Who do we report this to ? Our next door neighbour has now got a pitbull type dog ,  he is a brindle colour, and has a very wide head, he has also not been neutered,  she has had him for a couple of weeks, we didn`t realise they were banned !  We did notice that he is sometimes muzzled when he is taken out, though not every time. Thanks

To be honest, if you are a dog lover and this dog is not vicious or aggressive then I wouldn't report it to anyone, in my opinion. I would only report it if there was a genuine reason to, not just the way it looks. :-)

But pitbulls are banned, its barking all the time, and its shut out all night. and most of the day.

Like I said, if there is a genuine reason of concern then by all means report it, but in MHO to report it just because of the way it looks is unfair. It may not even be a pitbull, just an unlucky "pitbull" looking dog of another breed or x breed. Just my opinion, it would be interesting to hear what other people think, anyone?

If it barks too much - speak with your neighbour to try to come up with a solution.

Play 'spot the pitbull' here

http://www.dapbt.org/spottheapbt.htm

Sorry can't do links!

Very good Steph, what a great site. I must admit, I thought I saw a couple in there.

Yeah me too when I first looked. 

"Ban the deed, not the breed". What's this dog done wrong?

we have spoken to her about it barking, as my husband works nights, and is not getting any sleep, she says to shout at it and tell it to shut up !  she actually told my husband this evening that it IS  a pitbull !

Then you next 'port of call' is the environmental health dept - I think they deal with noise!  Just because she told you it is a pitbull doesn't mean that it is - have you looked at the pictures on the link above - which is it more like?  If she goes around telling folk that it is a pit, she risks having the dog taken away, I believe, under the DDA.

and probably destroyed.

Too true Chloe :-(

And would the same course of action be taking for a yorkie (just an example) for barking? Think not, please think very carefully before you take this any further.

Again, the breed shouldn't come into it. Any dog can bark, so if you want to report it for that then fair enough, that is your right. But please don't report it just for being a pitbull. Pitbulls are great dogs and all their faults were down to bad breeding and bad ownership, nothing to do with the dog itself, IMO. :-)

but I thought it was against the law to own a pitbull that isn`t neutered, we are going to keep our eye on it anyway,  theses sort of dogs seem to be a status symbol round here.  we`re also concerned about how its being fed, as I said, its outside most of the time, and its given raw meat for most meals ! and its not just meat, it looks like half a cow ! ribs and all !  Its like they`re giving it a taste for blood.  We have a 4 month old collie cross who is now terrified to go into our garden becuase of the noise . 

It's called raw feeding and you'll find several people feed their dogs this way.

well I suppose we`ll just have to put up with sleepless nights, and in my husbands case, sleepless days !

But that's what a lot of people on here feed their dogs (me included) - a raw diet :)

Daisy

I dont suppose your dog is tied up when its fed, and have the food thrown to it ! and why is it suddenly " ok " for people to have pitbulls ?   They are banned in the UK !  unless they are micro chipped , tattooed and neutered ! this dog isn`t neutered. They have been given this dog, which is also against the law !  It actually bit one of their kids the other night, we heard them swearing at it !

Lynn, as a dog owner and dog lover yourself, please think long and hard about reporting this dog to any authority for being a "pitbull look-a-like" which nowadays is what they are :rolleyes:  Anything - pedigree or mongrel - bigger than a Staffy when mated with a genuine Staffy could come into that category and yet not have a SINGLE trait or trace of the APBT or AmStaff in it's ancestory.   Any Mastiff X, Boxer X or even coarse Lab X could be pigeon holed the same way.  The "Pitbull" was banned from importation to the UK around 12 + years ago, existing ones (if TRULY any ) neutered, microchipped and muzzled - so they'll be long dead by now or at the very least crippled with arthritis and missing half their teeth!  Re you overhearing them swearing for biting one of their own kids, how do you know if it wasn't just rough play?  A month ago you personally sought advice for your own pup biting!   Would you like to be reported based on flimsy evidence for either harbouring a dangerous dog or not sufficiently protecting your children from such an animal course you wouldn't - It would be outrageous & if you related such was happening to you on CD we'd be in full support of you .  Teri :) 

It sounds as if you have issues with your neighbours rather than with their dog - after all most dogs do bark and the way he is being kept is not his fault ( and not because he is a 'Pit Bull' ). Could you not talk to the neighbours and suggest that they alleviate it's boredom ( I'm assuming that's why it's barking) by playing/training/excercising their dog ?.

It would be very unfair to report this dog simply because of the way he looks and the way he is being fed !.

Yvonne

I agree, Yvonne - would there be the same discussion if this dog was say, a poodle? As for being a pitbull, I recall there are three more living down the road fom the OP, so I cant help feeling there is a bit of mistaken identity.

Quite, as any living Pitbulls should now be 15 years old :D

Well put Teri, that is exactly what I have been trying to say, but you always seem to words things better :-)

If I had a penny for every time I swore when Giorgia our Staff was going through her biting stage I'd be rich. It really hurt at the time but it got sorted. Think twice before any course of action you could be condemning a perfectly innocent dog to death, do you really want that on your conscience 

are you sure it is a pit bull, they have to be neutered and tatooed and muzzled in public ,or is it the american bulldog they have, or one of the irish staffords, check before you condem this dog, it could be barking because it is board to tears having nothing to do all day,and with regard to feeding, you would not like my lot when they have rabbits and hearts etc looks like sweeny todds barber shop lol .
carol

I have to say I have every sympathy with you having lived next door to a Mastiff x Rottie who lived in the garden and had no attention from his owner.  The dog began to bark at everything  and anything.  He then began to get very aggressive (trying to get at us thru the fence) with my family if we poked our noses out of the back door and our dogs were terrified.  I saw no point in reporting the owner as he'd just have beaten it and swapped it for another :rolleyes: 

So I trained the dog myself, over the fence, with a clicker when the owner was at work :) :D  It wasn't difficult after I gained the dogs attention the first time by shouting at it like the owner did (very aggressively :rolleyes: )  It stopped barking and tearing at the fence in surprise and I clicked and treated (smelly cheese, sausages) after that I followed normal clicker training and my whole family were safer in the garden, the dog became quieter and my dogs were happier :D :D  The owner didn't change tho, he liked his dog to be aggressive and positively encouraged it :(  but that's another story.

Hope this gives you food for thought :)

Regards
Dill

Dill, that is great, welll done to you.

Not really Tigerlily,

I was absolutely sick of having no sleep and being terrified to go out into my own garden, not to mention my child not being able to use the garden for playing :rolleyes: and of course it was very stressful having to listen to a large dog barking aggressively every time something moved outside, day in day out with no relief.  In effect it was sheer desperation, the situation was making me ill and there was no point in talking to the owner, he was worse than the dog.

Surely the actions of a real dog lover, I take my hat off to you, it can`t have been easy!

At lAST !  someone who understands what we`re going through .  I only wish I had time to clicker train it !  But I work , days and my husband works nights !   Hopefully someone else will report it.

My staffie x is sometimes on a long line or chain outside to eat his very messy meals, and yes sometimes that is half a lamb ribcage!

Report the dog for barking, its HIGHLY unlikely that this is a pitbull, wether she thinks it is or not, its more likely some sort of bull breed x.

Pitbulls are banned in the uk full stop. You cannot register a pitbull anymore, the microchipped/neutered/muzzled in public thing was for pitbulls here WHEN the ban was brought in.

If this dog is just a crossbreed (and if you get a staffie x small lab type, it WILL look like a pitbull) and youreport him as a pitbull, he WILL in all likely hood spend a long long time in kennels and then be destroyed.

Em