Just switched on our local news & there was a report about an Akita who has attacked a 16 year old girl in west coast area (whitehaven? i think) when she was walking past the farm the poor girl needs plastic surgery & the owners aren't going to put the dog to sleep!!
I think this is disgusting & why do people keep such big ferocious animals and let them run wild from what i've seen of this breed they shouldn't even be kept as pets this poor girl is a mess not just physically but mentally i am very .
Catherine

I can't comment about this, because i haven't heard anything myself, and i live in the far north.
I personally think that you can't judge all dogs the same, even breeds. I keep miniature dachshunds and i've heard of attacks on children, in the past, by them.
I am not an irresponsible dog owner, unfortunately some people who own dogs are. You cannot judge whats happened because of the breed of the dog. If this were the case then maybe we should just get rid of all dogs?

My motto is and always has been: punish the deed - not the breed. The rest is media hysteria.

Taylor

I think it would be unfair to cast aspersions on the whole of the breed through one dogs act .
After all if a man commits a crime I'm sure you wouldnt jail ALL men because of it .
Lel

No -but we'd like to :D
Liz:)

Ooh don't know about that, men behind bars, mm:) Sertiously though this breed has had an popularity explosion, and a lot of them are being bred and owned by people who shouldn't and aren't aware of how to deal with their dominant nature. The breed club has guidelines that include never allowing an Adult Akita off lead in a Public place. In my view they are for experienced owners only.

I have had many people ask me when wqalking my dogs why my Akitas are freindly, of course I reply that they are not Akitas, and as a breed Elkhounds are pretty sociable. There are a number of Akita's around here that have attaked other dogs, and I had wondered why some owners were giving me a wide berth. So it isn't just the actual breed that gets a bad name with idiot owners, but breeds that to the public look similar. In this case I would imagine Elkhounds Malamutes, and Eskimo and Greenland dogs. :(

Damn I take offence at that - saying that akitas are a dangerous breed!

My akita is one of the softest animals I have ever come accross.

The akita was primarly breed for hunting, and as such used to hunt as a mated pair. For a short time in their history they we used for fighting, as I would guess a lot of breeds have been.

The reason you do not let an akita off in a public place is not because they are dangerous but because they may well ignore you as they are incredibly stubborn and noisey.

I have been attacked by a GSD but would never consider them a dangerous breed - please if you do not know what you are talking about - keep quiet! This is why so many breeds have been given a bad press.

Any dog can bite when provoked, don't know about this particular incident but the dog may well have been defending it's territory. Question to ask is why was the girl on the farm? The problem is that larger breeds have very strong jaws and as such will inflict more damage when they bite.

There is a woman on here that has her labrador biting her - does that mean it is dangerous - not necessarily!

It is usually the owner and the injured party who is at fault i.e. either the owner doesn't know how to look after dogs or the injured party doesn't know how to handle dogs.

DON'T BLAME THE BREED!!!!!!

Sorry rant over and if anyone disagrees and wants to meet an akita and see what they are really like get in touch and you can meet my baby who lets me lie with my head on her neck and is soooo soft - best dog I have ever owned

IMHO...I think if our guest thinks like this then none of us would have pleasure of our lovely dogs as they would all have been put to sleep or never born.
Don't worry Timb, I'm sure your Akita is wonderful.... I think most if not all breeds have at some time been responsible for attacking.Some small minded people jump on the band waggon and insult the whole breed, instead of the irresponsible owners.

Tracey :)

akitas are gorgeous big softies in the right hands. Dont blame anybody else or the dogs for the stupidity of a silly owner, or the stupidity of a silly parent.

I am sorry if I have given offense, but if you notice I say that the breed is often oiwned by incompetent people who do not understand that the breed is dog dominant, and that is a fact. Few of these people would realise what to do, or have the necesary control if the dog is provoked by another dog. We have all been there some usually small ill mannnered little dog who wants to ta\ke on the world. An Akita adult will not usually suffer such fools gladly.

I know quite a few Akitas, and our Pup was quarantined next door to a super bitch, who was very sweet. Like others have said the larger th breed the bigger the responsibility.

Never anywhere did I agree that they are a dangerous breed, some of their owners allow dangerous situations to arise. The sudden surge in popularity of a fairly new breed (1980), to registrations in a couple of thousand does not augur well for breeding for the correct temeperament.

If the police are involved, the dog owners may not have a choice as to whether to have the dog put to sleep or not. . The guest is making judgements about all dogs, unfortunately, and we all know that each dog is different.I can understand that the guest is mad about it because imagine how we would feel if the victim was one of our family or friends. People who dont know dogs cant be expected to see the wider view. I 'm sad to say that we responsible dog owners are frequently let down by irresponsible ones, and we all know there are plenty about. :(

I too have an Akita and she is also a big softy. However they are very big dogs and in the wrong hands can be dangerous. Theres alot of idiots out there who own dogs.
I heared the Japanese originally used them for baby sitting.

Once again the media report a story that sounds sensational and dogs are shown in a bad light. Now I'm not saying that I'm happy that this poor girl has been harmed by an akita but were the circumstances of the event reported - was she trespassing, was the dog's owner negligent? I often wonder whether these stories do more harm than good - have the media done the public a service by informing us to be wary of the latest "dangerous dog" or have they just popularised the latest "trendy" dog for hardman wannabes to be seen with? How many people would be genuinely interested in the rottweiler as a breed if it weren't for all the reports of rottweiler attacks and the fact that the nasty guard dog in all of Hollywood's films seems to be a rottweiler? Often the dogs reported as having attacked people were not even the breed they were supposed to be (at best a crossbreed)! We have already seen the government's knee-jerk banning of several breeds of dog such as the APBT, tosa and fila based on a breed's "bad rep" - are we to become a nation of bunny rabbit keepers once all dogs that bite people are banned?

Don't blame dogs - we are guilty of doing far more harm to our fellow man than they are. Rant over.........

[deleted]

media report

Poor girl. You can't begin to imagine what thats been like for her.
The owner of the dog should be put to sleep for being such an a***hole. People like that make me sick. It's no wonder the country is becoming anti dog. It gives all us responsible dog owners a bad name.

But its SOOO easy to get a dog isnt it ?
There's no checks needed or assessment of how the dog will be looked after . No one asks if the dog will recieve any training or what kind of home it will go into .
Its only the responsible breeders or maybe the rescue homes that ask any of this .
Joe Bloggs can get a breed of dog that is exceptionally strong or needs to be very disciplined from anywhere and no body follows up how that dog is being reared . We all know that there are people out there who get a "Buzz" from having a large aggresive dog - who see it as some kind of status symbol among their own retarded "human pack" .
Its not fair on the people who get hurt and its not bloody fair on the dog !!!!
:(
There - rant over
Lel

I agree it is easy to get a dog now days but the follow up of care and how they are coming along is rare. :( Without wishing to be rude here I hold the owners responsible not the dog. Poor girl. Julieann xxx

I love my dogs but I am sorry but I have only sympathy for the girl not the dog. If it is dangerous (and going by the press report it is - I know we cant always believe the press but we have to believe something if we are not there at the time to witness an event) so, going on what was written, then I think the dog should be pts so it cannot hurt anyone else. Could well be the owner's fault (probably is) but children must come first.

I would never go against a breed for an incident by one dog but no matter what breed this particular dog is it does seem to be a danger to people.

Gina

Every dog has the potential to bite a human no matter what breed or size - the IMPORTANT thing is to "condition" the dog to what is acceptable behaviour and what is not . And also only to buy from a reputable breeder - Where the dogs pedigree can be checked and any health problems can be kept in check . I can see now why so many Champdoggers are against non KC registered breeding .
A strong undisciplined dog needs a strong disciplined owner .
I love my dog to bits and most of you will know he is a Stafford ( who also have a reputation caused by the press and "idiot" owners). I am socializing and taking him to training from as young as possible and hopefully he will be a happy sociable and well trained dog but i must admit if he bit someone ( especially without reason )it would break my heart and I think as a responsible owner he would have to be pts as he couldnt be trusted . Obviously if he bit somebody in the act of defending me or my family then it would be a different matter .
Lel

only thing that strikes me about this is why did the girls father go and stroke the dog, the day after it had done so much damage to his daughter?
When i got badly bitten, i had to go back to the house where the dog was to pick up my things, and let the dog out for a wee, my mother came with me, and wouldnt go near the dog, and i 'only' had a 2 inch hole in my arm, down to the muscle, and four stitches. She would not have dreamed of touching the dog at all!

Mmmmmm, thinking, did he really go and 'stroke' the dog, or did he give it an almighty kicking?????? who knows!

Emma

Its a hard subject i have a nice scare which i got 12yrs ago from a rottie that i had been sitting strokeing for half hour in a freinds house and he suddenly sunk his teeth in my face 15 stiches in side of face half tooth rebuilt and another 4 stiches in my lip i was lucky as i was sitting in chair at time and managed to get feet up and push him off and owners grabed him quikely but i never held in agaist the breed and will still stroke rotties as another freind has one and i have never had a problem with her,
You shouldent blam the breed ,breeding maybe or trainning but not the breed.
sandy.

how awful for you, im suprised you werent put off them for life!! as the rest have said, the dog should be pts , and the owners banned from keeping another animal, as theyre obviously not capable, again a big strong dog , with hunting bred in should be carefully watched.--shame it happened, people should be safe to go about there day without fear of attack

Yep i agree with you dizzy the owner of the dog that had me also had another rottie the dogs were only walked at night so they wasen't really to blame,
Once again back upbringing and training and as far as i know the dog was still about years arfter don't know if he ever attacked again,
I was know i was wrong but left it to the owners to make up there minds what happened to the dog as i haven't got it in me to force someone to have there dog put down so i never went visitting again and left them to do what they thought was the right thing i heard that he wasen't put down and they just carried on as normal no help was sort,
If it had been one of my dogs that had attacked some one there would be no doun't in my mind the dog would have been taken to the vets as it wasent just a warning nip but a bite that was mean't.

I got mauled by a dog last year, required nearly 30 stitches and couldn't wear jeans for quite some time :D. The dog was a labrador, a family pet who had developed a brain tumour. There is more to most stories than meets the eye and I wouldn't believe any media story anyway. Plus, I have read somewhere that even a Chihuahua has double the biting power than an adult man. As I said before: punish the deed not the breed.

Taylor

lol sorry taylor i know it's not funny but reading jeans and mauled made me giggle:D
I had this really huge rabbit I let have full run of the garden, however somebody left gate openShe went into next door neighbours garden and started eating all the plants she had just planted. In the morning i got a note through the door it went like this
Alison
Your rabbit attacked me last night and ripped my jeans and to top it all off she has eaten all my plants
I'M P****D OFF
Mags

lol I went and apologised, I thought no way has floppsy the rabbit ripped her jeans (she had):D
No I didn't have her put down just a lock on the gate

Alison

I knew it, rabbits are the natural pretator of human kind. We need to ban them and especially the fluffy ones must wear muzzles from now on. It's the only way to prevent total destruction of the earth.

Taylor

LOL Sadly she won't be biting anybody else she has gone to bunny heaven think next door got bad blood:Dlol

Alison

1 down - 30 trillion more to do :D.

Taylor