Can we redress the hysteria that the tabloids create over the tragic attacks the the Rotty's, of late?  If you are an owner of a Rotty, do you feel that attitudes have changed in the days since those attacks, at that pub?

I have an English Bull Terrier, and he is as soft as anything, BUT I am sick of the prejudice, the judgements, etc, that people have.

On another forum, some idiot said that ALL Staffs, Rotty's, Dobermans, etc, are "dangerous by defualt, and should be nationally euthenised, or muzzled at ALL times, including indoors".

My worry is that the Government will react to this ill informed hysteria.

:(

horrible as any attack is, we have been here before and its just the press trying to sell papers. in a few months im sure the focus will be on something else, another war or something.......

The thing is although the hysteria does calm down it still leaves some people with the idea that certain breeds of dog should be treated a if they are monsters when in in fact in the majority of cases it's the owners at fault.  A lot of people (not true dog lovers) have certain breeds because it makes them look "hard" or "cool"  They don't have them because they love the breed and therefore possibly don't get the attention needed.

I know these attacks are horrific beyond words but in some cases children have been left unsupervised with the dogs.  In my opinion i don't think children should be left with any breed of dog unsupervised. 

Although i don't have a Staffy, Dobe or Rotty i have friends who have and they are all good with people and beautiful dogs with lovely temprements.  My Staffy friend has had people cross the road rather than walk past them etc both her and my rotty friend have had comments like "should be muzzled" "shouldn't be in public places"  My Dobe friend however has had no problems at all.

I don't own one of the breeds mentioned but had a bit of a taste of what other owners go through when I walked a large boxer for a lady yesterday. A woman with a pushchair and toddler passed us and the look she gave me and Rosie was one of disgust I'm sure she thought Rosie was going to attack her kids the way she sheilded them and all we did was walk past

I've also been forunate not to get bad comments about my dogs - I've had a couple of people cross the road, but no muzzle comments or the like.  I get worse reactions with my brother's dog (dobe X lab we think, she looks like a thickset dobe) with people crossing over and giving us horrible looks - but she behaves badly outside the house (no aggression tho), finds it hard to control herself so she looks uncontrollable.  She's a softy though.

The only time I've had people obviously be careful - and it's always with kids - is in the last few months, where I've made a point of taking hold of Opi's collar to make it clear to people approaching that she isn't keen on kids.  Prior to that, almost every kid - and adult, still - has wanted to come up and pet her, despite her looking rotti-ish.

THe KC are working with Government to ensure knee jerk hysterical, ill informed actions are not taken.

Let's hope they are exploring what can be done to help prevent such tragedies.

Unfortunately until and unless the KC adopt the continental approach of compulsory temperament testing before dogs are allowed to breed I can see no practical steps that can be taken from the dog point of view.

Changing the current DDA to include private property, custodial sentences and fines may help from the owner point of view.

I don't necessarily think temperament testing will help. I know from personal experience that the most temperamentaly sound dogs can produce "unstable" offspring. I suppose it would stop those dogs that are "viscious" from being bred from but any responsible breeder wouldn't breed from such a dog anyway.

I agree. Responsible breeders will only breed from dogs with good temperaments and ensure the dog goes to the right home, but the problem is not everyone gets their dogs from responsible breeders. In an ideal world only responsible breeders would breed, but we know thats never going to happen.

It doesnt matter how many people do the right things it only takes one idiot to do the wrong thing..

Some people want dogs for the wrong reasons. Sadly, if one of those people has decided they want a particular kind of dog, even if its not right for them, they will find a means to get it.

I'm not sure attitudes have changed. Some people have always considered rotties (and similar breeds) to be monsters and I think people have been reminded of this image by the recent media hysteria. Think of how many times rotties or dobes are used in moves to portray some nasty aggressive dog.

I've got a rescue rottie. I've always had people cross to the other side of the road to avoid her. Since the attack it has been much worse. Its not just crossing to the other side of the road now, its the looks not only she gets for being a rottie, but the looks I get for owning a rottie. Even the local kids have backed off when previously they used to come say hi and fuss her. Its obvious that their parents have warned them not to go near her.

I think the main thing I feel is that I have to be extra wary as people do judge and will be quicker to do so because of her breed. There are quite a few owners who let their dogs come running up despite the fact I've got her on a lead. Shes by no means nasty but I do worry that if something did happen the finger would automatically be pointed at her.

I have an English Bull, he is as soft as putty, but I walk him on a lead, because his recall is a bit poo, and I am scared of losing him!  I too have had situations when dogs off lead have come charging up to him, and one dog, a dalmation (owned by a policemen as well!), attacked him.  No serious damage done at all, but I knew the guy lived on my estate, and told him that I wanted him to keep that dalmatian on a lead, because the next time it would not be my Bully he would have to worry about, it would be me!  Give him his due, that is what he has done since.  I am sure in situation like that, you would be okay legally if your dog fought back an won, because you are the one with him on the lead, at least that would be my understanding of it.

I just wish the media could be a little bit more intelligent in the manner they report things.

Statements on the news like "Is it time to ban all dangerous dogs", what the hell does that mean, especially since dangerous dogs can be put down anyway, under the dangerous dogs act!

Do they mean 'dangerous' as in 'any sort of dog that we consider a former fighting breed', for example, or 'any dogs over a certain size', see, the statement is so vague.

I have a Staff and I get absolutely sick of people attitudes, it makes me so cross! I have actually had people come up to me in the street and comment on what a beautiful boy, well behaved, have a stroke of him etc etc and then they ask what breed he is. Of course when I proudly tell them they scurry off, hypocrites! I had a guy at work the other day come up and say words to the effect of "one of your sort of dogs attacked and killed a 5 month old baby and all those fighting dogs should be eradicated". I was furious, we are talking about a well educated man, with some experience of dogs too. I managed to calmy explain that while some breeds have particular character traits, all dogs are individual and tend to adapt to the people they live with and they way they are raised.

However, there are some people who dont know anything about this breed of dog at all and have never met one. My parents had never met a Staff before I got Sox. These people I feel can be forgiven for buying into what they read as they have nothing to measure against. Mum and Dad soon changed their opinion when they met Sox. But for someone to comment on what a lovely dog I have and then change their opinion when I tell them what breed he is is just ridiculous.

It definately gives them a bad press. A lady who i meet when walking my dog, owns a really snappy jrt. He has had a couple of scuffles up the fields and always starts it, she now has a phobia about rotties and dobes. She has also had a thing about bull breeds and always comments on, "they can turn" and gives them a wide birth. to be honest i get embarrassed sometimes when she picks up her dog and tells other dogs to shoo! To be honest, every scuffle i have seen has been with her dog. My beagle, who is very submissive, is always able to play with others as he poses no threat to them, hers however, nips especially if he has his ball, but she cant see that. This lady watches all the news stories and relays them on the walk and is almost histerical when these "dangerous dogs are about". Last week she shouted to a few of us other owners to move away as there was a huge dobe around. In response to Caroline Neal, i can understand what you are saying but, and i am not implying that you do this, I ask every dog owner if their dog is friendly before i let my boy go and say hi and yesterday i asked a staffy owner i hadnt seen before and he went off on one, saying that just because he was a staff i assumed he was aggressive. Which i did not, he raved for about 5 mins on this subject so i walked away. It must be terribly frustrating for you as it is for me to be on the recieving end of those comments. I never assume about a dogs personality no matter what the breed, just incase.

Caroline, my parents are the same.  They weren't keen on staffys aka:devil dogs but now they adore her and they have been saying recently (as I've been toying with the idea of getting a rottie) that they wouldn't have a rotie in the house.  I don't believe a word of it though as I'll have done my homework regarding good breeders and am a responsible owner.  It's amazing how ignorance contributes to fear which then can turn to mass hysteria.

In relation to the portrayal of dogs in the media at the moment my pet hate is when they use snarling pictures or crazxed looking animals and ask whether they should be banned.   If all baby magazines had pics of horrible delinquent children would humans want to breed?

sounds like my partners parents! When we took on our rescue rottie they were telling us to 'becareful' etc When they came over they couldnt believe what a softie she was!

i lost my first rottie at 15 yrs of age and she didnt have a nasty bone in her body and now have a young rottie and she has a wonderful nature too ......people are surprised when they get to know her because they think she will be nasty .....  i think the biggest problem has always been from the film THE OMEN ...... they were portrayed to be dangerous dogs and unfortunately it has stuck ..... it really is a worry that people who breed these dogs arnt more responsible in placing the dogs with the right owners ....and i am not pointing fingers at reputable breeders here .......its the ones that are just in it for the money and are not bothered what type of character they sell the puppies to as long as they get the money ..... unfortunately the majority of the idiots that buy these dogs just want them as 'guard dogs' ..... and so the image gets even more distorted .... i agree they are powerful dogs but they need to be channelled ..... they are very dominant but they need to be responsive to their owners and not allowed to run their owners ...  i wish i knew the answer to this problem .... but until the fools that breed these dogs without a care what they are breeding or where they go to it will carry on compounding the problems this lovely breed has

i did get a few horrible comment the days after the attacks when it was all in the news- strangely these were all made my old ladies
howevr i was determined not to give in to a few uneducated people & carried on walking my boy as normal.
we go up to fields & parks in the evenings wher the dogs are allowed off lead, i did consider keeping him on lead, but he has good recall & is very dog friendly & is actually very submissive-(ive lost count of the number of dogs that have run up to have a go at him & he just stands still showing complete submission).

so i decided to let him off lead as i thought it would show that there was nothing to be scared of & had no comments up the park, i think it helped that there was quite a large group of us including, my rottie, my dane, 4 labradors , 1 CKSP & some mongrels. so people could see one of these so called 'dangerous dogs' playing ahppliy with others.
i dont know the answer to stopping the problem, but i think it certainly lies within stopping so called 'breeders' producing unsound dogs & then homing these with unsuitable owners who want them as 'guard' dogs or as a accessory for their 'hard' image

I dont think there are any magic answers. I think all you can do is be a responsible owner when out walking and take all reasonable precautions to ensure that your dog doesnt harm anyone or anything. Not because bull and other powerful dogs are more dangerous than any others but because any dog has the potential to bite, however unlikley this may be. It only take a few well publicised stories about labs, retrievers or other dogs that people automatically assume to be gentle for other dogs to be tarred with the same brush before were all in the same boat so we all, whatever the breed, have a responsibility to change peoples attitudes by going about our doggy business in a responsible way and showing them how great the vast majority of dogs are - IMO.

Sites like this are invaluable to new owners as they advocate the importance of training and manners and I think that many people underestimate the importance of these. I am very proud of my boy, not because he is of bull breed but because he is a great pooch who adds value to our lives and I take huge offence at peoples negative comments - especially as they have no idea what thet are talking about most of the time. People are of course entitled to their opinions but should perhaps keep them to themselves when their only source of information is the media.  If they bothered to find information first hand and then still held the same opinion I would be more than happy to agree to disagree. As far as I am concerned its them that misses out on all of the great qualities of these wonderful 'devil dogs' - their loss not mine :)

As you say, we are all entitled to our own opinions but I don't think you are correct to assume they are only arrived at from reading the press.  Whether certain breeds have different characterists, I think we will have to agree to disagree :).  I find it interesting that on other threads, particularly in the behaviour forum, breed character is acknowledged, a recent one about keeping Akitas together springs to mind but, perhaps, due to an understandable defensiveness led by recent events, it is a no no when applied to the breeds under scrutiny here.  Whilst clearly it is wrong for people to assume that all dogs of certain breeds are of a difficult nature it is equally wrong to assume that because we might own a gentle, well mannered example that they are all pussy cats either.  The parent who suggested that the poster "be careful" when taking on a rescued large and powerful breed was being no more than sensible, in my view, and if others are wary as you go about with your dogs I think you have to accept that they are, in many cases, showing no more than common sense precautions regarding an animal that they do not know but by obvious physical characterists has the potential for harm.  The posters on here plead that they are cut more slack but I don't think calling others people ignorant is being very accomodating either :)

Hi Isabel
I commented on peoples opinions being formed by the media as the thread is about recent events and this of course will lead to people forming opinions based on the media coverage. I do however fully agree that there are many other means of people forming opinions but as my post was in response to these recent events I havent covered this here. In addition, as an owner of a bull type dog, I also experience lots of comments such as 'I have read all about those fighting dogs in the paper' etc so that is the majority of my experience on this issue. Im not sure we are disgreeing about acknowedging breed characteristic, if I understand your post correctly :) I just think that its dangerous to assume for example, that all Labs are sweeties and all Rotties are terrors. In a previous post on this thread I have said that IMO I can understand that people are wary of dogs when they dont know one or two of a breed but whats annoying as I have said is when people come up and comment on what a great dog you have, stroke him etc and then change their mind and head for the hills when they hear what breed he is. They clearly arent excercising common sense precautions regarding an animal that by their physical characteristics has the potential for harm as they have just made a fuss of him and only changed their mind when they knew what breed he was.

With regards to calling other people ignorant, im not sure if youre referring to me but I havent referred to any poster as being ignorant :) However, I apologise if any of my posts have read this way :)

I think we agree broadly with what is going on and like you my comments are a bit of a round up of it all :) 

:)

Hope you get a laugh out of this.  When the Omen first came out I did not even know of the breed Rottweilers and was not involved with dogs as I am now.  I don't think Rotties were common in Canada then.  I thought those dogs in the Omen were Black Labs and I bet a lot of other people did too.  Funny looking Black Labs.  I now have a Black Lab.