog.

Linky:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1282845/Girl-5-severely-injured-mauled-American-bulldog.html

Some of the comments make uncomfortable reading: "ban ALL bull breeds" for instance.

Worrying indeed, I see that Staffies are mentioned and one has to wonder if these are any more Staffies than this was a bulldog. With so many cross-breeds and non recognised breeds being given very similar names to our recognised breeds you can almost see disaster looming.

I had just read this on my yahoo page, most people who reply to these posts are replying out of sympathy and really dont see how the blame can be with anything but the dog, sensible dog owners know differently :(

I am just waiting to see my neighbours in the paper for similer, they have a sbt and is just a young dog, lovely and friendly but they let it on the trampoline with 3 and 4 children, all it will take is for it to get hurt or over excited and it will retaliate and the poor dog will be blamed :(

Hope the child and father recover well

> sensible dog owners know differently

very true!!! its a shame that some people are allowed to look after dogs at all....I had Roxy from a rescue and has clealy be battered around by a man as she was terrified of men, especially if they was carrying something in there hand!!! I don't see this person been destroyed!!!

I do hope that the child and father recover from this and that the child doesn't become too frightened of dogs - as most are fantastic ones out there

I still do wonder how many of these American Bulldogs are actually this breed myself. 

Think the problem with a number of these unrecognised breeds there is no real blueprint to help anyone know what a dog is. I have seen what are obviously cross breeds called by some name the is very like that of a recognised breed so how members of the GP know what they are getting I do not know.

The thing that really upsets me is that the media in general are so careless when they name a breed anything loosely described as a Staffordshire something is called a Staffordshire bull terrier and in this case the dog was called a Bulldog which it clearly is not.

Some of these breeds are only unrecognised in this country. The Ambull for instance is recognised by both UKC and AKC, and has several governing bodies. Like most responsible people, when buying a puppy that will be with me for at least 12 years etc, I look for a breeder who knows their stuff, is passionate about the breed and takes all possible steps to ensure the puppy I receive is as balanced and healthy as it can be.

The you get some people, who breed shoddy examples and sell them off for a couple of hundred a pop to the 1st person through the door. You get what you pay for?? Surely when buying any dog, you want the best?? If you can't afford the best, then why would you buy it?

And I agree, the media does not research their facts, but sometimes neither do the owners sadly. Deed, not breed...

Any dog is potentially a dangerous dog, it's just the amount of damage different breeds can inflict.  Some of the nastiest dogs I've come across are toy breeds, but although they may inflict a nasty bite, they're hardly likely to do the same damage as a bull dog breed.  Unfortunately, amongst the newest fashion must have dogs I've seen on other forums are american bull dogs (or crosses of), blue staffies, irish staffies and husky x staffs.  Another breed that has started to become popular as a status dog is the boerboel I understand, very sad :(

You may be right but the AKC does not list them at least not under that name. who are the UKC, are they affiliated?

Beg your pardon, should read ABRA. UKC (United Kennel Club) are the oldest breed registry in US. The Ambull has a well documented history with breeding lines. All can be found on UKC site.

Absolutely. Interesting looking at the trends..

UKC base registrations on working breeds rather than 'confirmation' breeds. What do you mean by affiliated? As in ICO? Then no. But as a historical registry, they are second only to AKC.

Just read the link.
When will some owners lurn. Someone i know of who has a small child went to a local rescue centre on a whim and thought an adult Akita there looked nice, and they told her the dog had a history of bitting and infact bit one of the kennel wokers there and advised her not to get him but she did (This rescue will give you any dog if you hand them the money, no home checks or anything). In the first day the dog went to bite both of her other dogs, went to bite her twice and growled at her child. But did she stop to think that she was putting her child in danger and she couldnt handle this dog? no she kept the dog for about 4 months during which times it bit her numerous times and turned out to also be food agressive and she finaly decided not to keep it after it bit her badly. She was just lucky it wasnt her child that got bitten.

wow.

For Jo

Then what happened next when this owner decided that she could no longer cope and decided she could not keep the dog that had bitten her numerous times? Did the owner take responsibility and seek help with a behaviourist or vets advice and if euthanasia was advised accept this?  Do not please tell me she sent the dog back to rescue to be rehommed or advertised it for sale or given away free to a good home.

Personally, I think the rescue was wrong in the first instant for considering rehomming a dog that is known to have bitten.  Even worse if they were made aware of a child in the family.  The rescue is so wrong to knowingly rehome adog that is known to bite unless they are prepared to seek help for the dog before rehomming and ensure that it is 100% safe (but I would still be wary) very wary.

> Personally, I think the rescue was wrong in the first instant for considering rehomming a dog that is known to have bitten.  Even worse if they were made aware of a child in the family.  The rescue is so wrong to knowingly rehome adog that is known to bite unless they are prepared to seek help for the dog before rehomming and ensure that it is 100% safe (but I would still be wary) very wary.

I would agree the rescue should have taken more care when placing this dog. However they are not the only rescue doing this sort of thing. I have had two dogs with very dodgy temperaments rehomed in families locally by the RSPCA.

appreantly the dog went to a friend of hers who has experance with large breed dogs and no kids, she did try to sell him and didnt mention the biting at all but did mention he lived in a house with a child on the add. (i dont think she is the best pet owner) She didnt want to put him down as he was great with my friend (she is the one who knows this person), i met him once and he seemed very warie.

The resuce was ment to close at the end of last month due to lack of funding but there website doesnt mention a thing about it and still has dogs up on it.